Life Is Like That!

Are you looking for a tropical getaway? Then a visit to Cairns, Australia, with added attractions to ‘Kuranda,’ the spectacular ‘Atherton Tablelands’ and the ‘Great Barrier Reef’ may be your answer.

Just twenty-seven kilometers northwest of Cairns is ‘Kuranda,’ a small beautiful, tropical village hidden in the rainforest. This place is open to tourists all year through. Apparently, there are several options provided by many day tour operators running scheduled trips to the village from Cairns, including a combination of going up on the Kuranda scenic train and returning on the sky rail cable car (or the other way around). Both forms of transport are fun and give a totally different perspective of the journey.

My husband and I opted to do the scenic train ride. We were picked up from our hotel by a coach that transferred us to a railway station. As we embarked on this journey, we were stepped back in time as we viewed the history of Kuranda and the construction of this fascinating railroad through one of the most inhospitable terrains in the world. Situated against a mountain backdrop and on the banks of the Barron River, this small town is somewhat unconventional. As history goes, Kuranda was established as a railway station in the eighteen hundreds when the logging and mining were large industries on the Atherton Tablelands. As an outpost, this township became known as a place to stock up on goods. When the industry declined, Kuranda evolved into a ‘hippie village’ where radical culture thrived. The Queensland government recognized the tourist potential, and with the establishment of the famous Skyrail, Kuranda rose to its present prominence.

As we arrived in the village, we saw a bedlam of tourists like us pouring in by thousands of coaches, trains and by Skyrail cable cars. The heart of town was a hive of activity with markets, restaurants, shopping, and wildlife parks.

Clearly, there is no dearth of things to do or see once you there. The most difficult decision is what and how much to fit into an afternoon. Spending a night, there is possible with several small boutique style boarding houses and a caravan park if cash strapped. A myriad of cafes, restaurants, and takeaway food shops cater to the international palette at very reasonable prices.

If you are a shopping buff, you will be in heaven on market days. The lives of Kuranda locals revolve around the markets, which operate every day but are larger on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. There are some excellent bargains on local arts and crafts and items like opals, didgeridoos, t-shirts, and exquisite paintings using natural ingredients. The ‘Art- is a relatively newer attraction to the village Main Street featuring many specialty boutiques and restaurants.

Some of the other attractions in Kuranda include riverboat cruises, the aviary, and the world-famous ‘Butterfly Sanctuary.’ The ‘walk-through’ bird enclosure with hundreds of native avians is one of Australia’s biggest zoological eco-attractions. The Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, set in a rainforest enclosure, brings out the innate child in you as you chuckle in delight at the fluttering tropical colorful, active butterflies around you. Further, a visit to the Barron Gorge lookout, especially after the heavy rain, is spectacular. There are many beautiful walking trails for the adventurous, though caution is necessary after a downpour as landslides are common!

The skysail has won many major tourism awards and is considered the longest cable ride in the world. It is a truly unique experience. There are two stops in the journey where you can alight and learn about the genesis of the rainforest as well as walkabout and take in the mystical flora and fauna. At the bottom of the Skyrail is ‘Tjapukai‘- an Aboriginal Cultural Centre, where you can meet and interact with genuine aborigines and learn about their life and culture. The ‘Kuranda Bottom Pub’ adjacent to the railway and Skyrail stations, is popular with locals and visitors alike. The pub offers affordable lunches and a hundred percent Australian ale in a traditional garden setting.

Kuranda Rainforest Tours conducts excellent excursions on the river and in the surrounding first. These tours are excellent value, and the tour guides take you on a friendly and informative adventure through the area briefing you on its floral fauna, perils, and sustenance. The Clohesy River is an experience for the strong-hearted. The four-wheel-drive tour first weaves through the forest along the scenic Lake Morris road. It then turns abruptly into the thicket of vegetation bashing through rivers and up treacherous precipices of Lake Morris, the freshwater source of Cairns city. As you ponder over this sublime setting, fine tea, and a selection of delicious treats are served. At the same time, a local meteorologist introduces you to the mysteries of this habitat and entertains you with fascinating stories about ravaging tropical weather. Upon leaving the lake behind, the four-wheel-drive tackles the Clohesy River road winding over sparkling creeks and rugged terrain, along with giant fig trees and enormous termite mounds up to seven feet in height before returning you to your hotel.

From the discerning luxury lover to the adventurous and hippie, Kuranda has something for everyone and a promise to make your holiday an unforgettable experience.

Kakadu, the first Australian area inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Properties, is a natural wonder of the world. The area was so called in honor of the early aboriginal settlers of this region who spoke ‘Gagudju‘, as recorded by Baldwin Spencer, a great anthropologist in 1911. These Gagudju- speaking people were almost gone by the time Kakadu was declared a national park and were replaced by the stronger ‘Kunwinjku‘ speaking people from further east.

Being of great scenic beauty, it contains a rich cultural and natural heritage unequalled elsewhere and provides refuge for many tropical species. It comprises of spectacular wildlife habitat, which ranges from the high plateau to forest woodlands, monsoon rainforests to open savannah-flood plains dotted with ‘billabongs’ to mangrove-fringed estuaries to the coastal beaches of Arafura Sea. At the heart of Kakadu is the South Alligator River, upon which all life depends on water.

A home for wildlife, Kakadu boasts sixty species of mammals, including kangaroos, dingos, possums, bats and dusky rats. The park is famous for its reptiles, the most dangerous of which is the Australian Saltwater crocodile often found patrolling waterways throughout the area. Frill-necked lizards and water pythons are common. It is a paradise for water birds- magpie, geese, and egrets that flock together in the wetlands. Lorokeets, finches and parrots are also found in large numbers in the woodlands.

Due to the vast disparity in local seasons, the aboriginal inhabitants of Kakadu divide the year into six distinct seasons! The ‘Gunumeleng‘ (October, – December), which is the pre-monsoon season of hot, humid weather characterized by an explosive growth of plant and animal life. It also happens to be an egg gathering time. The ‘Gudjewg‘ (January-February) is a time of violent thunderstorms heavy rains and flooding. The third season is ‘Banggereng‘ (March) when most plants are fruiting and animals are carrying their young. Expenses of water recede and streams run clear. Aggressive storms flatten high spear grass. Next comes the season of April and May called ‘Yegge‘, bringing early morning mists. This shallow wetlands and billabongs are carpeted with waterlilies. Drying winds signal it is time for burning bush to ‘clean’ the country and encourage new growth for grazing animals. ‘Wurreng‘. is the cold weather with low humidity. Creeks cease to flow and floodplains quickly dry out. Burning continues, dampened by dew at night. The months of August and September mark ‘Gurrung‘, a windless and hot season during which the land lies dormant. It is time for hunting file snakes and long necked turtles.

Kakadu is not only home to a spectacular natural topography and wildlife but also boasts the longest continuous surviving culture in the world. Local aborigines have. been living in this region for at least forty, thousand years! Their descendants are still to be found here. Kakadu and Arnhem Land contain one the longest continuous records of rock art in the world. The Gagudju speaking tribe left a legacy of art treasures on the shelter rock surfaces throughout this world renowned region. Because of these features it has become a tourist attraction. Frequent visitor areas include the Ubirr Art Site, the East Alligator River, the Bowali Visitor Centre and the Nourlangie Rock with its fascinating human occupation site, well preserved art galleries and scenic points. The Yellow Water boat cruises are a sheer delight for those who enjoy wildlife. Mornings and evenings are the best times for walking, climbing and sightseeing. The park has a great feeling of continuity with the elements and offers the entire spectrum of tropical diversity condensed into one national park, while each reaction still boats its own uniqueness. Fishing, camping canoeing, photography, wildlife, or even traditional art – you have it all here in Australia’s emerald cap.

It was the year 2000. In January, our small twin-engined plane had whirred into the sky on a sultry summer morning from steamy Darwin towards mystical Alice Springs. Dawn broke out in an array of strange iridescence so native to the southern skies and we gently rolled into a quaint little airstrip seemingly in the middle of no-where! Precisely…. Alice Springs!

This oasis in the Great Australian Desert sprung up in the 1870’s around a permanent waterhole chosen as a base while constructing overland Telegraph lines across Australia. Named after Alice Todd, wife of the then construction manager of this project, Alice Springs soon attracted tourists and migrants in search of a better life in the 1880’s and blossomed over decades of its present strength of 45,000.

My husband and I sauntered down the brown stoned pedestrian walk of Todd Mall, the city’s commercial hub to discover the numerous idiosyncrasies of this strange place. Shops that sold oversized bamboo trumpets called didgeridoos to boomerangs fashioned from native trees and decorated with aboriginal art. The dot and bark paintings exhibiting indigenous. folklore in symbolic form using natural earthy colors were absolutely fascinating. Boughs of willows hung down like tapestry and offered sanctuary from the blazing desert sun as they sprung up all over the walk and nestled little cafes in their shade. Cuisine from the world over was proffered at these cafes to cater to tourists – the main fraction of all visible population. The north end of Todd street brought us to Anzac Hill from where a panoramic. view of Alice Springs with botanical gardens at its fringes, the dry meandering bed of the Todd river with the MacDonald ranges in the backdrop could be savored.

We were just beginning to realize the mystique of this secluded habitation…pondering over what promise it held for us during our one year’s proposed period of stay here.