Kuranda

First of all, I apologize to those of you who are receiving my blog entries more than once. The Internet boots me out with no warning and I have to go back into my blog to update it. Alot of the problem is this netbook. The cursor jumps all over the place and isn't very accurate so it takes time to place it correctly. Anyway, on with the blog.

I have heard that Kuranda is a nice tourist trap, so Kuranda is the destination today.

The bus was at the hotel for pick-up at 8:25 am sharp.

We arrived at the Kuranda entrance and took the air rail up to the village and markets. The air rail is a gondola. Kuranda is a village in the rainforest, but since I've already been to the Blue Mountains Rainforest outside of Sydney, I was more interested in the markets and shopping. What's new! Let's see how much money Ellen can spend today. Hmmm...I took care of one Christmas gift for my brother, Joe and his wife, Janelle. Sorry, I can't tell you what it is or that would spoil the surprise because I think Joe may be following this blog. Let's just say it will be cumbersome transporting home.

It was a beautiful day even though the sun was in and out. It's always warm because it is the tropics after all.


Time for a latte. We went to a coffee merchant who brews local coffee and I have to say it was the best latte I have had to date and it wasn't even flavoured. The presentation of the cappuccino Jeff had was like a piece of art that you wouldn't want to drink. The coffee guy took alot of pride in his coffee. Unfortunately, my latte wasn't as pretty. I have attached a picture of the cappuccino.

It isn't like in Canada where they just put some foam on and that's it. This guy put a dollop of foam, then sprinkled something on it - cinnamon I think, then put another dollop and sprinkle, and again. Since it wasn't flavoured, you would like it Mom. Only problem is... it's a long way to come for this latte, but if you're willing to spring for airfare I think I could treat you to a day a Karunda and a latte. I might even throw in dinner.

I almost bought a T-shirt for Dad that said "Bank of Dad - closed", but they didn't have the right size. Now, don't get me wrong...Dad doesn't support me, but he does spoil me, or so he says. What are Dads for anyway if they can't spoil their little girl ha ha! Another option would have been a funny fishing shirt, but again, not the right size.

Now, Mom is harder to buy for. A girl can only buy so many bridge passes (private joke) so I settled on a combination gift for Mom and Dad where size doesn't matter.


In Australia, there is a horse race called the Melbourne Cup (I think that's what it's called) and hats are part of the chosen dress code, so I was trying on big fancy rich looking hats. I had so much fun shopping and just being silly trying them on. The hats went very nicely with my touristy look don't you think? What the hell, I am a tourist, but only for one more day and then I'll be back home. At the end of the day, we took the scenic railway back to Cairns. It was a nice way to end the day.



Oh, the airplane below is what the airplane looked like after I skydived from it.

Just kidding. It was actually a plane that flew in the 2nd World War and somehow ended up at Kuranda.