A stroll around the shops in Cairns will tell you almost everything you need to know about this city.
The tropical shirts and colourful beach wear will tell you that it’s hot.
The rainbow-coloured plastic ponchos and ‘banana tree’ umbrellas will tell you that it rains a lot. The scuba diving gear, snorkelling masks and disposable underwater cameras pinpoint the city’s location as gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, while the more intrepid traveller can kit themselves out with camping gear, bush hats and mosquito repellent for rainforest expeditions.
With its mix of international four and five-star hotels, shopping malls and backpacker inns, Cairns is almost entirely geared towards keeping tourists clothed, fed and watered. The city was established in 1876 as a port for the inland goldfields.
Today it offers an attractive and accessible gateway to the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef and the spectacular World Heritage-listed rainforest of northern Queensland. Some 600 tour options depart from Cairns every day. The following is an introduction to the three top selling tours.
1. Cruise to the Great Barrier Reef
After a choppy 90min cruise to the Outer Reef under stormy, grey skies, our high-speed catamaran finally moored alongside its pontoon. As the green-tinged passengers clambered on to the pontoon the sky suddenly cleared, the sun came out and the water miraculously changed colour, from menacing grey to deep turquoise.
The pontoon was a pretty impressive split-level affair with sun deck, bar and dining area. However, I didn’t waste any time in getting kitted out with snorkelling mask and flippers and immersing myself in a different world. It’s strange but, unlike most wildlife which runs for cover at the first sight of a human, fish don’t seem the least bit perturbed by the presence of US tour groups, Japanese child-couples with underwater cameras and sun-burned Brits splashing about above them. Like a brightly coloured parade of Liquorice Allsorts with fins, the fish swam by nonchalantly, hardly bothering to alter their course to avoid our flailing flippers. Amurky shadow far below turned out to be a giant seaturtle.
The Great Barrier Reef covers an area larger than the UK, and is home to over 1,500 species of fish and 400 species of coral. Apparently over 1.4m dives are made here each year so it’s hardly surprising the fish seem underwhelmed by our presence. The day trip with reef operator Great Adventures cost approximately £60 per person. The price included morning and afternoon tea, lunch, a glass of champagne, snorkelling equipment and, for those who don’t want to get their hair wet, the chance to see the coral from a semi-submersible. Scuba diving was available for an additional charge.
2. Skyrail Rainforest Cableway
There are many different ways of enjoying Queensland’s Wet Tropics Rainforest but one of the most unusual is the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. Working on the same principle as a ski lift, the Skyrail whisks passengers high above the rainforest canopy in gondola cabins giving them a spectacular birds-eye view of the Barron Gorge National Park, Cairns city and the Coral Sea but causing minimal impact to the environment.
The Skyrail opened in 1995 and is the world’s longest cableway – linking Cairns with the town of Kuranda four miles away. It operates continuously throughout the day and the journey takes about 90mins one way. There are two stations along the way where passengers can break their journey and take guided walks through the rainforest.
On arrival in Kuranda, most people will spend an hour or so exploring its many gift shops, markets and attractions such as the Noctarium and the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary.
For the sake of variety, I opted to make my return trip to Cairns on the Cairns-Kuranda Railway. Opened in 1891 to link isolated tin-mining communities with the coast, the railway has been restored and now offers tourists a leisurely ride with commentary down through the Barron Gorge.
A one-way Skyrail ticket costs £11 adults and a return £17. Joint tickets are available with the Cairns-Kuranda Railway and with the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park.
3. 4WDtour of Daintree and Cape Tribulation National Parks
There are 100 different ways to meet your maker in the Australian rainforest. Forget about the deadly snakes and spiders. As my helpful guide, Chris O’Connor, pointed out, there are also ferocious feral pigs and the giant cassowary bird, a relative of the emu, who will give you a nasty kick with its improbably spiked foot if you happen to catch him on a bad day.
Australia’s Daintree Rainforest is one of the last remaining habitats for these endangered birds – and indeed countless other species of flora and fauna. It is one of the largest virgin tracts of rainforest in the world after the Amazon and the best way to experience it is on a four-wheeldrive safari. Within 40mins of leaving Cairns, you can be fighting your way through thick jungle where no daylight penetrates, under 2,000-year-old trees, draped with vines and creepers.
The day trip up to Cape Tribulation is the most popular day excursion which upmarket ground operator Gondwana Travel offers out of Cairns. It’s easy to see why. Following the winding coastal road north from the city past tea and sugar plantations, the 4WD vehicles skirt the rainforest and stop frequently for photo opportunities and rainforest walks. The Cape itself is a stunning headland bordered by a palm-fringed beach. It was named Cape Tribulation by Captain Cook when his ship ran aground here during his historic voyage up the Australian coast.
We ate a seafood lunch under a palm tree on a deserted beach which looked as though it came straight from the pages of Robinson Crusoe. When a solitary figure appeared at the other end of the beach, Chris started to pack away the lunch things. “Let’s go,”he said. “It’s getting too crowded here.” The day tour costs £80 with Gondwana Travel Co including all food and drink.
3. 4WDtour of Daintree and Cape Tribulation National Parks
There are 100 different ways to meet your maker in the Australian rainforest. Forget about the deadly snakes and spiders. As my helpful guide, Chris O’Connor, pointed out, there are also ferocious feral pigs and the giant cassowary bird, a relative of the emu, who will give you a nasty kick with its improbably spiked foot if you happen to catch him on a bad day.
Australia’s Daintree Rainforest is one of the last remaining habitats for these endangered birds – and indeed countless other species of flora and fauna. It is one of the largest virgin tracts of rainforest in the world after the Amazon and the best way to experience it is on a four-wheeldrive safari. Within 40mins of leaving Cairns, you can be fighting your way through thick jungle where no daylight penetrates, under 2,000-year-old trees, draped with vines and creepers.
The day trip up to Cape Tribulation is the most popular day excursion which upmarket ground operator Gondwana Travel offers out of Cairns. It’s easy to see why. Following the winding coastal road north from the city past tea and sugar plantations, the 4WD vehicles skirt the rainforest and stop frequently for photo opportunities and rainforest walks. The Cape itself is a stunning headland bordered by a palm-fringed beach. It was named Cape Tribulation by Captain Cook when his ship ran aground here during his historic voyage up the Australian coast.
We ate a seafood lunch under a palm tree on a deserted beach which looked as though it came straight from the pages of Robinson Crusoe. When a solitary figure appeared at the other end of the beach, Chris started to pack away the lunch things. “Let’s go,”he said. “It’s getting too crowded here.” The day tour costs £80 with Gondwana Travel Co including all food and drink.