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<\/a><\/p>\nAfter takeoff from Sydney we passed a mountain peak covered in clouds seemingly surrounded by smoke, which made for an interesting shot.\u00a0 I sit in the window seat for a reason!<\/p>\n
The weather went from quite cool (in the 60’s and 70’s) to somewhat warm (low 80’s), with a dramatic shift in humidity.\u00a0 It feels a lot like Miami.\u00a0 We arrived after dark and took a walk along the waterfront (they call it the Esplanade) to dinner.\u00a0 There is a public pool adjacent to the ocean, complete with sandy beaches and even a sandy pool bottom.\u00a0 Note there are no sand beaches in Cairns, so I guess this is their consolation prize.<\/p>\n The Esplanade is all lit up at night.<\/p>\n It seems they are really going for that Miami vibe.\u00a0 I can hear the Miami Vice theme song as we strolled by!<\/p>\n These birds are everywhere along the waterfront.\u00a0 These are called Bush-Thick-knee’s.\u00a0 Their knees were basically non-existent, so I have no idea why this got this name!<\/p>\n So the next day we had a full schedule, where we were to board the “Kuranda Scenic Railway” and ride the train from Cairns Central Station to the little town of Kuranda.\u00a0 We woke up early and made our way to the train station, got on the train, only to be told they had operational issues and the train portion of our trip was canceled.\u00a0 More sad face!\u00a0 One of the staff advised the Engineer had called in sick.\u00a0 It’s not like he actually had to steer the train!\u00a0 Suck it up buttercup!<\/p>\n I got on the phone with the Skyrail staff, and they arranged for a bus pickup at the train station about an hour later, so our day wasn’t destroyed.\u00a0 The Skyrail was first built in 1995, and runs 7.5km through a portion of the Daintree Rainforest, the oldest continuous living rainforest in the world at 130 million years old.<\/p>\n There are two stops along the way, with the first being Red Peak, which has some huge trees!\u00a0 The one below is covered in other growth, climbing up the tree towards the sunlight!<\/p>\n Whereas this tree drops it’s lower limbs and has very tough bark, which makes it immune to the “climbers” in the rainforest.<\/p>\n You jump back on the Skyrail to transit to the next stop.\u00a0 The views of the rainforest are incredible!<\/p>\n As you near the next stop this incredible waterfall comes into view.\u00a0 This is Barron Falls.<\/p>\n There is another stop on the Skyrail journey, where you get several different perspectives on Barron Falls.<\/p>\n Yet another perspective.\u00a0 Really gorgeous waterfall!<\/p>\n No post about waterfalls would be complete without a video!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n