SKYRAIL - the World's Most Beautiful Rainforest Experience

Have you ever wanted to visit exotic tropical rainforest and imagined what it might be like to glide through the tree tops to experience the amazing rainforest canopy? Well, from September this year you can do just that in Cairns, Far North Queensland, Australia.

Skyrail is a world first in environmental tourism. The world's longest gondola cableway has been built over World Heritage listed tropical rainforest. Enabling passengers to glide in six person cabins just meters above the tree tops and really experience the sight, sounds, smells and life that is the rainforest canopy. Doing so without roads or cars and buses and without noise and pollution or harm to the sensitive rainforest environment.

There are two stops along the way. Here passengers can experience the forest floor via low impact board walks, view the spectacular Barron Gorge and Falls and learn about the environment you are visiting in the CSIRO Rainforest Interpretive Centre.

But that's not all, because the Skyrail rainforest cableway also takes you from Cairns to Kuranda - the Village in the Rainforest. So you can visit the Tjapukai Aboriginal Dance Theatre, the butterfly Sanctuary, Noctarium and famous Kuranda markets, then catch the historic Kuranda Scenic Railway back to Cairns. Together with the Skyrail rainforest experience this really must be one of the World's great day trip adventures.

All just ten minutes from the International Airport and Cairns CBD. However, once you are on Skyrail, the hustle and bustle of the word may as well be a thousand miles away. Because Skyrail is Australia's tropical Rainforest.

The Skyrail cableway is a gondola cableway designed to carry passengers just above the rainforest canopy between Cairns and Kuranda in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the longest gondola cableway in the world with a distance of 7.5km one way.

Where?

Clients have the option to board the cableway at either Caravonica Lakes, located (11) kilometres from the heart of Cairns, or at Kuranda where Skyrail is situated adjacent to the Kuranda Scenic Railway Station. Both stations include a gift shop and toilets, with Caravonica Lakes featuring large carparking facilities.

The Experience....

Skyrail is a Rainforest Experience. Clients travel in gondola cabins made from fibreglass with louvring for air circulation. The maximum speed of the cabins is 18 kilometres per hour, slowing down to 0.72 kilometres per hour when clients board or depart. Although there are state-of-the-art communication systems in the cabins, we do not provide commentary - to enable clients to experience the wonder and sounds of the rainforest in its natural state.

There are two stops along the journey:

1. Red Peak Station:

Located in the middle of the rainforest Red Peak offers the opportunity to be surrounded by the grandeur that is the Wet Tropics Rainforest. At this station there are lightweight boardwalks that allow clients to explore the rainforest floor. Toilets are also available.

2. Barron Falls Station:

This station features a Rainforest Interpretative Centre, developed in conjunction with the CSIRO - Australia's leading science organisation. A short walk through the trees takes visitors to the edge of the Barron Falls for spectacular views of the Gorge and Falls located at the opposite side of the Kuranda Train. Toilets are also available.

Timing:

Actual travelling time in the gondolas is thirty minutes. Approximately ninety minutes is advisable to allocate for passengers who wish to experience the entire Skyrail experience including Red Peak and Barren Falls Stations.

Capacity:

Initially Skyrail will be operating 47 gondolas with each gondola being located 300 metres apart on the cable. With six passengers per gondola we then have the capacity to carry 300 passengers per hour in each direction. There is the capacity to expand to 700 passengers per hour in each direction once additional cabins are attached to the cable. These are not yet available.

What you can see:

There are over 1100 higher plant species in this World Heritage area, of which only 6% are considered common. Tree kangaroos, cassowaries, parrots, butterflies and frogs also frequent the area which we travel.

Who can travel on Skyrail?

Skyrail is for everybody - from the young and fit to the aged, disabled and infirm can enjoy the wonders of the rainforest. We have disabled facilities and wheelchair access to all stations.

Language Interpretation sheets will be available in English, French, Japanese, German, Italian, Korean, Spanish and Mandarin.