You might think I’m delulu for thinking the place I’m going to show you is similar like Jogja. Well, first of all, do you know Jogja? Indonesians who are reading this must know it by heart. But I guess not all foreigners know about it. It’s one of the most famous cities in Indonesia for tourism. I think it’s one of the cities I never get bored of. Surprisingly, I found the vibes in Kuranda Village.
Located near Cairns, on Australia’s northeast coast, Kuranda is the best place to visit if you happen to be nearby. I believe 80% out of 100% that you won’t regret! There are so many things you can do in Kuranda. So…
How To Get There?
Good news! It’s only 37 minutes from Cairns with 28.7 km distance by car. I can say that if you’re in Cairns but you don’t make time to visit Kuranda, you’ll miss out! If you don’t have your own vehicle, there are some alternatives. I recommend you go by train.
Kuranda is famous for the scenic railway. I didn’t get to try it, but you should! It’ll be better than driving your own car. I did drive my own car, that’s why I regret! My husband didn’t want to spend money on the train. It’s quite pricey but I think it’s still affordable.
There are 2 classes in the train: Heritage Class & Gold Class. The fare varies depending on the age (adult / child). There’s also fare for family. Visit the website for more info. You can book the tickets on it as well.
https://www.ksr.com.au/Tourpackages/Pages/KSRReturn.aspx
What Can We Do in Kuranda Village?
So many things! There are a lot of small cafes that sell food and drinks and booths that sell many kinds of things. Kuranda Village is very big. The website says that there are 3 markets: Kuranda Markets, Heritage Markets, and Original Markets. But I think I only went to the first and the second one. I’m sure the last one is somewhere around those two.
In Kuranda Markets, you’ll find cafes, restaurants, souvenir stalls, and fortune reading stalls. In the Heritage Markets, you’ll find a diverse array of stalls, stocking selection of local art, craft and locally sourced produce.
I ate lunch in a small Japanese cafe in Kuranda Markets, . The food was so good! The price was also very affordable. There’s a small tea shop next to it. It really looked like the one in Japan. I wanted to try but I don’t know why I didn’t. I thought I’d come back again and go to that tea shop but I haven’t got the chance until now. Life lesson I learned that day is that to try whatever makes me curious when I have the chance. Because if I don’t, I’ll regret! And that’s how I feel. You’re probably going to say, just go there again, easy-peasy. Well, yes it is. But now that I stay in Melbourne, it makes it harder.
Next, The Heritage Markets. Despite the name, it’s neater and cleaner than Kuranda Markets. There are many cute things that I wanted to buy there but I didn’t. I only bought 2 secondhand books that cost me $5 each. There’s also Birdworld inside Heritage Markets. If you’re traveling with kids, I bet they’ll be happy to see the birds. I didn’t try getting in because there’s an entrance fee which starts from $10.50. Well, it’s not because of the money I didn’t go in there. It’s just that I’m not curious.
I actually wanted to see Koala and have pictures with them. But The entrance fee is too pricey. It’s around $35 if I’m not mistaken. So I needed to hold the urge and pray that I’ll see a koala in the wild someday.
After wandering around the markets, I went to see the famous falls in Kuranda. Besides markets, Kuranda also has some walking trails that are worth to try, the trail to Barron Falls is one of them. I think it’s reachable on foot, I saw some people walked there. If you go by car, it only takes around 10 minutes.
From the parking lot, I walked through a trail surrounded by the forest. It was a beautiful track. I arrived at the Barron Falls lookout point in less than 15 minutes (I actually forgot how long I walked but it’s a short walk).
I was kind of disappointed at the time. I thought I’d see the falls closely. It’s a great waterfall but it’s hard to take a good picture of it since I didn’t bring a proper camera. Cellphone camera couldn’t capture it well especially when it comes to taking selfies. Lucky, someone offered to take pictures of me and my husband. I can’t say the photos are nice but they’re not bad.
From the lookout point, I walked a bit more and I found the railway station. I bet that’s where the scenic trains stop. After that point, I couldn’t go any further. It was a dead end. I then walked back to the parking lot and drove the car out of Kuranda Village.
Well, what I wrote here might not explain why I say that it is a piece of Jogja. I know the pictures I attached are totally unlike Jogja. But trust me, when I was there, I felt Jogja in my heart. The vibes were similar. I don’t know if it really is or I’m just delulu. Forgive me if I am.
Anyway, it was a nice visit and I’ll definitely go back there someday!
