Kuranda Scenic Railway

While we were in Mareeba we decided to do a day trip through the rainforest from Cairns to Kuranda on the Kuranda Scenic Railway.  We drove down the range towards Cairns and parked the land cruiser at Freshwater Station, about 30 minutes into the trip from Cairns.  The train takes on passengers at both Cairns Central and Freshwater stations.  The trip takes about 90 minutes each way between Freshwater and Kuranda.

The railway was built to service the gold mining activities which began in 1873.  In 1887 construction began and the line to Kuranda was completed in 1915.  1500 men, mostly of Irish and Italian descent excavated the route and laid the 37km of track.  2.3million cubic metres of earth were removed and there are 106 cuttings, 15 hand carved tunnels, 55 bridges and 98 curves.

We chose to travel up to Kuranda in "Gold Class" to celebrate our 47th wedding anniversary.  The drinks and morning tea (really a light lunch) and service were value for money.  We travelled in heritage carriages which were built in the early 1900s.  The scenery was magnificent as we wound our way up through the rainforest following the Barron River.  The train slowed as we passed Stoney Creek Falls for cameras to work overtime.

Closer to Kuranda, we stopped at Barron Falls Station for 10 minutes to admire the view and take photos of the Barron Falls.  

When we disembarked at Kuranda we had time to have lunch and wander around more of the many galleries and shops before boarding the train for the trip back to Freshwater.

Our trip back down to Freshwater was in one of the original Heritage Class carriages, complete with heritage photos.  Once again the scenery was superb, this time from a different angle.

What a great day!!