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During my latest trip to Australia, I went on a quick 5 day dash over to far North Queensland. I haven’t been here since I was a kid, and on the itinerary was a tour of the Atherton region, the Daintree and a bit of Barrier Reef action.

Although the weather was mostly cold and overcast, it was a pretty fun trip…aside from the gut heaving excursion out to the reef which left half a boatload of passengers green around the gills, myself included (check out my sexy sea legs).

Some spots I had been to before (and some had not changed at all since 1985) but I also got to check out a couple of new areas, including the sleepy rainforest town of Kuranda – hidden up in the Atherton Tablelands of Far North Queensland.

Accessible by road, antique steam train or cable car, it’s a town that seems to have a defined peak period from about midday til 5pm (I stayed here for a couple of days so I was able to get some small sense of how the place ticked along). It had a bit of an alternative vibe and I was instantly imagining myself living there within about 10 minutes of arriving, though I suspect that there’s not an awful lot to do most of the time (unless you are one of the many independent artists that the town seems to attract). I’d have to come back another time and stay for longer to get a better sense of the place. But I spent a great half-day at the butterfly sanctuary chasing photos, while the steam train ride back through the hilly rainforest was spectacular.