Cairns - Kuranda

I got to Cairns on Thursday morning. This town is definitely more happening than Darwin as it’s the starting point to many activities in the area. My hostel is really nice, colourful and well up kept. Plus, the managers love helping you finding the best tour for you.

I found out that in Australia, the world is still just as small. My friend Frédéric checked in to the same hostel that day. I knew he was in Australia but I hadn’t kept up with his latest plans. So we hung out and went to cook our meal on outdoor BBQ down by the water Friday night with a few of his friends that he’s met through his previous four months in this country.

Kuranda

Saturday, I headed to Kuranda - a small town about 30 km from Cairns. It’s mostly a bunch of shops and attractions for the tourists and its highlights are the transportation methods used to get there and come back.

I took the Skyrail up and the train back. The Skyrail is a cable car system that takes you up and above the very green rainforest. Even though it was a bit cloudy that day, it was still bright enough to see all the greenness surrounding us. There were a couple of stops on the way so we could walk along and take in the scenery, especially to see the Barron falls from the hydroelectric damn. However, as it’s currently dry season the fall was on the thin side and pictures near-by illustrated how fantastic it is in the wet season. After having taken in the view I got back on for the last leg of the Skyrail to get to Kuranda itself.

Even though the main street was just a few steps from the Skyrail, I started with a walk along the side of the Barron River. Nothing too exhausting as the path was mostly paved. I kept on through the Jum Rum creek conservation park path. I listened to the birds even though they were rather hard to see (other than the bush turkeys) and took in all the shades of green. I also stopped to take pictures of the colourful flowers that pop out in all those greens.

A great view at lunch time

The paths circle a bit around the town so even though it felt like I was in the middle of nowhere, the well laid-out path and the sounds of a band practicing brought me back to civilization. So I finally made it to the shop area as I was getting hungry. I finally settled for a place with a great view on the trees where I had a prawn, avocado & capsicum sandwich. (That’s regular peppers for the rest of us.) I also tried out an Old Tooey (my favourite beer up to now is  actually the Coopers Dark Ale).

Inside the Scenic Railway train

After my meal, I strolled through the shops and avoided being tempted by the local attractions, (I’ll wait a while longer until I hold my first Koala.) At 3.30 pm, it was time to hop on the scenic railway train to slowly head back down. As the tracks go along and down the gorge, it was quite challenging to build in the 1880s. Apparently a few workers died during the construction, may it be by accidents or tropical disease such as Malaria. However, once it was completed, it was used often and people from Cairns went up the gorge to get a bit of cool air away from their hot and humid town.

Having managed to get a window seat, I spent a lot of time watching over the gorge and trying to get enough pictures to share with all of you. I actually did that from the start and took about 400 pictures that day! Here are the best ones up on Flickr! Enjoy.