Show Me Where to Go

First established by Europeans in 1885 and then linked to Cairns by rail in 1891, Kuranda rapidly

earned a well-deserved status as a top tourist destination.

The ideal way to reach Kuranda is to take

a scenic rail journey through the Barron Gorge from Cairns, passing shimmering sugar cane, cascading waterfalls,

and cool dark green rainforest, entwined with jungle-like vines. The Kuranda Railway, an amazing engineering

feat in itself, with 37 bridges and 15 tunnels, was built nearly a hundred years ago to service the northern gold-fields.

From the winding track through the range, the view goes on forever, sweeping over Green Island, an emerald in the blue sea,

white sandy beaches stretching to Port Douglas, and the Barron River curving through the bright green cane fields.

The platform of Kuranda station, a colonial landmark, is covered with hundreds of ferns and palms, hanging baskets

filled with maiden hair, begonias and orchids swaying in the breeze. It's a cool introduction to the village in the rainforest;

a welcome to Kuranda, the name of which comes from an Aboriginal word for flower. Frangipanis and poinsianas laden with white

and red blossom line the main street from the station, where colonial shop-fronts and the old pub date back to early settlement days in the north.

The sleepy atmosphere changes on Sundays when action centers on a flourishing market in a rainforest setting, behind the Kuranda Inn.

There you can buy every possible exotic tropical fruit, fresh vegetables, or homemade bread and healthful cakes, pickles, jams, and

local art and craft. Buskers entertain wide-eyed children wanting to take home a fluffy yellow duckling or a tiny kitten from the basket in the next stall.

At the Kuranda Inn there's an international potpourri of people, drawn to an alternative lifestyle in a perfect mountain climate away from the city.

From the Secret Garden there's a range of perfumes, soaps and pretty hibiscus-shaped candles, their fragrance distilled from tropical flowers.

Down the steps from the Curry House are a tropical garden; tall palms and flowering trees shade a waterfall and fish pond, surrounded by lush fern.

The sound of chirping finches in the aviary and the splashing waterfall is almost hypnotic in this tropical setting. Canna lilies and red ginger

blossom reach for the sun under a datura tree, its elongated, pendulous flowers heavily perfumed.

There are two train services daily, Cairns to Kuranda, the scenic railway being famous. Kuranda makes an excellent day trip from Cairns, especially

for market days on Sundays. The season runs from Easter to Christmas and temperatures are from about 14 to 28 degrees; cooler than those on the coast.