Let me take an interlude here to talk about my hat. I have this great Australian Outback hat (you can see it in one of the December posts) that I left on the boat Monday during the snorkeling adventure. It was a three day effort to get it returned to me! Which would not have been possible without the able assistance of Jenny. She made dozens of calls to Quicksilver in order to find the hat and arrange its return, I listened to about half of them. The best part is that Jenny was able to circumvent all the BS paperwork that one is suppose to do to claim lost property! Apparently Quicksilver has a process, however with Jenny’s sweet tongue and persistence she was able to get it delivered here in record time. I will post a picture of Jenny wearing my hat!
Right after Jenny dropped off the hat Chris felt well enough to go and figure out something else to do today. So she arranged a combo Skyforest and Scenic Railway trip for the afternoon. The first part of our festivities, Skyforest, was a five mile cable car ride in three parts all above the rain forest. Wow - What a ride! It ended up in Karanda where we went to a way too expensive lousy restaurant (Rainforest View) for lunch after paying the $120 Chris promptly left me with Dennis and went for a leisurely two hours of shopping. I purchased Dennis an Ice Cream Cone and sat down on the park bench where I could watch him play on the play ground. (Reader take note" If you are ever in the town of Karanda walk to the playground and then select any restaurant in sight. To stop earlier you will be fleeced.)
To leave the town, and the second part of the days adventure, we took the scenic rail road. The train station itself is worth the trip to Karanda. It is a charming wooden structure with a plethora of plants gracing the platform. There are cafes and shops (okay mostly tourist shops but nicely done.) Unfortunately we did not have any time on the platform as the train was leaving soon. So we boarded our assigned seats on car #12 and we were off!
It was a lovely 90 minute trip down the mountain through fifteen tunnels with views of two waterfalls and overlooking the Barron River. I found myself taking in amazing views (and lots of pictures most of which did not turn out, not you will not see anytime soon as I still have not found a way to get them to this MAC.) and trying to keep both Dennis and Chris happy. Dennis was bored out of his skull and his only entertainment was to put body parts out the window; and Chris was scared silly whenever a body part of her son’s went out the window. My only reprieve was the occasional interesting tidbit that the conductor (probably a recording as I never saw the man) would tell us as came to various places along the route. I truly wanted to go to the beverage car and enjoy the ride down the mountain.
Once we were at our station Freshwater Creek we were shuttled back to our car parked in the Skyforest parking lot. The drive to the Holiday park was uneventful, except for the rain which started to come down in earnest. We at the leftovers in the room and Dennis and I watched ET on the big screen.
Now the two of them are asleep and I am typing this blog entry. I will have to join them soon as we depart this hotel at 8:00am tomorrow morning to fly to Brisbane! Where we will spend some time on the beach before we start our drive down to Sydney!
Once we were at our station Freshwater Creek we were shuttled back to our car parked in the Skyforest parking lot. The drive to the Holiday park was uneventful, except for the rain which started to come down in earnest. We at the leftovers in the room and Dennis and I watched ET on the big screen.
Now the two of them are asleep and I am typing this blog entry. I will have to join them soon as we depart this hotel at 8:00am tomorrow morning to fly to Brisbane! Where we will spend some time on the beach before we start our drive down to Sydney!
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