Things to do in Cairns
Many people visit Cairns simply to access the Great Barrier Reef and spend little time exploring other nearby localities. The reef is incredible, and is a definite must-see for all visitors to Australia. However, there are also many other attractions in and around Cairns that should also not be missed in this very special part of the world. Day Trips from Cairns Visit the Great Barrier Reef Let’s start with the reef. With over 900 islands spread over more than 340,000 square kilometres, the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system. The best way to spend time exploring the reef is to spend a few days…
Great Barrier Reef Birthday on Lady Musgrave Island
It is my belief that to come to Australia, let alone live in Australia for any length of time, and fail to visit the Great Barrier Reef would be unthinkable. Moving from Queensland to Western Australia limited opportunities significantly, so imagine my delight when the opportunity to spend my birthday on Lady Musgrave Island presented itself. Located on the outer southern Great Barrier Reef, Lady Musgrave Island is the highest point of a coral cay. The rest of the cay forms a ring around the island providing a natural lagoon filled with fish and, because the water is so sheltered, some magnificent coral. Obviously we had come to dive. SCUBA…
LARCing around in 1770, Queensland
The Queensland town of 1770 has a unique environment to explore. With creeks meeting the sea along this coastline a variety of ecosystems exist. Doing them all justice as you explore could be tricky unless you go on a LARC. “A what?” you say? Read on; I will explain. The Town of 1770 sees large differences in high and low tide levels so Lighter Amphibious Resupply Vessels (LARC) provide a simple solution as they can be operated both on land and through water. Originally used as military transport in coastal areas (not painted neon pink presumably) the LARCs of 1770 Environmental Tours now devote their days to showing visitors the…
Brampton Island, Queensland
If a visit to the Great Barrier Reef is on your agenda and you want to spend some time on one of the islands Brampton is a great choice. It offers a variety of fun activities and spectacular scenery for those more focused on relaxing. Situated in the Whitsunday Island Passage, Brampton Island is near the infamous Whitsundays but is not actually part of them. It is 50 kilometres south of Hamilton Island and 30 kilometres offshore from Mackay. Originally occupied by Aboriginals, the first European settlers arrived on the island in 1916. It has since had a colourful history with the opening of the resort in 1933, the establishment…
Queensland Turtles
With the Great Barrier Reef just offshore the Queensland coastline is home to many marine creatures. Turtles are one of the most commonly seen and you don’t even need to get wet to see them. The beaches at the southern end of the reef, between Bundaberg and 1770, are popular breeding grounds for various species of turtles, including Loggerhead, Flatback and Green Turtles. The largest turtle rookery in the South Pacific is at Mon Repos Conservation Park, which is 14 kilometres from Bundaberg. Between November and February each year adult female turtles come ashore after dark to dig nests, lay their eggs and cover them before heading back to sea.…
Walking Magnetic Islands Forts
Magnetic Island is heaven for walking enthusiasts. It is a quiet place anyway, without much traffic, but there is also a network of walking tracks to pass the time getting lost on all over the island. It is possible to walk from each settlement to the next in only a few kilometres, as well as to various beautiful beaches and pretty coves. We decided to explore the forts on the island. The forts were built to defend Magnetic Island and Townsville during the Second World War. There are various ruins of small buildings and the remnants of the gun positions, which apparently were always ready but never fired. It felt…
Pop into Port Douglas
Famous for being the celebrity hangout of Far Northern Queensland, Port Douglas is an interesting little town an hour’s drive North of Cairns. The town fills up from July to September when Australians living in the Southern states flee their winter weather, preferring the balmy tropics. The drive to Port Douglas alone, makes a visit worthwhile, with spectacular beach views emerging every few minutes around bends in the road. Keep an eye on the road though. The resort part of Port Douglas is built along 4 mile beach and offers accommodation ranging from backpacker hostel to pricey luxury resort. The centre of town is just a little further along the…
A Foray into the Atherton Tablelands
“Bloody Bandicoots!” my friend shouted as we screeched to a halt in the early evening pitch black darkness somewhere between Kuranda and Mareeba in Far Northern Queensland. “Bandi-whats?” I asked. A few moments of recovery and a quick explanation later, we were on our way again, this time nervously looking out for naughty eyes reflected in our headlights. Hidden away up the range behind Cairns, the Atherton Tablelands is a collection of villages and settlements set amidst agricultural land. Atherton, Tolga and Mareeba are places to get away from things, or life in noisy Cairns anyway. It is cooler up at the Tablelands than down on the coast, offering welcome…
Making Friends on the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven Natural wonders of the world and the only one visible from space. There is a lot of hype about it and visitors have seriously high expectations. We went out and made some bubbles. I’m not sure if it was our fault for being overexcited, but our first dive, was not all we had hoped it would be. The site was not uninteresting but it was a bit sparse. It was made worse because we spent a long time waiting around underwater before the dive itself began. That’s right, our dive suffered an attack of the muppets. Once our dive guide had…
Life in an Old Queenslander
Queenslanders, as well as being the notoriously laid back inhabitants of Queensland, are buildings built using a type of architecture developed in the 1840s and they are unique to Queensland. They are magnificent and elegant old buildings and I am lucky enough to live in one at the moment. Let me show you around. Queenslanders are mostly residential buildings of timber construction. The two main factors influencing their development were the often overwhelmingly hot and humid sub-tropical Queensland climate and the ready availability of certain building materials. A classic characteristic of Queenslanders is that the building is raised off the ground, partly for ventilation and partly to protect the timber…
