11. Kuranda - Gold Class

Sunday 21 September

The Kuranda Scenic Railway offer Gold Class service for those who wish to travel First Class in comfort and luxury and I chose this option for the return journey.

For the extra $43 it was well worth it - no screaming, yelling children running wild, very comfortable club lounge chairs and your own Gold Class attendant serving champagne and other alocoholic beverages, orange juice and plates of delicious finger foods. Stopping at Barron Falls, I went to take my bag with me but the attendant said it was quite safe to leave it on the train - he would be standing guard and nobody travelling on the regular service would be permitted to enter.

Funny thing, the ride going up became boring after a while, but the return journey wasn't boring at all - perhaps the number of champagne glasses consumed had something to do with this...



Gold Class Carriage

The Free Gift

When you travel Gold Class you receive a free gift. It comprises a postcard, badge and biro. The hand towel I saved as a nice momento.


Champagne

Window View

The Bar

The Blue Engine

The blue engine has been hand-painted with larger than life Murals of Buda-Dji (The Carpet Snake), by local Aboriginal artist George Riley and tells the legend of Buda Dji who carved out the Barron Gorge, and the Barron River. It is part of the storywater dreaming, a legend which is symbolised on locomotive 1771D, the "Spirit of Buda-Dji". It is believed the train follows along the rim of this geological marvel following the path of Buda-Dji.


KSR Gold Class Logo

10. Kuranda - Butterfly House

Sunday 21 September

I went to the Butterfly Sanctuary - the entrance fee was $14.40 (had a YHA discount) and it seemed I had no sooner entered the door when the exit was looming ahead. I was very disappointed with it because it was very small and there were not many butterflies at all.


Ordhard Butterfly

Red Lacewing

Ulysses Butterfly

The Ulysses is very noticeable by their bright blue colour but are very difficult to photograph as they flutter their wings at an amazingly fast rate and are never still. I have included this even though it is blurry.


Cairns Birdwing

Things of Interest.

9. Kuranda - Around The Village

Sunday 21 September

The train pulled into Kuranda Station at 11.15am and you could either walk up the fairly steep hill, or catch the free shuttle bus. Most people including myself opted for the latter - well it was quite warm and the hill was quite steep.

I bought some Bush Natural Products for $65 - nice stuff but I can't see it's made that much of a difference. (Sigh) Ice-cream is on sale up here too and I decided on passionfruit and macadamia - at $6 it was a "speciality" and tasted wonderful. Lots of sampling too - Mareeba Chocolates, I didn't buy any because the chocolate would have melted by the time I arrived back in Cairns. There were fruit wines to try - I sampled all of them and very nice they were too. A little sweet for my tastes, but refreshing on a hot day.

Kuranda Railway Station

Fanny O'Reilly's Irish Pub

There are several choices on offer with regard to eating and Fanny O'Reilly's Irish Bar and Grill is one of the most popular.

Old-Fashioned Love Seat

A number of these timber and metal seats can be found around Kuranda.

Boyd's Forest Dragon

This little fellow caused quite a stir at one of the cafes - everybody wanted to photograph him!


Information Booklet

At the Visitor Information Centre, the chap there gave me this booklet with leaflets and brochures inside.


Coffee from the Kuranda Coffee Republic

The best place for coffee is the Kuranda Coffee Republic - the barrista there makes wonderful coffee. There were cane chairs against the hallway wall and a cane table and the atmosphere was one of old-fashioned charm.

You can click on the blue markers to see photos. You can also enlarge the map.

View Kuranda in a larger map

8. Kuranda - Barron Falls

Sunday 21 September

It's back on the train and the next stop is Barron Falls. There wasn't much water running down as it was spring but I was told in the wet season, the falls are quite lovely with gushing water.

Below: Our train.

Stoney Creek Falls bridge

This is one of the most popular places for a photo and everybody was rushing to the window hoping to get a good "view" - the driver slows down - and this picture is seen on every tourist brochure and advertising leeaflet. The views are spectacular from here.


Below:Barron Falls

Below: Window scene from the train.

7. Kuranda - Freshwater Station

Sunday 21 September

The Scenic Railway Story
The Cairns-Kuranda Railway was constructed between 1882 and 1891 and even today is considered an engineering feat of tremendous magnitude. Hundreds of men were employed to build the 15 hand-made tunnels and 37 bridges that stand as a monument to the pioneers of Tropical North Queensland who lost their lives while working on the railway.

It is a feat of engineering, originally a supply route through to the gold fields, but the routes were slow and impassable and people were close to starvation. Legendary Bushman Christie Palmerston was tasked to find a good route for a railway to link the rich mining belt with the sea, and in 1887 construction commenced on this ambitious railway project.

Up to 1500 men at a time endured terrible hardships of this unforgiving landscape, who moved over two million cubic meters of earth, and had to contend with impassable swamps, mysterious diseases, deadly creatures, dense jungles and steep ravines. It is also believed that some of the workers that died while building the railway are in fact buried in the foundations.

The 37 Kilometres of track from Cairns to Kuranda ascend 328 metres, crossing 15 tunnels,  37 bridges and 98 curves. The train climbs more than 300 metres in lush tropical rainforest up the valley of the Barron River, encompassing deep river gorges, rugged mountain ranges and spectacular waterfalls. We slowly passed the highlight of the journey which was the Stoney Creek Falls - then the train crosses the bridge slowly just in front of the falls so that everyone can see and take pictures, then further up the line we stopped and got off the train to look at the Barron Falls Station lookout.

The Kuranda Scenic Railway Logo

Today is the trip to Kuranda - the "Village in the Rainforest" and I've booked the 8.30am train from Cairns. We arrived at Freshwater Station at 8.50 where I had breakfast - bacon, egg and cheese toasted sandwich plus a coffee for $10.95. The dining area was polished timber with ferns and other potted plants. It was much smaller than I had expected. I caught the second train at 9.50am.


Inside the Carriage

Freshwater Station

Here is a station map - if you click on the picture on the lower right you can take a tour.


The other side of the station

The "Dining" car area.

There were lovely timber tables and chairs all undercover but with open sidings. The cafe where food and drink is sold is to the left of this photo.


Below: Sugarcane.

After breakfast and having some time for looking around, most of the passengers went for a bit of a stroll. From the station walking to the left and across from the tracks are sugarcane plantations. A nice young German couple asked me to take their photo, they in turn took one of me.


Below: In front of the sugarcane.

Click on the blue markers to see photos. You can also enlarge the map.

View Freshwater Railway Station in a larger map