Weather: Hot & Sunny (with some foreboding clouds )
When we got up this morning, we were a little sad because we had to leave the paradise of Green Island. We got up, packed our suitcases, left them in the room (they take our luggage to the boat for us), and went to breakfast. It was the same awesome buffet as yesterday, but I noticed they had honey dripping off a honey comb! 
We got on our boat and sat in the back. It was so nice there, I didn’t want to go! About 45 minutes later, we were back on the docks of Cairns. We walked from the marina to our hotel, which looked a lot closer on the map. Apparently, when you’re lugging 2 suitcases and a backpack behind you in 90 degree heat and humidity,
that walk seemed that much further! Maybe that’s why they call it “luggage?” By the time we got to the new hotel, (The Coral Tree Inn) we were dripping with sweat. Our new room wasn’t as nice as our last one, but it was spacious. There were ants in the bathroom, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
We took a bus to the scenic Kuranda Skyrail! It goes through the local rain forests and is one of the manmade wonders of the world! There were so many picturesque views of amazing trees and canopies.
There were two stops along the way, with boardwalks around the forest. At one of the stops we saw a great view of Baron Gorge and Baron Falls! When we got to the top, we were in a town called Kuranda and we went into the local shops (very touristy) and got lunch at a place overlooking the rainforest! We passed up the opportunity to eat at “The Deli Llama” out of our sheer distaste for restaurants with puns in their title. Instead, we continued browsing the local stores
until we got to one that looked like a pirate ship. We walked in and the place sold mainly didgeridoos. We found out that they are hallowed out by termites, then polished and painted.
The man in the store was very informative, and then he mentioned that he played for seventeen years and he played with the London Symphony Orchestra … on didgeridoo! So he gave us a great demonstration and posed for a picture.
I felt bad about not buying anything from his store, but everything was so expensive. One didgeridoo sold for $3,000 (Australian). He even showed us his stockpile upstairs, all crafted by Aboriginal artists.
After we were satisfied with the local sampling of the Kuranda street scene, (and when it was time to catch our train), we went to the Kuranda Scenic Railway station. It was a nice little train and it seemed very old-fashioned. We
saw many steep drops and a waterfall on the way back down to Cairns. We met a nice Indian couple on the way (sitting next to us) and they were on their honeymoon, taking a vacation from their quarry business in Northern India. They encouraged us to visit India, but something tells me we’re not going to be traveling like this for a very long time. It was so hot and humid on the train that it was a relief to get off!After we walked back to the room, we got ready for our evening dinner show at Tjupukai, an Aboriginal dinner/dance show.
We were bussed there with others from the hotels in Cairns, including a nice Irish family. When we got there, we went right into the first room with black light paint and florescent colors everywhere. We were introduced to a “chief” who narrated an opening statement and danced from a platform (also covered black light paint). There were lightning effects and a fog machine, too!
Then we “walked towards the light” and walked outside, banging two sticks together in rhythm. We were led to a circle where we chanted and stomped, while banging the sticks together. The Aboriginals were creating fire the old-fashioned way (by rubbing two sticks together).
Once they got a spark, they waved the ignited dry grass around in the air and it burst into flame. They lit a spear, threw it into the woods across the river and a pillar of fire erupted over behind the trees! Don’t worry; it looked like a controlled explosion.Then they lit the walkway’s tikki torches and we followed them to the dinner buffet feast! Once we were allowed to get up to the buffet, it was a mad rush for the food! There were muscles, fish, chicken, beef, pork, soup, salads, etc. I washed all that down with a Foster’s Lager. It wasn’t my favorite so far.
After dinner, the “show” started. It was a mixture of a luau, beatnik poetry reading, and the three stooges. Everything seemed very disconnected and the dialogues were embarrassing. They would just hit each other and say, “you hit my head!” “No I didn’t.” And it went on and on like that…
This was definitely a tourist trap. The cherry on the icing was when they ended the show with “I’m proud to be [clap clap] Aborigine,” which while the sentiment was nice, the delivery was so hokey I felt embarrassed for the performers.Onc highlight of the evening is when they called on a volunteer for the Irish family to get up and try to make fire from sticks and then dance on stage. She got a boomerang for participating, signed by the performers. Later, when we re-boarded the bus, the bus-driver gave her a hard time about being the one who brought home the boomerang!
Overall, it was fun and the food wasn’t bad. It just seemed too pricey. I mean .. they sang “The Kangaroo Blues!” with a boogie-woogie karaoke sound-track! Also, they were covered in mud and there were no female performers. Nothing makes you hungrier than watching five overweight, dirty, sweaty, men in loin cloths dancing and flinging the dirt under their feet at each other.
That night, we tried to go to sleep, but couldn’t get “Proud to be [clap] [clap] … Aborigine” out of our heads.
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