Australia: Skyrail and the Karunda Railway (Gold Class of course)

Wow, what a day we had! We went to the village of Kuranda, high up on the Atherton Tablelands. But it wasn't the destination that was important, it was how we got there and back....

We went up on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway www.skyrail.com.au

Stunning. Look at the website and you will see what I mean. You fly high over the forest in your gondola and look down at he plants, butterflies and birds below you. It is the most fantastic experience and much less traumatic than the helicopter was (although that was wonderful too, just felt much less secure).

We shared our adventure with a couple of the guys we had met at Turtle Cove, Brian (in the hat) and Steve. We all got on great, and had a fabulous day together.

Both the stations were great and afforded us fantastic views across the gorge down to the river. And when we got to the end there was the obligatory photo call and we all hammed it up, of course. I will try and scan a copy in when we get home and add it with the other pictures I have taken.

We had a wander through the village marvelling that so many shops stocked the same hippy trippy paraphernalia and seemed to be making a living out of it. It was a bit like the village of Glastonbury but minus the rain!

John and I had paid to visit the Butterfly House (fab), the Aviary (mediocre, and I found out that John really doesn't like free flying birds) and the Koala Compound (which would have been ok but they also had snakes there, so I exited rapidly). We then found a nice cafe (called The Frog!) where we tested the locally made cakes with some good old tea.

For the return we had booked the Gold Class Kurunda Express, (www.ksr.com.au) an old railway built during the Gold Rush days of the 19th century and now run as a tourist attraction in conjunction with the cable car. The upgrade to gold put us in 1st Class and gave us drinks galore, nuts, a cheese platter and a refreshing Mango Sorbet. These and the lack of children made for a very civilised two hour journey back down the mountain.

The station at Karunda was fantastic, with foliage everywhere. Wouldn't like to be the gardener though!!!