Hazel does Australia: Cairns Adventures Part 1

Saturday 23rd August 2014

On my return to Cairns, with a reminder from the asterisked attractions in my trusty companion (The Rough Guide to Australia), I made a list of sights I wanted to fit around my pre-booked tours. I decided that I would fit as much in on Saturday as I could to leave any free time as relaxation and reflection time. On Saturday morning I set off with the intention of visiting the Botanical Gardens in the morning, lunch at the hostel and then the museum and art gallery (2 separate attractions) in the afternoon. Exploring a different road to the sea front, I ambled to the pier bus stops, the starting point of many of the city's bus routes. Checking my phone, I found Bus Stop B for the 131 bus and settled into a shady spot on a bench between to older couples. While we were waiting we discussed the different destinations we wanted the buses to transport us to and got onto chatting about where we originated from. I thought the accent of the lady next to me sounded familiar and I discovered she was a £10 Pom that moved to Australia in the 60s. Smiling politely I pretended I knew what she was talking about, vaguely recalling a scheme to increase the population of Australia. Wikipedia confirms this and I quote "Created in 1945 during the government of Ben Chifley as part of the "Populate or Perish" policy by the first Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, the scheme was designed to substantially increase the population of Australia and to supply workers for the country's booming industries." When the 131 bus arrived, late as I've found Aussie buses often are, I jumped on and bought myself a day ticket.

Keen not to miss an exhibition at the Tanks Arts Centre which closed around 2pm, I made a bee line to the concrete structures. Camouflaged amongst lush greenery, the tanks were built during world war two to meet the demand by the Royal Australian Navy for fuel and they were purposefully located here to protect them from enemy eyes. Turned into an arts space in 1991, they now show arts, music and theatrical performances. Unfortunately I'd missed a performance by Soweto Gospel Choir the previous evening by hours!

In tank four I found the anticipated print exhibition and the colours and composition of this piece particularly caught my eye.

What attracted my attention more though was the container which housed the gallery. Encapsulating these beautiful pieces of art were a harsh, mototone, industrial-feeling comination of pipes, ladders, chains and rough walls. Almost a piece of art in itself.

Juxtaposed against the organic rainforset, the man made vessel brought connotations of the attack and defense of war to mind. Now the insides reflect the beauty of the surrounding area.

Further round the winding path, another tank had been decked out with lighting equipment for the various evening shows held here.

A closeby signpost had also signaled an amphitheatre in the same position and it wasn't until I turned round I realised the grassy bank behind me was undulating to create some natural seating.

Leaving the arts centre, I noticed this intriguing wall which contained all sorts of interesting artefacts and the way in which they were combined remided me of the the work of my talented artist friend, Gilly Lampe.

Heading towards the Flecker Garden, the Formal Garden of Cairns Botanic Gardens, I noticed this ladder like construction reaching high across the street. I was reminded of the taxi driver in Port Macquarie who explained that they allow local wildlife to cross the street without getting harmed by passing traffic.

In Flecker Garden there were some beautifully vibrant plants and flowers, unusual in shape, pattern and colour.

I still had a little time before my return bus so I zigzagged along the rainforest boardwalk to the bamboo gardens where declarations of love and friendship had been engraved affectionately onto the shoots.

After I'd returned to the hostel and cooked lunch, I sat thoughtfully in the central courtyard, realising that I'd had enough sightseeing for the day so scrapped the rather military plan I'd created that morning. Instead, I hunted for a camera case, making the most of my day's bus ticket to return to the shopping centre where I'd initially purchased my camera.

Later I took a short nap before giving Mum a birthday FaceTime call.

Sunday 24th August 2014
The start of my pre-booked tours began today with a combination ticket to the Tjapukai (pronounced jabukai) Cultural Park, the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway and the Kuranda Scenic Railway. Compared with the rest of the week, this was my quieter day in terms of adventure and adrenalin.

After a shuttlebus pick up and tour round other Cairns accomodation, we arrived at Tjapukai which is both the name of the centre and of the local Aborigonal tribe. The tour started with a talk named 'Art of my people'. The traditionally dressed native explained the meanings of various paintings, firstly 'Heart of my people' - google it! The best image is clearly copyrighted so I don't want to risk copying it here. Eerily this piece of art, or at least one similar, was a piece of art I began my last block of art teaching with! She went to to compare different styles of Aborigonal art - the xray art of this area on the left and the dotted art of central Austrailia on the right. Western Australia has yet another style. The map at the bottom shows the many Aborigonal tribes within Australia.

The shields on display, which are smaller display versions of those used traditionally, are created by father and son simultaneously. They sit at either end of the shield, father taking in the spirit on the son and reperesenting it in paint on the shield while the son mimmicks and reflects his painting.

Next was a didgeridoo demonstration where we learnt that didgeridoos are found my tapping trees to find hollow ones. How do they become hollow? Termites eat the soft wood inside! Explaining the 5 steps to play the didge, we practiced vibrating our lips, then his tapped his tongue to mimic a kangaroo jumping, before introducing the use of his voice box to imitate dingos and other animals. The fourth and fifth step escape me now, perhaps I should've taken notes like the American lady next to me!

After the didge demo, we returned to the theatre to enjoy the dance show - I'd been excited to see this!

Following a didge introduction, the host explained how their names reflected animals or nature such as Rainbow or Saltwater Crocodile.

As part of one of their dances, the performers represented different Australian animals. This particular dancer was mesmerising - it was as if he had been possessed by the animals and they were acting through his body! I wounder if you can guess what animal he is in each of the poses!*

Finally, they showed us how they create fire using natural materials.

The final two demonstrations described the foods and weapons used in the rainforest. The weapons included all sorts of different boomerangs used for various purposes.

My time at the Tjapukai Cultural Centre whizzed by and it was soon time to leave for the Skyrail which departed from the adjacent building. A few fascinating facts about Skyrail:

- it's 7.5km long

- it has 114 gondolas, with capacity to carry 650 passengers per hour

- it opened on 31st August 1995

- when it was completed it was the world's longest gondola cableway but it's since been overtaken

- it has 2 mid point stations, Red Peak and Barron Falls

- there are 32 towers, the highest is 40.5m

- there were strict limitations on its construction so the towers were installed with helicopters

Surprisingly there were several empty gondolas so I was lucky enough to enjoy one on my own. This meant I was able to move around to capture the best views.

Stepping off the gondola at Red Peak station, speechless doesn't even come close to how I felt. Amazed, astounded, overwhelmed... There just doesn't seem to be a word to describe the feeling as I tried to digest the views and sensation of gliding OVER the rainforest! Together with the fact that I was shaken and swung into the station and then catapulted out the other side on my departure, I had to remind myself that this was supposed to be my calm, quiet day! Frustratingly I attracted a rather annoying American lady who insisted on jabbering away when I would've preferred to quietly take in the stunning views. A polite smile and an extended loiter at a lookout point seemed to get rid of her, along with a surprise interest in the rope lining the walkway!

Back on a new stretch of cable way, the journey continued to Barron Falls station.

The 32 towers are all visably numbered and the printed guide a available at Caravonica station, my starting point, details points of interest with reference to the towers. Therefore I knew that between towers 25 and 27 I would experience the best views of Barron Gorge and Falls from the cableway.

I got a closer look of the falls from the station boardwalk...

Although it took an hour to complete my journey from Caravonica to Kuranda, it flew by (pardon the pun!) and I would've retraced its path instantly. It was simply breathtaking. The river signalled our approach to Karunda.

Karunda was a strange little town similar to any other tourist town along the coast and it appeared to me that without the continuous influx of visitors from the Skyrail and Scenic Railway to fill its numerous cafés, shops, markets and wildlife attractions it wouldn't survive. I heard a statistic comparing the permanent population with the number of visitor and the ratio was staggering. Still, I couldn't help feeling that the town was an anticlimax after the Skyrail and found myself counting down the minutes to my return Scenic Railway journey. The only item of interest I managed to find was a plane wreck - in service for a period of years, then used in a plane crash for a film before being salvaged and donated in several pieces to the town of Kuranda to add to their markets.

Aiming for my 3:30pm train, I arrived at Kuranda Railway Station early to explore the station, taking lots of photos to share with my train fanatic Dad! As I climbed the steps over the bridge I was pleasantly reminded of the stunning weather and plants of Australia!

Our train was a staggering 14 carriages long and more than filled platform two!

It was to be pulled by 2 diesel engines, one of which was painted with a colourful Aboriginal design, a nice link back to my morning's visit.

The carriages were varied in age - some 70 years old, some 100 years old! Stepping into the carriage was like stepping back in time!

I found my seat, number 39 in carriage 4, and settled into the comfortably soft faux leather, noticing that many of the other passengers in my carriage (including the jabbering American!) had followed the same schedule as me for the day. We'd sat together at Tjapukai, passed each other at the Skyrail stations and met each other in Kuranda. Fortunately I was joined in my section by a friendly, appreciative American lady and her daughter who admired the views in a modest fashion. As we were the only 3 in the section designed for 8 I was able to move to enjoy a window seat view of the rivers, valleys, bridges, tight bends and waterfalls. I also captured the carriages at Barron Falls station.

Arriving back in Cairns at 5:25, I couldn't believe that my 'calm, quiet' day had delivered such excitement and splendour but it had to end early in preparation for my next adventure! With a sense of 'how will I do it?!' I tentatively set my alarm for 3:45am!

Monday 25th August 2014

I was so excited that I was up before my alarm at 3:30am! Lying in bed I'd thought I'd get up a little earlier to get some breakfast before my 4:10am pickup. It hadn't dawned on me that the kitchen would be locked at this hour. Seeing the shutter pulled down I realised it was obvious but I had never needed the kitchen at this time before! Already dressed, having slept in my clothes, and not wanting to wake the others in my room with the continuous clunk of the door, I had to use up a spare half an hour, loitering in the communal area, peering through the window for my bus. Luckily I was there early and I was greeted with an appreciative 'Thank you for your early preparation' from the Chinese driver. Again, after several pickups around the city, we set off on our 1 hour journey to Mareeba. I'm beginning to realise that the location of my hostel dictates that I am always the first on the pickup run and the last of the drop offs!

So what required such an early pick up before a long drive? A hot air balloon ride over the Atherton Tablelands and sunrise of course! And oh my word it was amazing. I was like a small child at Disneyland when I discovered I would be flying in the koala balloon and it was staggering seeing it inflate alongside another 3 balloons. There were to be 2 thirty minute flights and I would be on the second flight which meant I was able to see the balloon launch as the morning became steadily lighter. What a sight!

We 'chased' the balloon for the short distance of its flight and we barely had to wait any time at all before it landed and it was our turn to climb in. The cheesy grin in the photos reflects my enjoyment as I felt like a Cheshire Cat for the whole journey. A balloon's journey is dictated by the wind, the pilot has control over the height to catch different wind directions and can also twist the balloon but the wind has ultimate control. It was this feature that determined our landing site and also extended our journey to nearly an hour. This resulted in more stunning views and my best sunrise/sunset photo yet!

Once the basket was settled on the floor, we had to tip it to deflate the balloon. We all crouched in the basket and ended up lying on our backs! It was very amusing!

After landing and a quick walk inside the balloon, we were encouraged to help pack the balloon away, with the playful staff bundling various passengers amongst the vast folds of the balloon. Feeling satisfied we piled back onto the bus for our return journey, all before 8am!

I managed to hold out until around 3:30pm when I felt my eyelids grow heavy and I had to give in! I slept for a couple of hours before making myself some dinner and retelling the stories of the past couple of days to mum and dad over FaceTime.

I have more photos of the day, taken by the company which I hope to add when I have chance to retrieve them off the memory stick!

Tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday bring more adventures and I plan to publicise them in a couple more blogs.

I'm heading to bed feeling very fulfilled and lucky!

*the dancer was representing a cassowary, eagle and kangaroo.

How does one become a butterfly? You want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.

EDIT: Good news! I now have a memory stick that actually has the photos on! So here they are!