July 8

Thursday. Drove to Kuranda, up on the Atherton Tablelands. The road goes up the side of a mountain, about the same as going up Bent Mountain in the Blue Ridge, except that the the signs warn of emus and kangaroos rather than deer crossings. Kuranda itself seems to be mostly a marketplace with leather, hats, fabrics, clothes, digeridoos, jewelry from semiprecious stones, wooden bowls and plates, and so on. I saw one Indigenous man at work there, painting landscapes. They also had an aviary and a zoo of venomous creatures, but I didn't go in. I did get a "thick" milkshake, but it wasn't nearly as thick as an American milkshake would be.


Came back to Cairns and picked up Josh as he returned from the dive trip. Walked around a while, got excellent lamb gyros at Greek Taverna, headed back to the hotel so Josh could wash off three days accumulation of salt and then sleep.