We drove down to Cairns, 60km away and caught the Skyrail Gondolas
up to Kuranda, a village in the World Heritage rainforest. 1000M above Cairns. The skyrail trip takes around 1 1/2hrs. There are two stops/stations on the trip where you can exit your gondola and do some sightseeing/walks before getting back on again. We didnt bother, just wanted to get up there. Part of the Barron Falls Gorge. You can view the falls from designated viewing platforms. There is a lot to do here, from walks to the Gorge/Watererfall, river cruises and 3 markets that run 7 days a week. The markets were disappointing. Full of either the same old crappy "aussie" style souvenirs - tshirts, or cheap and/or overpriced clothes and jewellery. Lots of hand made stuff but still over priced for what it is. The plus side - Rick FINALLY got an Old Guys Rule T Shirt - he has been looking for one that would fit him since Darwin 2011. Almost as good was the german meal he had, bratwurst, german potato salad, sauerkraut, friend onions and rye bread. It was Heaven apparently !!!! You can travel to Kuranda by skyrail both ways or do a gondola ride one way and the old scenic railway the other way. Thats the way did it. Beautiful old carriages and we were lucky enough to sit by the windows where we could see the views and also watch the train disappear around the bends.
The old train once again takes around 1 1/2 hrs. to do the descent. You get amazing views from both forms of transport. In the gondolas you are floating over the rainforest canopy and can see the waterfall. On the train you can look down into the Gorge and watch as the train weaves its way around bends in the track and over very old bridges. Construction of the rail line was started in 1887. It was completed in 1891. Pretty good going. 1500 men worked on it. 37km of track, 106 cuttings, 15 hand carved tunnels, 55 bridges and 98 curves. The Kuranda stations is heritage listed and was built in 1915.
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