Kuranda
wildlife parks are popular with international travellers.
Along with
the famous heritage
and rainforest markets,
these parks
are the town's top attraction.
If you are from overseas and haven't got close to unique
Australian animals, you have a chance to do it at Koala
Gardens.
And you can learn about some of Australia's dangerous animals at
Kuranda Venomous Animals
Zoo.
Rainforestation,
which is a bit
outside the town, is another Kuranda wildlife park that is
popular with international travellers.
But even if you are from Australia, it's worth visiting Birdworld
and Australian Butterfly
Sanctuary
- it's the only one of its kind in
Australia.
Kuranda
Butterfly Sanctuary
The
tropical climate
of north
Queensland means insects grow extra large, and
Australia's largest and most amazing butterflies are found
here.
This
sanctuary is the only place in Australia where you get this close to
Cairns Birdwing and Ulysses Butterflies, as well as Hercules Moths and
other giants.
Kuranda
Birdworld
This
is a fantastic bird aviary where you walk inside and have birds flying
right next to you.
There are
exotic species like macaws and conures as
well as Australian birds including Cape York/north Queensland
endemics like cassowaries
and
eclectus parrots.
Kuranda
Koala Gardens
In the Koala Gardens you can have your photo taken with a koala, get
close to wombats and wallabies, and have a look at some amazing
reptiles such as skinks, dragons and monitors.
There are
also
freshwater crocodiles, but for the salties you have
to go to
Rainforestation.
Kuranda Zoo
of Venomous Animals
In this,
(rather small), two room display you have five of Australian poisonous
snakes and other dangerous creatures along with some harmless
ones - like the olive python
which you
can hang around your neck.
Makes a
great photo to take back home.
Kuranda
Batreach
Kuranda Bat Reach is a small place almost next door to the Venom Zoo a
bit off the Coondoo Street along the path that leads to the Jungle Walk.
It is open
less than its
opening hours imply - and when they are they put out a sign at the
start of the path. Open by donations.
Rainforestation
This is a rather touristic place a bit outside the town.
There is a
wildlife park section where you can get close
to the usual Australian animals; a rainforest section where
you can take a tour with a WWII Army Duck, and an Aboriginal section
where you can watch an Aboriginal dance performance.
Kuranda
Butterfly Sanctuary
Kuranda
Butterfly Sanctuary is a great place to visit.
It is the largest of its
kind in Australia, and with the warm, tropical climate,
the butterflies themselves are also Australia's largest.
If you are an Aussie you skip the koala and kangaroo parks, but if you
are form the southern parts of Australia, you will still find this park
interesting.
It's an aviary you walk in, so you
get very close to them.
There is information, feeding stations and a laboratory.
There are a few species of large moths and butterflies, including the largest ones in Australia.
If you are lucky they may
have a Hercules moth - Australia's largest (moths and
butterflies don't live long so what you see depends on the time of your
visit).
But they definitely have Cairns
Birdwings - the female is Australia's largest butterfly.
They are not shy so they
will come and sit on you, particularly if you wear white
(there is a room where you can see how butterflies see colours).
There are also the
beautiful electric blue Ulysses Butterflies, they are a
little harder to take good photos because when they close their wings
you don't see the blue colour.
And one main thing was that there
are so many of them!
I remember this park from
years earlier and there were defintely nowhere near as many as when we
visited in 2013 when Mum was here.
Kuranda
Zoo
of Venomous
Animals
Kuranda
also has a small zoo of venomous animals.
It is a
bit
away from the markets
and the other
wildlife parks,
and it is also
different. It is
small, inside a dark
room and there are not altogether so many
poisonous animals to see.
There
are five species of Australia's poisonous
snakes, and information on
some other small dangerous creatures, but that's all when it comes to
the dangerous
animals.
Then
there
are some harmless ones - the
most popular being the large olive
python
which you can hold and put
around your neck for a photo.
You also get a bit of a "tour" - a talk about some of the animals.
Kuranda Batreach
Kuranda
Batreach is a small bat
resque and rehabilitation centre in the middle of the town.
They have flying
foxes, and it's a great place to get close to them.
It is run by volunteers, so the main problem is you'll be very lucky if they are
open for the public, but a couple of times a week, mainly
mid-morning to lunch time, they are.
You know they are if you see this sign
at the start of the Jumrum Jungle Walk:
The centre is a little further down the street.
There is information and a donation box,
... there are the bats in a cage,
... and during the time they are open they make themselves available to
talk to you.
You cannot touch but you can watch the feeding and the bats close-by.
And you can learn a lot about the four species of flying foxes found in
north Queensland.
Kuranda Birdworld
Kuranda
Birdworld is a walk-in
bird aviary at the Kuranda Heritage Markets.
It is not a bad place to get close to birds, and you can get some good photos.
There are some more remarkable Australian birds,
as well as some exotic
ones.
There is a walk around a
pond where you can see the birds flying around.
And there is a feeding
platform where the birds come around.
Some of the most
impressive exotic birds and the South American macaws.
And some of the most
amazing Australian ones are the rare eclectus
parrots.
The males are green and
the females red, and they are only found in the rainforest
of Cape York peninsula.
They will come and sit on your head, shoulder and hands, you can get
great photos.
Kuranda Koala
Gardens
Kuranda
Koala Gardens is where you can see the typical Kuranda wildlife and
other Australian animals.
There are freshwater crocodiles,
... lizards,
... koalas,
... including cuddly photos,
... wombats,
... kangaroos (and you can feed them),
... wallabies and pademelons,
... snakes, turtles and other Kuranda wildlife,
... and some history of Kuranda's railway, forestry and pioneering
families.
Rainforestation
And
finally, things can get
even more touristic than koala cuddling.
At the Kuranda
Rainforestation you can also get an Aboriginal cultural
experience on top of the Aussie animals.
There
are three main things, that you can also do one by one: an animal park,
an Aboriginal cultural experience, and a rainforest tour on a WWII army
duck.
The
animal park has all the popular Australian animals like kangaroos,
wallabies, koalas to cuddle, wombats, quolls, lizards and snakes;
... and as opposed to the park above, also dingoes, cassowaries,
... and the deadly saltwater crocodiles.
The
Aboriginal experience is by the local Pamagirri People, and includes a
spear throwing and didgeridoo playing demostration, a dance
performance, and you
throwing a boomerang.
The
rainforest tour takes you with a guide on a Second World War army
duck through the beautiful Kuranda rainforest to a lake for a
cruise.
The guide will explain the plants and the rainforest, and there is even
a little bit of four wheel driving.
Get
this 50 pages
guide totally for FREE.
It
contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip.
You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you
should take, how to get
there and get
around, where
to stay (general info), what
will it cost..
and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.
This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact
detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
gear by my vehicle-recovery-guy partner).
Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)
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This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.