Riding above the Rainforest

I don’t know about you – but I have always longed to wing my way above the tree tops and have a bird’s eye view of the forest canopy – in the way that you so often see in natural history documentaries where people film the foliage from hot-air balloons, hang gliders, and helicopters. I thought this was an unachievable dream for me. However, when I was in Australia last year, I discovered SKYRAIL!

The Skyrail Rainforest Cableway travels 7.5 kilometres from sea level at Caravonica near Cairns, up to the mountain top station of Red Peak, on to the Barron Falls Station, and finally over the gorge and Barron River to the mountain village of Kuranda. The Cableway was specially designed to enable visitors to experience the rainforest without damaging it. The construction work has been carried out with every consideration for the protection of the environment – the ecosystem.

The cable car ride makes it possible to take in fantastic, awe-inspiring, panoramic views of the vast expanses of forest; while the stopping points at Red Peak and Barron Falls allow visitors to get right up close to the fascinating and diverse array of plant species from special boardwalks. In later posts, I’ll share with you some photographs of the amazing flora seen at ground level.

Till then, jump on board a gondola with me – and from the safety of the suspended capsule enjoy the view from way above the trees and over the mountain tops of the Barron Gorge National Park in Queensland. Get an introductory glimpse of a luxuriant and virtually impenetrable part of the Daintree Wet Tropics World Heritage Rainforest – the oldest of its kind in the world and dating back 100 million years.