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In search of wallabies, possums and the elusive platypus we set off with ‘Gone Wild Safari tours’ up the Kuranda range.

From the moment the tour begins we’re learning, even as a local having lived here all my life, I’m discovering all sorts of amazing things that I’d never known before and the kids are taking it all in too, especially my eldest.

The tour passes through 6 different forest systems with Warren our guide telling us about the plants and animals of each one as we go.

• The mangroves, such an important element in ensuring the health of the Great Barrier Reef
• The mesophyll or large leafed rainforest, this is the more common rainforest found in the coastal areas of Tropical North Queensland
• The Notophyll or small-leafed rainforest, unique to a small patch of the Cairns Highlands and currently listed as an endangered eco system
• The wet eucalpyt forest where the rainforest meets the bush
• The dry or schlerophyll forest, a habitat dependant on fire for germination and survival
• The savannah woodland forest, the typical Australian outback landscape

We stop at the Kuranda Range lookout for a view out over the Barron River valley, north to the beaches of Palm Cove and Yorkeys Knob and south towards the city of Cairns to the east on clear days you can see all the way out to Green Island and the Great Barrier Reef.

Binoculars are supplied for everyone and the kids loved checking out the view with these.

As we wind our way up the range we pass through the leafy rainforest and beneath the Skyrail rainforest cable cars that travel to Kuranda throughout the day. We go beyond Kuranda passing through both wet and dry eucalypt forests and into the savannah woodland.

We stop in at an authentic Australian roadside store, known simply as ‘the Termite’, which stocks a host of diverse local produce including honey, macadamia, handmade soaps and fruit and vegetables grown in this fertile region.

After sampling some of the available delicacies (I recommend the roasted macadamias!) we head out to Granite Gorge. This is the home of an endangered species of wallaby found only in this area. The Mareeba rock wallaby is a species which has benefited from human contact. Daily visitors and an onsite caravan park have deterred natural and introduced predators from attacking the wallabies and have also ensured a ready food supply was available which has allowed the wallabies to raise their joeys safely and build their population up to more viable levels. There are few places where you can interact so closely with wild wallabies so this is something that the children really enjoyed.

From Granite Gorge we head to Bonadio’s Mabi Rainforest reserve. This is a private property which has the rare Notophyll or small leafed rainforest. The Bonadio family are working towards revegetating and protecting the forest and the animal species found here. This incredible property is only able to be accessed by Gone Wild Tours.

The first thing on the program was the birds of prey demonstration. This was outstanding and definitely a highlight of the tour. The boys actually got to hold a barn owl and we saw a buzzard, a wedge tailed eagle a lesser sooty owl and a rare rainforest quoll (a carnivorous marsupial related to the Tasmanian devil). I’d never seen a quoll before so I was fascinated by this beautiful yet dangerous little creature.

After the birds of prey demonstration we set off in search of platypus. They are an elusive creature so there was no guarantee we would be lucky enough to see one.

To be continued…

Accommodation:

Sea Salt Beach House

Cairns Accommodation

Palm Cove Accommodation

Kuranda Accommodation

Yungaburra Accommodation