Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef in Far North Queensland Australia.
Cairns is a small city with a population of approx. 130,000 that is very focused on the tourist industry, but is also surrounded by agricultural activities including sugar cane, banana and other tropical fruits. Cairns is popular with international tourists, particularly the Japanese.
There is a lot of budget accommodation with plenty of drinking establishments and cheap restaurants for backpackers. The atmosphere is relatively inexpensive tourism, with t-shirt shops and lots of clubs and places to go out for young travellers. Travellers might prefer the more sedate and upscale Port Douglas, 30 miles to the north.
Get in
By plane
Cairns International Airport (IATA: CNS) is the primary international gateway into the region and is also served by many domestic flights.
The international airlines serving Cairns are:
The domestic airlines serving Cairns are:
The hourly-or-so Airport Shuttle bus into town costs $7, while a taxi will do the same trip directly to your destination for around $15.
By train
Cairns Station is right in the city centre, easily within walking distance of the waterfront and most hotels.
Queensland Railways Tilt train and The Sunlander services connect Cairns to Brisbane (via Townsville and Rockhampton), taking 32 hours for the full journey. Even though the Tilt Train reaches speeds of 160km/h between Townsville and Brisbane, the diesel Tilt Train running between Brisbane and Cairns runs at a maximum of 80km/h between Townsville and Cairns due to the poor alignment of the line. Although a trip between Townsville and Cairns takes 4 hours by car, it can take over 7 hours by train.
The Kuranda Scenic Railway, also operated by Queensland Rail, runs from Cairns to Kuranda, stopping over the majestic Barron Gorge to allow passengers to leave the train and enjoy the beautiful view over the water.
The Savannahlander also travels from Cairns to Kuranda but then continues on to the outback town of Forsayth.
The 1700-km Bruce Highway running south along the coast connects Cairns to the state capital Brisbane. Car rental is available from Avis, Budget, Hertz, Thrifty, Europcar and Vroom Vroom Vroom
Get around
The center of Cairns is small enough to cover on foot. Frequent Sunbus buses depart from the market square to the suburbs and Northern Beaches.
See
Do
Cairns is an adventure sports enthusiast's paradise: every second shop is a tourist information centre with signs blaring "dive dive" or "tandem skydiving". Its location close to the ocean, the mountains and the rainforest gives travellers lots of choices of activity.
Standby rates are ubiquitous: many of the more expensive activities, including scuba diving and skydiving, are up to $150 cheaper if you are prepared to go on standby for a cancelation.
Diving and snorkeling
A number of Cairns operators run day and liveaboard scuba diving trips from Cairns. For seeing the Great Barrier Reef, the smaller dive boats provide the best experience, both for diving and for snorkeling.The larger operations have more amenities--better food, larger and faster boats, more activities, but sometimes provide a poorer underwater experience, as the underwater areas that the larger boats visit are heavily overused, and somewhat barren of coral and fishes. Your mileage may vary.
Skydiving
If you are sick of the sea, head up in the air.
Hang Gliding
Hang gliders fly off Rex Point Lookout, halfway between Cairns and Port Douglas on the Captain Cook highway. On weekends, it's common to see multiple gliders soaring the sky above the scenic lookout, and the winter season provides consistent flight conditions.
Ballooning
Always wanted to try ballooning - the Cairns region has some of the best weather for ballooning in the World and so trips go year around and are rarely cancelled. It's also one to the cheapest places to go flying you'll find anywhere. The trips go inland to the Atherton Tablelands and take off at first light at Mareeba, finishing around 10am and can connect directly to a Great Barrier Reef tour or drop you in Kuranda. Ballooning with Hot Air 1800 800 829 include a hot breakfast, champagne & transfers for AU$175. Champagne Balloon Flights have a slightly cheaper trip but don't offer breakfast 07 40392400
Buy
Eat
As with much of Cairns, you can divide the city into the Esplanade and the places within a block of it, and the rest of the city. The Esplanade is littered with bar and grill places supplying red meat and beer all in the one place, and with seafood restaurants. It's relatively difficult to find anything open before 11am, since they expect the clientele to be sleeping in. The rest of the city has small cafes and milkbars catering to locals. The number of Japanese tourists here makes Japanese food a fairly reliable option, although prices can be steep.
A number of the more expensive restaurants on the Esplanade, particularly towards the north end, offer discounts of 20-30% for early birds: usually you will need to order by 6:30pm and pay and leave no later than 7:30pm to get a discounted meal.
Drink
Sleep
Cairns has seemingly endless places to stay, but they do book out during high season (June - September). Cairns Connect offers definitions of the various accommodation types in Cairns.
Budget
Cairns is the backpacker capital of Northern Queensland and there are over 20 hostels, all offering basic bunks in the $14-18 range.
Corona Backpackers - Beds in a four-share dorm are only $16 a night. Well kept and clean. Basic facilities - but very central - walking distance to everything. Opposite pool and laundry and Gilligans.
Mid-range
Mid-range Cairns hotels, resorts, and inns are listed here alphabetically.
Luxury
Get out
Cairns (pronounced or or (cans), ) is a regional city and Local Government Area located in Queensland, Australia. Originally settled in 1876, and named after William Wellington Cairns (the then Governor of Queensland) to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, the settlement declined when an easier route was discovered from Port Douglas. However, Cairns' future was secured as it developed into a railhead and major port for the exportation of sugar cane, gold, precious metals and agricultural industries from the surrounding coastal and Tableland regions. The city is rapidly expanding, with a population of 128,284 (as of June, 2005), and is reliant on the sugar and tourism industries.
The City of Cairns lies about 1,720 kilometres (1,070 miles) from Brisbane and about 2,500 kilometres (1,600 miles) from Sydney by road.
Cairns is a popular travel destination for foreign tourists because of its tropical climate and proximity to many attractions. The Great Barrier Reef can be reached in less than an hour by boat. The Daintree National Park and Cape Tribulation, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of Cairns, are popular areas for experiencing a tropical rainforest. It is also a starting point for people wanting to explore Cooktown, Cape York Peninsula, and the Atherton Tableland.
The city has used its natural surrounds to its advantage with the construction of several small theme parks for tourists. Among them are the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park and the Kuranda Skyrail Gondola Cableway, which extends for 7.5 kilometres over World Heritage rainforest.
Geography
Cairns is located on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula on a coastal strip between the Coral Sea and the Great Dividing Range. The northern part of the city is located on Trinity Bay and the city centre is located on Trinity Inlet. Some of the city's suburbs are located on fertile flood plains. The Mulgrave River and Barron River flow within the city's boundary but not through the city itself. The city centre's foreshore is located on a mud flat. The highest mountain in Queensland, Mount Bartle Frere, is located within the city's boundaries.
Urban layout
Cairns is a provincial city and has a linear urban layout that runs from the south, at Aloomba, to the north, at Ellis Beach. The city is approximately 52 km from north to south. Cairns has experienced recent urban sprawl, with suburbs occupying land previously used for sugar cane farming. Many houses have also been built on hillsides, partly due to lack of space and partly due to a perception of prestige living.
The Northern Beaches are low in elevation and consist of a number of beach communities extending north along the coast. In general, each beach suburb is located at the end of a spur road extending from the Captain Cook Highway. From south to north, these are Machans Beach, Holloways Beach, Yorkeys Knob, Trinity Park, Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove and Ellis Beach.
The suburb of Smithfield is located inland and against the mountains of the Great Dividing Range and serves as the main centre for the Northern Beaches. It is located between Yorkey’s Knob and Trinity Park.
Located inland from the Northern Beaches along the edge of the Barron River flood plain are the suburbs of Caravonica, Lake Placid, Kamerunga, Stratford, and Freshwater. This area is sometimes referred to as Freshwater Valley. Further up Freshwater Valley is Redlynch Valley. The suburb of Redlynch is located on the western side of Redlynch Valley, and Brinsmead lies on the eastern side. Stratford, Freshwater, Redlynch and Brinsmead are separated from Cairns city by Mount Whitfield (elevation 365m) and Whitfield Range.
Cairns City, located on what once was swamp, is in close proximity to the suburbs of Cairns North, Manunda, Edge Hill, Whitfield, Kanimbla, Parramatta Park, Mooroobool, Manoora, Portsmith, Earlville, Westcourt, Bungalow, Woree and Bayview Heights. The small suburb of Aeroglen is pressed between Mount Whitfield and the airport on the Captain Cook Highway north of the CBD towards Smithfield.
Southside Cairns, which is higher in elevation and is situated in a mountainous valley, includes the suburbs of White Rock, Mount Sheridan, Bentley Park, Wrights Creek, Edmonton and Centenary Heights, and the townships of Babinda, Goldsborough, Little Mulgrave, Aloomba and Gordonvale, which is located on the Mulgrave River.
The town of Kuranda is located upstream on the Barron River on the western side of the Kuranda Range, part of the Great Dividing Range. Kuranda is located in the Mareeba Shire local government area and, due to the geography of the Kuranda Range, is not part of the Cairns urban area, however it forms part of the Cairns economic catchment. In Early 2007 the Cairns City Council expressed interest in assuming responsibility for the administration of Kuranda, as well as Port Douglas.
History
Cairns is situated on the Indigenous Australian people's tribal lands of the Irukandji.
The future site of Cairns was first sighted by Captain James Cook in 1770 and closer investigation by several official expeditions 100 years later recognised its potential for developement into a port. Hastened by the need to export gold discovered on the tablelands to the west of the inlet Cairns was founded in 1876. The land on which the settlement was hewn initially consisted of mangrove swamps which were gradually cleared by labourers and sand ridges which were slowly filled in with ballast from a quarry at Edge Hill, dried mud, sawdust from several local sawmills and debris collected from the construction of a railway to Herberton on the Atherton Tablelands,a project which started in 1886. The railway opened up land that was later used for agriculture on the lowlands (sugar cane, corn, rice, bananas, pineapples) and fruit and dairy on the Tablelands. The success of local agriculture helped Cairns come into its own as a port and the creation of a harbour board in 1906 meant its economic future was assured.
During World War II, Cairns was used by the Allied Forces as a staging base for operations in the Pacific.
After World War II, Cairns slowly reinvented itself as a centre for tourism. The opening of the Cairns International Airport in 1984 and the building of the Cairns Convention Centre established the cities overseas reputation as a desirable destination for the holiday and business conference markets.
Climate
Cairns experiences a warm tropical climate. It experiences a dry season between April and November and a wet season with tropical monsoons between November and March. Mean rainfall of Cairns is 2002.9 mm. The township of Babinda at the southern end of the city is one of Australia’s wettest towns, recording an annual rainfall of over 4200 mm. It has hot humid summers and milder temperatures in winter. The temperature varies from a mean temperature of 25.7 °C in July to 31.4 °C in January. Monsoonal activity during the wet season occasionally causes major flooding of the Barron and Mulgrave Rivers, cutting off road and rail access to the city.
Education
:''See List of schools in Cairns
Cairns has numerous primary and secondary schools. Separate systems of private and public schools operate in Queensland. There are 20 state primary schools and 16 state high schools operated by the Queensland state government Department of Education within the Cairns City Council area, including 6 schools in the predominantly rural areas south of Gordonvale. There is one combined primary and secondary school in Bentley Park.
Catholic schools are operated by Catholic Education Cairns. The Catholic system encompasses nineteen primary schools, six secondary colleges and one P-12 college. There are 6,000 primary students and 3,250 secondary students enrolled in the Catholic school system. Catholic Education Cairns employs more than 1,200 teachers and school officers and has the largest workforce in the region in the non-government sector.
The Cairns Campus of James Cook University is located at Smithfield. The city is also home to a TAFE college, and a School of the Air base, both located in the inner suburb of Manunda.
Health
The Cairns Base Hospital is situated on the Cairns Esplanade and is the major hospital for the Cape York Peninsula Region. The smaller Cairns Private Hospital is located nearby. On the north side of the Base hospital is located the Australian Red Cross Blood Service
Cairns is a base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which operates clinics and provides emergency evacuations in remote communities throughout the region.
Sport and recreation
As in the rest of Queensland, Rugby Union and rugby league are popular in Cairns. Cairns is unusual among Queensland cities in that Australian rules football is also very popular, and there is an active local league. Other sports such as martial arts, dance, football (soccer) and cricket are also popular . Cairns also has a National Basketball League (NBL) team, the Cairns Taipans. Notable sporting grounds include Barlow Park, Cairns Showground and Cazaly's Stadium (cricket, Australian rules football and rugby league), the Cairns Convention Centre (basketball), and the Cairns Hockey Centre.
Cairns is a major international destination for scuba diving due to its close proximity to the Great Barrier Reef. Other recreational activities popular with tourists include whitewater rafting, skydiving and snorkelling.
References
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