We are in our new room at the hotel but it is one floor lower so our view out to the ocean is a somewhat blocked by a few Palm Trees. The sunrise this morning was about as nice as yesterday’s with a golden glow behind the mountains that developed into a bright sun shining into our room.
Today’s temperature was about 29C and quite humid. I can tell that, not only by feel, but also that the washing I did yesterdsay afternoon is still not quite dry. (I rember it was the same in Singapore when JIl was in hospital. I even resorted to ironing my socks in an attempt to dry them).
We have seen many of the places around here before but decided that we should go back to the town of Kuranda for another look at the butterfly sanctuary there. Kuranda is just 29 kilometers from Cairns and a short 45 minute drive up a winding mountain road. It actually took a little longer today as some teams of workers are repairing the road after parts of it were washed away recently by heavy rain.
Kuranda is a quintessential tourist town. Once upon a time tourists travelled on the Kuranda Scenic Railway, marvelled at the Barron Falls, had afternoon tea at the Kuranda Hotel, and returned to Cairns. These days, thre are dozens of tourist shops and cafes and people can return to Cairns on the long Skyrail Cableway. We drove by car because it was more convenient for Jill.
It’s very hard to find a parking space anywhere near the main street. It’s also hard to find an ordinary shop such as a butcher or pharmacy that the locals would need. They are all tucked away at the back of the town.
The Australian Butterfly Sanctuary has been an attraction at Kuranda for decades. It is reputedly the largest butterfly aviary in the country with a population of over 1,500 tropical butterflies. My suspicion is that they were much fewer in number today and probaby less than I saw when we last visited two years ago. However, there were enough butterflies to make it interesting and to let me practice some close-up photography.
During the wet season, especially in the early months of the year, the nearby Barron Falls would be an amazing site. The Barron River rises in the rainforests in Mount Hypipamee National Park and winds 60 km across the Atherton Tableland through one of Australia’s highest rainforest belts. It then enters the deep Barron Gorge and falls 250 metres onto the narrow coastal lowlands and flows out to the Coral Sea. Today, it was still impressive but just a mere trickle compared to its full potential.
High humidity and 29 degrees in Cairns! Who’d have thought!
This reminds me of an experience I had there at this time of the year but many years ago.
I was in Grade 6 and it was the first day for the Marist Brother who was about to teach us. He was visibly distressed by the heat and humidity and couldn’t understand why we were all dressed in the school jumper!
When the Brother asked a classmate why we were all wearing the jumper, my classmate replied:
“It’s not warm enough, Brother!”
Oh those butterflies ! Aren’t they fabulous!
Like the view from your hotel in Cairns…..almost as good as ours looking over the harbour a few years ago.