HEY SAILOR

April 1, 2011

Howdy…that’s what Ernest, our Aboriginal speaker, says. Spent a great day at the Tjapukai Cultural Center trying our hand at boomerang throwing, watching some real aboriginal dances and what else…shopping. Our trip to the Cultural Center was an interesting one.  While we have seen Aborigines before and learned something about their culture before this was news again.  Prior to British colonization, there were over 500 distinct and different tribes each having their own spoken language. This tribe like many Aborigines are very proud of their heritage and cultural background. 

A quick drive down the road and we arrived at the SkyRail Center to begin our assent over the rainforest.  Three separate gondolas took us five miles across the rainforest.  At each gondola exchange there was a short walkway among the flora and fauna of the rainforest.  At the second stop, Barron Falls enthralled us with it broad expanse and fast flowing water.  This falls is only visible January through June, the rainy season.  The rest of the year it is just a tiny trickle.  We were very lucky to see this.

At the conclusion we took a short drive into the town of Kuranda, a small shopping and craft center,  where we had a lunch and a little ‘walkabout” Most of us sampled Andrea’s recommended ‘kangaroo pie”   Pies are part of the standard Aussie fare and come with a multitude of different fillings, similar to our pot pies.  The kangaroo pie was tasty.  No it didn’t taste like chicken but was a good replacement for beef.  Unfortunately the sky opened up and a downpour kept us inside for the next hour rather than sampling the rest of the center.

Our evening concluded at the Aussie version of the American Legion Hall.  A very good dinner (lots of choices) and a reasonably priced bar.   We have found that the fish and chips is usually a safe choice for dinner as it is hard to change battered and fried whitefish.  Others who tried the beef said it was good but a bit ‘chewy’.  So much for grass fed over corn fed beef.  The deserts were the standard fare and we got to taste a different version of Pavlova and lamington.

Back to hotel for some quick packing….off to Sydney tomorrow.