We took the Kuranda Scenic Train from the Cairns Train Station to Kuranda and spent the day visiting the Rainforest Station, the Bird World, and walking in the rainforest.  We then took the Skyrail cable car back down to a small town near Cairns from where we took a bus to get back to the hotel.  I thought that the Rainforest Station was just a tourist trap, but we did get to see interesting animals.  The Bird World was much better.

Although our original plan to go snorkeling was canceled by the boat operators, we were able to go with an alternate company called Calypso. They picked us up at 7:10 a.m. at the hotel in Cairns and drove us to Port Douglas.  It was an overcast day, but it actually made it a much more pleasant day to snorkel. 

The boat took us out to a part of the Great Barrier Reef called Opal Reef, and we snorkeled at 3 different sites.  Since Calypso did not have any underwater digital cameras for rent, I had to buy an inexpensive underwater camera (analog, of course), and I shared it with my traveling companion.  I'm glad that I shared the camera with her because most of the good photos were taken by her.

We didn't spend much time in the city other than having dinner every night and a few hours of walk on the last day before we left for Christchurch, New Zealand.  The scenery reminded me very much of Hawaii.