Ashton Abroad: October 2011

This is the LAST posting of photos from when the family was here, I promise. These are from the day we went to Kuranda, which is this crazy hippy village up in the mountains. The whole 'town' was founded on tourism, but instead of making their own goods they're almost entirely shipped in from China and southern Asian countries. It's a bunch of old, tie-dyed people selling you weird stuff, although I think I might go back to buy a hat that I was told (wink wink) was handmade by the woman's husband. The hat was cute!

We took the Kuranda Scenic Railway up the mountain, which was nice and slow and had some lovely views. I'm not sure it was worth the price, but we got a bit of history and some sitting-down time, so that was good.

So what if it's made for kids? It's cheesy and we like it!

She looks... scared?

At least somebody's excited!

This is the real train.

Look! It's been going for 120 years!

Not pictured: the Japanese tourists sitting across from us. :)

It's a long train.

"Please keep all body parts and belongings inside the train at all times." NO! I REFUSE!

Still on the train!

Oh look, we got the logo in this one.

There was nothing photoworthy in town, but we did wander around taking photos for a bit before getting onto the Skyrail.

Today we drove up to Cape Tribulation!

Cape Tribulation is at the very top. The drive takes about 2 hours.

Cape Trib up top, just above Cairns. You know what? Australia is HUGE.

There is only one road to Cape Tribulation. First you have to cross the Daintree River, which you do by boarding the 'river ferry.' Sounds cool, right? Nope, it's basically a hunk of concrete that slowly shuttles between the two sides of the river. But after that it's a long, windy road through the Daintree rainforest with no shoulder and no bathrooms. It's gorgeous!

The Daintree River. See that boat on the side? You can go croc spotting in that. I think I'd like a bigger boat!

Yep, it's the car ferry. Not very exciting.

A lovely scenic overlook. Alexandra Point, I believe.

Pretty jumping spider!

No idea what kind of spider this is. But the shadow is cool!

For our first Daintree activity, we went on a little hike. Australian hiking almost always involves a boardwalk or path, so it's flip-flop friendly. We got stuck behind a tour group at first, which was actually cool for a bit while the guide pointed out animals. Then it turned out to be some kind of conservation tour, and it got super boring. But it was nice to have a guide for a few minutes!

Buttress roots! I love that word, buttress.

GIGANTIC SPIDER.

That is so cool. Honestly how anyone could not like spiders (from afar) is beyond me.

Look what we found!

This is a red-bellied black snake! It's quite venomous. :)

A lovely St. Andrew's Cross spider!

Then it was time to hit the beach. We collected tons of shells. Finally, an easy family-friendly activity that everyone can enjoy!

A looong stretch of beach.

"Not bad, not bad."

Finding shells!

Looking for... coconuts?

There weren't very many people there, which was nice... because we got all the good shells to ourselves!

Still comparing shells. We found a TON of them.

Crabs make little balls of sand when excavating their tunnels.

There are lots of crabs!

See, I told ya so.

I have no idea what she's got here but I bet it's something awesome.

The sand at Cape Tribulation was silver! It was as if someone had poured glitter onto the beach.

Now we all know where glitter comes from!

How many girls do you know who get excited over calcareous algae? (Answer: one.)

I had to pet him, he was so cute!

Then it was off for another 'hike,' this time through the mangroves. The Daintree has a lot to offer!

Mangroves are great! But they're also smelly and full of bugs.

This is the second coolest tree I've seen in Australia.
(First is the Cathedral Fig, of course.)

Me and my granny!

I'm not sure if the problems is with the camera or the photographer, but this photo is focused on everything BUT us.
(My money is on the photographer. Sorry, grandma.)

Finally we left the Daintree rainforest and stopped in Port Douglas on the way home. Their beach, called 4 Mile Beach (very creative) is apparently a favourite of rock stars and celebrities and the like. And you know what? It's nothing special. I would definitely pick several of the Cairns beaches over 4 Mile Beach any day. But Port Douglas was lovely, despite their somewhat disappointing beach.

I mean, yes, 4 Mile Beach is nice... but there are lots of nicer beaches around!

The lookout was lovely, but the drive up was so steep I was afraid we wouldn't make it back down!

And now for a few more photos I forgot to include from Holloways Beach, where we stayed. Below is the pool, which taught us an important lesson: in Australia, 'spa' is different from 'hot tub.' A spa is just bubbly cool water. Big bummer, I tell you.

The pool was saltwater though, so that was lovely.

Know your jellies!

Barbie time!

Yep, that's kangaroo meat. Yum!

Master griller, right there.

And now for some strange bugs I found at the hotel, just because I love how weird all the insects are here. Go ahead, roll your eyes. But this bug is magenta-coloured!