When we got to Kuranda, we decided to take a walk along the river that then went through old rainforest and on through regrowth forest and finally ended in the village. Nice walk, and we needed it since we hadn't really done any walking Ina couple of days.
Kaunda is a small mountain village that became a haven for hippies in the 1960s. It still retains an alternative vibe in the midst of rampant tourism. We opted to go to the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary. It's the largest butterfly sanctuary in the Southern Hemisphere. They raise butterfly species that are native to the rainforest in that area. The most beautiful were the brilliant blue Ulysses and the iridescent green Cairns Birdwing. There were about 15 species and around 2,000 butterflies in the enclosure.
The guide told us about their feeding habits, then took us to the breeding area. Different butterfly species lay their leaves on specific plants. The workers at the sanctuary take the eggs, sterilize them - to prevent diseases, then put lots of them in a petri dish with a leaf. After about 6 days, when they are larva, they go into a larger net container with lots of leaves. They eat so much the leaves have to be replenished daily. At the cocoon stage they go onto racks so the workers can see when the butterflies emerge, then they are released into the sanctuary. They only live a matter of weeks. They also raise Hercules moths, the largest moth in the world. They take longer to go from egg to moth and then the moth has no mouth or proboscis and can't feed. It lives on body fat, just a long enough to breed, then dies.
It was very difficult to take pictures of the butterflies. In LA we had been to butterfly houses and the butterflies landed on us. I didn't see any butterflies land on anyone. The butterflies here flew very quickly, almost nervously. The guide said that the brightly colored ones move so quickly because the color attracts attention. When they feed they fold their wings and the underside of the wing is brownish or dull colored. All very interesting.
Kuranda is also noted for the markets that have been going on since the 60s. We wandered around through them. Then we stopped for lunch at a restaurant. It also had a separate bar and Pokies or slot machines in a separate room. We had to wait quite a while for our food, but when it came it was worth it. We had the veggie burger made of chickpeas and pumpkin, covered with houmani ( a cheese) and yogurt on a bun with fries.
Then it was time to wander to the train. We had tickets with car and seat numbers and we thought it would be crowded, but there were only 12 of us in the car. The railroad was started in the 1880s to service the goldfields west of Cairns. It was built in sections and the last was completed in 1910. We came down the mountain from Karunda, stopping at Barron Falls for a photo op. It was a 37km trip through 15 hand dug tunnels, over 55 bridges and around 98 curves. There was occasional commentary as we traveled: about the building of the track; the communities that grew up around it, then died, and the role of the railroad in WWII. The trip took about an hour and a half and was very enjoyable.
We had to do a little grocery shopping and the back to the campground and a little swim before dinner.
Pictures - Rainforest from the gondola, Ulysses butterfly, Putting eggs in Petri dishes, Changing leaves for caterpillars, Ulysses butterfly feeding, Kuranda RR station, Samson by the train, Train going over a bridge, Jones Creek Falls, Jeanne & Samson on the train
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