Through the Daintree to Cooktown

We did a three-day 4WD  bus tour from Cairns to Cooktown and back via the Daintree rainforest and Cape Tribulation. Here's driver Matthew leaning nonchalantly against his bus. (He did nonchalant rather well.)

There were kangaroo pettings, rainforest walks, swims in crocodile-free swimming holes, and a billy tea swinging demonstration.

We did appreciate very much a nice little tropical fruit-tasting session, where driver Matthew gave us samples of several exotic tropical fruits which are nowadays grown locally. I'd never heard of some of them (like the chocolate pudding dessert fruit, or the delicious chiku). But I was well aware of jackfruit, custard apple, and pineapple!

There was also a mandatory visit to an iconic outback pub or two.

FNQ loves its crocs

And they're everywhere!

Actually they're not. But the scary stories are, and the warning signs are on every beach and beachside footpath. And they want all the tourists to have a crocodile sighting or two. Who'd want to visit Far North Queensland and not see a croc?

Here are some freshwater crocs in the Cairns Zoom Dome zoo.












And here's the enormous saltwater croc they keep there, just under one of the zip lines that the more intrepid tourists zip along.

On the Daintree River cruise we saw one lurking at the water's edge. It was a miniature three-year-old one though, only about a metre long.









On the bus above the Bloomfield River, a very large one was pointed out, sitting stationary on the mud flat, with its mouth open. I think it was real.
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The one below was in the new Cairns aquarium.

A zoo called Zoom

It's not only a zoo. It offers 'adrenaline-pumping activities' too, involving high altitude obstacle courses and zip line rides above enormous live crocodiles.

It's in a dome on top of the roof of Cairns casino, and it's much more fun to visit than the gaming rooms downstairs could possibly be.

The animals are mostly free to roam the place, or at least the birds are. They have their preferred areas and best friends, like this king parrot and koala.


Several crocodiles, and useful explanations about the freshwater and saltwater and their differences.

We watched  two young tourists doing the full 'Hi-Zoom' experience. They successfully traversed a long sequence of scary-looking high altitude experiences. They were securely harnessed and attached, but they were a long way up at times, and I hesitated long enough to talk myself out of giving it a go myself.



 If I ever get back to Cairns though......

Kuranda - it's all in the journey!

Kuranda is a nice little tourist town up on the Dividing Range just above Cairns. You spend an hour or two in the tourist shops. You argue with the ice cream lady with the almost-Tasmanian customer service skills, who seems quite determined to sell you the chocolate ice cream when you tell her several times it's the cookies-and-cream one you want.


But really the day is about the getting up there, and the getting down again.

The Kuranda Scenic Railway is a fine institution. It's magnificently engineered, with its 13 tunnels and 45 bridges (or vice versa or something like that), and its 328m ascent. It used to be a a major link in Queensland's rail system, but now it just keeps us tourists happily occupied. It's over 100 years old, and the stations are extremely historic and attractive.

We went up to Kuranda by the train, and came back down on the Skyrail cable car thing. This is quite impressive too, being 7.5km long and giving you great views of the rainforest below. You get out at a couple of places along the way, and do little rainforest walks.

Even the least intrepid of adventure travellers seem to survive the trip well!

Green Island, blue sky, greeny-blue sea

When I visited Cairns many years ago I think I had only an hour or so to spend on a Green Island visit, so I did a quick run around its circumference and headed back. I think there was a glass-bottomed building or something too. It was a long time ago!







 Anyway, on this trip we made a proper day trip of it. There's quite a lot to see and do these days. And despite the enormous crowds of tourists, it all seems to be well-managed and the place is not too damaged by them.

























You can snorkel the coral reef, or view it from a glass-bottomed boat, or stroll the beaches, or just lounge around.

There are very comfortable boats to ferry you to and from the place too these days. It's 45minutes from Cairns.

Cairns' new aquarium

Cairns has a new aquarium, and it's quite the place. It's well worth the somewhat substantial entry fee, what with several hours worth of spectacular exhibits swimming around and above you.

All the usual suspects of course. Sharks, crocodiles, snakes, frogs, colourful crustaceans, incredibly colourful reef fish galore. And some of the tanks are as big as they come.

 

The chap in the first video below rather took my fancy.

And then there are the sharks and the amazing pulsating jellyfish:

Splendid esplanade

Sydney Exponential had a week away last week in Far North Queensland. We flew to Cairns, where we based ourselves while we explored points further north, like the Daintree Rainforest, Cape Tribulation, and Cooktown. There were also obligatory trips to Green Island and Kuranda.

Cairns (supposedly pronounced "Cans", though I couldn't quite hear that) revolves around its splendid esplanade. It's several kilometres long, has cafes, fitness stations, great views, and the occasional crocodile visit. It's a great place to stroll or hang out. There's also a rather fine enormous free swimming 'lagoon', with artificial beach and guaranteed crocodile-free status. As well as a cooling dip, you can join in on the free aqua zumba sessions. Looks great! Watch the video below.