Day 6
Today was a lazy day. I woke up about 8:30 or 9a and realized that my feet hurting yesterday from wearing new flip flops all day on green island yesterday had, in fact, gone from bearable to not-so-bearable. So bad that I was actually debating whether or not to go and see the koalas. But since this was yet another probably once in a lifetime opportunity, I sucked it up and hobbled a few blocks away to the bus stop that would take me to Kuranda.
Kuranda is a little town nestled in the Daintree Rainforest about a 45 minute drive from Cairns CBD. It's probably about 10 or so miles directly away on a map, but the drive up the winding mountain road is slow-going.
When I got there, I headed straight for the Kuranda Koala Gardens. It was a fairly small place, about 1/2 a block or so in diameter, but it was a beautiful animal sanctuary for not only koalas, but also crocodiles, lizards, turtles, snakes, wombats, and ... kangaroos! What was even more fun about this place was that after I got to hold a koala and get my photo taken, I could walk over to the wallaby (kangaroo) area and be inside their open space with them! And I could feed them and pet them, too! It was really fun.
After the koala gardens, I perused the local markets. There were many stalls, selling jewelry, sarongs and beachwear, hats, various souvenirs made from kangaroo and koala leather hides, and a few cafes, too. I stopped for peanut butter and chocolate ice cream cup in a Scottish fudgery. It was delish!
I looked around more until it was time to catch the shuttle bus back into Cairns around 2:15. I got back into town around 3 or so and headed directly to my hostel, which was about a 15 minutes walk away, but took me about twice that because of my poor feet. When I got back, I booked my shuttle to the airport for tomorrow and bought 15 minutes of internet time... for $1. That's one of the only things I don't like about being here. You're charged for every little thing, everything is more expensive, extra fees are usually tagged on, and wifi isn't free. Anywhere. It's a big contrast from Korea where the whole country is almost literally one big free wifi hotspot, food is cheap, extra fees are unheard of, and 'service' (free stuff) is the norm.
The rest of the day was even lazier, as I took a nice long nap. Tomorrow I fly down to Melbourne. Hopefully my feet will be better in a few days for my Great Ocean Road trip! Then Wednesday it'll be time to fly home!
Today was a lazy day. I woke up about 8:30 or 9a and realized that my feet hurting yesterday from wearing new flip flops all day on green island yesterday had, in fact, gone from bearable to not-so-bearable. So bad that I was actually debating whether or not to go and see the koalas. But since this was yet another probably once in a lifetime opportunity, I sucked it up and hobbled a few blocks away to the bus stop that would take me to Kuranda.
Kuranda is a little town nestled in the Daintree Rainforest about a 45 minute drive from Cairns CBD. It's probably about 10 or so miles directly away on a map, but the drive up the winding mountain road is slow-going.
When I got there, I headed straight for the Kuranda Koala Gardens. It was a fairly small place, about 1/2 a block or so in diameter, but it was a beautiful animal sanctuary for not only koalas, but also crocodiles, lizards, turtles, snakes, wombats, and ... kangaroos! What was even more fun about this place was that after I got to hold a koala and get my photo taken, I could walk over to the wallaby (kangaroo) area and be inside their open space with them! And I could feed them and pet them, too! It was really fun.
After the koala gardens, I perused the local markets. There were many stalls, selling jewelry, sarongs and beachwear, hats, various souvenirs made from kangaroo and koala leather hides, and a few cafes, too. I stopped for peanut butter and chocolate ice cream cup in a Scottish fudgery. It was delish!
I looked around more until it was time to catch the shuttle bus back into Cairns around 2:15. I got back into town around 3 or so and headed directly to my hostel, which was about a 15 minutes walk away, but took me about twice that because of my poor feet. When I got back, I booked my shuttle to the airport for tomorrow and bought 15 minutes of internet time... for $1. That's one of the only things I don't like about being here. You're charged for every little thing, everything is more expensive, extra fees are usually tagged on, and wifi isn't free. Anywhere. It's a big contrast from Korea where the whole country is almost literally one big free wifi hotspot, food is cheap, extra fees are unheard of, and 'service' (free stuff) is the norm.
The rest of the day was even lazier, as I took a nice long nap. Tomorrow I fly down to Melbourne. Hopefully my feet will be better in a few days for my Great Ocean Road trip! Then Wednesday it'll be time to fly home!
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