Kuranda Skyrail
Dangling high above the rainforest of Australia, we looked down on the green canopy of trees, each one an individual mini ecosystem. Plants growing high in the trees gain access to light not found under the canopy.
above the rainforest
Lianas (vines)grow up the trees from the forest floor while strangler figs start out in the canopy and grow down to the ground, eventually killing their host. Air plants of many varieties, ferns, and fungus grow on the trunk and branches.
rainforest tree
The Kuranda Skyrail cable tram transports visitors high above the trees from near Cairns to Kuranda, with stops along the way to view the rainforest from within. We came up the mountain on the Kuranda Scenic Railway, and took the tram back down.
lots of plants call the treetops home
At the tram stop, we walked on wooden trails through the treetops.
trail through the treetops
We could look up at the same treetops we had just looked down on.
tree top
We saw more than trees on the tram stop trail.
beetle on the railing
Back on the tram, we sometimes passed over giant trees standing high above the rest.
some trees tower over the rest
The ride ended at the bottom of the mountain.
ride over. time to get out
On to our next adventure, a cruise on the Great Barrier Reef!
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I like the pictures. People in the Philippines believe the strangler vines are bad spirits because they kill the host tree.
The host tree would probably agree with them.
Great barrier reef – WOW!! Cannot wait to see photos of that!! 🙂
Recently found your blog- and not gonna lie, makes me want to go back on a cruise…ASAP! 😛
Lots of love from Baby Pickel
If you’re thinking about a cruise, go for it! It’s the ideal vacation. Getting there is as much fun as being there. You get to see lots of places and only have to unpack once.
There’s lots of undersea photos of the Great Barrier Reef in the Reef Encounter album on MyCruiseStories facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.175036495891895.47351.164629513599260