Retired Nomads: Skyrail Train, Cable Car, Kuranda, Rainforestation & Wildlife experience

We were up early to find the bus to take us to the train station. We made the short ride to Freshwater Train Station for check-in at the Kuranda Scenic Rail and grabbed some breakfast before boarding. There was time to walk around and visit the small museum there. It’s an historic old train and was a great experience which offered a lovely 90 minute ride through tunnels and over bridges spanning spectacular gorges.

view from the hotel

tree full of fruit bats

Freshwater Train Station

food counter

dining area at the Station

just in case you didn't know how to use one of these......

museum

here comes the train

views from the train

inside the train

We made one stop at the Barron Falls lookout for stunning views.

back on the train - another waterfall

We arrived at Kuranda Rail Station and checked out the shops quickly as we headed towards the Kuranda Koala Gardens, Birdworld and the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary. The Koala photo place closed about 1 minute prior to us getting there. We got them taken last time at Featherdale Park, but you only stand next to them, here we could have held one. Ah well, they wouldn’t reopen for another half hour and we didn’t have the time to spare.

view from the bridge of the top of the train

walking to Kuranda

Butterfly enclosure

Greg on the bridge

walking to the Bird & Wildlife Park

Cassowary

Dingo

We grabbed some gelato and waited for the bus to take us to Rainforestation, set in 40 hectares of lush gardens and tropical rainforest.

Here is where my misunderstanding of the tour started. I thought we were to see the Aboriginal show with a BBQ lunch. Instead we went straight to the Wildlife Park and the Army Duck ride. We were starving! I should have clarified the day better with the tour people at the hotel.

The Koala Wildlife Park was interesting, but in hindsight I would have preferred the lunch and the show. Afterwards we boarded the unusual amphibious Army Duck for a different look at the rainforest. It was a fun experience taking the land vehicle that goes into the water. We didn’t see much wildlife, it was more of a “Disney” experience. (and we were still starving!)

in the Army Duck

we went from land to water

the guide/driver

The shuttle bus took us back to Kuranda Rail and Sky Tram station. We needed to catch the Sky Tram by 3:30, so we had to go. We grabbed a quick bite at the train station right next door and made the tram a bit late, but we were starving and just had to eat.

The Sky Tram took us over the rainforest canopy with 2 stops along the way. We went through the mountains before gliding over the mighty Barron River and arriving at Barron Falls Station, our first stop.

wild bird in the tree

off we go....

We got off to do the short walks to look for wildlife and photo ops of the Falls.

The Barron Falls site itself has an interesting history, once the construction base site of the hydroelectric development in the 1930’s. A display of some of the machinery used in the construction provides a fascinating insight as to how the development was undertaken.

Our next stop was at the Red Peak Station which is nestled amongst pristine rainforest with a 175 meter boardwalk to explore the forest from ground level.

water ski park

at the bottom

We missed “our” bus back to the hotel, but one bus stays behind to make sure everyone gets back. We sat on it over an hour waiting until they had everyone. (could have used that time to have had lunch when we were supposed to….) On the way back, the bus driver bumped up over a curb and I popped out of my seat grabbing whatever I could to cushion the fall, but despite me grabbing a handle on the way down and the guy in the seat across from me, I came down hard on one of the bones in my right knee. (yes, the same one I hurt on the horse ride in Aruba.) Yikes! It’s sore to touch, but caused no issues.

Greg noticed the Cairns Night Markets on the way back to the hotel that was walking distance from the hotel, so we walked back there to have dinner. Found a great Chinese buffet that charged by the size of the plate you chose and you could plie it as high as you wanted (or the food would let you). It was REALLY good! There were lots of shops and food stalls there. We walked the Esplanade for a while and then grabbed some gelato before going back to the hotel to get ready for our Great Barrier Reef snorkel tour tomorrow.