Being A Tourist - Day 3

Ok so today we were Doing Stuff. We were getting off our arses and going to Kuranda which is a little rainforest township a mere rail ride from Cairns. And by rail I mean Skyrail, a sort of cable car ride that takes you over the canopy giving you amazing views of the rainforest with the ocean as a backdrop. So I suppose I could just about get used to this new idea of Australia. You have the opportunity to jump off at two places and go for a walk to look at Barron Falls before getting back on and continuing through to the town.

The Skyrail

Looking Out Of The Skyrail

Kuranda is impossibly pretty, it doesn't look real. It feels like it gets packed up at 6pm when all the tourists go home and is taken out again in the morning like some kind of stage set, I half expected the locals to suddenly start singing and dancing like we were in some kind of bizarre musical. Mercifully they didn't. We had some time to kill before we were picked up to go horseriding so on the advice of a random Frenchman clutching a shingleback lizard we headed to Australia Venom Zoo where we parted with $15 each to go and look at some poisonous stuff.

Australia Venom Zoo

We were shown around by a guy who clearly had no fear of things with too many legs. I'm fine with snakes, insects don't bother me, crocodiles are cool and whilst stingers are a bugger I know to keep out of the water and avoid them. But spiders? Oh fuck no, I can't handle spiders. They're the manifestation of all that is evil, nothing has any need to be that shape and there's just no need for them. We have fly spray these days and anyway, the ones that were on show here would probably turn down flies in favour of a nice, juicy human limb. He took a tarantula out of its tank and I realised I'd instinctively backed away about 3 metres, I swear it was looking at me and licking its chops.

He then showed us another spider sat in a mesh of web which turned out to be a Funnel Web spider but not a Sydney Funnel Web which, as indicated by its name, is found in and around Sydney. Oh no. This was a Far North Queensland Funnel Web and... hang on... weren't we in...? Oh fuck! This was a brand new species they'd just discovered, so new that they'd only ever found 5 of them but in order to create an anti-venom they needed 500. He went on to tell us that they're found north of Mossman in and around the Daintree Rainforest but if we were out walking in the area we'd be lucky to find one. Lucky?

Lucky??

Getting six numbers in the lottery is lucky. Backing the winner of the Grand National at 100:1, that's lucky. Walking in the rainforest and stumbling across the deadliest spider in Australia with a bite that can kill you in 15 minutes for which there is no anti-venom? That's not exactly on my list of Lucky Things To Do This Week.

Blazing Saddles Souvenier Photo

Dad's First Time On A Horse Ever

After I'd been suitably traumatised we went to the meeting point where we'd be picked up by Blazing Saddles for a few hours wandering the rainforest on horseback. This was something Dad wanted to do because he'd never been on a horse in the entire 52 years he'd been on the planet. I'd not got on a horse for about 16 years and neither had Mum.

Horses don't have a stop button or seat belts, there's nothing to stop you from falling off but grim determination and a death-like grip and the only thing to break your fall is the ground. Things that are recommended whilst riding are long trousers and a top with sleeves to avoid scratches from branches, sunscreen and a pair of sunnies to hide the look of abject terror in your eyes. It was fun though and despite the mildly sore arse due to the trotting they made us do we had a good time.

Stoney Creek Falls

Not Always Overly Scenic

Then it was home again via the scenic railway which winds its way back to Freshwater station, slowing down for Stoney Creek falls and general outstanding views.

Such a hard life. I don't know how I cope.

written by

Koala Bear on October 7, 2007 from Cairns, Australia

from the travel blog: Sod Off Great Big Mission Round Oz

tagged PotentialDeath, LovinIt and ShamelessTourist

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