Two For the Price of One

Tonight's posting will cover the last two days. They were full, exciting days.

Yesterday was my aboriginal culture day. The daytime was spent at Kuranda, a small community in the rainforest. An old train takes you up, stopping at a pretty waterfall on the way. The village is full of tourist trap stores. It does have a cool butterfly sanctuary where I got some good shots. That and some macadamia nut ice cream cone were the highlights of that part of the tour. From the village, a bus took us to Rainforest Station where we spent most of our time. It started with a good buffet lunch with a very special dessert. I got to hold a koala! I had to pay to have my picture taken to do it, but it was well worth the cost. Such a sweetie!

After lunch, we were taken on an amphibious tour into the rainforest. The highlight was seeing a rat kangaroo (not to be confused with a kangaroo rat). Most of the time was spent learning about the flora rather than the fauna.

Next, we finally got to the aboriginal stuff. There was a dance performance that was truly impressive. The culture has a lot to do with connection to the planet and its animals and the dances reflect that. My favorite dance, which I've now seen twice, is about kangaroos. After the show, we were taken by an aboriginal guide for digeridoo and spear throwing demonstrations and boomerang lessons. I passed on participating in the last.

The tour ended with a walk through an animal park. Not very exciting after my other experiences. Touching a wallabie? Been there, done that. The return trip was via Skyrail, an arial cable system that takes you up above the rain forest. The highlight of that for me was seeing cockatoos.

After a quick change of clothes, I was off on the second tour of the day: Tjapukai. This is a great operation, owned and managed by aboriginal people. First there was a sound and light show on dreamtime. Then we were led outside for a fire lighting ceremony in which we all participated by using rhythm sticks and dancing. After a buffet with an amazing array of choices, there was a dance program (hence my second kangaroo dance). The whole program was very well done.

Today was my second trip to the reef. This was a more traditional reef trip where a boat takes you to a permanent platform. The conditions were pretty rough and lots of people were sick. The snorkeling was tough because of the chop, but there were some very cool fish. Several of the species I wanted to see were checked off the list. A short glass-bottom boat tour showed me that what I had thought were giant clams were mere shrimps. The clams out there were about three feet across! I hooked up with a lovely older couple from Perth. The husband was originally from Liverpool and, yes, he knew the Fab Four before they were Fab. His insights were really interesting and he promised to send me something I'll post about if it actually arrives.

I'll miss the reef, but I won't miss the wetsuits. I did finally find ones my size, but they're still a pain.

Dinner tonight was an amazing seafood feast at a place recommended by a guy from my hotel. Lobster, crab. yabbies, Moreton Bay bugs, prawns, and mussels accompanied with nicely done veggies. The meal, which cost under $50 included lobster bisque, ice cream, and coffee. The last came with the best biscotti I've ever had.

One more day here. Can't believe how fast the time has gone. Tomorrow will be a low key day to finish shopping and try for one more koala cuddle.