Kuranda

Tuesday I had intended to chill out on the beach during the day. However the weather forecast was not looking good so I booked a ticket on the Kuranda Scenic railway, which goes from Cairns train station to Kuranda. As it turned out the weather was beautiful but I was still really glad I went. The trip was lovely. Normally I would have come down on the Skyrail but it undergoes maintenance for 3 weeks every 20 years. And you can guess what they are doing now.

Kuranda Train

100 yr old cabins

I was really lucky as I had the carriage up pretty much to myself. (The railway is a lot less busy because the sky rail isn't running.) The carriages were the original carriages, 100-80 yrs old and very posh.

180 degree turn, to allow the train to gain speed.

The views from the railway were fantastic. The railway is 37km long, traveling to 328m above sea level, passes through the Barron Gorge National Park, and was built to move products from the gold rush. It was started in 1882, and has 15 tunnels and 37 bridges and numerous cutouts.

There are some great views over Cairns from the train. In the photo below the silvery patches are all the sugar cane fields, one of the main products of the region. The silver is a flower on the top of the cane which signals it is ready to harvest. (They are just waiting for all the rain to stop before starting.)

View of Cairns from the railway

Stoney Creek falls

On the bridge at Stoney creek falls

The commentary on the train was great, pointing out all the interesting parts and fun facts. The staff on the train were really good too, offering to take photos and pointing out anything we might have missed.

Enjoying the railway 

View over Cairns bay

 The train stops at Barron Falls for 10 mins before finishing the trip to Kuranda. The falls are quite impressive (and even more so in the wet season - apparently this is the dry season but it doesn't feel like it).

At the lookout of Barron falls

Barron Falls 

Close up

View down the platform

At Kuranda, there are lots of things to do but I was only there for half a day so decided to do the Butterfly house and some shopping. The butterfly farm was cool, though expensive (I got around it in about 15 mins).

After the farm I headed to the Heritage markets which was very cool. As usual I spent too much money. There was also an old plane wreck behind the markets.

Inside Geronimo, built 1942

 I also went to the mall markets and though they were very pretty, not much was open. So I just wondered around with a tuna sushi roll for a while.

Mall market 

Huge ants everywhere.

Hippie part

The town is quite hippie with lots of cool little shops. I found a great little cafe which sold GF crepes and cakes (I got a piece of lemon cake to take home and had it for breakfast on Wednesday - not very healthy but tasty!). I had also been recommended the Mango wine so found the shop for that. I tasted the sparkling and the liqueur and couldn't decide. So I got one of each. I am sure we can put away the sparking in Port Douglas!

The first part of the trip back wasn't as fun as I was stuck in a crowded carriage with screaming children. But at the Falls, they offered to move me (and some others) to a much quieter carriage where I got the whole booth to myself. Much nicer.