Kuranda is a small town that sits on the tablelands above Cairns. Tara arranged an all-day activity that started near the Tjapukai Aboriginal Center for us. We caught a tram and rode a cable just above the jungle canopy. In truth, we caught 3-4 trams as one wouldn’t have been long enough to take us to the top. At each transition between trams, there was a small boardwalk and a few informational signs, so we were able to learn a little bit about the rainforest during our journey. As our glass bubble skimmed above the treetops, we tried to get a few photos of the jungle. At one point, there was a very large waterfall with a rainbow appearing in the mist. It was a nice view, but I was more thankful for the open windows at the top of our pod. The breeze that came through our plastic bubble cooled us down just enough to make it pleasant.

At the end of the gondola, we were deposited in the town of Kuranda where we could explore three different markets, have a meal, get up close and personal with koalas and wallabies, hang out in a butterfly garden, enter a bird exhibit, or take a riverboat cruise (we had selected the river cruise, but the recent rains had caused them to cancel the river cruise). We opted to add exchange it for the bird exhibit, which made for an excellent addition to our koala and wallaby experience.

The part of Kuranda that had the koalas and wallabies is almost like a small zoo. We arrived just in time to have a photo taken with one of the koalas (Paul), so Tara held Paul while I stood close and had our photo taken by a staff member. Then they put Paul down for a nap. (These koalas only work 30 minutes a day, for a maximum of 3 days in a row, before getting a couple days off. On top of that, they get 20 hours of rest a day. Where can I sign up for that gig?)

From there we turned the corner and grabbed a handful of wallaby feed (some sort of pressed pellet). The pathway led us past a wombat napping in a hallowed out log to several wallabies lounging and resting in various parts of their enclosure. Some weren’t that interested in people or the food that we had to give them. A couple came up and slobbered all over me while I held my hand out to feed them (don’t worry, Tara got some photos). They were cute animals, but since they are mostly nocturnal, they were pretty out of it during the middle of the day (Tara still swears they were drunk).

Then we checked out the birds. We were warned before we went in that we should keep all shiny objects put away and secured. (Some of the birds are ornery and have collected an impressive amount of booty, which the staff use as a cautionary tale.) Then, just before we opened the door to enter, a white cockatoo named Henry verbally assaulted us and threw his food dish to the ground with a loud crash. He was a cheeky little jerk.

Inside, we wandered around and took photos of the birds (and even a turtle or three). I tried out my creepster lens on a couple of them and got some decent results. I am a little jealous of Tara’s relationship with Jimmy the cassowary. She talked nicely to him, and he actually posed for her.  I didn’t get that kind of reaction from him. Maybe it was her feminine wiles at work.

When we finished playing with the birds, we wandered through the markets and checked out all the trinkets. Tara picked up some gifts, and we proceeded to the café (we are both very food motivated). The food was ok, and really shouldn’t be a part of this story, but the ginger beer was amazing. It was delightfully refreshing. It was sweet without being cloying. It had enough of the ginger bite to let you know what you were drinking, but not so much that it punched you in the back of the throat. Tara and I still reminisce about that ginger beer more than two weeks later.

The trip to Kuranda ended with a nearly 2 hour train ride back down to Cairns. The train had historic rail cars and the announcer gave us a short history lesson on why the rail line was important to the region and Australia, especially in the war effort for WWI and WWII. They made a couple stops along the way for people to get out and take photos of a waterfall or the valley. It was a nice ride, but I preferred the tram.

To see a gallery of Cairns photos, Click here.

Our fun in Cairns (pronounced like cans, don’t ask me why they refuse to acknowledge the “i” and the “r” in the word) began at the same place it ended, at a delightful bed and breakfast called “Kookas B&B”. Our trip to the B&B was a mostly uneventful taxi drive through the Cairns Botanical Gardens, which was full of paths through tropical plants. I say mostly uneventful, because the exception was the last 30-40 unnerving meters. Kookas is located at the edge of the city in a suburb appropriately named Edge Hill. It turns out that Kookas was in fact on the edge of a hill and backed up against the rainforest. The driveway climbed 10-15 meters, complete with switchbacks and grooved pavement. Even with these traction aides, our taxi spun its tires at least once, and was nearly unable to take us to the top. We found out later that Marlies and Bruno (the owners of Kookas) have regular fights with taxi and Uber drivers, on behalf of their guests, to get the drivers to drive to the top of the driveway. They don’t win every fight. We had to walk that steep climb several times during our stay.

Marlies and Bruno were fantastic hosts with many fun and interesting suggestions about what to do in the city. They made sure we started each morning off right with a delicious breakfast that they prepared and set out for us, which included fresh fruits (dragon, pineapple, mango, banana, blueberry, etc), breads, jams, ham, cheese, yogurt, granola, and juice. It was quite the spread and while we were eating, they chatted with us about our plans for the day and offered a few suggestions. Marlies even sent us off to the airport on our early flight with a couple of homemade sandwiches. She didn’t need to do this, but it was amazing.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the name “Kookas” is an abbreviation of kookaburra. They had images of kookaburras all around the B&B from the mailbox to the garage door to some of the artwork that decorated the walls of the house. Even though Marlies told us that a family of kookaburras lived in the neighborhood, we didn’t give it much thought until our last full day in Cairns. That morning during breakfast, one of the kookaburra birds landed on the railing of the deck near our breakfast table. It just sat there looking slightly top heavy with an overly large beak. Then Marlies brought out a Tupperware container with meaty bits in it and fed the bird. This got him excited and he made a loud noise like a heckling laugh or a gibbering chimpanzee. Loud and a bit obnoxious, but not the most terrible bird noise we heard from that deck. (The white cockatoos win the Oscar for most horrible noise to come from an avian in Cairns. While they are fun birds to look at, Tara described their call as “painfully horrible” and “the stuff of nightmares”. She is, of course, correct on both points.)

We spent a little time in the city for meals, and to explore the shops between activities, but always left thankful that we were staying outside of town. The commercial part of the city basically consists of the waterfront (where reef and fishing tours depart from, as well as where some of the better dining establishments can be found), the main drag (where other restaurants, souvenir shops, and other stores are), and the night markets (ignore the name, they are also open during the day) that connect the waterfront to the main drag. The main drag had a camera shop and this became very important when Tara lost her lens cap during a photo tour (read more in the “Paul and the no Daintree, very wet day” installment of our journey). Some of the restaurants on the water offered “Australian” food like kangaroo and wallaby, but Tara and I both skipped the offerings (we both tried kangaroo and crocodile later at a fire making ceremony at the aboriginal center, but it wasn’t anything to write home about).

My overall rating for Kookas and the city of Cairns: 8.5. Kookas was fantastic and even though we had to do a bit of hiking to get back to our rooms a couple nights, the facilities and friendliness of Marlies and Bruno more than made up for it. The city was laid back. There wasn’t a lot of traffic or hustle and bustle. The main economic driver is tourism and it shows. My biggest complaint was the heat and rain. It was an unrelenting combination a couple of days we were there and I found it stifling and uncomfortable. Tara was less bothered by it than I was, and even professed to enjoy it (crazy, I tell you).

To see a gallery of Cairns photos, Click here.