Myola is in the north of the locality beside the Barron River, upstream from the town of Kuranda.[7]
History
Kuranda Hotel, circa 1928
The rainforest around Kuranda has been home to the Djabugay people for over 10,000 years. Europeans began to explore and develop the area from the nineteenth century. The Speewah massacre occurred in the mid-1890s,[when?] when settler John Atherton sent native troopers as revenge for the death of a bullock.[8]
The name Kuranda is derived from Yindinji word, kuran referring to the acorn leafed plant (Helmholtzia acorifolia).[9]
Djabugay (also known as Djabuganjdji, Tjupakai) is a language of Far North Queensland, particularly the area around the Kuranda Range and Barron River Catchment. The Djabugay language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of Cairns Regional Council.[10]
The name Myola comes from its railway station, which was named on 15 December 1891 by the Queensland Railways Department using an Aboriginal word indicating main camp or elders' camp.[4]
Kuranda was first settled in 1885 and surveyed by Thomas Behan in 1888.[11] Construction of the railway from Cairns to Myola (later Cairns to Herberton) began in 1887 and the line reached Kuranda in 1891.[12] The current railway station was completed in 1915.[13][14][15]
Kuranda Post Office opened on 25 June 1891 (a Middle Crossing receiving office had been open from 1888).[16]
Between 1912 and 1913 Eric Mjöberg lead an expedition to Queensland in which the Kuranda Aboriginal people were observed.[21]
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.[21] It was both the rainforest and local Aboriginal culture which attracted people to the area.
St Saviour's Anglican Church was built in 1915.[22] Its colourful glass windows were added in 2002.
Fairyland Tea Gardens, circa 1935
In the 1930s, the Fairyland Tea Gardens were developed as a tourist attraction to experience the local rainforest.[23][24]
Clohesy River Provisional School opened on 21 August 1933 and closed in 1939.[17]
From the 1970s onwards, Kuranda promoted itself as the 'village in the rainforest'. The concept served two purposes. It attracted those seeking a bohemian enclave in which to reside as well as a being a tourist promotional strategy.[21] Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Kuranda was popular with alternative lifestylers,[21] a theme that still runs through the local community today.[11] Tourism became the backbone of the local economy.
Kuranda Library opened in 1996 and underwent a major refurbishment in 2015.[25]
Kuranda State High School opened on 22 January 1998 at 260 Myola Road in Myola.[17] 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.[17][26][27][28] Kuranda State High School's website was archived.[29]
Although historically and currently Kuranda is in the Shire of Mareeba, following a rationalisation of local government areas, between 2008 and 2013 all of the Shire of Mareeba was within the Tablelands Region. This unpopular decision was reversed with the reinstatement of the Shire of Mareeba in 2014.
In the 2011 census, the locality of Kuranda had a population of 2,966.[30]
In the 2016 census, the locality of Kuranda had a population of 3,008 people.[31]
In recent times, Kuranda remains a sleepy little tourist town, renowned for its arts and souvenir shops.
Demographics
In the 2016 census, the locality of Kuranda had a population of 3,008 people. 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%.[31]
In the 2021 census, the locality of Kuranda had a population of 3,273 people.[1]
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 (16°49′11″S145°38′06″E / 16.8197°S 145.6349°E / -16.8197; 145.6349 (St Saviour's Anglican Church)) 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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
St Christopher's Catholic Church is at 20 Barang Street. It is within the Kuranda Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns and is administered from the Atherton Parish.[41]
The nocturnal frog species Litoria myola is only found in the vicinity of a few creeks near Kuranda.[46] 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, Kuranda experiences only mild variations in temperature and its seasons consist of a dry season and a wet season.
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.
Dimbulah is a rural town and locality in Far North Queensland, Australia, 114 kilometres (71 mi) from Cairns by road, on the Atherton Tableland. It is within the local government area of Shire of Mareeba. In the 2021 census, the locality of Dimbulah had a population of 975 people, a decrease from the 1,050 people in the 2016 census.
Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning meeting of the waters. In the 2021 census, the locality of Mareeba had a population of 11,825 people.
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is a 7.5-kilometre (4.7 mi) 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 Kuranda terminal on the Atherton Tableland. It has won more than 25 awards.
Barron Falls 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.
The Djabugay people 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 the Barron Gorge and surrounding areas within the Wet Tropics of Queensland.
Mount Molloy is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. It is a historic mining and timber town, 55 kilometres (34 mi) north of Cairns. The dominant industry in the area is cattle grazing; the town itself consists of a few shops and an old hotel. In the 2021 census, the locality of Mount Molloy had a population of 266 people.
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 53,491 square kilometres (20,653.0 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1879 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several councils in the Atherton Tableland area to become the Tablelands Region.
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 on the Atherton Tableland. The route passes through the Macalister Range, as well as the suburbs of Stratford, Freshwater and Redlynch.
The Shire of Atherton was a local government area of Queensland. It was located on the Atherton Tableland, a plateau forming part of the Great Dividing Range west of the city of Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Atherton, covered an area of 623.1 square kilometres (240.6 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1881 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several other councils in the Tableland area to become the Tablelands Region.
Smithfield is a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Smithfield had a population of 6,664 people.
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 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) section of road connects Smithfield, a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region with Kuranda, a town in the Shire of Mareeba on the Atherton Tableland, at an altitude of about 360 metres (1,180 ft). Traffic is primarily limited to one lane each way, with overtaking lanes at various points. The Kuranda Skyrail cableway crosses the road twice. Henry Ross Lookout is located near the road's highest point, at an altitude of 430 metres (1,410 ft), and is named after the foreman in charge of building the road to cross the range in 1939.
The Gillies Highway is a road that runs from Gordonvale in the Cairns Region through the Gillies Range to Atherton in the Tablelands Region, both in Queensland, Australia. Its official name is Gillies Range Road, and it was originally known as the Cairns Range Road.
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 2014, one of those local government areas, the Shire of Mareeba, was re-established independent of the Tablelands Region.
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. However, following public protest and a referendum in 2013, on 1 January 2014, the Shire of Douglas was de-amalgamated from the Cairns Region and re-established as a separate local government authority.
The Tablelands railway line is a railway line in North Queensland, Australia. It was opened in a series of sections between 1887 and 1916. It commences at Cairns and at its maximum extent, reached Ravenshoe at the southern end of the Atherton Tableland. The rail system served by this line was unusual for Queensland in that the majority of lines that connected to it were built by private companies and later purchased by the Queensland Government.
Biboohra is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Biboohra had a population of 561 people.
Barron Gorge is a rural locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Barron Gorge had "no people or a very low population".
Macalister Range is a coastal locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Macalister Range had "no people or a very low population".
Middlebrook is a rural locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Middlebrook had a population of 62 people.
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 Queensland Heritage Register on 27 July 2018.
↑ "About Kuranda and Mowbray". Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing. 7 November 2012. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
1 2 Henry, Rosita (2012). PERFORMING PLACE, PRACTISING MEMORIES: Aboriginal Australians, Hippies and the State. New York: Berghahn Books. p.16. ISBN978-0-85745-508-6.
↑ Kerr, John (1990). Triumph of narrow gauge: a history of Queensland Railways. Boolarong Publications. p.224. ISBN978-0-86439-102-5.
↑ "Kuranda Railway Station". The Week. Vol.LXXVIII, no.2, 015. Queensland, Australia. 7 August 1914. p.30. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020– via National Library of Australia.
↑ "Kuranda Railway Station". The Northern Herald. Vol.VIII, no.101. Queensland, Australia. 12 March 1915. p.25. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020– via National Library of Australia.
↑ "Untitled". The Brisbane Courier. No.18, 019. Queensland, Australia. 16 October 1915. p.13. Retrieved 10 October 2020– via National Library of Australia.
↑ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
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