The Railway Children

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After a slightly panicked drive from our campsite to Freshwater train station, it was a case of hurry up and wait. The station itself is like a wild west style wooden panelled building with a low cement platform. When eventually the locomotive trundled into view, I was slightly disappointed to see that it was a modern diesel pulling the carriages, not an old steam train, but I soon got over it, as all the carriages are either original or from the 1930's. The Kuranda Scenic Railway was completed in 1821 and goes from Cairns on the coast to Kuranda in the mountains at an elevation of 327m above. Along the way it traverses gorges, waterfalls and perilous sheer drops as it clings to the side of the mountain.

I was very glad indeed that we'd pre-booked, as it meant that we got the seats nearest the window, leaving the passengers who just turned up on the day with very much inferior seats, unable to see the scenery past my head. As we trundled up the railway however, it turned out that they actually weren’t missing much. The railway is a tremendous feat of engineering and manpower, dug into the side of a mountain. The problem with subsequently calling this the scenic railway for tourists, is that it is dug into the side of a mountain. Much of the journey takes place through tunnels and trenches giving a truly panoramic view of the surrounding soil.

We stopped at a station half way up the mountain where the old steam trains used to have to take on more water. No such necessity for our modern diesels, but an excellent photo op. This means that everyone gets off the train for the 15minute break, causing a massive scrum as Japanese tourists fight to get the best position to get their vital snap of the adjacent, partially obscured waterfall.

Once arrived at Kuranda, we found that it is an unashamed tourist trap. Glad we had brought our picnic of left over fajita, rather than brave the prices of the cafes, we sat in the town square enjoying the sunshine. After a token look around the town and market, we followed the signs for the nature walks around the forest and river. It was all pleasant enough, and after putting the world to rights we arrived back at the train station. We had noticed when we arrived that morning, that they did “Devonshire cream teas” in their rather quaint café. As a result we had been craving one all day, and decided to give in to temptation, whilst waiting for the Skyrail back. The scones were a bit odd, but delicious nonetheless.



The “Skyrail” is basically a cable car that takes you from Kuranda, back to the bottom of the mountain where you left your car. The view is infinitely superior to the one you get from the train, as from it, we saw our first and only crocodile in the river below is. Being somewhat afeared of heights, the marvel of the view was somewhat diminished by the mild terror. Part way down the Skyrail, you can get off to recover and do various guided trails and “Interpretive Centres”. These centres are rubbish. They consisted of little computers asking if what was shown on screen was a tree. The walks are guided by Aboriginal park rangers, who explain what their ancestors used various parts of trees for. It mainly consisted of swinging, Tarzan style from trees, and poisoning people they didn’t like using berries. Nice.

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