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.
History Kuranda is a small hinterland town approximately 19 km northwest of Cairns in Far North Queensland. The avenue of mature fig trees which line the main street of Kuranda, Coondoo Street, were planted by the Woothakata Shire Council in the early 1930s to beautify the street and enhance the town's appeal to visitors. The trees were planted at a time when Kuranda was experiencing exceptionally high tourist numbers. Kuranda was, and continues to be, one of Queensland's most popular tourist towns.
Part of the traditional land of the Djabugay speaking people, Kuranda was surveyed in 1888 in anticipation of development which would accompany the arrival of the Cairns-to-Kuranda railway line. Kuranda railway station, situated at the top of the Macalister Range, became the principal station after Cairns when the line opened in 1891 and remained so until the railway extended to Atherton in 1903.QHR 600755, "Cairns Railway, Section from Redlynch to Crooked Creek Bridge", Department of Environment and Science.
The line encouraged agricultural development and by the 1890s several farms had been established in the area. Large amounts of timber were hewn and provided the early settlers with an income; coffee was grown for a time and there was also dairying and cattle grazing.Kuranda Station Heritage Conservation Plan, Queensland Rail, 1993. A small township began to develop close to the railway station and by 1895 was described in the Post Office Directories as the "centre of a large agricultural district with rich alluvial scrub soil. A favourite resort for tourists and others visiting the Barron Falls"."Kuranda", Queensland Post Office Directories, 1895.
The railway proved to be the impetus for tourism to flourish at Kuranda. Travellers from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne came to Cairns by ship and caught the train to Kuranda. The renowned scenic qualities of the railway led to the recognition of the area's tourist potential. Marketed in the south as a winter destination, the tourist season in the Cairns region generally stretched from May to October, which avoided the cyclone season.A Thematic History of the City of Cairns and its Regional Towns 2011, Heritage Alliance for the Department of Environment and Resource Management, Queensland and Cairns Regional Council, 2011, p43.
Kuranda railway station stood between the Barron River and the small settlement of Kuranda at the rise of the hill and by 1888 the road from the railway station up to the township was called Coondoo Street. This street swiftly became the town's high street.Behan's Survey Map, 1888 (As provided by Applicant). By 1895 Kuranda could boast the railway station, provisional school, butcher, stores and the Kuranda Hotel. In 1910 the small community opened the School of Arts hall in Coondoo Street.Cairns Post, 6 December 1910, p4. From 1920 Kuranda was part of the Woothakata Shire.Dorothy Jones, Trinity Phoenix: A History of Cairns, Cairns Post, 1976, p.289.
By the early 1910s Kuranda had become one of Queensland's most popular tourist attractions, with many visitors arriving by rail daily.As early as 1913 it was reported that the large influx of tourists, although welcomed, meant that services were stretched, "owing to the busy tourist season the hotel accommodation at Kuranda is overtaxed, and intending passengers should telegraph for rooms before leaving the South", The Brisbane Courier, 20 May 1932, p12. The completion of the Brisbane-Cairns railway line in 1924 (called the "Sunshine Route" from 1929) provided another option for reaching Cairns.QHR 602803, "Daintree Inn/Former Exchange Hotel", Department of Environment and Science. This also meant an increase in tourist numbers to Kuranda.In 1915 there were two hotels, the Kuranda and the Barron Falls hotels. By 1930 the number of hotels had increased to three, with Fitzpatrick's hotel established on Coondoo Street, as well as several boarding houses. In a small town with a population of 380 in 1933, the number of hotels at this time is reflective of the number of tourists visiting Kuranda.
The main attraction that brought tourists to Kuranda was the Barron Falls, described as early as 1885, "in flood time the Barron Falls throw even immortal Niagara into the shade".Queenslander, 10 January 1885, p53. The train line from Cairns to Kuranda took tourists past the falls, where the train would stop and passengers were able to walk along the bridge to view the falls.QHR 600755, "Cairns Railway, Section from Redlynch to Crooked Creek Bridge", Department of Environment and ScienceMargaret Clow, How I spent a Fortnight in Kuranda, 1914, National Library of Australia. From here it was only a short 1.5 mile (2.4 km) ride to Kuranda railway station.
Once at Kuranda, several other attractions had been established to take advantage of the flow of tourists; two rainforest parks, the "Fairyland Tea Gardens" (1914) and "The Maze" (1923) were situated across the Barron River where tourists were taken over by punt.In 1914, the Dick family established the Fairyland Tea Gardens, where tourists were taken across the Barron River near Kuranda by punt to a spectacular rainforest park, with winding paths and tea garden, Clow, How I Spent a Fortnight in Kuranda, 1914, National Library of Australiain 1923 Dan Duggan established another attraction, "The Maze", later known as "Paradise". Once again, this rainforest park was situated across the Barron River from Kuranda where tourists could stroll along the windy paths appreciating the natural beauty and then have tea, sandwiches and cakes under the forest's canopy. In 1928, Duggan opened a nine-hole golf course on his property, appealing to visitors and locals alike, Shep Humpston, Welcome to Kuranda: the Village in the Rainforest, 1888-1988, 1988Brisbane Courier, 1 May 1928, p5. Another popular attraction was Frederick Pankhurst Dodd's entomology collection. Popularly called "the Butterfly Man of Kuranda", Dodd began showing his extensive collection of butterflies and insects to the public from his home on Coondoo Street in 1910 for a small fee, leaving visitors "amazed at their wondrous beauty, and altogether at the vastness and variety of the collection placed before us".Clow, How I Spent a Fortnight in Kuranda, 1914, National Library of Australia. This collection was to prove to be one of the most important in the country and was donated to the Queensland Museum after Dodd's death in 1937.Geoff Monteith, The Butterfly Man of Kuranda, Frederick Pankhurst Dodd, Queensland Museum, 1991.
A picture theatre opened in 1923 and in 1928 a bridge was built over the Barron River which connected the town with tourist attractions on the other side of the river.Cairns Post, 10 October 1923, p9Cairns Post, 18 February 1928, p11. In 1926 the Cairns Range Road, renamed Gillies Highway in 1934, was opened, providing vehicle access to Yungaburra and Atherton from Gordonvale.Travellers had the option of road or rail north to Mareeba and Kuranda, Northern Herald, 7 July 1926, p46John Kerr, Triumph of the Narrow Gauge: A History of Queensland Railways, Brisbane, Boolarong Publications, 1990, p122. The construction of the Barron Falls Hydro-electric Power Station (1932–35) attracted more tourists and provided the town with electricity.Cairns Post, 10 October 1923, p3.
Seemingly unaffected by the harsh economic climate caused by the Great Depression, visitor numbers to Kuranda peaked in the early 1930s; Kuranda had become the "winter playground of the Southern tourist" with visitors flocking to the small town for either day trips or for longer holidays .Cairns Post, 10 October 1923, p9. In 1932 it was reported that the Queensland Tourist Bureaus in Melbourne and Sydney were experiencing record levels of bookings and the shipping companies conveying the tourists up the coast were also solidly booked. To cater for this demand, the winter tourist season in this year, which usually began in May, was officially started in April.Brisbane Courier, 3 June 1932, p11Thorpe, Justine, Development of the Tourism Cultural Landscape of the Cairns Region, 1890-1970, Thesis, James Cook University, 2005, p165.
In the 1920s and 30s a series of promotional booklets were published by the Queensland Government's Tourist Bureau, encouraging southern and overseas visitors to North Queensland. Titles such as 'North Queensland: Australia's Richest Territory', "North Queensland: The Cream of the Continent", "Winter Tours in Queensland" and "Queensland is Different", celebrated the major attractions in the region.The Courier Mail, 15 May 1936, p4Queensland Government Tourist Bureau, North Queensland: The Cream of the Continent, 1936Queensland Government Tourist Bureau, Cairns and Hinterland: North Queensland, 1930Queensland Government Tourist Bureau, North Queensland: Australia's Richest Territory, 1925Queensland Government Tourist Bureau, Cairns: Short Tours, 1930s. As one of the region's most popular tourist destinations at this time, Kuranda was featured widely in these publications. Evocative descriptions of the village included phrases such as "the gardens glitter with colour and brilliancy" and "the varied beauty of the little tourist township among the clouds ... offers a charming introduction to the magnificent scenery on the ... Tablelands".Queensland Government Tourist Bureau, North Queensland: The Cream of the Continent, 1936.
Adding to this experience was the Kuranda railway station which featured award-winning gardens. By 1931 it had won the annual Queensland Railway Department's station garden competition nine times.This state-wide competition was established by the Railway Department in an effort to encourage station staff to beautify stations, Queenslander, 8 December 1923, p17. The station's reputation as a regular winner also contributed to the town's appeal as a tourist attraction and in 1931 it was stated in the Brisbane Courier "that is why Kuranda railway station is winning for itself a world-wide reputation, which ultimately must benefit Queensland".Brisbane Courier, 1 January 1931, p10.
Amid this activity, a local councillor, Robert James Bartley, recognised the potential for the main street of Kuranda, Coondoo Street, to be one of the most attractive in the Cairns region. When tourists arrived at Kuranda they were greeted by the stunning gardens of the railway station. As they walked up the hill to Coondoo Street, it was envisaged that this scenic greenery be continued through the small town.