Skyrail and Scenic Kuranda Railroad April 29, 2011

We decided to let the bus do the driving today. We were picked up at our hotel and driven to the Skyrail terminal near Carins. This was a gondola trip that traveled 7.2 km over the mountains, over the rainforest canopy to the town of Kuranda. As you went up the side of the mountain you had a wonderful view of the Coral Sea and the town of Cairns. There were two station stops along the way. The first allowed you to walk on a boardwalk through the rainforest with a guided tour by a ranger. You then boarded the next gondola. It shot you out of the station and up high above the canopy with tremendous views of the Barron River Gorge and falls. At the next station, you walked to overlooks of the gorge and falls. Back on the gondola and the next stop is the town of Kuranda.

Kuranda was a town housing people who built the railway and in the 60's and 70's became the home to hippies. Today it is a tourist haven. Many shops, an aviary, koala center and butterfly house. We visited the aviary and the koalas. A large parrot at the aviary found Mike and latched on to his back, fascinated by the snaps on his camera vest. He finally got off, but took the snap with him. The koalas were interesting, but sad that they had to pose for pictures with folks in the middle of the day, when they normally would be asleep. There were kangaroos and wallabys that you could feed. We took the historic railway back down to town. A slow ride along the river and through the mountain passes, with amazing trestle bridges and 15 tunnels along the way.