18 February, 2012
For the weekend, we caught the train up to Kuranda to visit Keff. It's a nice scenic trainride, and a leisurely way to travel. Barron Falls are in an impressive gorge, and we saw some pictures of it in flood, but it's used for hydro power, so unless it's flooding it's almost completely dry. They release water from it for white water rafting in the afternoons, and if the dam is full, no other times.
Arriving at Kuranda we got a treat though, seeing a wild hercules moth! It's truly an enormous moth, far bigger than anything I'd ever seen before. Absurdly large even. It was just resting on a wall by the toilets at the station!
We looked at all the tourist shops in Kuranda, which were mostly fairly ordinary, then Keff came and picked us up and we went out to his place. He was a wonderful block half in the rainforest, and with big glass doors wide open for the breeze, and no screens, a wonderful collection of "roommates." We spent the evening playing with various beetles, while telling tall tales and drinking mango daquries. Tough life.