Kuranda

We drove to Freshwater Station about 15mins up the road where we boarded Kuranda Scenic Railway. Built between 1882 and 1891 the railway winds its way through the rainforest of Barron Gorge National Park, through 15 hand-carved tunnels, over the giant bridge at Stoney Creek Falls and past the spectacular Barron Falls and on to Kuranda. The journey took nearly two hours. Kuranda (the village in the rainforest) is basically sprawling sets of markets, cafes and restaurants set up for the hordes of tourists that pass through every day. We walked through the village to the Butterfly Sanctuary and enjoyed the challenge of trying to photograph the beautiful, electric blue Ulysses butterfly as they landed on Caitlin & Cooper with their red hats on. We had a guided tour through the butterfly nursery and learnt some interesting facts. We walked back through the village and bought some lunch before heading to the Skyrail for the 7.5km journey above the rainforest canopy in a gondola. we stopped off at the Barron Falls Station and took some more photos of the 260m falls. We had a quick look at the Interactive Rainforest Interpretation Centre before continuing on to Red Peak Station and did the rainforest boardwalk. Back in the Gondola we could now see Cairns city skyline in the distance. We had to wait a 1/2 hour for the 4pm bus to take us back to the station. Back at the caravan park the kids were straight into the water park.