Travel: Day 8 - Australia - Koalas, Kuranda, and Kool ways to travel

One of the advantages of teaching at a small liberal arts institution is the freedom to design and offer courses that are close to one's heart. 

In January 2011, I taught Tropical Ecology  and, for one of the class activities, I took a group of students on a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico. (Click here to read about the trip to Puerto Rico). 

In January 2013, I taught Ecology of Australia and, naturally, it entailed a field trip to Australia! What follows is a travelogue of our adventures together, the sights we saw, the things we did, and the lessons we learned while exploring a land far removed from home.

(You can see the previous posts in this thread here).

After getting a close look at the rainforest in the crane on the previous day, on Day 8 we took a more scenic path to (and through it) via the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.

(Katherine Lederer 2013)

The skyrail is a series of gondolas that rise from the base station at Caravonica Terminal, located about 15 miles from Cairns, and traverses about 7.5km (4.7mi) over the rainforest with 2 stops along the way at Red Peak, Barron Falls, finally ending at Kuranda.  Along the way, we got a close look at Barron Gorge National Park.

(C.S. Manish 2013)

The Skyrail system comprises of 114 gondolas that travel over a path that is held up by 33 towers, the tallest of which is 133 feet (40.5m) high.

(Katherine Lederer 2013)

(Note: In order to conserve space on the blog and make it easier to scroll through, I am condensing how much of  the post is displayed.  To read the rest of it, simply click on the "Click here for the rest of my jaywalk" link below).

All the towers were airlifted and put in place by helicopters to cause minimal disruption to the rainforest.

(C.S. Manish 2013)

The Skyrail has been in operation since 1995 and takes about an hour and a half to complete the journey from one end to the other.

(Victoria Vollmer 2013)

From near sea level at Caravonica Terminal, the cableway rises to the top of Red Peak (1788 feet).

(C.S. Manish 2013)

 As the cable rises steeply the entire eastern section towards the ocean comes into view.

(C.S. Manish 2013)

 In case you were wondering, a gondola safely seats 4 passengers at a time.

(C.S. Manish 2013)

The view from the gondola was spectacular as we seemingly floated above the canopy, as evidenced by this collection of canopy pictures.

(Hannah Steen 2013)

 The first stop was at Red Peak station.

(Kinsley Shoup 2013)

As at every stop along the way, we got off and took a guided tour of the nearby premises.

(Kinsley Shoup 2013)

At Red Peak Statipn, the highlight was to walk along a 175m long rainforest boardwalk that is in a stretch of forest populated by 400 year old Kauri pine.

(Victoria Vollmer 2013)

From Red Peak, we took off for the Barron Falls station.

(Trey Cusick III 2013)

This stretch takes us parallel to the Barron River as it courses eastwards and the forest structure changes to a more complex one where plenty of epiphytes can be seen, just a few feet below the gondola as it glides by.

(Kinsley Shoup 2013)

At the Barron Falls Station, another boardwalk takes us to the edge of the cliff for some clear views of the spectacular falls and the gorge from three different locations.

(Victoria Vollmer 2013)

No amount of photographs, panoramic or otherwise, can do justice to the majesty of Barron Falls, which was not in full flow as it was the middle of summer.

(Katherine Lederer 2013)

After a series of photographs, we then got into the gondolas and took the last leg of the Skyrail, on the way crossing the Barron River (but not seeing any crocodiles, though).

(C.S. Manish 2013)

Soon after crossing the Barron River we reached the the village of Kuranda.

(Sandra 2013)

Kuranda is a small town with a listed population of a little over 1100 people that is a tourist haven with access to many trails and paths into the Barron Gorge National Park and is home to a variety of animal and bird preserves.

(Katherine Lederer 2013)

From teh Skyrail station, it is a short walk to the central business district.

(C.S. Manish 2013)

At Kuranda village, we spent a few minutes wandering around taking in the sites...

(C.S. Manish 2013)

Not always avoiding the tourist traps along the way...

(C.S. Manish 2013)

 We then split up for lunch, with one group going to the Rainforest View Restaurant.....

(Sandra 2013)

...where some of us had kangaroo pie with the animal "baked" in as confirmation.

(C.S. Manish 2013)

Marie had written postcards to seemingly about a 1000 of her close friends and family in the US and had been on the lookout for a postoffice or mailbox.

(Sandra 2013)

She was finally able to send them off from Kuranda (so, if you received one from her you know exactly where she mailed them from).

(C.S. Manish 2013)

After lunch, we gathered and walked over to the Kuranda Koala Gardens...

(C.S. Manish 2013)

...where we were duly stamped and authorized to wander around on our own.

(C.S. Manish 2013)

The Koala Garden features a small but eclectic collection of koalas, crocodiles, wombats, kangaroos, snakes, other reptiles, and wallabies (among other animals).

(Kinsley Shoup, Victoria Vollmer, Trey Cusick III, Stephen Spanel, Angie Proctor, C.S. Manish 2013)

After days of "chasing" the elusive crocodiles, we finally got to see a pond teeming with them...

(Victoria Vollmer 2013)

In the heat of the afternoon, all of them were lazing about...

(Stephen Spanel 2013)

...and we got our first close look at these mighty beasts.

(C.S. Manish 2013)

But the highlight of the visit to the Koala Garden was a chance to have a picture taken with a koala bear (for a small additional fee, of course, but nobody minded that).

(Angie Proctor, C.S. Manish, Katherine Lederer, Sandra, Trey Cusick III 2013)

On the way out, some of us fed the animals, in this case a wallaby.

(Trey Cusick III 2013)

We walked back through the town and reached the railway station.  While we had taken the Skyrail to come to Kuranda, we went back to Cairns by another mode of transportation - the Kuranda Scenic Railway.

(C.S. Manish 2013)

 The entire journey took about 2.5 hours as we traveled from Kuranda (elevation 328m (1107ft) to Cairns.  For many, it was their first time on a train, especially one in which they could stick their hands out of the window (which they, of course, never did as instructed by the train personnel).

(C.S. Manish 2013)

On the way back we passed by Barron Gorge, this time from the other side. On the train, a running commentary of the history (and geography) of the area and the railroad was provided by a commentary on the public address system.

In keeping with the spirit of things, the twin engines pulling the train were, themselves, quite colorful.

(Sandra 2013)

The train, as one would expect, skirted the edge of the mountain range, winding back and forth...

(Kinsley Shoup 2013)

 ...sometimes cutting through the hills via tunnels.

(Sandra 2013)

...until the route opened up to provide some spectacular views.

(Kinsley Shoup 2013)

The train ambled along unhurriedly, letting passengers soak in the sights along the way.

(Victoria Vollmer 2013)

The view on the other side was, almost always, just as spectacular...

(Sandra 2013)

My personal favorite view during the journey was this one:

(C.S. Manish 2013)

Upon reaching Cairns, we retired to the hostel, freshened up and had dinner at our regular haunt - the Woolshed - for the last time on the trip.

(Victoria Vollmer 2013)

The next day was an "open" day to explore Cairns and I had some surprises up my sleeve for the unsuspecting students.......but in order to find out more, you'll have to call in later for Day 9's report.

(C.S. Manish 2013)