Kuranda Qld. July 29, 2015

Kuranda Qld. July 29, 2015

Up and away early this morning to catch the 845am train from Freshwater to Kuranda. This is an historic train ride, the line was established in 1891 to provide a reliable supply link from the port of Cairns to the gold fields and farmlands on top of the mountain range. It's 32km long and rises 300 metres, has 106 cuttings, 15 tunnels and 55 bridges and is literally carved into the edge of the mountain. One step the wrong way and its a long way straight down. If you keep in mind that the whole enterprise was undertaken using pick & shovel and man power and that they dug and gouged over 2.3 million tonnes of rock out by hand, you can start to appreciate the significance of the finished product.

We have been on it before, back in 2004, and so were able to relax more and take in the experience rather than trying to get snaps from every possible angle of the train, the view, the rocks, the waterfalls, the tunnels, the bridges etc.

Kuranda Scenic Railway. Cairns - Kuranda Qld

Kuranda Scenic Railway. Cairns - Kuranda Qld

Stoney Creek Falls.Kuranda Scenic Railway. Cairns - Kuranda Qld

Kuranda Scenic Railway. Cairns - Kuranda Qld

Me enjoying the ride.Kuranda Scenic Railway. Cairns - Kuranda Qld

Kuranda Scenic Railway. Cairns - Kuranda Qld

When we reached Kuranda Station, rather than go straight to town, we thought we would walk down to the man made lake and take the cruise. Ha, bit of a joke really, just a motorised pontoon with half-a-dozen captive sightseers and an inept tour guide. Still, in-between bumping into the banks to shake the wildlife out so we could see them and driving up and down looking for the freshwater crocodiles that are 'always here' the 45 minutes was pleasant enough. I notice that no one lingered when we tied up I notice and no gushing 'thank-yous'.

Turtles.  Reservoir lake. Kuranda Qld

Freshwater Crocodile. Reservoir lake. Kuranda Qld

Once up at Kuranda town proper (we drove up here two years back) we noticed that it might have smartened itself up a bit, which might be a direct result of the 200+ cruise ships that come into Cairns every year, with a good number of tourists making this their destination of choice. I'm glad we opted out yesterday and came on a  cruise-free day. First of all a coffee was called for and we found a little place off the main street to a little cafe called Kuranda Rainforest Coffee which served its own locally roasted and blended coffee, which along with a mixed berry crumble slice, was most welcome.

The main attraction for us has always been the butterfly house, which is where we went next and spend an enjoyable hour or so snapping away trying to get that perfect shot of these colourful but ever-moving creatures.

 Australian Butterfly Sanctuary. Kuranda Qld

 Australian Butterfly Sanctuary. Kuranda Qld

Ulysses. Australian Butterfly Sanctuary. Kuranda Qld

 Australian Butterfly Sanctuary. Kuranda Qld

Madame Butterfly. Australian Butterfly Sanctuary. Kuranda Qld

For lunch we elected to stop at the nearby cafes and walk back over the road to the  Kuranda Rainforest View Restaurant where we had a pleasant meal overlooking a bit of valley with rainforest in the distance. Our return journey was to be via the Skyrail so we wandered back to the terminal, waited our turn and finally got to ride the 7.5 km back down to the Cairns terminal. I enjoyed it, Judy was not so happy about the first 4.7km leg which is very high and goes up and down over the peaks before getting to the transfer station. The last leg is just a straight run down the side of the mountain. It's a shame that it was so misty / cloudy / hazy otherwise the snaps would have been spectacular.

Skyrail. Kuranda - Cairns Qld

Skyrail. Kuranda - Cairns Qld

We drank more coffee while waiting for the transfer bus to take us back to the station and our waiting car. Arriving back at the van park about 5pm, we considered that we had had a pretty good day out for our money.