Kuranda Things to Do

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BIRDWORLD
While recently in Kuranda I had the really enjoyable experience of checking out BIRDWORLD which is located at the end of town near the Heritage Markets..This is a large venue where over 500 Parrots, Cockatoos,Lorrikeets and many various types of birds fly openly and will eat out of your hand .. it is a wonderful place to obtain some really "up close" photos of these beautiful creatures..as I really love birds I saw this as not only a great opportunity to see many birds that I had previously never seen but to photograph them in a really close proximity..The day I was visiting Birdworld there were only a couple of other people in the enclosure.I found this to be a really great experience and would recommend it to anyone visiting Kuranda..

"The best friend of Earth and man, is the tree." Frank Llloyd Wright

At the Rainforestation Nature Park, we spent an afternoon delighting in the surroundings of our amphibious Army Duck, which ploughed through water and land to get us that little bit closer to the Australian scenery and rainforest. There is so much wildlife and landscape to see here that it really is a must and it remains exciting throughout with your "Duck Captain" keeping you in check the entire time, with both useful and useless information about what your seeing. Constant reminders as we plunged into the lake that there were crocodiles on the out and about made things that little more exciting! Unfortunately or fortunately, whatever way you look at it, there were no crocodile sights for us. However, it really was a great adventure - the sloping path down to the rainforest from the centre was a bit of an experience on it's own! Sloping hills, muddy tires, a whole vehicle of screaming girls - probably not the best of mixes! Great fun had though.

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The Kuranda train station is a tropical plant paradise---it is such a joy to arrive on the scenic railway from Cairns,the train provides spectacular views from the ranges to the ocean and in the wet season the Barron River Falls are fantastic. Anyway when you get to Kuranda station you are transported into something very special.

So I would catch the train in downtown Cairns to Kuranda then on the way back I wanted to take the skyrail down. Where does the skyrail let me off? Is it close to train station in Cairns where I caught the train?
I visited that website but was confused by the options do I only need:

KSR/Skyrail $82.00 $41.50 $75.00 $205.50

or do I need a transfer from the skyrail back to the start, the train station and need:

KSR/Skyrail/one way transfer to Freshwater station (self-drive option) $90.50 $45.75 $83.50 $226.75

Thanks

There are countless zoos to choose from in Australia, particularly around Cairns. But the Kuranda Koala Gardens is one of the few places that will allow you to hold a koala and pose for pictures.

Entry is $15AUD. Posing with the koala is an additional $15AUD, but they will allow you to take pictures with your own camera, as well as give you two professional prints that they take with their own equipment.

There are also kangaroos, wallabies, lizards, crocodiles and a few other residents to watch.

This ~3km nature walk will take you about 45minutes to do a full circle and return to the city. Along the way, you will walk along some boardwalk style paths in the rain forest, cross the waters of a river along large stone stepping stones, and then return back to the small town of Kuranda along the small neighborhood streets.

It is a free trail, takes only a short time, and gives you a chance to break from the crowds walking in the town and market areas.

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Bat Reach is a volunteer based rehab center for wounded bats and other miscellaneous creatures of the forests. They do not charge admission, but gladly accept any donations.

The facility is quite small, but the cages and roosting bats are even that much closer.

The ladies that care for them will answer any questions that you have and give an informative discussion of their patient's lives. They will explain their diets, their life cycles, the hazards that bats face and what makes them require such rehabilitation. They are a harmless, yet integral part of life in the forests.

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"The World's Most Beautiful Rainforest Experience"... The 7.5 km cableway was completed in 1995 after one year of construction. All towers were lifted into place by helicopter to avoid disturbance of the rainforest. The tallest tower is Tower 6 at 40 m.

It is a really nice trip above the rainforest canopy. Expect the trip to take 1½ hours each way, this allows you time to explore Red Peak and Barron Falls rainforest stations.

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The Skyrail has two rainforest mid-stations, the Red Peak and the Barron Falls, and I think you should take some time to explore both stations.

At Red Peak station you'll find 175 m boardwalk with rainforest information signs, and over 160 species of rainforest plants. There are also fantastic panoramic views across the Barron River valley.

At Barron Falls you'll find the walkways to three lookouts with stunning views over the Barron River, Gorge and Falls. The Barron Falls was once the construction base site of the hydroelectric development in the 1930s, and you can see some of the machinery used in the construction. The CSIRO Rainforest Interpretive Centre with videos and information of the rainforest environment is also located at the Barron Falls Station.

If you're staying in the Cairns/Kuranda area you can save money if you buy tickets to Tjapukai, Skyrail and Kuranda Scenic Railway at the same time.