Kuranda, Queensland
From Freepedia
Kuranda (postcode 4881) is a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland. It is located 330 metres above sea level at 16°49′ S 145°36′ E.
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History
The rainforest around Kuranda has been home to the Djabugay people for over 10,000 years. Europeans began to explore the area throughout the nineteenth century. Kuranda was first settle in 1885, and surveyed by Thomas Behan in 1888. Constructions of the now famous railway from Cairns to Herberton had begun in 1882 was completed in 1891.
Although coffee was grown around Kuranda in the early twentieth century, timber was the town's primary industry for a number of years.
The Barron Gorge Hydroelectric power plant was built nearby in the 1960s. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Kuranda was popular with alternative lifestylers, and today is a thriving tourist town.
Tourism
The town receives thousands of tourists each week who arrive on the Kuranda Scenic Railway from Cairns, the Skyrail gondola cableway, or by coach on the Kuranda Range Road. Attractions in the town include a regular market, bungee jumping, and the Tjapukai Indigenous Dance Theatre.
Government
Kuranda is in the Australian House of Representatives Division of Leichhardt, the Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral district of Barron River and the Mareeba Shire.
