Get bird’s eye view of Australia’s rainforest

By DPA

Cairns (Australia) : Most tourists visiting Australia go to Cairns in northern Queensland as the launching point for the islands, coral and fish of the Great Barrier Reef. But the nearby tropical rainforests, which stretch across 9,000 square kilometres of the state, are an equally stunning example of Down Under’s natural wonders.


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And the forests, whose importance was recognized 20 years ago by their listing as part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, can be seen close-up in the most dramatic fashion. A scenic railway, one of the world’s great engineering feats when it was built in the 19th century, climbs more than 330 metres above sea level on 75 km of track around 93 curves and through 15 tunnels to the mountain village of Kuranda.

And a 7.5-km-long skyrail carries more than 100 gondola cabins to Kuranda soaring over the rainforest canopy and giving visitors the same view as the 50 percent of all Australia’s known bird species which inhabit the trees, ferns, orchids, fruits and flowers below.

The ideal way to see the rainforest is travelling one way by train and the other in a skyrail gondola. Either way, in Cairns they call it, “the world’s most beautiful rainforest experience.”

Spend time in Kuranda village and it’s a magical day out or allow a few days for a stopover at a rainforest retreat, spa resort or camping site in a forest park.

It is possible to drive the 26 km from Cairns to Kuranda – watching out for a kangaroo, wallaby or goanna (native monitor lizard) crossing the highway on the way.

But you’ll see much more of the forest – and have more fun – if you take the train or the soaring rail in the sky.

More fun than was experienced by the 1,500 men – mainly Irish and Italian immigrants – who built the Kuranda railway when it was not “scenic”, but the first all-weather totally functional link between the port of Cairns, which was established in 1876, and the gold and tin mines of the Cairns Highlands.

Many died during the project, carved up the tree-covered mountainside with pick, shovel and dynamite and it took nearly 18 months to complete the first section of 16 kilometres and six years before the second section was finished.

“Fortitude, sweat and bare hands – your journey didn’t come easy,” says a souvenir guide presented to passengers.

Tourists who want to do it in style can travel in one of the train’s so-called gold class luxury carriages with comfortable moveable seats and wine, beer and snacks provided by attentive hostesses.

Highlights are the 100-metre Horseshoe Bend which curves 180 degrees, allowing passengers to photograph the front or rear of the train as it proceeds, the Stoney Creek Falls on an impressive iron lattice bridge on three trestle piers and a stop overlooking the Barron Falls which plunge 265 metres to a valley floor.

For those who don’t mind heights, the sky-rail offers a breathtaking trip, also stopping over the Barron Falls and at a station at Red Peak (545 metres above sea level), the highest point, where a boardwalk affords a close-up of the trees, including the Kauri Pine giants of the forest.

Kuranda village has a range of shops, cafes, restaurants, galleries, markets and eco facilities, including a butterfly sanctuary, Australia’s biggest collection of free-flying birds and a zoo, to help travellers get their feet back on the ground.

More information is available on the Internet at www.ksr.com.au, www.skyrail.com.au, and www.kuranda.org.

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