As we left Coffee World, we headed for Kuranda.  We had heard from a couple folks that Kuranda was a nice little town and we “had” to ride the Skyrail.  As Kuranda was on the way back from Coffee World, it seemed like a no brainer to us.

Well, we’re pretty sure that Kuranda is Australia’s version of a tourist trap.  Like any port in the Caribbean, it was packed with little stores and kiosks, selling all sorts of tourist-oriented wares.  The markets were well, laid out, and attractive, but they didn’t seem authentically Australian, as they were too well organized.

As we finished up this market, we realized we really hadn’t had anything to eat except the chocolate, and the Skyrail would probably take several hours, so we should probably get something to eat.  As we walked around Kuranda, we came across, of all things, a German restaurant.  We simply couldn’t resist.

We popped inside for a bite.  It was remarkably full, but we found a table.

We sat down and checked out the menu.  We couldn’t help notice the note at the bottom.

As we waited, we noticed the equivalent of a German public service announcement.

Aside from a list of wursts, they really didn’t have anything special.  They DID have crocodile and emu wursts, though, which we thought was interesting.  We both ended up getting kaseknocker, though.

I also had a German beer.

From lunch, we went on our way, coming across another market.  We noticed, conspicuously, that a lot of the products and kiosks in the first market, were also present in the second.

We headed down toward the Skyrail station, and enjoyed the rest of the town.

This is a single tree.  We haven’t figured out what kind of tree it is, but the “root” system is just amazing. Finally we got to the Skyrail station.

For $59 AUD, per person, we got round trip tickets on the Skyrail; 7 km, about 45-minutes each way, with 2 stops.  During each stop, there were things to see, including a walk through the rainforest, and a view of Barron Falls.

Each car would hold up to 6 people.  Really, it was like any skyride at an amusement park; just very, very long and high.

And off we went…

Our first stop was Barron Falls.  We got off the cable car, and headed down the walkway, through the rainforest, to a couple overlooks where we took some pictures.

Then we got back on the rail, and off we were again.  We had another view of the falls from the air.

As we continued on our way, we had great views of the mountains, and the rainforest canopy from above.

We reached the second stop, and this time, we had a walk through the rainforest with an overlook of the valley.  This tree was huge, and the picture really doesn’t do it justice.

We also got a close up view of some of the natural flora. We got back on the rail for our last leg, and we were off to the highest point, at over 850 feet high.  It was breathtaking.

The view was equally stunning.

It’s amazing how it goes from mountains to “plains” so quickly.  That’s the ocean in the distance. We reached the bottom, got a couple bottles of water, and turned around for the return trip.  I had a great view on the way back.  =)

When we got back to Kuranda, everything was closed!  It was only 3:20!

So we packed it in and headed back to Cairns.  It had been a pretty full day, as it was, and we were ready to get some pictures of Cairns.  Stay tuned for a post on the town!