I woke this morning bright and early and went down to book some trips, including one for today but as the reception did not open until after 7:30 I knew that it would have to be a half day or late staring one for today. There was a little kerfuffle with the receptionist and one of the Danish backpackers, both were upset over a altercation that happened last night during the blackout and both seemed to want an apology. The problem was that the receptionist asked for an apology first and then after the Dane began to explain and request that they can talk the receptionist changed tact and suddenly said she was too busy to talk, which only infuriated the Dane even more and I feel was clearly the wrong thing to do as she had just made things ten times worse, and looked uncaring to me in the process.
I also have to say that I am still being bitter about 8 times a day, mainly on the feet so it is possible that my trainers are alive inside ( despite me giving them a thorough looksie ) however the other backpackers also noticed a few bites each and mentioned that Dengai fever has been declared an official outbreak in this region which is carried by the mosquitos, so who knows.
I managed to still book the three trips I would have done anyway, just in a slightly different order, and the one for today was a sky rail ( think bubble ski lift ) 45 minutes up into the rain forest jungle area, followed by a trip around Kuranda which is a small tourist base near the Barron Falls waterfall and then a scenic rail trip back for 1 hour 45 minutes back to the centre of Cairns.
The minibus pickup was on time and went around picking us all up a couple at a time, all except the elderly russian couple who were late as the wife was still nattering away on the public payphone much to the dislike and frustration of the husband.
On the way up I shared most of the ride with a couple of backpackers, twelve years retired, who are also from Kent and whose daughter has only just recently moved away from my home town of Gillingham. They have been to many far off places, love India not to mention the far east and have fond memories of staying in a hostel in Tibet for only 50 pence a night, which proves that it must be possible if you look around and / or get really lucky.
Being a former wedding photographer his camera and lens was much more flashier than mine, although he admitted to hating digital, but said its saving graces were that it was not only much cheaper to process but also much easier to download onto computer where he could then do wonders with his state of the art software photo packages. It was really great to not only see some fellow Brits from my neck of the woods but also to meet a couple who were also on an extended trip and doing things on the cheap, frowing on anyone who does the whole package tour or five start hotel route.
The view from the top of the sky rail was pretty good, looking down onto the rain forest, but it was the viewsout across to the nearby waterfall that had everyone gaping in awe and wonder. It is said that during a drought the water from the Barren Falls dries up to barely a trickle but with the recent rains and flooding the falls were cascading majestically with plenty of force, albeit with muddy brown water.
Once we reached Kuranda, we were left to our own devices for a few hours while we could shop, eat, drink and basically spend as much money as we could, including the fact that although being in the middle of the rain forest, there were plenty of freshly topped up ATM machines which allowed you to restock your wallet and if you saw how much some of the aboriginal artwork was going for you would understand why.
It was amusing to see all the boomerangs with yellow round stickers saying that these are "tested and guaranteed to return" but it was not so cool to see artwork that looked like a child had done it up for sale for in excess of AUD $2,800.
I have been on my best behaviour not to buy too much crap or soveneirs on my trip, and so all I spent was AUD $11 for a smaching fish and chips ( in a really cute white shell style designed bowl ) and another AUD $10 for a profile charicature of myself done in just a couple of minutes by a happy go lucky aritst called Danny who liked to wear a funny hat and try to play a mini guitar when he had no customers.
I almost decided to walk to the falls and get some more photos as I saw a road sign pointing that way, but after a ten minute walk I got out of the main centre of the town and then saw another sign saying it was a couple of kilometers away and in this heat that was not going to happen for me, so I headed back.
I was menat to be on a 3:30 train back to Cairns city centre, but I was done with looking at overpriced art and in an effort to avoid both the heat and spending any more money in this mini tourist trap I instead jumped on one of the earliest scenic trains back that left at 2pm and was rewarded by a whole row of seats to myself to lie down and avoid the heat.
On the way back we passed the falls again, when the train paused for a good ten minutes while we could get out to take phots and it was here that we got some of the best shots. Later on we passed another smaller waterfall and the train driver not only told us what to look for but slowed the train down to about 2 miles an hour in order to let everyone have plenty of chances to take photos which was really great and I wish other tour operators would do similar things instead of flying past great photos spots as fast as their chosen vehicle can carry us.
Back in Cairns centre, I was too early to go into the Sam Power magic show, but I was able to get a ticket and then head off towards the ocean view and the cut off lagoon where families and couples were happily splashing about, having fun and cooling off. I would have joined them but I was not carrying a towel or any changes of clothing and it was really just too hot to walk all the way back to the hostel and back again just to have a quick dip.
Instead I waited until after 5pm when the esplanade night markets opened up and was talked into getting a massage from the chinese parlour that was open to all and had about 12 staff all milling about. The price was meant to be AUD $15 for 40 minutes full massage, but then it shifted to 25 minutes massage and 15 minutes foot spa. The massage ended with me almost being talked into taking 4 deep massage patches at AUD $5 each that would help the inner muscles that the hand massage alone could not do, which was all a big con, as was the foot spa which ended up being just a bucket of warm coloured water and a two minute pressure point massage.
After the massage and a bite to eat in the food halls help you seld buffet, I made my way back to the hotel casino where the magic show was due to be performed in less than an hour. Sam was great, and his assitant was very lovely ( even more so than the lovely Debbie MagGee ) and even though some of his tricks I could guess how he was a great showman and carried them off spectacularly well. As well as a few gags, a bit of double entendre with the females in the audience and a few sliht of hand tricks that are fun but not really extreme, he also did chopping a woman in half, turning doves into a woman, piercing a woman with spikes and an old favourite Houdini trick of escaping from a padlocked chest.
The finale was another good rope trick and then he rushed off to the exit to say goodbye to everyone in the audience, only just before it was my turn to talk to him the guy in front with his wife and kid decided to try and hold a debate with him and in my frustration and desire for a cool refreshing drink I ended up just skipping getting my flier signed and just taking a quick snap before leaving.
Back in the hostel everything was much as I had left it, except that I might have a new dorm buddy as there were extra rucksacks in my room that did not belong to any of us, and it made me just a little unsure if I wanted to keep my laptop here and not locked away or not.
A cool drink was an end to a great day and I only hope that my planned trip to go scuba diving off the barrier reef tomorrow is not ruined by the muddy waters caused by the recent heavy rain and flooding.
No comments:
Post a Comment