Day 90 - Kuranda, Queensland - Australian Damper Bread with Paw Paw Jam

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Following a painfully early-morning bus pick-up time, the three of us headed out for a day of exploration in Kuranda.

The first leg of our trip was a train ride up the rainforest moutains on the famous Kuranda Railway system. An impressive engineering accomplishment (even by today’s standard), the railway system was built over 100 years ago when gold was discovered in the area, and a gold rush quickly followed. For trivia buffs amongst you, some quick facts: the rail line stretches upwards for 21 miles (34km) from Cairns to Kuranda through the tropical rainforest, winds through 15 tunnels, and traverses 40 bridges, including one that spans the awesome Barron River Falls.

It was unfortunate that it was raining most of the day in Kuranda (we had extremly limited visibility, meaning we missed out on a lot of the scenery), but what we were able to see what pretty stunning.




After the 45-minute train ride was over, we arrived in Kuranda. Very small, very "packaged" and ultra-touristy ... but very quaint. Most tourists have only a few hours to spend in Kuranda (usually between the train ride arrival time and the departure down the moutain via Skyrail) so anything needing to be experienced must be done very quickly. Aside from the usual tourist shops, our remaining options were: a butterfly sanctuary, an insectarium (they were apparently extracting venom from one of the tarantulas later that morning), and an animal feeding zoo.

Clear winner = feeding zoo. Why? Because we could get our pictures taken while holding koalas. One more item of Kevin's Top 10 Things To Do In Australia list:




There were other animals to feed as well (kangaroos, wallabies, etc ...), but really, it was all about the koalas.

With our time in Kuranda quickly winding down (didn't we just get here?), time to grab a bite to eat. Lots to choose from, all of which catered strongly to the tourist dollar (I doubt the original settlers brough sushi chefs and curry recipes up the moutains with them). Finding something local and authentic was tricky, but we did find a restaurant that served Australian damper bread (recipe, and history, below). We inhaled the warm bread with some paw paw jam I bought earlier in the morning at one of the Kuranda food market stands. "Paw paw", which actually originates from south-eastern North American, is a fruit which tastes similar to banana and mango.

Food-satisfied, we headed to the Skyrail rainforest cableway for a trip back down the mountain. Again, the rain ...

There were two brief stops on our path back down, allowing for quick walks around the rainforest. Back on the Skyrail, we went over several bodies of freshwater (we even saw a fresh-water crocodile sitting patiently on the water's edge – even from 100+ feet above, it still looked huge). After a half hour or so, we were back on solid ground, much to Nicole's comfort.

Austalian damper bread has historical significance. It was eaten by early settlers, and can be made on an open fire, in a dutch oven or a conventional oven. The following is a basic recipe. Many variations exist, including dusting the bread with powdered sugar (this is how ours was served in Kuranda) and using of beer or soda in the dough to replace some of the other liquids.

Recipe courtesy of AussieSlang.com:

Ingredients

4 cups self-raising flour
3/4 - 1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
1 cup milk
1/2 cup water

Method:

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and mix in the sugar.

Rub in the butter with your (clean) hands until a fine breadcrumb texture is achieved.

For a well in the top of the flour, pour in the milk and water, and mix well with a knife until the dough come clean from the sides of the bowl.

Turn out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and silky, like a baby's bottom.
Shape into a mounded loaf, (some people cut a deep cross in the top) and bake in a preheated oven, 200 c / 400 F, for 25 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 180 c / 375 f and cook a further 10 - 15 minutes until done. The loaf should be a light golden brown colour and sound hollow when tapped.

Local varitions: "If you are "game" try cooking it on a camp fire; nothing beats that extra smoky flavour, especially using Australian Eucalyptus wood to give it that special something. If you are cooking in an oven at home, try putting a few Gum Leaves in the over to smoke as your are cooking the bread."