After leaving Lake Tinaroo, we ambled the short distance to Cairns to show up on Fay and Peter’s doorstep like a couple of bad pennies coming back. The Red Claw that we caught in Tinaroo went into a garlic salad that night to go along with a wonderful pasta dish that Peter made. Peter’s cousin David and his friend Morris were staying with Scott and Nikki, so we had quite a crowd! Unfortunately, first Fay and then Peter came down with some kind of bug that really made them sick for most of the time that we were there, but at least we were able to help them through it. We spent most of the time re-packing and reorganizing our stuff, but we did get to do some fun stuff too.
On the 14th of Nov., we took the Sky Rail to Kuranda, a small touristy community not far from Yorkey’s Knob where Fay, Peter, Scott and Nikki live. The Sky Rail is a gondola ride over some of the most spectacular rain forest in the area. We had walked through rain forests before, but could never see what the canopy was like. The gondola passed up over the rainforest and onto the Atherton Tableland above Cairns with tree top views of the rain forest canopy.
There were two stations along the way where we got off of the gondola and walked through the rainforest around the station as well. One station provided views of the Barron River Falls, but there was no water going over them at this time of year. Kuranda is a small community nearly completely given over to the tourist trade, so it was filled with outdoor markets and a seemingly endless array of tourist goods. The prices and selection were good due to fierce competition, so if you wanted to get some tourist goods to send home, this would be the place to go in the Cairns area. We spent several hours wandering around in Kuranda’s shops and then caught the "Scenic Rail" ride back to our car at the Sky Rail Station.
This is an old railway that was originally constructed to transport materials and gold between the mines on the tableland and the coastal ports. Since it was cut through some scenic canyon country, it has been refurbished as a tourist attraction and moves tourists between various stations in and around Cairns and Kuranda. In fact, it was something of a disappointment. The trees along the track obscured the views of the canyon so that mostly what we saw was a rather junky railroad track right of way! We would recommend taking the Sky Rail both ways for anyone planning a visit to the Kuranda markets.
Now, this brings me to a point where we’d like to share with you some of our observations regarding the nature of tourism and touring in Oz. There has been a well financed and artfully executed program to promote tourism in Australia on the domestic and world markets. The various governments, city, state and local tourism organizations, and professional marketing consultants involved are to be complemented on the production of a perfectly bewildering array of attractive and enticing promotional brochures available at innumerable locations around the country. There are, in fact, an extraordinary number of genuinely wonderful and worthwhile places to visit which should not be missed by the traveler. There are also some pretty marginal attractions that are blatantly over sold by the use of this well oiled marketing machine. By just reading the brochures that are available, it is difficult to tell which are which until you get there.
The concept of "caveat emptor"- the buyer beware - is truly in force here. There is no law against overstating the value of an attraction. Misleading advertizing is almost a standard of the industry in tourism worldwide and Australia is no exception. Almost every small community in Australia’s outback has a well developed tourism organization, often subsidized by state or federal funding, that produces professional quality brochures claiming the area is "a dream come true for fisherman", has the "oldest" of something or another, is the "gateway" to somewhere else (which is usually where the real attraction is), is where some historical figure spent the night, is the Baramundi fishing capital of Australia, and/or has "spectacular views" of some geological feature. These communities see tourism as an inexpensive way to supplement the community’s income which is usually just getting by.
Can’t say that I blame them - I’m sure that I’d be dong the same thing in their shoes. But for the traveler, it means that one must be very careful about evaluating attractions from the published materials and look for some other collaborating information before spending your hard earned time and money on a disappointing attraction. We rely heavily on the recommendations of other travelers that we meet along the way and the experiences of friends and relations here in Oz. These have seldom led us wrong. Even then, one must be careful to consider the time of year that a good or bad experience is reported, as the enjoyment of a place can be dramatically effected by the weather. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that, because the Aussies have a well earned reputation for being honest, straight forward people, that their tourism marketing lacks sophistication!
One example is the tiny community of Boulia in central Queensland where, since 1918, some mysterious lights had been reported near the ruins of the old Min Min Hotel some 80 km east of the town. Now, the lights do not appear regularly enough to attract tourists 80km out of town, so the town has constructed a "replica" of the lights - a spot light out in the desert - so that tourists can see what the lights must have looked like, if they existed at all, that is. This is a regional attraction with advertizing brochures and books in information centers throughout Queensland which actually manages to attract a number of visitors to this remote outback community each year!!
In our accounts on this page, we’ve made no bones about the quality of the attractions that we’ve visited, so that, if any of our friends should consider traveling to Oz, they may be able to benefit from our experiences. It’s tough to go wrong with the National Parks so long as you pay attention to the seasons, and internationally acclaimed attractions like Kakadu, the Sydney Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef, etc. are sure things. Sometimes it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see through the hype either. Take this quotation from the description of a local attraction (off shore coal loading facility) near Serina Beach where we stayed:
"Hay Point Jetty. The drive to the jetty gives you a close up view of the stacker- reclaimers and the huge piles of coal. At the "Tourist Loop", enjoy the sound of the conveyor belts and observe the sea views. The ships look bigger now that you are close to them! Local anglers catch big cod, jew fish, and mackerel near the jetties."
I’d love to see how this person would describe the town dump! We’re thinking of recording the enjoyable sound of the conveyor belts and selling the tapes at the local tourist shop to earn bait money so I can go fishing on the jetty!!
If you’ve found yourself in the position of having overestimated the value of an attraction and committed yourself to a stay that you’re afraid you’re not going to enjoy, don’t despair! It has been our experience that the real treasures of a country are not it’s places, but it’s people. Go find a shop keeper who’s having a slow day, and strike up a conversation. Stop by the local pub and chat it up with the bar keep or some of the patrons. Go to a local sporting event and rub elbows with both sides in the match. Visit with your neighbors in the campground or caravan park - they’re your best resource to alternate, bona-fide attractions in the area that you may never have heard of. Our fondest and longest lasting memories of Australia will not be of the spectacular gorges, dramatic reefs, or unusual buildings, but of the wonderful people that we’ve met along the way and the hours spent visiting with them. Many will be life long friends that we will encounter over and over again, some we’ll never see again, but all will form the most enjoyable and unforgettable part of our trip. Yes, go see the sights - everyone does and your trip wouldn’t be complete without them - but go out of your way to meet the people, because those encounters are what will make your trip.