Kuranda Scenic Rail
I rushed up to Cairns yesterday because I wanted to make the 9:30am Kuranda Scenic Railway train today. I kinda wish I had taken my time and done some research on Kuranda on my way up to Cairns instead.
Queensland Armchair Guide had contacted Kuranda Scenic Rail (KSR) to ask them if they would be interested in sponsoring a trip for me to ride the famous railway line. They wrote back saying they’d be happy to offer me the industry rate. I made a reservation for Monday morning but didn’t know anything about it, other than the fact that lots of tourists go on it. Heck, I didn’t even know how much it would cost until after I had already made the reservation!
To be honest, if you’re a backpacker or budget conscious road tripper, a trip to Kuranda via the KSR or the Skyrail is probably more than you can afford (budget ~$100 for the two-way trip if you do both, and at least $20 on one attraction while you’re in Kuranda). The vast majority of people I met on the KSR and Skyrail were retired and on a cruise tour with money to burn. It will cost you less than $20 in gas money to drive up there and back or take the bus (your pick).
That being said, after an entire day of driving to get up to Cairns, I was thankful not to have to drive anymore up to Kuranda and back, and liked being able to enjoy the views.
Kuranda Scenic Rail
Kuranda Scenic Railway
I took the Kuranda Scenic Rail from Cairns up to Kuranda. The trip takes about an hour and 45 minutes, and there’s running commentary along the way. They take you past a cemetary where some people who worked on the railway are buried, past a large mango tree, across a bridge where you can see a small waterfall, and you stop off at a lookout where you can take pictures of Barron Falls.
I really like trains, but I didn’t enjoy this ride. Why? Because I was in the first cart on the train and the train goes through 14 tunnels (one of which is a third of a mile long!). It made me SO SICK going through those tunnels because the hot smelly train discharge would rush into the cart whenever we started to go through and it felt like I was being put in a small caustrophobic closet with fifty gas stoves burning as if climate change didn’t exist. I seriously felt like I was going to barf. I asked some other passengers on the way down whether they had the same experience. They had been in the last few carts and they didn’t smell anything. See tip #1 below.
Kuranda
On a Kuranda Walking Trail
Kuranda is a lovely town. Once I got off the train, I took a stroll through their designated walking trails and started to feel a lot better. The air along the trails is fresh and smells sweet. It’s recommended that if you’re going to walk the trails, to do it first because it’ll take you to the end of the main street so you can make your way through it towards the KSR and Skyrail stations on the way back (they’re side by side).
Although I really enjoyed the walk, I had only given myself three hours to explore Kuranda and the walk took up 45 minutes! By the time I finished, I was really sweaty (it was a really hot day) and walked into the first tourist attraction which happened to be the Australian Venom Zoo.
The Australian Venom Zoo consists of two small rooms with cages of the Australia”s most venomous snakes, spiders, lizards, and one unfriendly fish. I really didn’t care much about seeing the caged creatures — it was the picture with the large python that I was after! The entrance fee is $16 per adult (no student rate) and that includes as much time as you want in the rooms as well as a guided tour of the smaller entrance room and some lovin’ with Ramstein, the eight foot long python.
Me and Ramstein the python
If the tour guide in the front hadn’t been as interesting as he was, I probably wouldn’t have gone in. But, he really knew his stuff and even though the guided tour was only in one small room, he fed us a lot of interesting information. For example, did you know the shingleback (which we also got to hold) only mates with one partner for life and if that partner dies, s/he will try to commit suicide? The shingleback is a cute little guy too! Holding him feels like you’re holding a lizard with miniature body armour.
After the Australian Venom Zoo, I had less than two hours to explore the rest of the town and I hadn’t eaten yet! I grabbed a hot dog to go and looked at some market stalls while I was waiting for it. There are some really great market stalls at Kuranda with souvenirs and jewellery worth buying.
Other tourist attractions at Kuranda include the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, Birdworld Kuranda, and Kuranda Koala Gardens. Each attraction takes at least half an hour and you can get a discount if you buy tickets for all three. You can cuddle a koala at the Koala Gardens and take pictures with the birds at Birdworld. I wanted to go to the Butterfly Sanctuary, but I wouldn’t be able to wander the Historic Kuranda Markets and still make it to the Skyrail in time to catch the bus back to Cairns before 5pm. I felt very rushed. 
Skyrail
View from the Skyrail
Once I got on the Skyrail and knew there was no turning back, I started to feel calm again. The Skyrail journey is very relaxing and smooth, and the views are amazing! I saw much more of Barron Falls from the Skyrail than the train and journeying over the river gave the trip a little bit of excitement. I especially liked the light cool breeze that comes in while you’re travelling overtop of the trees and I was glad the trip came with a little pamphlet that explained what the different trees were (I had been wondering for months now about what I now know is the basket fern).
The Skyrail makes two stops between Kuranda and the end destination. You can choose not to get off at the Barron Falls stop, but you have to change cabins at the Red Peak Station. The Red Peak Station is the more interesting of the two because they have guided tours and there’s a giant 400 year old Kauri Pine tree to look at. The Barron Falls stop has a couple of lookout points for the Barron Falls, but the cabin has much better views of the falls once you pass this stop.
Tips for Travellers to Kuranda
- I don’t want to make the KSR sound like a bad idea because I know that although I didn’t have a good experience, some other people did. Those people had seats in the back of the train. So, my tip to you is to book your ticket for either carts 10, 11 or 12 and avoid tunnel-fear/caustrophobia.
- Bring an empty bottle with you if you take the KSR train. They have water coolers in the carts and it’s likely to be very hot in Kuranda.
- Give yourself at least four hours to explore Kuranda. It takes 45 minutes to do the walk, 30 – 45 minutes for each attraction, you’ll want to have lunch (another 30 minutes), and I’d give yourself at least an hour to explore the markets.
- If you take either the KSR or the Skyrail on the way up, take the other to come down just to mix it up a bit. Both the KSR and Skyrail take about an hour and 45 minutes one-way.
- If you drive, there is free parking. If you drive up to Kuranda and want to see the views from the Skyrail, you can purchase tickets just for the Skyrail that’ll take you down and up the mountain in about an hour and a half. Add on another half hour to your time if you want to take the guided tour at the Red Peak Station.
Thank you to Queensland Armchair Guide for thinking of me and arranging a trip on the Kuranda Scenic Railway. Thank you also to Kuranda Scenic Railway and Skyrail for the discounts!