Judy & Brian Tour Oz

What is a stay in Cairns without the obligatory 'tour' to Kuranda? This is our 4th time (at least) up the hill and even though nothing seems to have changed in either the travel or the markets, it's still a nice day out. The only thing that seemed different was the Butterfly Sanctuary, currently undergoing some renovations, where the butterfly numbers and varieties seemed to be down on past years. The only Ulysses butterfly to be seen was flying free outside. Anyhow, you know the drill: train ride up to the top along the railway line build by hand 120 years ago, the rubbish 'markets', the butterfly house, lunch and the trip back down the hill on the Skyrail Here's a few snaps covering the events: Kuranda Historic Railway. Freshwater to Kuranda, on the famous 4 chain radius bend. Cairns Qld Obligatory stop at Barron Falls Station, I snap her, she snaps me, you know how it goes. Kuranda Qld Out we all get for the 10 minute photo opportunity at B...

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 Ra...