Kuranda Scenic Railway in a curve with a beautiful view

Kuranda but without cable car

  • 19 May 2017
  • Steffi
  • Australia, Cairns, Kuranda

Today we had to get up early, since we had to check in at Cairns Central Station at 8 a.m. to take the Kuranda Scenic Railway, an almost 100-year-old train, up to Kuranda at a snail's pace. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very promising; there were thick clouds and rain in the forecast. It didn't rain during the scenic journey up, but there was gray sky and clouds between the mountains. At Barron Falls, the train made a 10-minute stop where you could get out and take pictures. Unfortunately, the waterfall was barely visible due to the clouds, so I decided to check if it was worth getting out while Basti stayed seated. Here's where blowing proved its worth again!!! I did it, and less than 5 minutes later everything was clear of clouds and we got some decent pictures after all!

When we arrived in Kuranda, we first grabbed a sandwich before heading to the Koala Gardens. Here we bought a combination ticket... for both the Koala Gardens and Birdworld, which is right next door.

The Koala Gardens didn't offer much, but my "highlight" was feeding the wallabies here. You could walk directly through their enclosure and feed them. But of course, this couldn't compare to the wild ones on Magnetic Island.

One of the many colorful birds

We were done there pretty quickly and moved on to Birdworld... if only we had known what awaited us!!!

At the entrance, we were told that there are 400 species at home and that we should be careful with the yellow-breasted macaws because they currently have chicks. Through the airlock and OH MY... they all fly around freely without any cages or barriers!!! The ladies who were already inside were well occupied with birds and feeding them... "Hmm, I want that too"... so I put it in reverse and asked at the counter. There was actually a feed bag for $3... I should have left it. Hardly back inside, with a bag in hand, the first birds flew to us. Everything was fine with the smaller ones, but the larger ones command quite some respect with their beaks. The "World" wasn't very big either, but it was definitely worth it. It was something different. Unfortunately, it started to rain in the meantime, so we decided to browse the market stalls in front of the entrance. Here I found a shirt for me and some mango wood coasters for our table at home.

The rain didn't stop, hunger set in, so we went looking for something to eat. We ended up in a restaurant where we wanted to get a small bite, got a table with a view, and discovered a tree ant nest in front of the window. Well, unfortunately, they weren't only outside, because just as we thought "good thing they're outside," one bit me in the chin and Basti shortly after in the neck. We moved to another table, but everything continued to tingle (psychologically and such), so we took our things and left. The bite really hurt!!!

In the end, we ended up in a café with donuts and other unhealthy treats until the train was due to leave at 3:30 p.m. The cable car isn't running at the moment, unfortunately, as it's being serviced until early June 2017. Then the train will follow! How annoying!

We were so exhausted that we slept through parts of the journey. Back at the train station, we received a message from the other two Germans that we would meet at the lagoon at 6 p.m. So we still had a good half hour. Car parked, quickly to the dive shop, and we were on time at the lagoon. I went to the Italian place on the corner... the food was okay, but somehow my plate was empty, even though I ordered Gnocchi Bolognese. The portion was really a joke, but what the heck. We strolled along the harbor until our paths finally separated. For the other two, they're flying home tomorrow, and for us, it was back to the campsite to sleep.