More Rainforest

We visited the small town of Kamarra today after lunch.  The guide book said that it had many cute shops and hiking trails.  The shops were OK, the TI person showed us the trail to the Barron Falls.  Since the trail she showed was about 2 hours, we elected to walk around the town first, then drive to the start of the Falls trail.  It was in the Barron Gorge National Park and the TI person said that it was about an hour round trip--it ended up being less than 40 minutes with parts of that taking photos.  The trail is on a boardwalk through the wet tropics in the Barron Gorge National Park.  Since it is "the dry" the rainforest was rather tame and not too wet or steamy and the Falls were tame as well.  Evidently in the "wet", when they get torrential monsoons, it is much more full.  It was pretty though, and interesting where the rainforest gave way to the forest as we got closer to the creek.  The trail was easy--ramped and boardwalk.

It is disconcerting here, to drive around and see chains that are common in the states.  Kmart, Toys 'r' Us, KFC, and Target (and, of course, McDonald's) are some of the chains that we've seen.

We went to the beach this morning and all three of the children burned their backs, despite sunscreen (that pale Scandinavian skin!). They had fun and spent most of the time working on sandcastles and a mini stonehenge, collecting shells, and just running up and down the beach since there were no waves to jump in.  The morning was warm and the water was warm enough for Randy and I to wet our feet.  I have heard that Minnesota is its typical hot and steamy July self, so I am enjoying the warmth with no humidity to speak of!!   : )  

Annie woke up to a birthday card and small gift (a book) this morning on the table.  : )  Our oldest little girl is 15--yikes!!  We will probably sing happy birthday at the beach tonight and will celebrate her birthday when we get home at the end of July.

Again, unable to upload photos, I am waiting for word from Blogger.