Saturday 9 November 2013

Kuranda Skyrail and the wheelchair




So after our journey up the mountain on the Train, we elected to take the Skyrail back down.  The carriages can fit 6 people in them.  However the wheelchair is placed in between the two rows of seats and you could probably only fit a couple of people in from there.  The staff were great and very attentive and as you can see by the photos, managed to get the wheelchair (and Sully) in and out without too much trouble.  We were collected by a taxi at the bottom and returned to our Motel (again in the price of the ticket).  Again it was well worth the effort.

Kuranda Scenic Railway and wheelchair accessibility.







On a recent trip to Cairns, we caught the train to Kuranda.  Although there is a bus that collects travellers from various motels, this was not wheelchair accessible.  However, Kuranda Rail ordered a wheelchair accessible taxi (included in our train ticket) and it arrived on time and drove us to Freshwater Station.  We boarded the train there and found that there is a carriage reserved for customers that need assistance. As you can see in the picture, a platform is winched from the station to the carriage.  There are seats available in this carriage, and Sully transferred to one and the wheelchair was strapped down by a staff member.  In the carriage, there was a wheelchair accessible toilet, which was well appointed and easy to access.  The train ride was terrific and certainly worth the effort.  At the Rail Station, there is lift access to the road going up to Kuranda.  The road was quite steep, but Sully managed it.  We had lunch at a lovely restaurant (really we were spoiled for choice) and most of the shops were accessible.  However the steepness may stop some people, but if you could just make the train journey, there was a lovely cafĂ© at the station, and this would be a lovely place to have a break before the journey back.  There was also well appointed accessible toilets at the station. www.ksr.com.au