Queen Elizabeth Voyage: March 3, 2017, Friday, At Anchor in Yorkey's Knob, Australia

March 3, 2017, At Anchor off Yorkey’s Knob, Australia

This morning we were anchored several miles off of Yorkey’s Knob, Australia, the “port” for Cairns, Australia. We had a ship’s tour scheduled for the day and since we were officially within Australia territory, there were no immigration problems or lines. We took the ship’s tender into the dock and found our bus without difficulty.

The bus and our guide took us to the first terminal of the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. The cable way is an amazing ride on three different cable car links that cover a total of seven and a half kilometers. All of this is over eucalypt woodlands and rainforest. At the first stop between cables one and two, there is a self guided walk through forest trees, ferns, banyan trees, palms and cycads. The second cable took us through even higher forests. We were in the clouds for much of the time. Between cables two and three, another self-guided walk to a river overlook. We have been going parallel with the Barron River. At the viewing point, we could see the Barron Falls and parts of the local hydroelectric installation. During construction of the dam and pipes for the plant, there was a rail line down into the valley. Cable three took us to the small town of Kuranda and the end of our cable journey. After getting off the cable car, we walked through the gift shop and back on our bus.

Next stop was Kuranda on the Barron River where we were given a quick bus tour of the village. The village is the jumping off spot for a railway through the forest, a river cruise through the forest, the cable way, and any number of forest trails. However, our next visit was to the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, a large screened aviary with over two hundred types of butterflies. We spent more than 45 minutes just looking at and photographing butterflies.

We were given free time to explore the village, do some shopping, a get a snack. Our first task was to find a Post Office, a bit hard since the Post Office had recently moved from a store front to the old library. Not identified on the maps and half the people in town did not know about the move. We found what we were looking for behind the old church. Sandra bought some stamps and mailed off several post cards. We then found the shopping area and an ice cream parlor.

At the appointed time, we got back on the bus for our trip back to port. This area is renowned at a place where a World Heritage Rainforest meets a World Heritage Barrier Reef. It is a very special place on this planet of ours. This is worth a special visit, not a six hours visit.