Kuranda

Saturday, June 5, we made a day of going to the rainforest town of Kuranda. The tour book said to take the Skyrail up and the Scenic Railway down so we did. The skyrail/gondola takes you up and over the top of the rainforest canopy and is nearly 5 miles long. There are two stations along the way where we got off and walked loop trails seeing innumerable plants, trees, ferns, and epiphytes. Our favorite was the golden lawyer cane. Its three stages are snaggy tendrils that allow it to climb up other trees, then incredibly bristly canes, and finally cane which ratan furniture is made from. The skyrail parallels the Barron River most of the way up and gives good views down to the Barron Falls as well.

lawyer cane

We also heard about the large, flightless, southern cassowary which has been called “the most dangerous bird on earth” thanks to its impressive raptor claws. We even thought at one point that we caught sight of one lurking in the undergrowth…ah, no, that would be a homely, scruffy, bush turkey!! The cassowary has the oddest looking small helmet-like growth on the top of its head plus a bright blue neck and orange wattle. We only saw them in the wildlife parks we visited.

The town of Kuranda has been a tourist destination for over 100 years following a brief gold rush. We shopped a bit, found a lunch spot, and then did a two mile walk through the lush forest from town, along the river (we were warned not to stand on the river bank due to the possibility of crocs), and over to the railway station. Here we caught the train for the scenic 1.5 hour trip back to Cairns. We were closely seated on benches four across with another four facing us. The family of four facing us included a very large woman, her husband, and two children one of whom was wailing inconsolably. This was going to be a long trip…however, much to our relief, the rail hostess invited them to move to an empty car and offered us a chance to move also. We hotfooted it off to another empty car with window seats available. Whew!

The ride down was scenic in spots but also included 15 tunnels of various lengths. We were just as happy to get off the train, onto a bus, and finally back to our car. Since our time in Cairns was short, we drove into town and looked around briefly. We ate gelato on the beach, saw some fruit bats, stopped into a visitor information center, and went to see a Catholic church famous for its modern stained glass windows telling the story of Creation. The windows were gorgeous! We loved that the created animals included kangaroos and cassowaries and koalas. Back to Lillybank and a walk down the road to an Indian restaurant for dinner.