Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

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CHAPTER 6 . QUEENSLAND & THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
can see old nautical artifacts, primitive art, a turtle and reef aquarium, and live
crocodiles. Admission is A$10 (US$6.50) adults and A$4.50 (US$2.90) kids;
croc shows are at 10:30am and 1:45pm.
Great Adventures (& 07/4044 9944; www.greatadventures.com.au) and
Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises (& 07/4051 0444; www.bigcatcruises.
com.au) both make trips to Green Island from Cairns. Expect to pay around
A$65 (US$42) for a half-day trip with snorkel gear or a glass-bottom-boat
cruise. A full-day trip can be as much as A$96 (US$62), but Big Cat makes a
day trip for as little as A$60 (US$39). Big Cat’s boat is slower, but you still get
5 1 ⁄2 hours on the island. Great Adventures also has transfer-only rates of A$50
(US$30), which also gives access to the island’s day facilities. Both companies
pick up from hotels in Cairns, the northern beaches, and Port Douglas for an
extra cost; Big Cat also runs to the island direct from Palm Cove.
A SIDE TRIP TO KURANDA
Few travelers visit Cairns without making a day trip to the mountain village of
Kuranda, 34km (20 miles) west of Cairns near the Barron Gorge National Park.
Although it’s undeniably touristy, the cool mountain air and mist-wrapped rainforest
refuse to be spoiled. The shopping in Kuranda—for leather, Australian
wool sweaters, opals, crafts, and more—is a little more individual and unusual
than in Cairns, and the cafes and restaurants are more atmospheric. The town is
easily negotiated on foot, so pick up a visitors’ guide and map at the Skyrail gondola
station or train station (see below for how to get there) when you arrive.
GETTING THERE Getting to Kuranda is part of the fun. Some people drive
the winding 25km (15-mile) mountain road, but the most popular routes are to
chuff up the mountainside in a scenic train, or to glide silently over the rainforest
canopy in the world’s longest gondola cableway, the Skyrail Rainforest
Cableway .
The most popular way to get there is to go one-way on the Skyrail (mornings
are best for photography) and the other way on the train.
By Skyrail The Skyrail Rainforest Cableway (& 07/4038 1555;
www.skyrail.com.au) is a magnificent feat of engineering and one of Australia’s
top tourism attractions. About 114 six-person gondolas leave every few seconds
from the terminal in the northern Cairns suburb of Smithfield for the 7.5km
(4 1 ⁄2-mile) journey. The view of the coast as you ascend is so breathtaking that
even those afraid of heights will find it worthwhile overcoming their nervousness.
As you rise over the foothills of the coastal range, watch the lush green of
the rainforest take over beneath you. Looking back, there are spectacular views
over Cairns and north towards Trinity Bay. On a clear day, you can see Green
Island. There are two stops along the way—at Red Peak and Barron Falls—and
about 90 minutes is needed to make the trip properly. After about 10 minutes,
you reach Red Peak. You are now 545m (1,788 ft.) above sea level, and massive
kauri pines dominate the view. You must change gondolas at each station, so
take the time to stroll around the boardwalks for the ground view of the rainforest.
Guided walks are run every 20 minutes.
On to Barron Falls station, built on the cleared site of an old construction
camp for workers on the first hydroelectric power station on the Barron River in
the 1930s. A rainforest information center has been established here, and there
are boardwalks to the lookouts for wonderful views of the Barron Gorge and
Falls. From Barron Falls station, the gondola travels over the thickly rainforested