It was great to see the sun shining as we got up this morning as we had planned to take the Skyrail cable car up to Kuranda to see the rainforest, Barron Falls and the markets at Kuranda.

Although it was busy when we arrived at the terminal at 915 we managed to get on the Skyrail fairly quickly and began the journey up the mountain.

The view over Cairns in the morning light was really beautiful – the cable car gave you a great perspective of the area.

The rainforest is one of the oldest in the world and is heritage listed. We got off at the first stop – Red Peak – and did the rainforest walk through a truly spectacular section full of fantastic specimens of trees such as figs, palms and kauris as well as birdsnest ferns, cycads and orchids in abundance.

Barron Falls was the next stop – absolutely stunning scenery again despite the fact that the falls were not raging as they do just after the wet. It was not hard to imagine how spectacular they would be when torrents of water were flowing over them.

As we marvelled at the falls, a bloke next to us turned to Trev and asked him if he was a “shire boy”…sure enough he had recognised Trev as they went to the same school and played comp volleyball on the same team back then….he now lives in Engadine and his mate that was with him was born in Helensburgh….such a small world!!

We then continued on to Kuranda where we browsed the markets and had coffee with Rose and Dave who caught up to us after their plumbing shopping spree in the morning.

Kuranda was full of a variety of market stalls and souvenir shops – mostly tacky Aussie souvenirs made in China – very few local products which was a shame. We scored a bottle of special sauce for Gordie……

Lunch at the pub at Kuranda was delicious then we hopped back on the Skyrail for the trip back down the mountains…beautiful scenery all around!!

That afternoon we drove to Lake Placid just near our caravan park – and watched ducks surfing the rapids..

A bit further away was Barron Gorge through which the Barron River flows. We drove into the gorge national park and as far as the hydroelectric plant. The rainforest grew down the cliff-like mountainsides on either side of the gorge and small creeks and waterfalls tumbled into the river.

The Barron River was full of rapids and Surprise Creek waterfall was cascading down into the Barron River near the hydroelectric plant.

We watched as some intrepid tourists commenced their “shoot the rapids” journey down the Barron River….there was not a lot of water in the river but enough to still paddle downstream…it was not hard to imagine how torrential the river would be during the wet season.

Back at camp Macgyver swung into action as Dave had managed to source the correct plumbing fittings to fix the water inlet in the Wells’ Snowy….. Branch was glad of the distraction as there had not been much action lately.

The new microwave had arrived as well so Rosie was pleased that Branch and Macgyver were doing the installation (while certain others beer in hand looked on!!).

Dinner was had at the Jade Chinese Restaurant as Gordie was having Chinese food withdrawal symptoms not having had Chinese since we left Sydney.

Back at camp we presented him with his gift from Kuranda – Chilli Willie’s “Blurter Hurter” sauce…..watch the blog for the effects….