Kuranda is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

on the

Atherton Tableland The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River. It was dammed to form an irrigation reservoir named Lake Tina ...

in the

Shire of Mareeba The Shire of Mareeba is a local government area at the base of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, inland from Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mareeba, covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity f ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. In the , Kuranda had a population of 3,008 people. It is from

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

, via the

Kuranda Range road The Kuranda Range road is an informally named section of the Kennedy Highway in Queensland, Australia. The road traverses the Macalister Range near Cairns (). The section of road connects Smithfield, Queensland, Smithfield, a suburb of Cairns ...

. It is surrounded by tropical rainforest and adjacent to the

Wet Tropics of Queensland The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...

World Heritage listed

Barron Gorge National Park Barron Gorge National Park is a protected area in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It is predominantly within the locality of Barron Gorge. Geography The park is 1,404 km northwest of Brisbane and from Kuranda. Barron Gorge ...

. The town of Myola is also located within the locality of Kuranda ().

Geography

Kuranda is positioned on the eastern edge of the

where the Barron River begins a steep descent to its coastal floodplain. The area is an important

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of individuals between ...

between the Daintree/

Carbine Tableland The Mount Carbine Tableland is a plateau in Far North Queensland, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range, it lies in the Shire of Mareeba 15 km west of Mossman, and 1,460 km north-west of Brisbane, reaching an altitude of 1,38 ...

area in the north and

Lamb Range Lamb Range is a locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Lamb Range had a population of 0. Geography The locality takes its name from the mountain range Lamb Range. The locality that lies to the west of most of the south ...

/Atherton Tableland in the south, two centres of

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

. Parts of Kuranda, particularly along its eastern edge, are protected within the

Kuranda National Park Kuranda National Park is a national park in Far North Queensland, Australia. Like many national parks in the area it belongs to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The park protects an important wildlife corridor in which rainforest and open ...

and

. Both national parks belong to the

Wet Tropics World Heritage Area The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...

. Barron Gorge Forest Reserve and Formatine Forest Reserve have been established in the south of Kuranda. Closer to the centre of the town is Jumrum Creek Conservation Park where a near threatened, endemic frog species Ranoidea myola is protected. An elongated dam created by a weir built for a power station was constructed in 1935 and is used to today for recreation. Myola is in the north of the locality beside the Barron River, upstream from the town of Kuranda.

History

StateLibQld 1 256273 Hotel at Kuranda north of Cairns, ca

The rainforest around Kuranda has been home to the

Djabugay people The Djabugay people (also known as Djabuganydji or Tjapukai) are a group of Australian Aboriginal people who are the original inhabitants of mountains, gorges, lands and waters of a richly forested part of the Great Dividing Range including t ...

for over 10,000 years. Europeans began to explore the area throughout the nineteenth century. It is believed a massacre of Aboriginal people took place at the location in Kuranda known as Skeleton Creek. The name ''Kuranda'' is derived from Yindinji word, ''kuran'' referring to the acorn leafed plant ('' Helmholtzia acorifolia'').

Djabugay The Djabugay people (also known as Djabuganydji or Tjapukai) are a group of Australian Aboriginal people who are the original inhabitants of mountains, gorges, lands and waters of a richly forested part of the Great Dividing Range including th ...

(also known as Djabuganjdji, Tjupakai) is a language of Far North Queensland, particularly the area around the

Kuranda Range Kuranda may refer to: Places * Kuranda, Queensland, a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia ** Kuranda Butterfly Farm, the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, situated in the centre of Kuranda Village ** Kuranda Fig Tree Ave ...

and Barron River Catchment. The Djabugay language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of

Cairns Regional Council The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. ...

. The name ''Myola'' comes from its railway station, which was named on 15 December 1891 by the

Queensland Railways Department Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

using an Aboriginal word indicating ''main camp'' or ''elders' camp''. Kuranda was first settled in 1885 and surveyed by Thomas Behan in 1888. Construction of the railway from

to Myola (later Cairns to

Herberton Herberton is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Herberton had a population of 855 people. Geography Herberton is on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland. It is situa ...

) began in 1887 and the line reached Kuranda in 1891. The current railway station was completed in 1915. Kuranda Post Office opened on 25 June 1891 (a Middle Crossing

receiving office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

had been open from 1888). Kuranda State School opened on 24 October 1892. It was renamed Kuranda District State School on 8 July 2002. It was at 14-22 Arara Street (). In 2007, it was amalgated with Kuranda District State High School to create Kuranda District State College at the Myola site. Kuranda District State School's website was archived. The Arara Street site was purchased by the Mareeba Shire Council (now the

Tablelands Regional Council The Tablelands Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas which dated back more than a century. On 1 Janua ...

) to redevelop as community facilities. Between 1912 and 1913 Eric Mjöberg lead an expedition to Queensland in which the Kuranda Aboriginal people were observed. Although coffee was grown around Kuranda in the early twentieth century, timber was the town's primary industry for a number of years. Kuranda has been known as a tourist destination since the early 1900s. It was both the rainforest and local Aboriginal culture which attracted people to the area. St Saviour's Anglican Church was built in 1915. Its colourful glass windows were added in 2002. Clohesy River Provisional School opened on 21 August 1933 and closed in 1939. The Barron Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station was built nearby in the 1960s. From the 1970s onwards, Kuranda promoted itself as the 'village in the rainforest'. The concept served two purposes. It attracted those seeking a

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

enclave in which to reside as well as a being a tourist promotional strategy. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Kuranda was popular with alternative lifestylers, a theme that still runs through the local community today. Tourism became the backbone of the local economy. Kuranda Library opened in 1996 and underwent a major refurbishment in 2015. Kuranda State High School opened on 22 January 1998 at 260 Myola Road in Myola. In 2007, Kuranda District State School and Kuranda State High School amalgamated to form Kuranda District State College, by expanding the Kuranda State High School site at Myola. Kuranda State High School's website was archived. Although historically and currently Kuranda is in the

, following a rationalisation of local government areas, between 2008 and 2013 all of the Shire of Mareeba was within the

Tablelands Region The Tablelands Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas which dated back more than a century. On 1 January ...

. This unpopular decision was reversed with the reinstatement of the Shire of Mareeba in 2014. In the , the locality of Kuranda had a population of 2,966. In the , the locality of Kuranda had a population of 3,008 people. In recent times, Kuranda remains a sleepy little tourist town, renowned for its arts and

souvenir shop A gift shop or souvenir shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs, memorabilia, and other items relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, toys, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collec ...

Population

According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 3,008 people in Kuranda. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 14.9% of the population. * 67.0% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 5.7%. * 80.4% of people spoke only English at home. * The most common response for religion was No Religion at 39.2%.

Heritage listings

Kuranda has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

sites: * Cairns-to-Kuranda railway line (operated as the

Kuranda Scenic Railway The Kuranda Scenic Railway is a tourist railway service that operates along the heritage-listed Cairns-to-Kuranda railway line. Constructed in 1891, the line runs from Cairns, Queensland, over the Great Dividing Range to the town of Kuranda o ...

) including the

Kuranda railway station Kuranda may refer to: Places * Kuranda, Queensland, a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia ** Kuranda Butterfly Farm, the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, situated in the centre of Kuranda Village ** Kuranda Fig Tree A ...

* Coondoo Street ():

Kuranda Fig Tree Avenue Kuranda Fig Tree Avenue is a heritage-listed avenue of trees at Coondoo Street, Kuranda, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1931. It is also known as Avenue of Ficus Microcarpa and Ficus Obliqua trees. It was added to the ...

Attractions

The

Skyrail Rainforest Cableway Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is a scenic tourist cableway running above the Barron Gorge National Park, in the Wet Tropics of Queensland’s World Heritage Area in Australia. It operates from the Smithfield terminal () in Cairns to the ...

is a scenic tourist

cableway Cable transport is a broad class of transport modes that have cables. They transport passengers and goods, often in vehicles called cable cars. The cable may be driven or passive, and items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by driv ...

running above the

in the

’s

World Heritage Area A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

, one of the oldest tropical rainforests in the world. It operates from the Kuranda terminal at 4 Arara Street () to the Smithfield terminal in

. The

is a scenic tourist railway journey through the Barron Gorge National Park from the Kuranda railway station () to the

Cairns railway station Cairns railway station is a railway station in Cairns City, Queensland, Australia, serving the city of Cairns. The stations is the terminus of the North Coast line from Brisbane and the terminus for the Tablelands railway line to the Atherto ...

. A popular day trip from Cairns is the combined railway-and-cableway round trip to Kuranda. Coondoo Street is Kuranda's main street with shops, galleries and various old and shadowy trees. St. Saviour's Anglican Church at 7 Coondoo Street () is known for its colourful glass windows. The gardens surrounding St Christopher's Catholic Church in Barang Street and the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Barron Falls Road are good locations to observe tropical birds. In the northern part of Kuranda close to Therwine Street a Japanese plane wreck can be seen in the bushes. The ''Kuranda Koala Garden'' is a small local wildlife park which keeprs koalas, wombats, kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons, bettongs, potoroos, bilbies, bandicoots, possums, gliders, frogmouth owls, freshwater crocodiles, lizards, pythons, turtles and frogs. KurandaMainSt.jpg, Coondoo Street St Saviour's Anglican Church, Kuranda, 2015.JPG, St. Saviour's Church KurandaChurch.jpg, St. Saviour's Church KurandaTownCentre.jpg, Therwine Street KurandaWreck1.jpg, Japanese plane wreck KurandaWreck2.jpg, Japanese plane wreck KurandaAdventistChurch.jpg, Adventist Church

Amenities

Mareeba Shire Council operate a public library in Kuranda at 18-22 Arara Street (). The Kuranda Historical Society was established in 2017 and seeks to collect and display items of historical interest relating to the Kuranda area. The Kuranda Media Association publish a monthly newspaper called "The Kuranda Paper". The Kuranda branch of the

Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...

meets at the CWA Hall on the corner of Barang Street and Thongon Street. St Christopher's Catholic Church is at 20 Barang Street. It is within the Kuranda Parish of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns is a diocese of the Catholic Church located in the state of Queensland, Australia. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. The diocese was erected as a vicariate apostolic in 1877 and was ...

and is administered from the Atherton Parish.

Education

Kuranda District State College is a government primary and secondary (Prep-12) school for boys and girls at 260 Myola Road (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 366 students with 37 teachers (33 full-time equivalent) and 32 non-teaching staff (21 full-time equivalent). It has a special education program. Cairns Hinterland Steiner School is a private primary and secondary (Prep-11) school for boys and girls at 46 Boyles Road (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 165 students with 18 teachers (17 full-time equivalent) and 17 non-teaching staff (11 full-time equivalent).

Fauna

The nocturnal frog species '' Litoria myola'' is only found in the vicinity of a few creeks near Kuranda. The area boasts a rich diversity of invertebrate fauna including Australia's largest species of mantids, phasmids, spiders, moths and butterflies all found in Kuranda.

Weather

Being situated in the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

, Kuranda experiences only mild variations in temperature and its seasons consist of a

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

and a

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

. Kuranda does not have an official weather station; however, rainfall data has been taken for many years at Kuranda Railway station and reported to the Bureau of Meteorology. Additionally various unofficial Personal Weather Stations exist in the area. Generally Kuranda is 2–5 °C cooler than Cairns, it has more rainy days as a result of orographic influences, and it is more humid generally (with residential areas in Kuranda village averaging 90% relative humidity, because of the surrounding rain-forest). Kuranda is often referred to the "air conditioned suburb of Cairns" and the rain-forest and elevation is responsible in part for these perceptions. It is rare for the temperature to exceed 31 °C in summer, the weather being moderated by rain and cloud cover in January to March (the wet season), and night minimums at this time of year similarly rarely drop below 20 °C. Winter maximums (June to August) are typically a consistent 25 °C; however, minimums can drop to 8 °C, owing to clear skies at this time of year and cooler air movements originating from the southern Atherton Tablelands.

Government

Kuranda is located in the (federal)

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

Division of Leichhardt The Division of Leichhardt is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Aust ...

, the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

Electoral district of Barron River Barron River is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. Created at the 1971 redistribution, it currently covers the northern suburbs of Cairns, as well as Kuranda. The Barron River from whic ...

and locally, in the

References

External links

*
Town map of Kuranda, 1980Kuranda - Village in the Rainforest
- The Sydney Morning Herald: Traveller {{authority control Towns in Queensland Populated places in Far North Queensland 1888 establishments in Australia Populated places established in 1888 Localities in Queensland