Ok, so we loved Cairns – if you are planning a trip to Australia please go to Cairns – not because the city of Cairns is that exciting (It’s mostly a tourist town with some casinos, a lot of hostels, and bats that live in the trees during the daytime)… However, Cairns is the hub and gateway to some beautiful other adventures outside the city. We already showed you how to get to the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns which we cannot recommend highly enough… but you can also go to the rainforest from Cairns which is so beautiful and offers some unique experiences.

The Kuranda Village has lots of little market shops, restaurants, and attractions and the way we chose to travel there was the historic railroad it takes about an hour -has 1 beautiful stop along the way where you can get out and look at some waterfalls and stuff. Now you can rent a car but honestly just choose the railroad and take the skyrail back – it’s what’s recommended and it’s not terribly expensive and definitely worth the experience. We did not visit the bird exhibit or butterfly exhibit in Kuranda however, we did do the Rainforest Station. One of the reasons we chose to do this trip is that in Cairns and at Rainforest Station – it’s one of the few places in Australia where you can do a Koala Cuddle…. a one on one experience where you can cuddle with a Koala complete with a commemorative photo. On top of that the Rainforest Station also offers meet and greets with tons of other native animals including wallabies, kangaroos, and dingos. Also, while there we have the opportunity to go on a duck boat tour, take a nature hike with an aboriginal guide, see a show, learn to throw spears and boomerangs, and even play the didgeridoo. One of the unexpected experiences we had while in Kuranda (which we learned happens all over Australia as we continued to travel over the next 2 weeks) is while we were eating on a restaurant patio huge iguanas just would come and hang out around our table just kinda hoping we would drop some food like pigeons or something. We really loved our whole experience but one of Russ’ favorite things about the day trip was the ride back to Cairns on the skyrail… you are in a glass unclosed gondola a couple hundred feet over the rainforest (there is a glass bottom option available but I am already too nervous about heights for that) and the ride lasts about an hour and a half. You make several stops on the way back with little restrooms and shops and hikes you can take into the rainforest (which was my favorite part of the ride) on really wide nice paths that are stroller friendly (great with a sleeping baby). Overall we had such a wonderful experience and day exploring the rainforest and would definitely return again.