Cairns
– pronounced “Cans” by the Aussies – is the gateway to the area called Far
North Queensland. Home to the Great
Barrier Reef and some of the world’s oldest rainforests, Far North Queensland is
one of Australia’s biggest tourist destinations, and Cairns is where everyone’s
trip there begins.
Cairns
itself isn’t a major city, but with approximately 150,000 residents, it’s the
largest city in the region by a long mile.
Originally founded as a place to service the mining community up in the
hills and on the tablelands inland, it later grew into a major port for the
export of gold, sugarcane, and other minerals and local tropical crops, such as
mango, banana, papaya, and coffee. While
the port remains an important part of the economy, it’s tourism that has really
taken over.
For
a city of such small size, you wouldn’t expect the airport to be anything more
than one or two gates servicing a few small flights per day to the country’s
two or three biggest cities, but the size of Cairns airport demonstrates the
draw of this region. Flights operate
daily to all major Australian cities and a ton of smaller ones in regional Queensland. Additionally, there are flights to New Zealand,
Papua New Guinea, the US, and all over Asia:
Japan, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia… it’s a proper airport for
a little city. To compare size, it’s
about the same as if Sioux Falls, South Dakota had a direct flight to
Tokyo. Not going to happen ever, is it? But it happens in Cairns because it’s such a
popular destination. And because of this
popularity, the Aussies… well, they hate Cairns.
“Oh. You’re going to Cairns. You’re not staying in Cairns, right?”
“Cairns? Please tell me you’re staying in Palm Cove or
Port Douglas instead?”
“Cairns? Are you renting a car and getting out of
Cairns?”
“Why
on earth would you want to go to Cairns?”
“Cairns
is awful.”
About
99% of Australians will advise you to immediately get out of Cairns once you
land because there’s nothing to see there and it’s just overrun with busloads
of Asian tourists and smelly, drunken European backpackers in campervans. But, I decided to go against the advice
(somewhat) and spend some time in Cairns (just a bit).
The
tourist areas around the water make for a lovely place to walk and
explore. The Esplanade runs along the
waterfront day and night and our hotel was conveniently situated right on it.
As
any Aussie will tell you, at closer glance, the beach is actually a big mud
flat and not a beach. It’s not the most
attractive piece of property, but given the crocodile situation, nobody was
going in the water anyway.
In
place of a proper beach, the city built a big ass “lagoon” swimming pool to
serve the community and throngs of tourists that visit here.
The
city even puts on Zumba and other fitness classes on the Esplanade so people
can stay fit while eating all kinds of crap on vacation.
Cairns
also has a few cute markets, ranging from fruit markets:
To
some pop up markets on the Esplanade:
To
the famous Night Markets, which sell all kinds of tacky touristy trinkets,
massages, and some delicious local fruit too.
One
of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the Night Zoo at the Cairns
Tropical Zoo. Located just a short drive
north of Cairns near Palm Cove, we originally signed up for the Night Zoo
rather than visiting the zoo normally during the day just to save time for
other daytime activities. It was a bit
of a lofty price, but it turned out to be well worth it in the end. The Night Zoo featured a delicious Aussie
buffet, some super tacky (but actually super fun) bush dancing, and they even
made us damper (bread that they make in the outback) and tea out at one of the
exhibits. As many Australian animals are
nocturnal, we got to see quite a few of them in action. Of course, this included our chance to hold a
koala!
My
sister got to hold a python. I opted to
not shit my pants.
We
even got to pet a wombat and pose for a picture with the cute creature and the
strangely attractive and rugged zookeeper.
The
best part was that the Night Zoo is limited in numbers – there must have been
no more than 20 of us there that night.
Even better, there was only one child in the whole group. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone
visiting Cairns.
There
are also some great outdoorsy activities in Cairns. We took a stroll along a mangrove boardwalk
one afternoon and saw the crab holes in the mud. Ick.
But
the crown jewel of Cairns, in my opinion, was the Cairns Botanic Gardens. Located what must have been just a three
minute drive from our hotel, the botanic gardens were fantastic and can put any
big city’s botanic gardens to shame. Of
course, there were all the typical plants you’d find at a botanic garden.
But
the gardens also had some lovely boardwalks which lead us to saltwater and
freshwater lakes.
The
adjacent Mount Whitfield Conservation Park had two hiking trails up to the top
of Mount Whitfield – a quick 30 minute one and a tougher one all the way up
that takes a few hours. We opted for the
short one given my sister was only in normal sneakers, but I’m definitely doing
the big one next time. The views from
the top of the easy walk were great. In
one direction was the airport and in the other direction was the Esplanade and the
city itself. Also, just have to point
out: I love the zoom on my new
camera. Look at how far the airport is
in the first pic and how close in the second!
The
conservation park is also a cassowary habitat – right in the city! “What to do if you meet a cassowary”. First, introduce yourself. Second, shake hands. Oh wait… maybe not.
The
botanic gardens also serve as home to the Tanks Art Centre, so called because
they occupy formerly abandoned fuel tanks constructed for World War II. We poked around one of the special
exhibitions until they turned the lights out on us. Only in Australia is it acceptable to close
at 2pm. Again, I’ll need to explore that
more on my next trip to Cairns.
The
best part of the botanic gardens, however, was the brunch at the Botanic Gardens
Restaurant & Café. It was probably
one of the top 5 brunches I’ve had in this country. The food was stellar.
More
importantly, there was a cute waiter in little shorts.
Delicious!
Overall,
we really enjoyed our time in Cairns and I’d definitely recommend a day or two
there for all visitors to the region… no matter what anyone else tells you!
