Just north of Cairns, perched upon a mountain surrounded by lush greenery and national parkland, lies Kuranda – a perfect destination for a day trip. Jessica Cornish shares how she spent her day in Kuranda; strolling the boardwalks weaving through the national heritage listed parks, getting up close to some magnificent wildlife and browsing the laid back market stalls.
TWENTY-FIVE kilometres north of Cairns along the winding road lays a small rainforest town perched on the top of a mountain, Kuranda.
To be honest, prior to this day trip, I hadn’t done any research about our destination.
All I knew was that my partner, Matt, had spoken to his dad one day, and he had mentioned he went to a “hippy town in the hills” and that it would probably be my cup of tea. And that was all I needed to hear to add the mountain village to the itinerary.
Journeying up the mountain, we took the sky rail. We sat in little green pods that hooked on to a thick black cable, with plastic seats and high open windows.
Over an hour and a half it slowly dragged us up the picturesque steep incline of the mountain; over 300 meters high into the air and 15 kilometres in length.
The cable car slid high above the thick green rainforest canopy and we passed the occasional waterfall that protruded from the black rocks lying far below.
After 15 minutes, we had our first stop, Red Peak.
We were met by a board walk of bright brown timber that cut through the jungle and a well spoken park ranger popped up offering a free walking tour, sharing his knowledge of the beautiful scenery.
However, being too excited and swept away with the creeping green ferns, the thick dangling vines and lush greenery, Matt and I just floated through the boardwalk alone and soaked in all the breathtaking surroundings.
Before we knew it, we were back in our little sky pod and jumping out at stop number two; Barron Falls.
As the name suggests, it was a waterfall with frothing white water tumbling from the dark black rock and plunging below into the deep ravine. My camera did not do this site any justice.
Shortly after, we boarded our vessel one last time and headed to the final and long awaited stop of Kuranda.
Wandering into the village, we were met by an array of market stalls selling sparkling opals set in gold pendants, galleries featuring iconic Australian landscapes and marine life.
I even met an Israeli man from the beach town of Naharia, selling falafel. He literally did not let me walk past his stall without trying his falafel bathed in tahini.
But despite the array of shining jewellery and the alluring hair wrap stalls, which gobbled most of my pocket money as a child, the star of the day was our trip to Birdworld.
Prior to entering the new land, I spent a solid five minutes de-jewelling, which included taking out my seven stud earrings and three silver rings.
I was informed that the parrots love to snatch such artefacts away. Yet, despite this warning I naively assumed the birds would be like a passive art show, however after moments of walking in I realised how wrong I was.
Instantly we were greeted by the high pitch squawking of the majestic blue and gold King Macaw and my initial thoughts were of terror.
Walking in was overwhelming and almost immediately a red winged parrot came hurtling towards me.
My anxiety-riddled instinct caused me to scream.
Disappointed in myself, I scuttled down the path away from the main hub of food until I had settled in to my new cage.
After a few minutes, and once I had cleverly tossed the food bag of fruit and seeds over to Matt, I started to relax.
Instead of looking around in a sheer panic to spot birds within a five-meter radius of my body, I began to sit back and appreciate their incredible colours and songs.
Although, I couldn’t muster the courage to hand feed the large Black Cockatoos or King Macaws I did end up besotted with a couple of the smaller parrots that happily latched onto my wrists and feasted on their crumbs of seeds.
Surviving Birdworld with no food left in hand, it was time to finish off the day with an obligatory ice cream as we wandered toward the scenic railway rather than the sky rail to commence the descent home.
We were in the first carriage; one of 14 and slipped in to the leather covered chairs parallel to black horizontal barred windows. The train ride back to Cairns lasted an hour and a half as it slowly shook and grumbled its way through the ancient forest.
A recorded voice cut through the carriages explaining the history of the railway, stating construction started in 1886 and more than 32 men had died throughout the process due to snake bites, malaria and explosives gone wrong. Explosives were commonly used to loosen the rocks in the mountain and tunnels were all dug by hand. By 1915 the station was officially opened and is still used today by hundreds of tourists.
The train was a perfect way to finish off the day. We chatted to an American couple from North Carolina who went to the koala sanctuary instead of Birdworld and we exchanged smiles with a German family that had been popping up daily on our travels.
Kuranda wasn’t exactly what I imagined, but the sky rail was breathtaking, plus I always love a good hippy market.
But the birds were the stars of the show, with their incredibly cheeky and entertaining trickery.
