Above the Tree Tops

"I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of drought and flooding rains,
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me."

-Dorothea MacKellar, "I Love a Sunburnt Country"

The legendary heat of Australia made itself known today as we ventured to the tropical rainforest at Kuranda. This one was all about the journey. The trip up to Kuranda was via an antique train that wound its way through multiple hairline turns, high vistas, and some 15 tunnels, built over a century ago by the sweat, toil, and sometimes death of many men bearing pick axes and shovels.

Today we enjoyed the fruits of their labors by railroading past one breathtaking vista after another. Waterfalls, rivers, distant towns and a beautiful coastline, as well as flora of all varieties marked the trip up a steep mountain. At the top was Kuranda, a village that could have been a tourist town anywhere in the world, but for the prevalence of aboriginal art throughout the town. Other than the art and the history and culture surrounding it, the town was not the point. The trip there and back was it.

And the trip back was something to behold. It was via skyrail--a truly amazing gondola trip over the tree tops of the rainforest. The beauty of the flora was matched only by the sounds of the tree life. Frogs, birds,and sounds I couldn't identify, meshed with vistas of coastline, rivers and waterfalls, combined for a memorable trip home.

The only downside of the day was its intense heat and humidity. Washington in the summer is nothing next to a spring day in the Australian rainforest. The clothing I word today will be walking home on their own.

Tomorrow: back to Sydney,.