The drive up through the numerous small settlements scattered along the highway is almost invariably a pleasant experience, at least as long as the rain holds off, and we did the 157 kilometre run comfortably, passing through El Arish, skipping past Silkwood, and Moresby and pulling up at the bakery ay Mourilyan ready for a substantial bite to eat.
From Mourilyan we wended our way through Innisfail and headed out through Goondi, heading towards the Bellenden Ker Range and Mount Bartle Frere through Eubenangee, Mirriwinni and Babinda, with Hughesy cursing the fact that the schedule didn’t allow for a brief turn off to take a squiz at the State Hotel, there.
Apparently it was the only State enterprise launched by the State Labour Government in 1915 to turn a healthy profit, and features the longest bar in the southern hemisphere (or something). Reports suggest you’ll find a decent Chinese feed there as well.
Passing through Bellenden Ker and Deeral, however, it was becoming increasingly obvious we’d be pushing to get to Caravonica on time, and I kept a beady eye on the Maps app on the iPad through Fishery Falls and on the loop around Gordonvale.
Once you hit Edmonton you’re effectively in Cairns, and it seemed we hit every traffic light (as you do, it’s a standard feature of Murphy’s Law) through Bentley Park, White Rock and Earlville, with Hughesy’s focus split between the iPad and the side of the road, where there’d be a sign advising us of the turn off onto the Cairns Western Arterial Road. It was a turn I didn’t want to miss.
Off the main highway things flowed rather smoothly through Manunda, Kanimbla, Brinsmead and Kamerunga, with the only slight hiccough being Madam’s attempt left into Tjapukai Aboriginal and Cultural Park rather than heading on straight to the Skyrail Terminal once we’d turned off the Western Arterial.
Checking in was painless, and we bid farewell to the driver, who’d be meeting us in Kuranda and headed for the gondola and the ascent to Red Peak.
Your best bet, assuming you haven’t crammed half a dozen folks into the six-seater gondola is to have your back to the ascent for the first bit, which gives you the best views back across the coastal strip.
It might be a case of skimming over the tree tops, but there’s plenty of time to look downwards over the three stages of the ascent and, in any case once you’ve crossed the ridge on the last stage into the first rainforest mid-station at Red Peak, the gondola descends through the canopy layers and you’re looking back at the forest.
Red Peak Station is the highest point of the cableway, at 545 metres (1788 feet in the old money) above sea level with a 175 metre rainforest boardwalk that’s a perfect opportunity to take a ground level view of what you’ve been passing over.
There are regular, complimentary boardwalk tours available through the day, and one of them was just ahead of us as we made out way around the boardwalk circuit. We could, I guess, have paused to listen and continue along the rest of the way, but I figured we were better off skirting around the group and avoid the queue that would ensue once the group was looking to move on to the Barron Falls Station.