Skyrail Rainforest Cableway 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

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

, in 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 ...

’s

World Heritage Area World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritage ...

in Australia. It operates from the Smithfield terminal () in

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

to the Kuranda terminal () on the

Atherton Tableland The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau, which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It has very deep, rich basaltic soils and the main industry is agriculture. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the B ...

. It has won more than 25 awards. Skyrail Rainforest Cableway journeys through the Wet Tropics Rainforest, home to the world's oldest tropical rainforest, older than the

Amazon Rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

. It was the longest gondola cableway in the world when it was completed in 1995. The cableway, which journeys over the MacAlister Range between Smithfield and Kuranda, includes six-person gondola cabins that glide metres above the treetops. A one-way trip takes about 1.5 hours, and a return trip is about 2.5 hours. Two rainforest stations, Red Peak () and

Barron Falls Barron Falls ( Aboriginal: ''Din Din'') is a steep tiered cascade waterfall in Kuranda, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. The falls are created by the Barron River descending from the Atherton Tablelands to the Cairns coastal plain. In ...

(), allow exploration of the forest floor on boardwalks and education of the World Heritage area. Complimentary ranger guided tours are available at Red Peak. An interpretative display the 'Rainforest Discovery Zone' is located at Red Peak. A Rainforest Interpretation Centre, developed in conjunction with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

), is located at the

. The Edge Lookout, open to the public since March 2019, is located at Barron Falls. The lookout reaches out above Barron Gorge floor, with views across the Gorge and Barron Falls. The lookout also incorporates a glass floor section. It was the only Australian finalist in the 2014 International Tourism for Tomorrow Award. In 2012, it was the first tourism attraction in the world to receive Platinum EarthCheck Accreditation. It won the 2000 British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow International Environment Award, the 1996 EIBTM European Greening of Business Tourism Most Environmentally Conscious Visitor Attraction Award and the 2008 and 2009

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

National Award for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism. In 2000, it was inducted into the

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Award's Hall of Fame for Best Tourism Attraction and in 2010 for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism.

History

The Skyrail concept was put forward in 1987, with construction beginning in June 1994. Pre-construction included consultation with and approval from 23 local, state and federal government agencies and local communities along with numerous assessments including an Environmental Impact Study. It also established an agreement with the

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

Tribal Aboriginal Corporation for the protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage. Skyrail is owned and operated by the Chapman Group, led by

George Chapman George Chapman ( – 12 May 1634) was an English dramatist, translator and poet. He was a classical scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman is seen as an anticipator of the metaphysical poets of the 17th century. He is ...

, who was named one of Queenslands' 2011 Queensland Greats. His son, Dr Ken Chapman, is Skyrail's managing director and daughter, Karen Hawkins, is a director. The AU$35 million cableway opened to the public on 31 August 1995 with 47 gondolas. A AU$2.5 million upgrade in May 1997 increased the number of gondolas to 114, enabling it to carry over 600 passengers an hour in each direction. In 2006, it underwent an AU$2.5 million upgrade which included a replacement café, expanded ticketing services and a larger retail store. In November 2013, it introduced 11 Diamond View glass floor gondolas, and in April 2014, the Canopy Glider, a ranger-escorted, open-air gondola, was added. Special guests at Skyrail include

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

in March 2002, former Australian politician

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

in 2004, and Australian tennis player

Pat Rafter Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and world No. 6 in doubles. Rafter won eleven ...

in 2013.

Construction

Before construction, the site was surveyed to make sure endangered and rare species would not be affected. The top soil and leaf litter were collected and reintroduced when construction was complete. Plant seedlings removed during construction were replanted in their original locations. Construction began in June 1994 despite protests from conservationists. The 32 towers at Skyrail were built in 10×10 m clearings, and workers had to sterilise equipment and footwear before entering sites. Russian Kamov helicopters were used extensively to carry equipment, materials and cement to tower sites and rainforest stations. Helicopters carried 900 tonnes of steel, cement and building materials into the Barron Falls Station alone. Because no roads were built during construction, workers walked to the tower sites each day with their equipment.

Skyrail Rainforest Foundation

The Skyrail Rainforest Foundation was established in 2005 to raise and distribute funding for tropical rainforest research and education projects. These include scientific studies of rare and endangered rainforest fauna and flora, canopy ecology and of rainforest species for medical research. The foundation offers funding for students and educators to research into rainforest protection. Since its inception from April 2014, the foundation has provided AU$302,000 towards research projects.

Awards

Skyrail won a number of Australian National Tourism Awards including 2008, 2009 and 2010 Excellence in Sustainable Tourism, 1997 and 1999 Best Major Tourist Attraction and 1996 Best Tourist Development Project. Queensland Tourism Awards include the 2010 Hall of Fame – Excellence in Sustainable Tourism, 2008 and 2009 Excellence in Sustainable Tourism, 2000 Hall of Fame Best Major Tourist Attraction, 1997, 1998 and 1999 Best Major Tourist Attraction and 1996 Best Tourist Development Project. Its Tropical North Queensland Tourism Awards include 2014 Best Eco-Tourism, 2009 and 2010 Sustainable Tourism, 2004 Hall of Fame Best Major Tourist Attraction, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2013 Best Major Tourist Attraction. International Tourism Awards include 2000 British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow International Environment Award, 1999 Wet Tropics Management Authority (WTMA) Cassowary Award, 1996 EIBTM European Greening of Business Tourism Award in the Category of "Most Environmentally Conscious Visitor Attraction" and 1996 Australian Federation of Travel Agents Awards for Excellence in the category "Best Resort or Tourist Attraction" Far North Queensland. It also won the 1999 WTMA Cassowary Culture Award. In 2009 as part of the

Q150 Q150 was the sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia ...

celebrations, the Skyrail Rainforest Cable was announced as one of the

Q150 Icons The Queensland's Q150 Icons list of cultural icons was compiled as part of Q150 celebrations in 2009 by the Government of Queensland, Australia. It represented the people, places and events that were significant to Queensland Queensland ...

of Queensland for its role as a "structure and engineering feat".

Accreditations

Skyrail holds a number of business and environmental accreditations and certifications, including EarthCheck Platinum, Advanced Ecotourism Certification: Eco Tourism Australia and Climate Action Innovator.

Trivia

*Skyrail operates within the World Heritage listed Wet Tropics area, which is home to the world's oldest tropical rainforest. *Dating back 130 million years, many of the ancient plants in this rainforest existed when dinosaurs roamed the earth. *The cableway can operate at a speed of 5 m/s (18 km/h, 11 mi/h); however, its normal operating speed is much slower to provide guests with the maximum time to enjoy their rainforest experience. *There are 32 towers in total. The highest tower is Tower 6, at 45 m (133 ft). *Red Peak is Skyrail's highest station, at 545 m (1,788 ft) above sea level. The Kuranda Station is 336 m (1,012 ft) and Smithfield Terminal 5 m (16 ft) above sea level. *The steepest section of the cableway has a slope of 19°. *Skyrail Rainforest Cableway has 15 km (9.3 mi) of 40.5 mm galvanised steel rope, weighing more than the equivalent of 100 sedan cars. *There is a multi-core communications cable, which runs in the middle of the towers, between the two lines of haul rope. It carries all the voice and safety circuit communications. *The cableway is driven by a 383 kW (500 hp)

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional electric current, flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor (material), conductor such as a wire, but can also flow throug ...

electric motor located at each drive station: the Kuranda and Smithfield Stations. Each drive station has a backup diesel motor and a further auxiliary Hydrostatic Drive. *There are two streaming webcams providing live footage and views from the cableway. The cameras are located on top of Towers 7 and 25.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.skyrail.com.au/
Wet Tropics Management Authority
* Skyrail Rainforest Foundation http://www.skyrailfoundation.org Transport in Queensland Far North Queensland Tourist attractions in Far North Queensland Gondola lifts 1995 establishments in Australia Aerial lifts in Australia Tourism in Cairns