- Cairns
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Australia
Far North Queensland has the tropical luxury of Port Douglas with lazy ceiling fans, cocktails and fantastic food but also back to basics four-wheel driving beyond Cape York with hidden pristine beaches. Even the main road from Cairns is a World Heritage area. The Coral sea is the most eye-catching aquamarine but take heed of the signs warning of salt-water crocodiles (salties.) The realisation that you're no longer top of the food chain gives you a whole new perspective on life. Still wanting to feel small in the marine world but much safer? Take a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef from Port Douglas. Much quieter than the backpacker chaos of Cairns, no "salties" out this far, choose a boat with a marine biologist on-board and swap watching on BBC 2 for a snorkel and flippers. See it soon - global climate change might mean its all gone in thirty years time. Even that fact on its own has been life-changing for us.
We visited the reef with Wavelength www.wavelength.com.au/ - oldest in operation, set up by a marine biologist
Shop 20, Meridien Marina Mirage, Wharf Street Port Douglas
+61(0)7 4099 5031
Hartleys is not just a croc farm, it is also a zoo. The tour of the farm, explaining the hows and whys of croc farming is interesting, the animals in the zoo mostly "inmates", ie crocs gone bad. The signs explain who they are and what they did to become prisoners! The visit also includes a boat ride with plenty of crocs and Aussie humour, and the reptile and crocodile shows are informative and fun.
Both the gift shop and restaurant are not overly priced and offer good quality products.
www.crocodileadventures.com/
Captain Cook Hwy, Wangetti Beach, Queensland 4879 Australia
+61 7 4055 3576
Google map: bit.ly/qDSiI1
Arriving in Cairns we looked forward to our first swim, alas after checking out the signs about jellyfish, mudflats off the foreshore and talk from the locals about the two crocs that were found in the swimming nets a couple of days before our arrival, the sea seemed out of the question but not the swimming lagoon. In glorious sunshine, sitting alongside backpackers and babies we spent the day making the most of the water, changing rooms, lockers and lifeguards, strolling to one of the many close restaurants in the evening. There are also free early morning fitness activites run at the lagoon, like yoga and pilates. What a way to start the day!
Once in the city centre just follow the signs to the Esplanade - you can't miss it.
Travellers Oasis was by far my favourite hostel in Australia. It's just five minutes from Cairns's main drag but is a haven of peace. The rooms are colourful, the kitchens and bathrooms clean, and the owners and staff incredibly helpful and friendly. My A$42/night single room was wonderful after a day's snorkelling on the reef!
8 Scott Street, Cairns; opposite the main train station; free pickup from the airport until 8pm; www.travoasis.com.au/
Google map: tinyurl.com/ndtbjo
Here's a tip for any budding backpacker looking to travel the east coast. If you like wine, buy boxes of "Goon". It's cheap, doesn’t taste tooo bad, plus, if you look after the bag it comes in, you can blow it up and use it as great travel pillow for the rest of your trip.
If you are in a wheelchair, book your trip to the reef on a flat decked catamaran! The ride out is quite smooth and easy for the disabled and if you can't snorkel, the staff may be able to help you into a semi-submersible to view all the wonderful life on the reef. They helped me do it!
Also, the train to the Kuranda rainforest is completely wheelchair friendly, as is the cable car, if you want to try that on the way back!
Cairns travel info, hotels, hostels, or tourist info kiosks.
www.bluechairbook.com
North America's Disabled Adventurer.
Google map: tinyurl.com/l96ynr
On our final day in Australia, we drove on the left-hand side of the road down the Esplanade in Cairns, where local townspeople gathered at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day, and read inscriptions, in English, recalling the heroic support of Australia’s small ships for the efforts of the allied navies in south-east Asia. For all its differences and extremes, Australia isn’t so far from home.
In Australia the star of the show is the Great Barrier Reef. The only living organism visible from space is in fact a collection of corals, living and growing in the shallow seas and forming hundreds of reefs which stretch 1,430 miles along the Queensland coast, home to thousands of fish and plants.
As a first-time snorkeller, I swam from pristine sandy beaches and from the dive platform of the Coral Princess into another world so beautiful it takes your breath away – especially when your snorkel’s on the wrong way round and you swallow half the Coral Sea! Unforgettable.
Google map: tinyurl.com/l96ynr
An outstanding memory from our trip to Australia was the view from the deck of our cruise ship, the Coral Princess, as she sailed south down the edge of the outer Great Barrier Reef with a line of white surf stretching in either direction as far as the eye could see, where the deep ocean waters break on the continental shelf.
Every now and again the surface was broken by a flying fish skittering across the waves.
A great place to see live entertainment. Most nights it's free to get in and the resident bands are really good.
On the corner of Abbott Street and Aplin Street, Cairns.
Google map: tinyurl.com/mtgdbs
Queensland's east coast has everything - arrive in Cairns, buy yourself a camper and travel from rainforest to the bush. See the wildlife and enjoy the nightlife of the coastal cities. Travellers are welcome, work is available and at the end you can flog the camper in Sydney or even Perth. See Australia as it is meant to be seen - by road.
Visit the Gumtree website for info on all this in every city.
Go and see Cairns in Australia and go on a tour of the Great Barrier Reef in a Quick Silver Boat. Also go in a glass bottomed boat as well.
From Amelia (age 11).
Is this your business?Search Been there
