Cairns

From the outback at Undara we headed back to the coast and the Far North's major tourist centre of Cairns. We soon hit the mountains of the Atherton Tableland, having driven through Mt. Garnett and Ravenshoe, past quite a large Wind Farm, and into the thriving little town of Atherton. The area is rich dairy country, plus there is an enormous range of other produce, including coffee and chocolate. The area is also home to some amazing fresh water crater lakes, and a host of waterfalls. We will be staying in the area on the way back. We enjoy a lovely lunch at a quaint little cafe cum gallery, and then it's back on the road and down the mountain to Cairns.

We are driving the Gillies Hwy through the Gillies Ranges, and it provides some spectacular scenery as we descend the quite steep and winding highway, to the sugar cane plains around Gordonvale. Here we join the Bruce Hwy again and turn north for the short run into Cairns.

We find our caravan park, The First Caravilla, and check in to an almost deserted park where we choose a site near an enormous Raintree, that will shade us from the western sun, but still allow us satellite access to the north. Whilst unpacking, our nearest neighbour comes over to invite us over for a cold beer, whenever we are ready! It didn't take long, and we were soon yarning away, swapping stories with Lindsay, his wife Nan and another neighbour Marty. This is a great social life, and we are meeting some very interesting people along the way. Lindsay is a particularly nice guy, and over the next week or so, we spent a lot of time having a chat about life, families, places to see and things to do. Seems we have a lot in common.

Cairns Esplanade.

We immediately like Cairns a lot. The tropical gardens, the warm weather and friendly people, quickly put us at ease. With an International Airport, the place is full of tourists from Asia and Europe, and the downtown area is always abuzz. There are day markets, night markets, and the most fantastic Fruit and Vegetable market that runs every Thursday to Sunday. You buy direct from the growers and the quality and prices are excellent. Lots of beautiful tropical fruit here, and we stocked up well a couple of times.

The pool along the Cairns waterfront

The waterfront has undergone a great restoration, with beautiful parks, gardens and boardwalks, and this amazing free form beach pool. Cairns itself is on a muddy tidal estuary, and has no beach of its own, which shocks many first time visitors, expecting to see sandy beaches, and be able to swim at their hotel front door. The Cairns Council overcame the problem with the pool area which is very extensive and fully policed with Life Guards. Carol and I love this area, and each morning we found ourselves driving the 5kms down to join the 100's of others, walking the waterfront, followed by a coffee at one of the many cafes along the Esplanade. We particularly liked the cafe that boldly told the world, "Fluent Espresso Spoken Here!"

At night, the place comes alive with all the tourists and backpackers filling the bars and restaurants, and with the Rugby World Cup in full swing, the atmosphere was terrific. We really enjoyed "Rattle and Hum" a pub/restaurant that had indoor and outdoor areas, huge TV screens, and usually the biggest crowd, all dressed in team colours, whether it be AFL Grand Final or Rugby World Cup.

Kuranda Scenic Railway.

The gorgeous Kuranda Station 

We did the iconic Cairns tourist things such as The Kuranda Railway and Sky Rail. We marvelled at the engineering feats of building his railway back in the late 19th century. Yes, it resulted from another Gold Rush, but at least it wasn't allowed to fall into ruin. It has been fantastically restored and maintained, and is a must do in Cairns. When we get to the top, I'm sure that the aboriginal guy, sitting on the footpath playing his digitally enhanced didgeridoo, was the same guy I saw 20 years ago, and The Original Kuranda Markets have been joined by The Second Oldest Kuranda Markets, The Best Kuranda Markets, The Only Kuranda Markets and a couple more that skip my mind, all selling the same T-Shirts and stuffed Australian Animals, not to mention Crocodile Dundee hats and boomerangs with signs that say "do not throw whilst in the shop!" Would someone actually do that? Anyway, by this time I've seen enough Japanese tourists wearing Crocodile Dundee hats and Koala Bear backpacks, all having their picture taken sitting on a wooden crocodile, making the sign of the V (what does that mean?), so it is time for the return journey, by Sky Rail.

Now those that know me well, are aware of my phobia about heights, so like a true gentleman, I sit with my back to the view with my eyes closed, and listen to Carol's commentary. I am getting better. I can now open one eye at a time! Carol says the scenery was spectacular. I apologised for bending the handrail I was hanging onto, and we made it down in one piece, where I was immediately in need of a drink of water, as I had dirt on my lips from kissing the earth on arrival!

Some of the 24 Creation Windows
at St.Monica's Cathedral Cairns

A specimen from the Orchid House

We toured the working waterfront, and learnt about what goes in and what goes out by ship, as well as the role of the navy. We looked around the sugar storage and loading area. We visited St. Monica's Cathedral, to marvel at the magnificent Lead Light "Creation Windows". We drove through the cemetery, with commentary about how only fake flowers are allowed, to avoid the need for water and a breeding ground for mosquitoes and the diseases they carry! We spent a considerable time at the Botanic Gardens, where David was in his element due to his passion for plants. You didn't need to be a plant person to be impressed by the Orchid House, and the varieties of fragrant ginger plants set among the palms and ferns, kept the wows coming. By now we needed reinvigorating, so it was off to afternoon tea, where instead of one of those touristy cafes, we went to a real food lovers cafe, for beautiful espresso coffee, and a scone about the size of a dinner plate, with enough home made strawberry jam and cream to do the job! Off to the lookout to see the lie of the land around Cairns, followed by a drive into the lower levels of the Barron Gorge and a walk across the dam to the oldest Hydro Electric Power Station in Australia (remember that for trivia nights!). Finally, we head up to Palm Cove for the obligatory Opal Mine Retail experience, and then down to the jetty at Palm Cove, as the sun set behind the mountains. All in all, a fantastic afternoon for $45.00 each! We got dropped off at "Rattle & Hum" and watched the rugby and had dinner and a few drinks among the noisy revellers, before taxiing home for bed.

The rest of the time around Cairns was spent relaxing, other than our day trip to the Cape. We did enjoy a lovely lazy lunch up at Palm Cove one day. The setting here is picture postcard.  Palm trees and sandy beach, islands just off shore, and nice resorts and restaurants nestled among the palms. It is very nice. We called in at Trinity Beach and Yorky's Knob( Carol could never live in a place named such!), doing the general look around of beach side suburbs, and were ready to pack up and head a little further north to our next destination, Port Douglas.