My Thoughts on Australia

Ephedra

Hello All.

Well I’ve just returned from my holiday in Cairns and I thought that I’d share a couple of thoughts about the city

• Wandering around Cairns, the first thing you take note of is the spectacular free lagoon on the esplanade. Cairns beach itself is not very inviting being mostly mud flats, so they have designed this lovely pool right on the water front. Great idea and as Australia can tend to be very hot and sweaty, it’s a nice way to cool off for the kids.
• While in Queensland I went on a hot air balloon flight. I was picked up from my resort at about 5 am and taken to the Atherton Tableland for a 30 minute flight. We were up in the air just as it was becoming daylight. As well as the fertile green countryside below us, it was so peaceful drifting on in the early morning light. After landing we were delivered to Mareeba for a hot breakfast at a hotel. After that a drive back to Cairns, I was back at the hotel by 10 am. The balloon flight wasn’t planned upon, but I’m so glad I went on it and would extremely recommend it.
• Cairns Regional Art Gallery shows changing exhibition from artists all over Australia, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and local artists, and a permanent collection of local artworks. It’s not big, but worth a short visit if you are into those sorts of things. It’s the only art museum in Far North Queensland.It’s located in a heritage building from the 1930′s.
• Cairns Museum depicts the story of Cairns itself and the area (Tablelands & Cape York). It’s not overly large, but very interesting, and you can see that the locals arranged everything very meticuously and with love. You can look around easily in less than an hour, but I think it’s worth a visit if you are interested in how Cairns developed into what it is today. You can learn about the mining and farming history of the area, the Cape York Air Services, the timber industry etc. I found especially interesting the displays about the Chinese and other Asian communities in Cairns.The only detail I didn’t like is that there is not enough  info about the aboriginal people, the exhibitions concentrate mainly on the white settlers.
• One of the Must Visits is a visit to Cape Tribulation & Daintree National Park. You can go with your own car, but there are also many tour operators. I did a tour with Nothern Delights and can really  recommend it.
  Some tours also include a wildlife park or a cruise on Daintree River, where you can spot snakes - just see what suits you best.
  Daintree NP is a breathtaking rainforest area and Cape Tribulation a beautiful beach. It belongs to the World Heritage.
  Be aware of stingers when in season!

Lipodrene