van wyk journeys October 10, 2019 – Cairns
Cairns is one of Australia’s hottest vacation destinations, not temperature-wise but popular. Cairns boasts three of Australia’s great natural wonders. Just offshore, immense bastions of living coral form the Great Barrier Reef. Sixteen miles of superb beaches stretch to the north of the city – the famed Marlin Coast. And inland lays the immense Daintree National Park. Cairns itself basks in tropical sunshine; balmy breezes waft in from Trinity Bay. The city’s graceful, tree-lined esplanade was once the gateway to the goldfields of North Queensland.
Cairns graceful, tree-lined esplanade was once the gateway to the goldfields of North Queensland. A travel tip – Cairns is pronounced “cans.”
Today we are in Cairns and have the Skyrail, Kuranda & Scenic Railway tour booked that will take us out into the rainforest for a rainforest experience using first a train, a very old modernized train, followed by quick lunch in Kuranda and then a trip over the top of the rain forest via the Skyrail or in Canada a gondola.
But first the train. The story of the Kuranda Scenic Railway began with its construction starting in 1882 and completion in 1891. The 21 miles (34Km) is considered to be an engineering feat of tremendous magnitude. The journey along the rail line features views of deep gorges and rugged mountains. The Line takes you along rugged valleys featuring magnificent waterfalls. Along the way, the journey will take the traveler through 15 tunnels and across 37 bridges. The train line is located in the Kuranda ranges and is part of the Barron Gorge National Park.
In Kandura village visitors can browse through many arts and crafts shops as well as clothing on an upscale level. The is also a liquor store on the main street with a variety of wines sold at much below ship pricing making a purchase necessary.
After lunch and a tour of the Kuranda village, we board Skyrail’s 6 passenger cable cars which is quite easy as the cars slow to a crawl while in the station. These cars float above the rainforest canopy providing amazing views 360 degrees around the car. There are views as far out as the Coral Sea and Green Island.
We take a brief stop at the Res Peak Station to take a short interpretive walk. While on the walk we encounter a 400-year-old Kauri pine tree, of which, as in New Zealand are scarce.
The Skyrail cable car is 7.5kms long and reaches 40.5m (133 feet) with the highest point being Red Peak Station at 545m (1,788 feet). The Skyrail journey ends in Smithfield where we catch the bus back to the ship.
