Mountain retreat

Kuranda is a village nestled in the rainforested mountains behind Cairns and is a popular destination for people who want to see original arts and crafts in the old-fashioned markets, and experience its laid-back hippyish culture. Sometimes not being able to drive leads me to transport solutions that really make the journey as exciting as the destination itself, and this was one such occasion. The Kuranda Scenic Railway was originally built to link the inland mines with the docks at Cairns but is now a stunning tourist attraction. Being a lapsed trainspotting geek, I just had to take the opportunity to have a ride on this lovingly restored train, complete with the original carriages, and stations that have been preserved as close as possible to how they would have been in the railway’s heyday. The locomotive winds its way along a precarious track route up into the mountains, past gorgeous gorges and across cosmic chasms. There are 15 tunnels (some of them even have several curves in them!) and lots of bridges, the most picturesque of which is a beautiful curved bridge which spans the Stoney Creek Falls. Once up into the mountains the cliffs fall away on one side and there are amazing views of the whole of Cairns, right out to sea. Further up, the Barron Falls plunge down into a deep ravine to dramatic effect and the train stopped here for a few minutes to allow the passengers to get out and take photos. An hour and forty-five minutes after setting off I arrived at Kuranda station having had a really exhilarating journey.

I traipsed off to find my hostel, just around the corner from the station as it happens, and was led to my room by a friendly hippy. Actually the room was more like a cell, and freezing cold! The hostel was this massive rambling old ramshackle building that had at some point been a church. Not exactly the most salubrious establishment I have stayed in, but it had a peculiar charm about it, despite its tumbledown nature.

I wandered into the village and visited the various markets (there are several) selling all sorts of things: hand-made sweets, Indigenous artwork, kangaroo and crocodile skin goods, ethnic jewellery and also some of the local mango wine (a bit sickly actually). There was loads to see and I even managed to stumble upon the local public library (I am such a library geek!). Later in the afternoon I went for a walk along one of the rainforest trails deep into the jungle, with barely a soul in sight – wonderful! I then headed back to the village to find somewhere for dinner Unfortunately, after the tourists leave with the last train back to Cairns at 4.30 the whole village just kind of evaporates. Pretty much everything shut up shop at this time and I found it a struggle to find anywhere to have dinner. The only place that was open was a pizzeria and I was the only customer there for the entire evening (the pizza was nice though).

The next day (after a rather chilly night in my cell) I followed the instructions of the friendly hippy and set off on a walk into the rainforest towards the Barron Falls to find a secret water hole unknown to most tourists. My walk took me for part of the way along the railway track, and past the hydroelectric dam across the Barron River, which provides Cairns with its electricity. After a little scramble across some rocks I eventually came upon a beautiful, secluded lake crisscrossed with deep channels in the rocks around the edge and surrounded by rainforest trees with little tiny sandy beaches dotted here and there at the waters edge. The lake is above the huge Barron Falls but it is hidden away from the tourists by huge craggy rocks and dense forest, and because it is above the falls it is croc-free and therefore safe for swimming. I could hardly wait to dive in to the clear, cool water; it was deliciously refreshing! After a little swim I found a little sandy cove and sat down to eat my lunch and read for a few hours in the dappled shade. A bit later in the afternoon I did some more scrambling over the rocks to the head of the waterfall so I could look down as the river tumbled over the edge into the deep chasm below. What an amazing sight, and much more dramatic seeing it from this angle!

To get back to Cairns from Kuranda I took the Skyrail, which is a cable car that swoops you down the range above the rainforest so you can get a fantastic birds’ eye view of the trees, mountains, river, canyon and waterfalls. You can also see the railway snaking its way along the edge of the range. In my cable car I befriended a Chinese family who were also here on holiday and when we got to the cable car station at the bottom of the mountains they very kindly bought me a photo of us that was taken just as the car swooped into the station!