There is one (and only one) upside of having our holiday flight home delayed by more than an hour and a half – it gives me the chance to write a blog post about the previous day!  Yesterday was Skyrail and Kuranda day.

We were originally hoping to catch the train up to Kuranda and just do the return trip via Skyrail, but a cruise ship was in town and the train was fully booked. So it was Skyrail both ways!

The cableway has a couple of stops on the way. There are boardwalks that take you through the rainforest, spectacular views, and interpretative centres. I think that the girls’ favourite part was the cable car taking off each time – whoosh!

After arriving in Kuranda, we briskly walked past the markets and headed to wildlife attractions. First stop was the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary.  I’ve been to Kuranda and to the Butterfly Sanctuary many times over the years, but I do have to say that this is still an excellent attraction.  It’s not huge, although it has been expanded to include a visit to where the butterfly eggs and caterpillars are raised, and the guided tour is excellent.  Our guide was Juliette, and she really went over and above to answer our questions and give us as much information as possible.  We had a brilliant time.  The butterflies were especially attracted to Stella’s hat – her highlight of the day was having butterflies land on her.

From here we went to Kuranda Koala Gardens. This was another smaller attraction, with plenty of Australian animals to see. But the biggest drawcard here was the opportunity to hold a koala. Clare had the honours (they are rather heavy) and Stella was able to cuddle. The koala was called Hazel – a young female.

Just next door was Birdworld Kuranda, a large sanctuary of free flying birds. The girls had fun trying to identify each bird. They did a pretty good job of it! I just enjoyed the colours. Oh, that plumage!

Then it was time to head back and take in the glorious views along the way. The weather here has been absolutely perfect.  A truly excellent holiday.

I’ve mentioned already that my brother runs a fishing charter business.  As well as the game fishing boat, he has a smaller 4.7m boat that he uses for barra fishing.  Yesterday he drove us down to where the Russell River flows into the sea, half way between Cairns and Innisfail.  Then we all jumped onto the boat and headed out to the Frankland Islands to enjoy some sand, sunshine and snorkeling.  We spotted a school of fish along the way, had lunch on Normanby Island, and generally had a ball.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  In this case, the photos pretty much tell the story.

Sleep in.

Catch up on news and social media.

Kids play on devices.

Go to the movies to see the BFG.

Kids play on devices.

Start reading a novel.

Meet two sets of Melbourne friends for dinner at an Indian restaurant on the Esplanade.

Bed time!

After a slow start to the day, filled with coffee and sleeping in and catching up on news, we headed to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures.  So you know what this blog post will be full of, don’t you – photos of crocodiles!

Hartley’s is a little over half an hour drive north of Cairns, along the beautiful Captain Cook Highway once again.  My brother was driving this time, so I was really able to take in those lovely views.  And have I mentioned the weather up here yet?  It’s just lovely – perfect weather for living, really.  Summer clothes during the day but not terribly hot, yet hot enough to swim (or get sunburnt).  Summer pyjamas for night time with a sheet and one light blanket.  At the most.  The breeze is lovely, the air is full of noises from birds and insects, and overall it’s delightful.  Last night I listened to the sound of curlews in chorus.  It’s so distinctive!  Unfortunately for some reason the neighbours think that it’s a good idea to have turkeys and geese as pets in a residential neighbourhood, so I’ve been listening to the honking of the geese in the middle of the night too.  Not as lovely as the curlews.

So, to Hartley’s!  Anyone who has been up to FNQ on holiday knows that the cost of attractions and activities really adds up, especially for a family.  Hartley’s is an attraction that I think is excellent value (and your entry price includes return visits for three days).  It’s a working crocodile farm, that raises saltwater crocodiles mostly for their skins but also for their meat.  We took a short tour of the farming area and saw where the crocodiles are grown.  They’re “harvested” at about 3 years of age.  Wild crocodiles are a protected species.  I’ve found a couple of articles on crocodile farming here, here, here and here (that one from Choose Cruelty Free).  They all provide interesting perspectives on crocodile farming.

From the farm tour we moved to a snake show.  Christy gave an extremely informative talk about venomous land snakes and non-venomous land snakes, showing us a couple of examples of each.  After some encouragement both Clare and Stella made the decision to touch the carpet python.  Stella described it as dry and bumpy.  She was pretty pleased with herself!

The next event was probably the highlight of our visit.  Christy was joined by another staff member, Matt, and they proceeded to give us an extremely interesting and entertaining talk and demonstration about crocodiles and their habits.

 

Crocodiles freak me out.  Those living dinosaurs – they really are such a brilliant example of natural selection and adaptation for their environment.  They are incredibly strong and powerful, and move extremely quickly in the water!  Packed with muscle and strength, they are very successful opportunistic hunters.  There are croc warning signs in FNQ for a reason – they can and do kill people as well as whatever animals stray into their path.  Just watching Matt in the enclosure with Hagrid the crocodile make me feel extremely nervous.

From the croc show we moved on to the boat trip on the lagoon.  At the moment the lagoon is covered in brilliant green duckweed.  There are 25 crocodiles in this area, and we saw a number of them from the boat.  Once again we had a terrific tour leader who answered questions and pointed out other things of interest, such as the bird life in the area.

Cassowaries were up next.  They’re yet another dangerous Australian creature!  After listening to a talk about the birds the girls were able to hand feed one through a fence.  The coloured wattles of the cassowaries are quite spectacular.  But those feet have sharp spurs and they are known to be highly territorial and often aggressive.

Finally, it was koala feeding time!  There were three koalas munching vigorously on eucalyptus leaves.  Once again we were treated to a highly informative talk and question and answer session about them, following by the opportunity to give them a pat.  Yes, they are as soft as they look – but like many Australian mammals, they also have sharp claws and teeth so it’s always a good idea to remain wary!

I’ve visited Hartley’s a few times over the years now, but it’s always great to experience these attractions through the fresh eyes of my daughters.

Yesterday was Daintree Day.

We jumped in the car after breakfast and headed north up the Captain Cook Highway.  This road connects Cairns to Mossman, taking you past spectacular scenery where the forest and beaches meet, then through the sugar cane fields.  And it was all happening at Mossman – not only was it the monthly Saturday market yesterday, but there was another rather significant Australian event taking place.

What a pretty polling place – but it was a good thing that I had cast my pre-poll vote back home, considering how busy it was there. As I type this the results of our election are still uncertain….but I’ll keep politics off the blog. I rather love the sugar cane fields – seeing trucks loaded with cane taking them to the sugar cane trains, which once they are long enough head off through the fields to their next stop – presumably to be processed. Many years ago I did a tour through a cane processing plant. I love factory tours and finding out how things are made. I wonder if there are still similar ones taking place? Anyway, our first stop was by the Daintree River, where we took a cruise through the mangroves to see if we could find any crocodiles.

Our tour with Daintree River Cruises was excellent. I find mangroves fascinating, and our guide really knew his stuff. We didn’t have any luck in finding large crocodiles, as the air temperature and water temperature were probably about the same at that stage so they weren’t on the banks sunning themselves. But we did manage to locate a teensy hatchling sitting on a log.

See him there?

We also spotted a beautiful Brahminy kite – a bird of prey with a stunning chestnut body with white tipped wings.  Incredible to watch it soaring overhead.  After our boat tour we joined the queue to catch the vehicle ferry across the Daintree River.

We were headed into cassowary territory. Our destination here was the Daintree Discovery Centre. Here there were boardwalks with audio tours for the whole family. It was an excellent way to learn more about the rainforest flora and fauna, as well as the history of the area.

On our way back to Cairns we stopped off to admire the beaches and the views.

Pizza for dinner with a glass of wine, Pitch Perfect 2 on DVD, and just a little bit of watching the election count finished off a wonderful day.

On Thursday evening the girls and I eventually boarded a plane to Cairns. Hooray! (My husband has had to stay behind to work – fortunately he had a quick visit to Cairns a month or so ago so hopefully isn’t feeling too deprived).

So it wasn’t long yesterday before the girls were both taking a dip in the Lagoon along the esplanade.

To make this sewing related, I’ll point out that both girls were wearing bathers that I had made for them.

This was followed by a walk along the pier, checking out the boats at the marina.

But there was one in particular – my brother’s boat. Yes, we are not only escaping the Melbourne cold, but we are enjoying a stay with my brother and his wife. He is one of Australia’s top sports fishing captains.

I’m extremely proud of my younger brother. He is so good at what he does. And what other essential ingredient is there of a Far North Queensland holiday?

Ice creams – what else! So that was day one – refamiliarisation, as it is a long time since we’ve visited. We had a highly enjoyable evening at home with fish and chips for dinner, followed by a movie on DVD. A very relaxing start to our holiday. Today? Maybe a drive up to the Daintree….