Kuranda sits above the tropical lowlands of Far North Queensland, a village of about three thousand people in the rainforest on the Great Dividing Range, reached from Cairns by one of the most unusual commutes in Australia. The Kuranda Scenic Railway, built by hand in the 1880s and 1890s, climbs the range through fifteen tunnels and across high bridges, past the Barron Falls, and the Skyrail cableway glides above the canopy. By road, the Kuranda Range Road winds up through forest in steep bends.
The village is a market town for visitors. The Original Rainforest Markets, which began in the 1970s, sell crafts, leather, jewellery and food, and the little streets are crowded with stalls and cafes. Behind this, the place has a quieter side, with walks in the forest, a butterfly sanctuary and a bird aviary. The Barron Gorge National Park, a section of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, protects some of the oldest rainforest on Earth, a living relic of the ancient forests that covered the continent when it was part of Gondwana.
This is cassowary country. The cassowary, a large flightless bird with a blue neck and a helmet of bone, lives in the forests of the region, and warning signs show where they cross the road. They are rare, powerful and shy, and a close encounter is both thrilling and dangerous. Slow down in signed zones. Other wildlife includes tree kangaroos, spectacular butterflies and, at night, frogs and flying foxes.
For a rider, the Kuranda Range Road is a good twisty climb, with tight corners, a steady gradient and dense forest on both sides. The humidity is high, the road surface can be wet or greasy, and sudden tropical downpours are common, especially in the wet season from about December to March, when the roads can also flood. The dry season, from May to October, is the best time, with warm days and cool nights.
The village has basic services, including a petrol station, but Cairns has the widest choice, so fill up there before the climb. Behind Kuranda lies the Atherton Tableland, a cooler, greener upland of dairy farms, crater lakes and waterfalls, which makes for a lovely day's riding. The air smells of damp earth, flowers and woodsmoke, and the morning mist hangs in the trees.