Skyrail and Kuranda Scenic Railway

Skyrail

Before leaving Cairns and heading south I had two more things to do. Just 10 minutes north of Cairns is an attraction called Skyrail Rainforest Cableway or just Skyrail for short. It is a cableway running 7.5km over the rainforest in Barron Gorge national park. There are two stops along the way before the cableway reaches the small village of Kuranda. It reminded me of the lifts we have in Norway at the ski resorts. The trip up the mountain and over the rainforest was magnificent. The view was unbeatable and the stops along the way great.

The first station called Red Peak is the highest station along the Cableway. Here I participated in a short guided tour along the boardwalk through the rainforest. The guide was a real Aussie and was always making funny jokes. The tour was interesting and I am glad I waited for it.

The second station is called Barron Falls and is also the more popular. From the Barron Falls station I walked a short distance to three lookouts over the Barron Falls. In addition to the falls there is a cultural centre that you can visit and also information about the power station that is located at the bottom of the falls. As you can see on the picture there is almost no water in the falls because most of it runs through pipes underground and generates electricity. Only in the wet season when the river floods are the falls full of water.

Kuranda

The Skyrail's last stop is Kuranda, a small village in the hills above Cairns. It is a typical tourist village with restaurants, cafes and markets. There are also several animal "parks" where you can look at and in some cases hold your favorite Australian animal. Since I didn't really feel like paying to get into the parks I decided to rather walk the trail through the village and surrounding forest. It was a nice walk that went through rainforest, over a creek, next to the train tracks and in the end next to the Barron river. I had a lot of time to kill so I waited for the train and made some photos while it passed me. I also walked around Kuranda and along the esplanade next to the river.

Kuranda Scenic Railway

The second thing on my list was the Kuranda Scenic Railway. It is an old railway from Cairns to Kuranda that climbs through the hills on it's way. It was built in the 1880's during the gold rush and is regarded as one of the big Australian engineering feats. It has now been restored and takes tourists either up the mountain or down. There are 15 hand dug tunnels and over 50 bridges on the way and it took over 10 years to complete. My trip was down the mountain so I settled into my seat with my eyes peeled and the camera ready.

The train only stops once on it's journey down and that was at the Barron Falls. The station is on the opposite side of the Barron Gorge than the Skyrail station and the views were even better here. We stopped for about 10 minutes so that everyone had a chance to look around and marvel at the view.

The rest of the ride was the best part. The train slowly travels down the track through the tunnels and over the bridges while a narrative tape plays over the speakers explaining about the different aspects of the building process. Out of the window are amazing views of the Barron Gorge and the surrounding landscape. The most amazing part of the track was where the train crossed a horseshoe bridge next to a waterfall. It was so beautiful. There was also a section where the slope next to the track was close to vertical and apparently it was extremely hard to build. I hope some of these pictures can show how it was. There are more in the album at the bottom of this post. Of the Skyrail and the Kuranda Scenic Railway the Railway was by far my favorite thing.

Skyrail and Kuranda Scenic Railway: 28. June 2010

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