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Detailed travelogue on Australia and New Zealand
Detailed Travelogue on Australia and New Zealand
Larry2006-05-27 03:23:16
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back home
again. Just about every business in town seemed to be either a gift shop
(often with welcome signs in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean), a restaurant,
or a tour-booking desk, though there were a few "normal" shopping malls as
well. I didn't spend too much time in the city itself, since the main
attractions are in the surrounding areas, but I did walk around a bit during
the evenings, and on my last night there, bought my one big purchase of the
trip at the local night market: a digeridoo (the traditional Australian
Aboriginal musical instrument made out of a long, hollowed-out piece of
wood), which I had shipped home.
When I first arrived in Cairns, I checked into a cheap motel called the
"Wintersun", and it was like a time-warp back in time. The decor, from the
curtains to the furnature to the ceiling fan, was pure 1960s. When the
owners wanted to go out for the evening, they'd just put a "FULL" sign up
and close the office, but the place did the trick. I dropped my bag off and
headed up to Kurana.
Kuranda is a small mountain village that tourists love to flock to. It's
nothing special, but is a nice quiet town nestled in the mountains, at the
eastern edge of the tablelands. It's nice to just stroll around, and there
are plenty of little shops to keep you busy. There's also a nice indoor
butterfly sanctuary that I visited, with plenty of large, blue Australian
Ulyssis butterflies fluttering around. Other than driving, there are two
ways to get to Kuranda from Cairns: (1) the Skyrail, a multi-sectioned
aerial tram, or (2) historic train. I decided to take the Skyrail up, and
the train back down.
The Skyrail is quite an interesting experience, and I recommend it to
anyone planning on visiting Kuranda. It takes just under a half-hour to get
to the top (more if you spend some time walking
...
See photographs from:
Australia Gallery
,
New Zealand Gallery
