Atherton Tablelands
CuriousOyster
Steve & Trish Brown
Fri 8 Jul 2011 06:42
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We spent a few days in cairns en route north and
took the opportunity to go diving out on the Great Barrier Reef (a little
disappointing but we have been spoiled by so many great diving and snorkelling
spots as we sailed through the pacific) and to visit the nearby Atherton
Tablelands
This trip inland involved a three stage trip in
what they call a skytrain, in fact an ariel cableway that soars over the
rainforest with stops en route to learn about the forest and wildlife. Really
good!
Most impressive of all was the huge Barron Gorge
and Barron Falls, a fantastic geological anomoly where the Barron river pours
over huge cliffs and down the gorge into the sea.
  The cableway terminutes in a touristy town with
lots of "souvenirs" with a strong aboriginal influence. Not so
good!
Although there was a couple of wildlife areas with
a range of the local inhabitants.
  The return trip takes you by historic train back to
Darwin and again this was really well done, took in some great scenery and was
really informative about the region and how the railway was
constructed.
  The train travelled along the edge of the gorge for
much of its length, through many tunnels andover bridges, all in all a great
trainride
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