Day 13 in Kuranda

We said good-bye to our Australian families at 9 a.m. and boarded the bus for Kuranda.

When we first arrived, we had a little time to explore. Unfortunately, we had quite a few of our group getting sick :( Stacy and Lynne felt the worst, I believe. But everyone kept going and I think, had a great time!

Our first stop was getting to feed the wallabies. They're so cute and these were so tame. They just ate right out of your hand.




We also saw a wombat, more crocodiles, a dingo...and the koalas! That is one animal I was REALLY looking forward to seeing in Australia. The picture you see here with one eating a eucalyptus leaf...is one of my favorite pictures of the trip! (Well, when I ordered 'just a few of my favorite pictures' - I ended up with 331 pictures...how long will THAT take me to scrapbook?)
In case you're wondering, this is a non-flattering picture of a wombat!



A dingo.
A Cassowary.

We also got to each have our picture made with the most laid back koala possible!
We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe...not like the one in the bay area, but still, a Rainforest Cafe. After that, we had a demonstration and got to try our hand at throwing a boomerang. Two aborigines helped us...and only one of us at a time went into this large fenced area to throw. Boomerangs are truly weapons...can be deadly weapons - thus the one at a time in a semi-closed area.
Samir

Ginalisa
Tim
Judy
We also watched three guys throwing spears...and one of them played the digeridoo for us..he could really play it! We also watched a show - Pamagirri - from the Pamagirri Dance Troup - with seven different dances. Each dance had a significance such as showing how to hunt in the mangroves, or warning an invading tribe to stay away, etc. I didn't get pictures because my camera made them too dark - but CHAD DID! So...when I get some from Chad, I'll post them here.




Tim showed some of us a cacao tree and a coffee bean tree. I was SHOCKED at the cacao pods!




Then came the Army Ducks. These were built in WWII by women! They go on land or sea...and we went on both on our ride. Our guide pointed out different parts of the rainforest, some unusual plants, etc., on our journey.

We also had dinner here...along with another high school People to People group from Connecticut. There were a couple of guys playing music...which sparked a dancing craze among our groups...












An exciting day within the rainforest was our Day 13!