At Newcastle airport - the Cairns Travel Guides!

How long did we think we were staying for?

Our room #1074

Views from our room

Dinner last night was at the onsite restaurant called “The Backyard”, a modern Australian/Thai restaurant. The food was delicious with seafood the hero matched with seasonal fresh ingredients.

Thoughts after day 1……FAN-TAS-TIC!

To Cairns!! 🥂

The stained glass windows on the east & west side of the church were installed in 2001. They are the world’s largest themed stained glass windows and depict the story of Creation taken from the Book of Genesis. The Creation theme provides the whole space with a sense of unity through continuous design. Local artists took six years to complete the 384 individual panels that make up the 24 windows. They are absolutely stunning!

This painting was given to the cathedral by an anonymous donor. It is titled Job at Prayer.

One of the beautiful flower arrangements on the altar.

The very unique immersion baptismal font

After we left the cathedral we then visited the Cairns Museum. They didn’t allow any photos to be taken during our half hour guided tour but it was very interesting & informative about the history of Cairns. Our tour guide’s name was Anne & she asked John to assist her in leading the tour & to demonstrate lifting a sugarcane bag (60kg).

We then had a guided tour of the Botanical Gardens & a Devonshire afternoon tea at Edge Hill.

A bush pineapple

Some orchids

And the sausage tree

We then travelled to the lookout at Kanimbla & the Barron Gorge National Park.

Cairns receives an annual rainfall of approximately two metres. During Cyclone Jasper in December 2023 they received one metre of rain in five days! The water level at this spot rose to 13.5m.

Our last stop for the tour was Palm Cove. We walked along the pier & as you can see it was a very windy overcast afternoon.

The famous railway winds its way through 15 hand carved tunnels, 37 bridges & spectacular waterfalls & into the Barron Falls National Park. The journey to Kuranda takes approximately 2 hours, which includes a 10 minute stop for a bird’s eye view of the Barron Falls.

Arriving at Kuranda around 11.30 we wandered around the shopping village (a bit like Morpeth) Lots of shops selling arts & crafts & the same types of touristy goods. We had lunch at the Kuranda Lookout Restaurant & a gelato before heading to the Skyrail for the return trip at 3.30pm.

The Skyrail Cableway is a 7.5 km scenic tourist cableway running above the Barron Gorge National Park. It operates between the Kuranda & Smithfield terminals. We stopped at two rainforest stations, Barron Falls & Red Peak on our return trip & explored the forest floor boardwalks.

We arrived safely (much to Dad’s relief) at Smithfield & then transported by coach back to Cairns railway station. We all agreed it was a wonderful day & we saw nature at its very best. The rainforest was absolutely spectacular & the air so clean & fresh.

Last night after a light dinner we walked along the esplanade to view the festival of Cairns light show & fireworks. Leonie & Russell said it reminded them of Sydney’s Vivid Festival. Huge crowds of people gathered along the esplanade to celebrate. It was a beautiful balmy evening. We took Dad on the Ferris wheel now he has conquered his fear of heights.

Here’s a few more photos of our accommodation.

Tranquility pools & flowers in foyer

Hotel pool

Lagoon on the Esplanade has a new Lifeguard

Some photos from the city - Cairns Central (not a railway but a very large shopping centre with Myer, KMart, Target etc)

Walk through this centre & out the other side & you’ll come to the railway station

Avenues of trees are everywhere providing shade for walking

Cairns Art Gallery (from both sides)

Cairns Court House

Cairns City Council

St Monica’s College

Sunday night we boarded the Spirit of Cairns catamaran at the Marina & enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner while cruising the calm waters on Trinity Inlet for 2.5hrs.

Before boarding

Our hotel in the distance

We were welcomed on board with a glass of champagne, beer or soft drink. There was a wide range of delicious hot & cold dishes, salads, fresh seafood & smoked salmon. For dessert we had assorted mini tarts, tropical fruits, cheeseboard & crackers. We went up on deck after the main meal to enjoy the beautiful balmy evening on the water. We all agreed it was a wonderful night.

Heading north, we arrived at Mossman Gorge, the second sector of the Daintree National Park. Carved out by mountain waters of the Mossman River, which winds through large granite boulders, the gorge is bordered by lush green forest. After breakfast we participated in a Welcome to Country with traditional owners, the Kuku Yalanji people. We were cleansed of evil spirits with a smoking ceremony & were shown how traditional rainforest body paint is applied to the skin.

We then made our way to the gorge following the boardwalk through the rainforest.

The water in the gorge was crystal clear. I hear you asking “How clear?” - Crystal!!

We were reassured by our guide, the gorge was crocodile free so decided it was safe to paddle our feet. Others on the tour went swimming.

Continuing north, we stopped for lunch at the Daintree Hotel. I had the Haloumi salad & it was delicious.

After lunch we arrived at the Daintree River and enjoyed a cup of Daintree iced tea before hopping on board the wildlife cruise to spot crocodiles & learn about the ecosystem of this serpent-like river system.

You will see in the photos, the damage along the riverbank as a result of the floodwaters from the cyclone.

The roots of the mangroves

Crocodiles (one named Scarface - approximately 90 years old)

After the cruise it was time for an ice-cream at the Daintree Ice Cream Company. I thought it was a strange business venture in such a remote location (damn long way to get an ice-cream!!) but it was very refreshing and tasty.

Along the way to Thornton’s \240beach we were stopped at several major roadworks (reduced to one lane) washed out by cyclone rainfall. Cassowaries have been sighted on this road previously (estimated numbers in the \240area - four hundred) Our guide warned us not to approach this bird under any circumstances. It only eats plants but has been known to attack & kill humans.

Thankfully, no cassowary sightings today!

We visited the beach where “the rainforest meets the reef” - this is the only place in the world where two UNESCO World-Heritage sites meet.

Heading back across the river on the Daintree Vehicle Ferry we returned to Cairns via Port Douglas & Palm Cove.

Bit of trivia -. Port Douglas started as a small gold mining town. When the gold dried up, \240the town died and population dropped to thirty. \240Many years later there was a push to regenerate the area and Christopher Skase offered to put Port Douglas on the map by building the lavish Sheraton resort with help from wealthy investors. The upshot of this is Port Douglas has thrived but Skase, after moving to Spain, did not survive to repay his enormous debt.

St. Mary’s by the sea is a heritage listed non-denominational church in Port Douglas built in 1914. It became heritage listed in 1992 and is now used as a wedding chapel providing stunning views of the Coral Sea & surrounding palm-fringed beach. \240

From there they travelled across the estuary to all the best barramundi catching locations. Six fishermen in total wet their lines for the next few hours. The fish finder technology onboard the boat pinpointed the best locations and the guide was hopeful of a big catch similar to the twelve barra caught last week. It sounded promising but no such luck. Too windy, wrong moon, wrong tide and any other excuse he could think of. The positive was the great scenery & company on board the boat.

Girls enjoyed brunch & a spot of shopping. A happy day for all.

No Barramundi for dinner, so we’re off to an Italian restaurant called “ Vitalias” 🇮🇹

The captain announced the seas may be \240rough during our 50 minute trip. Thankfully it wasn’t too bad - no worse than air turbulence when flying.

Green Island was formed approximately 6,000 years ago by waves depositing sand, coral & other debris onto its coral foundations. The Queensland Government gazetted Green Island as its official name, this name given to it by Captain Cook either because of its vegetation or Charles Green, who was an astronomer aboard the Endeavour at the time.

Green Island Resort opened in 1994. A seawater desalination plant was commissioned to supply water to the resort in 2001. In the 2021 census, Green Island had a population of twenty.

Upon arrival we walked 200m along the jetty to board the glass bottom boat for a thirty minute drift off the island.

During this time we saw many Giant Trevally (GT) & Batfish swimming beneath the boat. John was in his element! It was such a wonderful experience to see these beautiful sea creatures in their natural habitat.

The tour guide threw in some plankton & algae & the fish came to the surface causing a feeding frenzy.

The water is a beautiful sea green colour & so clear.

We saw an osprey nest with two chicks almost ready to leave the nest.

John & Russell went snorkeling on the north side of the island. They said it was an amazing experience seeing hundreds of different kinds of fish including leatherjacket, red starfish, trevally, elegant wrasse, ribbon tail ray, fingermark, stripeys, moray eel & spangled emperors. (When we returned, John did his homework to identify all the fish he had seen 😂)

The lifeguard appeared again

There was a long line up for parasailing 🪂

We were asked not to feed the birds on the island as it interfers with their natural diet. Unfortunately the birds didn’t get the same memo. One swooped on my chips & John lost a piece of his fish!

You can walk around the whole island.

A green sea turtle came to say goodbye when we left the island at 4.30pm to return to the mainland.

We all agreed it was a great day - one of the special highlights of our trip.

John enjoyed another bike ride

Dad & I enjoyed wandering around the city

We came across some locals who had lost their way in the carpark

We visited the Cairns Art Gallery which is set over three levels. It also has a gift shop & \240outdoor cafe. \240The lower level was closed because they were setting up for a new display. We saw two exhibits, one called Material Culture & a photographic exhibit \240by Naomi Hobson called Life on the river.

I really liked this photo.

We found a “girl with a book” painting

And I also liked this one

In the afternoon our group enjoyed a leisurely 15 minute walk to the beautiful Cairns Aquarium where we began our 2 hour tour.

Prior to the aquarium, \240the site was a carpark for 16 years. Before then, it was the Cairns Central State School for 100 years. The area was originally mangroves & required 368 piles at 60cm diameter & 15-25m depth to stabilise the weight of the aquarium. The total building size is 7,800 square metres, 16.6m tall, 90m long & consists of three levels. It houses 16,000 fish & the total water volume is 5 million litres. Cairns Aquarium was officially opened in 2017.

The display also included

And the elusive cassowary

At the end of the tour we enjoyed dinner in the restaurant. Our table was alongside a large fish tank and we could watch tropical fish swim by while enjoying our meal.

Mmmm….not too sure about the crocodile spring rolls

Actually they were delicious! 😋

From here I walked to Cairns Court House gallery which is linked to Mulgrave & Cairns Art Gallery via a paved walkway & gardens.

I really enjoyed the Court House gallery.

And my favourite….