CAIRNS or CANS?

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Cairns or Cans?

Why is a city spelled Cairns pronounced Cans? After spending a fantastic week there we still don’t know. Maybe it’s because they have words without an R that they stick an “R” sound into (ie cinema is pronounced cinerma). We DO know that Cairns has warm tropical breezes, a lush green rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef right in it’s front door. So who really cares how they spell it?

As we already shared, the first thing we wanted to see was the reef, but there are many other things to see and do around Cairns. The Rainforest Cable car is a thrilling way to see the tropical rain forest from the tree-tops. We were able to exit the car twice for walks along the forest. At the end of the line we arrived in Kuranda a charming village full of cafes and shops. For our trip back into Cairns we boarded the Kuranda Scenic Railway. The trip took us winding around the steep mountains through tunnels and past waterfalls. It is amazing to realize the courage of the men who built the rail line 100 years ago.

How can we go to Australia and not see at least one crocodile in the wild? We drove up the magnificent coastline to Daintree for the Crocodile Express Cruise. Our guide quickly pointed out a six foot salt-water sunning herself on the bank of the river. You may be wondering how we know she was a girl. The guide said he could tell and we decided to take his word for it since none of us wanted to get close enough to tell! We successfully saw three croc’s a large python snake coiled around a tree branch and many beautiful birds.

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Photos

Crocodile Express
This lovely lady was sunning on the river-bank as we floated by.

The Lakes Resort at Cairns
We loved staying at The Lakes,it's a wonderful tropical place.