4/4/14 - Kurandu & Skyrail

Bill got up very early to take a 30 minute balloon ride over the Atherton Table Lands. He saw the sun rise. There were 8 people in the gondola and the ride was smooth. The balloon was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.










See more on our Flikr link.

 

Our next adventure was at the Kuranda Tropical Rainforest - one of three World Heritage Areas in Queensland. We were there at the end of the rainy season. What makes a rainforest is how dense the vegetation is. The rainforests need lots of water and nutrients. We rode the Skyrail Cableway through the rainforest going through the Barron Gorge National Park. We heard a lot of cicadas; males are the ones who make the noise. They get louder when the weather improves or a female has arrived.

 

One view from the Cable car.







The Strangler Fig starts high and grows down a tree. The original tree can die because of the strangler fig.

A Thug is a palm tree with a thin trunk that reach to the sky - like a vine trunk - and it abuses other plants. Tendrils have thorns that stick into other trees to grow up.

The ginger plant leaves bend toward the sun - you can use them as a compass.









The Kauri Pine has no needles and flaky bark which peels off. The lifespan is 1200-1500 years. They grow to 50-65 meters high.

Fern baskets are up in the trees and they drop spores and wind takes them everywhere. They also can wrap up around decaying leaves.









We saw the Fan Palm - rain falls right off the fronds. We saw the Barron Falls from three overlooks.

We left the Cable Cars for a short drive to the town of Kuranda. We visited the Butterfly Garden and Diane tried to get pictures of butterflies with their wings open - esp. blue.

Following our trip we returned to the resort for a dinner with the group.