holiday part 2....... final chapter
Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005
Okay...... back to it again, I've been writing this for the last few days on and off. I really hate writing recaps, more of a 'what's coming up' kinda guy.
If you missed part one..... go back here
Where did I finish off? That's right, Tuesday afternoon.
After wandering around the Gorge I jumped into the drivers seat and drove all the way back to cairns. Luckily for me the car we hired was the same model as my current one so there wasn't much getting used to. And remember...... hire cars go faster :) We headed back to the apartment to get tidied up a bit and then headed to my dad's cousins house for dinner and a catch up. She has two kids aged 3 and 6 and they seemed to stick to me like glue. Strangely kids love me, but I love going home at the end of it all and leaving them behind to someone else.
Wednesday we got up quite early to be at the Freshwater connection station to catch the scenic train up to the town of Kuranda high up in the rain forest. The trip takes just over an hour as it winds up the track around the mountain range with some steep dropoffs close to the edge of the railway. Along the way the train stops at a platform to let everyone hop out and take pics of the Barron falls. Up in Kuranda we wandered around the markets, took a visit to the Butterfly house and sat down for a seafood lunch all in the couple of hours we had up there.
After lunch it was back to the railway station where the Skyrail station is located above. From there you hop on one of the gondolas for the ascent up over the top of the rainforest. Along the way you can hop out at a couple of stops in the middle of the rainforest for a walk along the board walks where you get to see the Barron falls again from the otherside.
After a breathtaking ride over the tree tops the skyrail descended back down to the lower levels of Cairns where we took a short busride back to the train station we left from earlier in the day. We picked our car back up at the train station and headed back to the apartment to get cleaned up and refreshed to head out to dinner later that night.
Dinner was at my Dad's aunt's house and was a feast of roast lamb with the rest of the family. After more catching up, we agreed to meet again on Thursday night for another feed.
Thursday was another driving day. Heading up north again, but this time over the mountains and into the tablelands on the other side. The table lands are known for their slightly cooler and less humid conditions where a lot pf produce is grown. The main crops being bananas, coffee, mangoes and a few other that i can't remember. After stopping in Atherton and Mareeba we found the main place we had come out this way for....... The coffee plantations.
As soon as you step out of the car the aroma of freshly roasted beans and brewing coffee. Once inside you can stock up on coffee grounds, beans, tea, liqueurs and plenty of other coffee inspired gadgets to make you waste your money. I had to be careful though as I didn't want to get hit up for excess baggage on the way home.
If you want to buy some coffee from the region.... you can right from here or here.
Another pleasant drive home, this time via Kuranda, the town we visited the day before by train. More winding roads and spectacular scenery where the rainforest goes right up to the edge of the road. We headed back to the apartment to get ready for dinner at my cousins house. A feastful of prawns. Yum
Friday was spent as a lazy day, catching up on some souvenir buying and doing the laundry. Friday night we hit the town and found a nice looking Indian restaurant and enjoyed a delicious Indian banquet. Filled up from the meal we packed it in for the night and headed back to the abode for the night as we had some more traveling to do on Saturday.
Saturday morning we picked up my dad's aunt and uncle and took a tour of all the northern beaches and all of the other rellies houses to see where they were living and even some of them were building new places. It was amazing to see the stringent regulations that have to be followed when building a structure in a cyclone prone area. After the grand tour we all headed over to the lagoon on the esplanade in Cairns and had a BBQ dinner at the picnic area where all the kids, grandkids and in-laws had turned up for the feast. It was a great afternoon, the weather was pleasant with a nice breeze blowing in from the sea and the shade of the trees around us made for an even better gathering.
After all the gathering we headed back to my cousins house for a coffee and all the farewells as we were leaving the next day...
So on sunday moring we checked out of the apartment and headed to the airport as flying Jetstar necessitates an early check in to ensure a decent seat on the flight.
Cue to sunday night at about 6pm and I got home.
Home sweet home.
Unfortunately the new Adelaide airport terminal was not open to domestic travel and won't be for another couple of weeks due to some teething problems, so we got to walk across the tarmac of the old terminal for one last hurrah.
So there has it. The week that was. If you ever visit Australia, you must visit Queensland, but try not to stay in the glitzy Gold and Sunshine coasts, but head north to the tropics and far north regions. The scenery so much more overwhelming and there are so many un-spoilt places unlike all of the touristy areas down south. Thats not to say that good ole' South Australia isn't worth visiting, but just not as much to see and do down this way. Except for me that is :)
So people, enough for now. I'm a shocker of a blogger when it comes to re-hashing stuff, but I got there in the end.
Over and out!
~MJ~
P.S. The flight attendants on Jetstar are quite attractive :)
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mackaj at 7:34 p.m.