Thankfully today we get a bit of a lie-in; our pick-up isn't until 9.40am. Still I awake at 7.30am, have a shower and type some diary up. I have a chat with Lorina on reception about travelling; she's been travelling Australia for years. Iain wakes up when I'm still working on the diary - I'm sending it as we're due for our trip pick-up. A scary looking woman in her 50s with big red hair and a loud shirt appears and chides us for being late (about 30 seconds). We are almost forcibly dragged onto a coach, with a constant berating tirade of near-abuse! As we get on, her husband (in matching shirt) introduces himself. He's Bob and she's Merle. His speciality is bad jokes, and hers is telling passengers off. We're in big trouble for daring to pay by credit card ("You have no idea how much trouble this causes us.")

[We had to share this with you]

[Escape from Merle and Bob]

A couple with two young children get on at one of our pick ups. Merle informs the mother that "I'll tell the kids what to do; it's better if I do". Iain and I are collapsing in fits of hidden laughter at this point, as "Coach Commander" Bob continues his tour of local cemeteries ("the fence is broken as everyone was dying to get in".

After twenty minutes of endurance, we pull up at the Skyrail cablecar terminal north of Cairns. We booked this trip as it's cheaper to travel with Bob and Merle than independently - and simpler, as we're taking a return journey on the train, but the Skyrail doesn't go all the way to Cairns.

We have a huge list of instructions from Merle when we get to the terminal, including not to stop at the gift shop or toilets in case she loses us. We ignore this and abandon everyone once we've got our tickets.

[Daintree Rainforest]

The Skyrail takes us over the Daintree Rainforest to Kuranda, in the hills north of Cairns. It's absolutely magnificent (I'm running out of superlatives on this diary), exactly as I thought rainforest should be.

[The cablecar]

We float over the canopy, hearing myriad birds' calls, marvelling at the greenness of it all. The sea and reef are behind us, in stunning blue-green. The weather today has cleared miraculously, and it's beautifully clear.

A third of the way up, there's a cablecar stop, and we have a walk round the rainforest. It's dense and lush, with an amazing array of vegetation. We travel further up, over Barron Gorge, an incredible valley with a very high (but thin, due to the dam above) waterfall over a stunning rockface. In terms of scenery I've seen, it's on a par with Switzerland in being my favourite ever.

[The stop]

[Barron Gorge]

[Barron Gorge]

[Approaching Kuranda]

[Approaching Kuranda]

[Station]

[Train]

There's a lookout point where we walk round and bask in the beauty and wonder of it all. Then we go up to the top to Kuranda. This is tourist Hell, but the only way to get back to Cairns as it has a road and train station. We have (expensive and crap) lunch at one of the hundreds of cafes. Kuranda is a small town with wall-to-wall shops selling didges, outback clothing, fluffy koalas and boomerangs; you get the picture. Where there aren't shops, there are places to eat. The town tries really hard to make you stay all day; it has attractions relating to flora and fauna; a butterfly house, wildlife park etc. We stay an hour, the shortest time possible given that the train doesn't leave until 2pm (we're supposed to get the 3.30pm train, so Merle will probably give us earache). Iain has bad indigestion and looks worryingly ill, so we sit and rest in the train station for a while.

[More Gorge]

[More train]

The train itself is attractive, old and restored, with open sides. We rebelliously don't sit on the seats marked on our tickets, much to the disgust of the other 12 people in the 20% full carriage. This means (shock horror) we have window seats. There are plenty to go round, but everyone insists in sitting in their rightful places in the middle!

The train stops at a lookout for views, then continues slowly down the hill - it's a 1 hour trip through the rainforest back to Cairns. Once we've seen the best bits (waterfalls, rocks, rivers, etc), tiredness overcomes me and I sleep the rest of the journey. Iain says I missed more rainforest and about twenty tunnels. The route up to Kuranda was built in the goldrush, and workers were transported in open carts up and down the steep hills; it wasn't the safest job.

[More Gorge]

[View towards the coast]

[Waterfall]

[And more train]

Thankfully we elude Merle, and head back to the hostel on foot - it's only 50m from the station. We're back at 4pm and we veg out, read and await the hostel BBQ at 7pm. For once we're sociable (taking our food back to our room is the only other option!) and talk to people; we meet the Germans we canoed with the other day. The food is okay, sort of all-you-can-eat, and the veggie burgers are good. We're offered free entry to the Woolshed, a club in Cairns. Given my brother Simon's description we decline: "The music's awful, the food is worse, and the beer is as cheap as the Queensland slappers". It's backpacker central; apparently you can dance on tables til 5am. Plenty of people we've met on trips have had hangovers from it the previous night.