Queensland 2018 - Part Four - One way up and another way down.

Well Dear Readers.

See what all the Queensland sunshine and humidity does to my hair!

Really!.. I look like an old granny in the above picture.

But I'll never catch up to, or be as old as, the grumpy old man in the photo below! Ha!

I am reliably informed that grumpy is not an attitude,

its a lifestyle choice! 

(If you see the T-shirt with that slogan can you let me know so I can buy it for him for Christmas).

 Anyway, enough prattle,  today we went up the Skyrail near cairns.

This was a great trip across the top of the rain forest and  finishing at the village of Kuranda.

We then spent a couple of hours having lunch and wandering around the markets.

 I bought a comb...

Did you know I have negative hair so I need a positive comb!

(Hey, whats that snorting noise? It must be Mr Grumpy from the above pic).

Anyway Its a beautiful comb. Its carved out of cow horn in the shape of a curlew... 

(and it cost $70).

 So the return trip was down the mountain via the train.

 We went gold class, so it included snacks and beverages...

And its a another big day out tomorrow, as we are going out onto the Great Barrier Reef.

Queensland 2018 – Part Three – Port Douglas and the Rock Stacks

 A short post on our visit to Port Douglas.

The water has cleared and now it is the traditional tropical crystal blue.

And this is the latest craze. Building rock stacks?

Really!

Why?

See newspaper article below - it seems to be just for amusement.... 

Rock formations between Cairns and Port Douglas delight motorists

Kimberley Vlasic, The Cairns Post

January 12, 2016 7:00am

ROCKS piled precariously high at a stretch of beach north of Cairns continue to delight motorists and are finding fame online.

Whitfield resident Maureen Parkin has lived in the area since 1968 but only spotted the mysterious formations, situated between Pebbly and Ellis beaches, on Sunday.
“We went to Port Douglas and we couldn’t understand why there were lots of cars there, so on the way back we stopped,” she said.
“I thought it was magical.”
Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures owner Angela Freeman said stacking the rocks had become popular in recent years.
“As soon as you get a high tide or storm they get knocked over, then people build them up again,” she said.
“You find them all over Australia ... people just do it for amusement.”
Tourism Tropical North Queensland’s Jane Wilson said the formations were proving to be a popular tourist attraction, with a growing number of Instagram users sharing photos via #exploreTNQ.
Ms Freeman urged motorists stopping in the area to exercise caution and not to remove rocks from the site.

Queensland 2018 - Part Two - Daintree and Cape Tribulation

Well, this is the furthest north we have been in Australia (not the furthest north in the world – that’s probably Scotland). I’ve been to Rockhampton when I was a kid and Grahams furthest north was the Sunshine coast! So we have been wanting to do this trip for a long time.

So lets act like tourists! Afterall, it does feel like we are in another country. We took a day trip up north with ‘Billy Tea Safaris”. It was us, some people from China and a whole mob of Kiwis.

 And I did hear the comments when we were introduced, “What was that Australian show with the Kim in it? That’s right Kath and Kim”. OMG, is that what the world thinks of Kim’s, don’t they have girls named Kim in NZ? I’m going to have to change my name.

Anyway, putting that name trauma to one side.. First stop was a boat ride on the Daintree River to see crocodiles. Nope, no crocs around today. I bet their out there watching us and having a laugh. (I suspect, mostly about my name).

There were some snakes I am told, although I think folks were making up stories because I couldn’t see any snakes.

Then we went on a Rainforest walk hunting for cassowaries. Nope none of them birdies about either.

We had a stop for a swim in a water hole, but it was raining so it wasn’t very enticing (nobody swam, it wasnt just us being old farts). 

But we did have damper, a nice cup of tea and a taste of some tropical fruits.  Chocolate pudding fruit is something different.

Next stop was Cape Tribulation beach. Named by Captain Cook as this is where all his trials and troubles started. It was soon after sighting this cape that he hit that inconvenient reef that caused him so many problems. 

Finished off the day with yummy Daintree icecream, passionfruit, jack fruit (tastes lemony), wattle seed (tastes cappuccino-y), and another tropical fruit that I can’t remember now!

And on the homeward trip I am told we saw a crocodile crossing the Daintree on the car ferry.   

No the croc wasn’t on the ferry, the tour bus was on the ferry,  the croc was supposedly on the river bank.  Or it may have been a log, I don’t know, I think people are being tricksy.

And why did the cassowary cross the road?

To prove they do exist. (so I could take this pic through the windscreen).

And they cross the road so slowly no wonder they get run over! Too chilled out man!

Just like the below sign, wonderful cheeky graffiti. (Its a speed bump sign).

Or as Graham remarked, defacing council property. (Bah Humbug).