Hello All.
Well I’ve just returned from my vacation in Cairns and I decided that I’d share a few thoughts about the town
- Wandering around Cairns, the first thing you take note of is the well designed free lagoon on the esplanade. Cairns coastline itself is not very enticing being mostly mud flats, so they have designed this lovely pool right on the water front. Good idea and as Cairns can tend to be quite hot and humid, it’s a nice way to cool off for everyone.
- While in Australia I went on a hot air balloon flight. I was picked up from my resort at about 5 am and taken to the Atherton plateau for a 30 minute flight. We were up in the air just as the sun was rising. As well as the beautiful green countryside below us, it was so peaceful drifting on in the early dayspring light. After landing we were taken to Mareeba for a hot breakfast at a hotel. After that a drive back to Cairns, I was back at the hotel by 10 am. The balloon flight wasn’t cheap, but I’m so glad I went on it and would extremely recommend it.
- Cairns Regional Art Gallery shows changing exhibition from artists all over Australia, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and local artists, and a permanent collection of local artworks. It’s not big, but worth a short visit if you are into those sorts of things. It’s the only art museum in Far North Queensland.It’s located in a heritage building from the 1940′s.
- Cairns Museum shows the history of Cairns itself and the area (Tablelands & Cape York). It’s not large, but very interesting, and you can see that the volunteers arranged everything very meticuously and with love. You can look around easily in less than an hour, but I think it’s worth a visit if you are interested in how Cairns developed into what it is today. You can learn about the mining and farming history of the area, the Cape York Air Services, the timber manufacture etc. I found especially interesting the displays about the Chinese and other Asian communities in Cairns.The only point I didn’t like is that there is not enough data about the aboriginal people, the exhibitions concentrate in the main on the white settlers.
- One of the Must See’s is a visit to Cape Tribulation & Daintree National Park. You can go with your own car, but there are also many tour operators. I did a tour with Nothern Delights and can really recommend it.
Some tours also include a wildlife park or a cruise on Daintree River, where you can spot local wildlife - just see what suits you best.
Daintree NP is a virgin rain forest area and Cape Tribulation a beautiful beach. It belongs to the World Heritage.
Be aware of stingers when in season!