The Kuranda Experience

Because we needed an excuse, we told Elle we would take her to do The Kuranda Experience, yes, that’s what the brochure officially calls it, for her birthday. This included a visit to the Tjapukai aboriginal culture show; a trip up over the rain forest and Barron Gorge in a glass bubble of a gondola, hanging by a little thread, to the town of Kuranda, an old mining-turned-hippie-artist-colony town, on the Skyrail; and a ride back down the range on the Kuranda Scenic Rail, a mine train line converted for sightseeing. We had done the Skyrail and train before, but Elle was too young to remember it, and I was disappointed that we had missed the Tjapukai show last time around, so this was a good opportunity to kill several birds with one stone.

If you are up this way, don’t miss the cultural attraction. Besides enjoying the Dreamtime and dance shows, we tried our hands at spear throwing (which I am pleased to say I am very good at) and boomerang throwing, learned didgeridoo techniques (and how to save a small fortune by playing on a piece of PVC pipe), and had a lesson in bush food and medicine. Even if you’ve done the trip up and down the mountain before, do it again. Sarabelle and Grice were as excited as if they’d never seen it before; Grice screaming the entire ride up the Skyrail, “Oh! Oh! Take a picture, Mom! Quick! Over there, get a picture of that, too!”

I’m sticking all the photos down below because it seems when I pull up the published site, that the pictures within the post are slipping, covering up some of the text. Let me know if you see it too. Maybe it’s just me...

Here then are shots from the dance portion of the show (I wish I had taken pictures of the kangaroo hunt dance, but I was too fascinated to move), boomerang throwing lessons, Skyrail views, and some of the Kuranda locals.

If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.

-- Herodotus