We left Darwin, still sweating, at 4am in the morning to catch our flight to the Queensland tropics. The flight was basic – the cheapest we could get – and the majority of the time was spent sleeping. Once we had arrived in Cairns, it was easy enough to find our way to the hostel via a shuttle bus.

Whilst listening to the radio on the bus, we wondered what we had got ourselves into. Every five minutes an urgent weather report would come through the speakers warning of severe cyclone damage and advising residents to stay indoors. Nevertheless, it looked okay outside – just a bit drizzly. Also, the cyclone was called Oswald… surely anything with the name ‘Oswald’ can’t do that much damage? Right? So once we had checked in we bought an umbrella and headed out to start our adventure in Cairns.

We headed down the main strip to the waterfront of this second lazy tropical town. It was okay for a while and we were left wondering what all this fuss about a cyclone really was. And then someone threw a thousand buckets on my head. Our little umbrella didn’t quite stand it’s own against the sideways rain – in the short time it took us to sprint across the road into the Cairns Regional Art Gallery, we were saturated. Once we had enjoyed the local talent of Cairns and learnt a little more about their weather patterns through their current exhibition, we ventured outside and were surprised to see the sun shining. I decided that Cairns weather clearly has bi-polar.

We were already wet and had our togs, so we decided to head down to the lagoon anyway. The pool was beautiful, however the waterfront wasn’t quite what I had expected. Having always been fed images of crystal blue calm waters with beautiful palm trees lining the side, it was quite a shock to see brown murky water crashing (yes, there were actually waves) into a mud beach. Cyclone Oswald was causing more havoc by pushing silt and debris from the river into the ocean. And ruining my holiday, how dare it.

After a few drinks at the two water front bars, we headed back to the YHA. Cairns central is fantastic, but a lot of what is on offer in this wonderful region is outside the city. Not having any means of our own transport out there, we decided to book two day tours. The first one picked us up at 7.30, which meant another early start. It was not long before we realized that our tour guide, Jim, was a bit of an eccentric character. The entire time we spent on the bus (which was at least 3 or 4 hours), we were subjected to either him giving an excruciating detailed history of the area or very very loud pop music (One Direction featured many times). I had a headache coming on by the bus trip home. This all aside, Jim was fun and informative, if a little inappropriate at times.

The first stop we made was at a small pub, the last for a very long while if you were heading along the Savannah Way. Here, we were able to get to know our fellow tourists before heading on to the Daintree River for our crocodile spotting cruise. After seeing the spectacular sights of the jumping crocodiles on Adelaide River, the crocodiles on this tour were a little disappointing. The cruise up the river itself was nonetheless enjoyable, until Cairns gave us more of a demonstration of it’s amazing sideways rain. We headed on for our walk through the Daintree Rainforst – a beautiful part of the world, made even more magical by the rain falling through the trees, bringing the forest to life. After lunch and a look at Cape Tribulation (not to mention an encounter with a massive spider that I am trying to block out of my mind) we learnt about how Indigenous Australians used the rainforest for everything from their supermarket to their hardware store to their chemist. We were also shown traditional tribal markings by a descendant of the Buma (rainforest) people. The tour ended with stops at two lookouts to look over the majestic beauty of the Cairns region and a chance to taste some locally made ice cream! After a brief stop in Port Douglas, we arrived back in Cairns exhausted, but excited for our next tour!

Poncho selfie! Daintree Rainforst

Beauty of the Daintree

Suspended bridge over raging rapids!

Jump!

The next morning came with another early start to hop on another bus. This time we headed across the Barron River to the bottom of the Kuranda Skyrail Terminal to begin our next adventure. Our itinerary began with a visit to Tjapukai. The showmanship at this Aboriginal Cultural Park was fantastic; I was able to dance a traditional routine up on stage, while Steve got the chance to throw a boomerang and a spear. However, I felt the overall experience to be slightly strange. I felt I was getting a flashy, insincere dose of Indigenous Culture, especially when an American said to Steve after he threw the spear ‘You’ll make a native yet’. I didn’t know how much was actually true of their culture, and how much was just good show business. Be that as it may, it still was good show business and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I had there.

Learning to throw a boomerang

We walked the two minute walk across to the Skyrail Station encountering thousands of what I first considered just to be cute little frogs but turned out to be a disgusting amount of baby Cane Toads. Glad to get out of masses of toads, we hopped on the Skyrail and began the journey up to Kuranda, a small rainforest village. The Skyrail makes two stops, the first of which gives you an opportunity to take a short walk on a boardwalk through the rainforest. The second is even more spectacular with prime views over the splendour of Barron Falls. Having never seen a waterfall to this extreme, I was amazed at the amount and sheer power of water crashing over the rocks and into the gorge below. Being mesmerized for quite some time, we finally re-boarded the Skyrail for the last leg of the journey up to Kuranda. In between these stops, the Skyrail offers fantastic views over the Cairns region and out over the Great Barrier Reef. Further up, you fly right above the rainforest canopy and look over the beauty of Barron River and Barron Falls – a truly awesome experience and highly recommended to anyone who is visiting Cairns.

Skyrail view.. with Steven’s arm

Barron Falls

Once in Kuranda, we took the short walk up to the main strip of this quirky town who was started by people in the sixties wanting to live an alternate lifestyle. Since then, the town has developed into a thriving community, while still retaining it’s original charm. The main attraction is the Kuranda Markets, which offers everything you expect a good market to – from fresh produce to tie-dyed clothing. We were also lucky enough to go into the butterfly sanctuary and let hundreds of butterflies flutter around our heads. Kuranda had a vibe of relaxed and harmonious lifestyle, which struck a chord inside me. I would have like to stay there for longer, but we had to hurry on to the next aspect of our tour, the Kuranda Scenic Railway.

Butterflies flying in the sky

Beautiful Kuranda farewells you as you leave

As we entered the old style train station, I felt like we were transported back to another time – at time where train travel was the only was to places like this. The station has been perfectly preserved in it’s original form and even some of the train carriages are from a former time. Once we had boarded, the train took off down through the beauty of the Smithfield Conservation Park beside Barron Gorge. We indulged in fantastic views over Cairns and out towards the sea, with once last look at Barron Falls. The journey, taking about two hours in total, was aided by commentary describing the history of the train line and the history of the area. Although it was very hot, the winding adventure was enjoyable and fitting in with our train trip theme.

Kuranda Railway Station

Rainbow over Barron Gorge

Kuranda Train

Inside the train

Exhausted we arrived back to the YHA and had some well anticipated dinner. Excited at the prospect of finally not having to get up early, we decided to explore what the nightlife of Cairns had to offer. First shopping in the extensive Night Markets on the Esplanade, we headed to a couple of the more popular bars and enjoyed some local live music and drinks before getting in late, ready for our last day in Cairns and the last day of our holiday!

Teen on a Train