With a day to spare in Cairns it was a toss up between a trip out to the Barrier Reef or to the Wet Tropics. The latter WHS was the one I felt I had seen less well on a previous trip so we booked ourselves a return trip to Kuranda – out by the Skyrail Cableway and back by the Scenic Railway. The ticket was an eye watering 101 AUD (c80 Euro) – by doing the trip as 2 singles on each mode of transport we lost the benefits of return ticket prices which would have reduced the cost a bit – but not by much!

Unfortunately the “Wet Tropics” were living up to their name as we took the cableway from its starting point a few kms north of Cairns. I can’t say I found the trip that worthwhile – ok it was going over (and at times as we climbed – among) the trees and one could make out different species and see the epiphytes and a few birds but I am not sure that all that technology really enabled one to gain a better feel for the “forest”. The cars moved at a fair speed but there were 2 stopping points to change cars which also had walkways to enable one to “experience” the forest from below. The walkways were exceedingly short. At the first stop there was a park ranger who led a “guided walk”. I am still a bit surprised at how poorly this was done. He didn’t know our nationality within the group of mainly other nationality tourists and Aussies but the commentary consisted largely of anti British jokes and asides – mostly totally irrelevant to the subject (viz Prince Charles’s sexual habits!). It wasn’t just our attention he lost. Now I am not a “nationalistic” person and don’t really care what is said about us but the whole impression given was unprofessional. The Queensland Government really ought to exercise better quality control over its rangers! The second stopping point provided a good view over the Barron Falls (photo from the cable car) but, despite all the rain, very little water was going over them as most of it is diverted for the hydro power station and we had to make do with a large picture of what they look like on the few days a year when the water is diverted back into its natural course to “flush” the system! There were also a few signs about the wildlife – including a picture of a Cassowary but they wisely stayed well away so we went into the Interpetation Centre and listened to its recordings of forest birds!

Kuranda was a pleasant enough little town set among the greenery. Today its main raison d’etre seems to be as a tourist shopping centre. We escaped without a single knick knack but had some interesting conversations with members of the local Djabugay people. The train ride back was perhaps the highlight of the trip. The railway’s construction in the 1880s was an engineering feat. 37kms long in total from Cairns, it climbs 328 metres in perhaps 20 kms with numerous tunnels and bridges. The carriages are designed to look “antique” but have modern LCD information screens and speaker systems, large windows and easy access to both sides. The locomotion is provided by modern twin diesels – painted with a Djabugay representation “of Buda-dji, the ancestral being, who, in the shape of a giant carpet snake, formed the Barron Gorge”! The trip takes around 1 hr 45 minutes with a scenic stop at the Barron Falls and another at Freshwater on the plain a few miles outside Cairns for “transit” passengers. For about 2/3rds of it there are fine views down into the gorge and up to the waterfalls above. At one point the train does a semi circle across a spindly trestle bridge providing a photo of the entire train if you are in a rear carriage.

So, if you want a day out with a couple of “gee whiz” rides then do as we did. However, if you really want to explore the Wet Tropics forest for its natural aspects you would be far better advised to arrange a walk – there are a number of trails in the Barron Gorge Park which start only a few miles outside Cairns.