March 15

Awoke to cloudy skies, heat and high humidity.  After sumptuous breakfast at the hotel we board a large coach with AC!  We are assigned seats with name tags.  The director will move our seats everyday so we are fairly placed to the front of the bus in turns.  A third of the bus is empty so we are able to move to other seats as we want.  We drive to the parking lot of the rainforest gondola.  We enter gondolas that take us up and over the rainforest canopy with views out to the Coral Sea.  We can see Green Island off in the distance.  The variety and lush foliage is amazing. This is the oldest rainforest in the world and a UNESCO site.  This is the second UNESCO site in two days, Green Island being the first.  We have two stops along the way with views over the valleys and walks among the foliage.  There are some huge trees in here and the basket ferns that plant themselves in the trees (living off air microbes and humidity) remind us of the ferns we grow in pots at home.  There is a huge brown diamond backed python asleep just a throw from our path.  Cassowaries live in these forests.  Third only to ostrich and emu in size.  Look very prehistoric with three big toe claws that will rip you apart if you intrude on their territory.  The males rear the chicks. They are endangered as their habitat is diminishing and cars kill them.  They eat nut seeds and fruits and deposit them in their waste, softened and ready for planting.  These birds are primarily responsible for the widespread variety of plants. We have a second stop at Barron Falls, a big water drop through basaltic rock and sandstone.  A hydro-electric plant is here.  Our final stop is in the town of Kurwanda.  Chuck and Pat drove by on our way to the Tablelands earlier.  The town is full of shops and cafes.  We find a local opal dealer at a table on the street.  He’s got a long white beard and heavy German accent.  We take a risk and buy some opals from him.  Not a lot of money but interesting stones.  We see an Aboriginal man dressed in traditional paint playing the didgeridoo, long hollowed limb making strange sounds.  He used a boomerang to beat out a rhythm on the side.  It made you want to dance!  We are finding out that aboriginals of the rainforest and coast had an easier subsistence lifestyle that allowed them to live in one place.  Whereas the outback Aboriginals had a much harder subsistence lifestyle that meant they had to move around for food etc.  The boomerangs of the coastal people are what we are used to seeing, a wide equal distance triangle.  They were used to move past birds and drive them in to be killed.  Whereas the outback boomerang is uneven sided and used to kill the animal directly. We pass a polling booth, Australians are voting for their local council people.  They have early voting as well as the official Saturday voting day and voters can vote at any polling place they want.  In the general election it is compulsory that all Australians vote.  They keep record and if you have not voted in 2 consecutive general elections then you are fined $150.00.  We stop for a pint, a meat pie (specialty of the area) and sausage roll.  Perfect meal for incredible heat and humidity!  This area is known for ‘hippies’ and said to grow Australia’s best grass better than Maui Wowie!  The rest of the tour takes the historic train back down to Cairns.  Chuck and Pat are the only ones to take the bus back to town.  We have the driver’s undivided attention and he proceeds to give us his view of politics of the day, including the Aus view of our current presidential campaign.  Chuck and Pat decide our trip back by ourselves was far more entertaining than the train!  We all shook hands at the drop off and we promised him that Americans would pull through and put the right person in as president (fingers crossed!)  A quick walk about through the town and some art shops and museum.  Back to the hotel for some packing.  Dress for dinner and set out around the block to a Greek restaurant we saw overlooking the bay.  The restaurant is upstairs and a pleasant surprise.  All write plaster with a large outdoor veranda.  It’s cooler up here and the first time we have eaten our dinner outside without melting!  Food was good.  Service was friendly but not very experienced.  Ended with a Limon cello so all’s well that ends well.  It’s raining, the locals are happy since it’s been a dry 2 years.  If only the humidity could count as rain!  It’s a tropical environment and rain is off and on.  The bats are batty and flying around everywhere.  Thankfully they are not interested in us.  We have to have our bags out by 5AM and then head to the airport for Uluru by plane about 2 hours.  So it’s an early night and getting our packing done.  It’s been a good day of adventure!