Description of the attraction
Kuranda is a small town surrounded by rainforest on the Atherton Plateau, 25 km from Cairns. The population of the city is only 650 people.
For more than 10 thousand years, these places have been home to the indigenous Djabugay tribe. And today you can visit their village, see how the indigenous Australians sing and dance, or how they make fire by friction, and also learn how to throw spears and boomerangs.
The first Europeans appeared here only in the 19th century. The area where Kuranda is now located was inhabited by "whites" in 1885 and thoroughly explored in 1888 by Thomas Behan. Construction of the famous railroad from Cairns to Mayola, and later to Herburton, began in 1887, and already in 1891 the road passed through Kuranda. The current building of the railway station was built in 1915.
At the beginning of the 20th century, coffee was grown on the plantations surrounding Kuranda, but then logging became the main urban industry for many years. In the 1960s, a hydroelectric power plant was built in the Barron Gorge. During the 1960s and 70s, Kuranda was a popular destination for Australian hippies and eco-friendly lifestyles, and today the town is a thriving tourist destination. Every week, thousands of tourists come here from Cairns on a scenic old railroad that leads through tunnels and gorges, past waterfalls and dizzying cliffs. Another way to Kuranda is by Skyrail cable car.
Kuranda is home to the only zoo in northern Queensland that houses large cats and ungulates. There is also a bird park, a butterfly sanctuary, a rehabilitation center for bats and a sanctuary in which koalas live. Also in Kuranda you can visit numerous shops of artisans and artists selling handmade souvenirs. Earlier in the city there was also an unusual dance theater of the local Tjapukai tribe, today it is located in the nearby town of Karavonika. As already mentioned, Kurnada is surrounded by a rainforest with amazing wildlife, which can be observed by following one of the many hiking trails, or from observation decks, for example, at Barron Falls.
