Blogs from Cairns, Queensland, Australia, Oceania

After an all too brief visit to Cairns to celebrate the boy's birthday, we headed once again toward Kuranda. This time by car rather than tourist train or Skyrail. As you pass over the Kuranda Range, rainforest changes quickly to dry eucalypts, grass trees and bigger ant hills. Davies Creek was our first stop. Massive granite outcrops with cool clear water making its way to the Barron River. The 850m circuit was a nice walk with some scrambles over rock face and pretty creek spots as well as a good view of the falls that would no doubt be very different in wet season. Next stop was Emerald Creek Icecreamery. The chocolate ginger was exceptional. We visited Meerba to grab a couple of things from the IGA. Kust past there Mount Uncle distillery had 4 gins, ... read more

On Saturday we arrived at our mooring outside Port Douglas. We weren't able to go ashore until after 10am. We went down for the morning quiz, (which we won again) and snaking through the Ocean Bar was a long queue waiting for tender tickets. I waited until it was near the end and then joined. We were still able to go in Group 4. After the quiz we watched as they launched the tenders and then noticed two large ferries coming from the mainland. Then we went into the bar to wait for our group to be called. It was not until about 11am that we got on board one of the larger boats and then it was a short ride to the wharf.It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the sunshine and the fresh ... read more

After being spoilt for facilities (and having enjoyed a powered caravan site with an ensuite at Cairns), it was time to stretch our wings and enjoy another farm stay, this time at a little town called Mirriwinni, near Babinda. The farm stay had a crystal clear creek running through it, a spacious camp kitchen, a tropical fruit orchard, and two swimming holes, one with an Aqua Bike (more about that later). There were also two ponies who were always up for a pat, named Caramel and Cisco, and three dogs. We also captured our first image of a wild Ulysses Butterfly. Our first call of duty was to try out the new Italian Café in Babinda, called Francesca’s, and the coffee and cake did not disappoint. A genuine taste of Italy thanks to Francesca. We were ... read more

Day 1 Virgin changed our flight from 1130 to 930 but this worked in our favour as when we arrived at the airport we asked if there was an earlier connecting flight from Sydney to Cairns and there was, so we were able to get to Cairnd in the daylight and get settled into our backpackers, Gilligans before headed out to get a drink by the pool and do shots, as one does. We headed out to one of the breweries to try the local beer at Sauce and Co, and ended up eating there enjoying some local trout. A brief walk around, we checked out the Cairns night markets that was full of the general stuff markets have, before heading back to Gilli's for cheap drinks; $4 base spirits and I may have had a ... read more

After spending an uneventful weekend in Townsville following my Whitsundays sailing trip - during which most of my time was spent catching up on all the action I had missed from the Euro 2020 football championships - I took a coach five hours north to the (pre-covid) backpacker mecca of Cairns, where two of the best years of my life were spent in days gone by. My timing couldn't have been better, as the very next day Townsville was sent into lockdown; while Cairns was being inundated by families taking advantage of Australian school holidays. Unfortunately my arrival also coincided with some unseasonal wet weather (dry season, my arse) so my first few days in town were spent in a sort of suspended animation, wishing I could get out and explore the surrounding area but instead ... read more