By this
stage Cameron and I had finished up work as the tourism season had
almost finished for the year. We decided to become tourists ourselves
one last time in far north Queensland and visit the popular
destination Kuranda, 25km north-west of Cairns. It is known for being
a rainforest village with many markets.


There are a few options to get to Kuranda. The first is the normal, and
least expensive way by car on the road, which is how we got to
Kuranda the first time when we briefly visited in June to see Barron
Gorge. The second and third are the fun, but penny pincher ways,
Kuranda Scenic Railway, and the Skyrail Gondola. The view that you
get from both is beautiful as you go either up or down the mountain
side.


The railway was fairly
slow going, but the commentary of the history was interesting to
listen to. It also stops at the Barron Gorge Railway Station for 10
minutes to allow for guests on board to get out and take a look at
Barron Falls.


We took the Skyrail
back down to Cairns after our day of adventuring, and although a
little tired we could still appreciate the spectacular view that
could be seen from the Skyrail. There are two stops on the Skyrail at
Barron Falls Station, and Red Peak Station. You must disembark the
pod you are in at both of these stations. The Skyrail is not one
continual conveyor system, but rather 3 sections. You may then enter
a new pod for the next section of your journey. At these stations you
also have the option of going for a short walk to see the beauty of
the rainforest surrounding you and see Barron Falls. Unlike the
railway, your stop at each of these sections is not timed as the
Skyrail pods come and go continuously, so one can stay for as long or
little as you like.


The first thing we saw
when we got to Kuranda was the old faithful pub, Kuranda Hotel Motel.
Back in the day many a worker would have been greatly relieved to
take a visit and have a coldie here. During construction of the
railway working conditions were shocking and we certainly take our
privileges for granted. Search for a suitable route began in 1882,
and eventually it was completed and opened in June of 1891. A 75.1km
slow journey up the mountain. While our journey seemed long, it was
nothing compared to what it would have been back in the day. We went
in, had a drink in honour of the workers. The beer was also in honour
of Cam's father who had previously visited Kuranda with his wife and
friends. He stayed at the pub while the ladies went shopping for the
day at the markets!


After our honorary
beer, off we went exploring. Neither of us think much of shopping so
it was decided that if we have time at the end of the day on our way
back to the Skyrail we would do some browsing in the markets, but
priorities first and it was off to visit Australian Butterfly
Sanctuary. There were so many butterflies to be seen. The Ulysses
butterfly is my favourite and the Birdwing is Cameron's. Both are a
stunning variety of butterfly with beautiful colours. During our time
at Paronella Park we had seen many of the varieties that were here at
Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, but to see so many of them was
incredible. They also run tours which is included in admission. These
go about once every 20 minutes or so lasting about 30 minutes each.
You will learn how they feed all of the butterflies and hungry
caterpillars, the lifespan of differing butterflies, how the eggs are
collected in the sanctuary then taken to the lab to be cared for
until it is time to release the butterflies. We happened to be there
at the time some new butterflies were released which was cool to see.
Some butterflies even landed on Cam!


Our next place to visit
was Birdworld Kuranda. I am sure the birds knew the reason I never
wanted a pet bird was because I didn't want them to poop on me. I am also
sure they were out to get me as there were a few times I looked up
only to see a bird preparing to do its business, narrowly missing me
as I dodged the bullet. Once again though as with the butterflies,
Cameron was the favourite as the birds landed on his shoulder a
couple of times. Perhaps blue shirts are better than yellow, or they
may have been looking at his beard though thinking it would make a
nice rug for their nest and young ones. All that aside, at Birdworld
Kuranda there was a large variety of birds, and upon entrance you are
given a sheet that tells you the bird species you will find here
which was good for identification.
The last attraction we
visited was Kuranda Koala Gardens. This is what I would call a
miniature zoo. For those interested you can have the opportunity to
cuddle a koala and get a photo taken with one. We also saw the
freshwater crocs being fed, and the squirrel gliders which are oh so
cute! As a skydiver like Johnny Jump Bear, the
Li'l Aussie Monsters character on Cam's shirt, my mind often reverts to always thinking
about it, and I wondered if the design of a wingsuit was based off
these gliders.
All three of the above
attractions, Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, Birdworld Kuranda, and
Kuranda Koala can be bought as a combo deal. It is called “Kuranda
Wildlife Experience”.


Although our time was
almost over, we still had one thing we wanted to achieve here up
north, a hill climb and bush walk that many of our colleagues had
talked about. Not knowing the name of it, we did drive past it back
in 2013 and I dubbed it Mount Pointy Pointy due to the look of it but
its actual name is Walsh's Pyramid and is located about a 30 minute
drive south of Cairns. The closest town is called Gordonvale. We
decided to climb Walsh's Pyramid as the last thing we did up north.
We did it the day after we visited Kuranda.

Walsh's Pyramid looks
like an Egyptian pyramid but made of bushland and mountain instead of
sandstone, and at a height of 922m. In comparison the tallest
Egyptian pyramid is 147m, Uluru in Central Australia is 348m tall,
the top of the antenna on the Empire State Building in New York City
is 443m, and
the tallest building in the world called Burj Khalifa inDubbai reaches a staggering 828m! Therefore achieving the hike of
Walsh's Pyramid which is over 100m taller than the tallest building
in the world was no easy feat. The walk to the top is a steep 4km up,
and then 4km back down. Not wanting to do it alone we convinced 2 of
our work mates to join us as they had both done it before. Having
only read the above information after we climbed as I trusted the
info from our work mates (my mistake for not researching it myself),
it was certainly more of a challenge than we were expecting, but we
can say we survived climbing the Pyramid. According to the internet,
an experienced hiker will take between 4-6 hours. We left the car
park and base of the pyramid at 6.30am and returning to the car by
11:45am. We must be experienced hikers... I am glad though that we
brought a few litres of water, and a few snacks for a morning tea
break.

Our recovery from the
Pyramid has been down in Townsville, catching up with mates, and
downing some Dos Equis which is a Mexican beer that Cam and I
discovered when in the States in 2014 and found that it is now sold
at BWS. It may be a few years until we are back in far north
Queensland so for now we are just taking it easy.
Happy travels.
- Jeni
No comments:
Post a Comment