Cairns Travel Guide

Whitsunday Islands

This group of roughly 160 beautiful tropical islands lies off the north-eastern coast of Queensland and is today one of the greatest tourist attractions in Australia, drawing more than 600,000 visitors a year. This aquatic playground lies 95 miles (150km) north of Mackay and 190 miles (300km) south of Townsville, which offer easy access to the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef. Holidaymakers flock to the adjacent mainland and island resorts to enjoy sailing, diving, exploring the reefs, or simply relaxing on thousands of sandy beaches. Seventy percent of the region has been declared a national or marine park. The main town in the area is the cosmopolitan resort village of Airlie Beach on the mainland that has a plethora of tour offices offering trips to the Whitsundays.

Bowling Green Bay National Park

About a six hours drive south of Cairns lies Bowling Green Bay National Park. Covering 55,300 hectares, this is the largest National Park in the region, an area once home to the Wulgurukaba Aboriginal people who have left their mark in beautiful rock paintings. Bowling Green Bay National Park is sited between Townsville and Bowen and includes the Mount Elliot area and adjacent coastal wetlands, saltpans and mangrove swamps. Alligator Creek meanders through the park, with beautiful waterfalls and cascades crashing into deep pools, surrounded by tropical rainforest.

Hartley's Creek

This working crocodile farm is to be found on the magnificent coastal drive 25 miles (40km) north of Cairns. 'Hartley's Crocodile Adventures' is reputedly the best crocodile show in Australia, but the farm, sited under a lush rainforest canopy, hosts other wildlife too such as cassowaries, dingoes, snakes, koalas and lizards. It is the 'Crocodile Attack Show' however that draws the crowds who are enthralled as keepers hand feed the creatures and relate fascinating facts. High quality crocodile leather goods are also on sale.

Quilpie Opals

Australia is known for producing the world's finest opals, with 95 percent of the world's production of these gems originating from rich mineral deposits in New South Wales, South Australia, and Quilpie in Western Queensland. Quilpie Opals has opened a retail store in Cairns, which also serves as an educational venue for visitors wishing to learn about the Australian national gemstone. The shop, which offers a vast selection of opal jewelry as well as souvenirs, also has a mini-theater where visitors can watch an informative video on opal mining, cutting and polishing.

The Esplanade

The recently renovated Cairns Esplanade is the hub for visitors to the city, providing an entertaining promenade with numerous recreational opportunities, lined with a host of restaurants, bars and cafes. Apart from a safe, sandy swimming lagoon and vast lawns used for all sorts of purposes from picnics and barbecues to kite flying, the Esplanade features wonderful Saturday arts and crafts markets, spiced up by buskers and colorful street characters. There is never a dull moment on this lively foreshore.

Skyrail

The most popular tourist attraction in Cairns is the Skyrail rainforest cableway, which travels nearly five miles (7.5km) from the Caravonica Terminal, the gondolas gliding above the canopy of the rainforest over magnificent waterfalls and gorges, to the village of Kuranda. En route passengers can alight temporarily at two stations to explore the boardwalks that have been constructed in the heart of the forest. Interpretative centers have been set up so visitors can learn about the ecology, fauna and flora of the fascinating ancient rainforest. The return journey takes about two and a half hours, and the gondolas seat up to six people. Booking in advance is advisable.

Cairns Tropical Zoo

Hundreds of indigenous and exotic species of animals have been gathered in the Cairns Tropical Zoo to delight young and old, who can explore six hectares of tropical landscaped gardens and interact with the animals. Pet a koala or stroke a snake, and meet (not too close in this case) the largest living crocodile in the world, 'Sarge', who has lived in the park for more than 20 years. The zoo is dedicated to engendering a greater understanding of the wildlife of the area and promoting the preservation of their natural habitats.

Kuranda Railway

The 100-year-old Kuranda rail line stretches upwards for 21 miles (34km) from Cairns to Kuranda through tropical rainforest, winds through 15 tunnels and 98 breathtaking curves, and traverses 40 bridges, including one that spans the awesome Barron River Falls. The scenic trip is a must for all visitors to Cairns. The trip includes an educational commentary about the history of the line and the engineering feat of its construction. The journey takes about one hour, 45 minutes, one way. Advance booking is recommended.

Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park

The name 'Tjapukai' means 'people of the rainforest' and applies to the indigenous people who have inhabited the tropical region between Cairns and Port Douglas, and inland to Kuranda, for eons. About 20 years ago a group of entertainers established Australia's first aboriginal dance theater at the village of Kuranda, near Cairns, in a shopping center basement. Its popularity with tourists led to expansion into a fully-fledged award-winning 25-acre Cultural Park, which now draws the crowds at Smithfield, a few miles north of the city. Show business, in the form of history and dance theater, remains the basis of the attraction, and at the Camp Village visitors can interact with the Tjapukai and try out traditional activities like playing the didgeridoo and throwing a boomerang. The park also offers a nighttime show experience where the audience is swept up into the ancient rituals and ceremonies of the 'Dreamtime', including a dinner banquet of local food and wine.

Paronella Park

Magical Paronella Park was the imaginative brainchild of a young entrepreneur, Jose Paronella, who built his dream castle on this site near Mena Creek, about 75 miles (120km) south of Cairns, in 1929. Since then the castle has come to be regarded as an architectural marvel, today a top tourist attraction, which has been used as a set for several movies. The picturesque grounds, overlooking Mena Creek Falls, feature interesting forest walks, bamboo gardens, a secret garden and 'tunnel of love'. Cultural performances and guided walks are offered to visitors as part of the admission price. In 1997, Paronella Park was recognized as a historical treasure and listed by the National Trust.

Wet Tropics of Queensland

The Wet Tropics of Queensland is the oldest tropical rainforest still surviving on Earth and a World Heritage listed site containing the highest number of rare or threatened plant and animal species on the planet, as well as 13 different trypes of rainforest and 29 species of mangrove. Among the national parks included in the Wet Tropics are Barron Gorge National Park, Black Mountain National Park, Cedar Bay National Park, Daintree National Park, Girringun National Park and Wooroonooran National Park.

This unique area covers around 1,200 km of northern Queensland, and is visited by thousands of tourists who access it usually from Cairns, via Daintree Village. Visitors enjoy an unrivalled natural experience, from the beautiful golden beaches to hiking through ancient forest ecosystems full of gorgeous birds, primitive flowering plants, and fascinating animals like the estuarine crocodile.

Great Barrier Reef

One of the great natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef is as big as the total combined area of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and contains more than 1,000 islands, from sandy mounts to rainforest isles. Divers, snorkelers and nature lovers can reach specific sites by air or by water taxi. Non-divers can view this underwater world from a glass-bottomed boat. The Reef ecosystem has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to give life to almost 7,000 species of plants and animals. It is home to some endangered species like the green loggerhead turtle, and is a breeding site for humpback whales. Visitors can either cruise the islands or make a base in Cairns or one of the many seaside towns along the Queensland coast. Visitors can access the Great Barrier Reef from numerous regions in Queensland, from the southern gateway of Bundaberg, Coral Coast and Country to Gladstone, Capricorn, the Whitsundays, Mackay, Townsville and Tropical North Queensland, including Cairns.

Cape Tribulation

Located within the Daintree National Park and the Wet Tropics area of Queensland, the pristine and picturesque destination of Cape Tribulation is well worth a visit while traveling through Queensland. With the Great Barrier Reef just a short boat ride away, the oldest tropical rainforest on earth on your doorstep just waiting to be explored, spectacular beaches on which to stroll, world-class snorkeling, kayaking, jungle surfing, horseback adventures and the chance to spot the endangered cassowary, a large flightless bird, there is so much to see and do on a trip to Cape Tribulation.

Explore the rainforest from the treetops or horseback, take a cruise on the crystalline turquoise waters, relax on a river cruise and spot one of Australia's most famous predators, the crocodile, or simply relax and enjoy the breathtaking scenery that abounds. Accommodation such as resorts, self catering homes, bed and breakfast and camping facilities are available

Riversleigh

Australia's most famous fossil site, Riversleigh in north west Queensland is a World Heritage Site and is an extension of the Lawn Hill National Park. It contains the fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds and reptiles of Oligocene and Miocene age, which were found in limestone by freshwater pools, and in caves during the period when the surrounding ecosystem was evolving from rainforest to semi-arid grassland. Most of what is known about the evolution of Australian mammals in the last 30-million years comes from bones found at a single site in the Riversleigh fossil beds, half of which were unearthed in one hour. Species such as primitive koalas and wombats, huge crocodile and large, flightless birds and a range of ancestral thylacines (Tasmanian tigers) were discovered in Riversleigh.

Wildlife dome

This spectacular attraction is enclosed by a 65-foot (20m) high glass dome on top of Cairns' iconic Reef Hotel Casino and features exhibits and shows of some of Australia's most exotic and fascinating animals. Here visitors can learn more about these exotic creatures and is a fabulous introduction to the Wet Tropics Rainforest area around Cairns, preparing visitors for all the close-up encounters they may have with the indigenous wildlife. In this rainforest environment visitors can experience the thrill of birds such as parrots, cockatoos, lorikeets, doves and rosellas swooping freely overhead and come face-to-face with the adorable rainforest wallabies.