Big Beautiful Butterflies...

In typical style after I finished the blog yesterday something cute walked passed our holiday home...

...this adult Bush Stone-Curlew had these two fluffy juvs with it. The pictures would have been better if it hadn't been so dark!

Today we headed off into the hills that surround Cairns. The road was steep and windy a combination that Tish really does not like, we were heading to the largest Butterfly Aviary in Australia in a rainforest village called Kuranda.

In simple terms it was a large greenhouse with tropical plants that they stock on a daily basis with native butterfly species..

There were hundreds of butterflies in every direction.
The sugar water feeding stations were a good starting point..

There were too many individuals flying around which made getting decent pictures just about impossible, but these are a selection of Tish's and my best efforts:

One of the most spectacular and Australias largest butterfly is the Cairns Birdwing [as the name implies native to the rainforests around Cairns], the males were spectacular; unfortunately when they were at rest they usually had their wings folded..

...this is about the best we got with its wings open..

...hopefully once we start exploring we will find these in the wild.
After the butterflies and whilst Tish and I visited the information kiosk the children played in the park...

...before we went and had a superb hotdog at a "German Tucker" stall. Kuranda Village is very much a tourist trap although as the Skyrail and Mountain Railway go there I am sure we will be visiting frequently - they had lots of odd shops including a "Little Scotland" selling haggis among other things, as well as many boutique type shops selling trinkets including one place that I am pretty certain sold wide brim hats with corks just for you Jo.
On the way back we stopped at the main viewing area which offered amazing views....

...amazingly the view was of Yorkeys Knob