Cairns

ABOUT

About Cairns

Cairns considered the gateway to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, is a city in tropical Far North Queensland. Its Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park tells the stories of indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with music and dance. Cairns Esplanade, lined in bars and restaurants, has a swimming lagoon. Northwest of the city, Daintree National Park spans mountainous rainforest, gorges, and beaches. Cairns Wildlife Dome is an enclosed zoo offering koala and crocodile encounters, while the Cairns Tropical Zoo and Cairns Night Zoo house kangaroos and wallabies. The Kuranda Scenic Railway winds up and along the forested hillside, tracks carved out by early settlers, while the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway provides ocean views above the rainforest canopy. Both terminate in the mountain village of Kuranda, known for Aboriginal art galleries and markets selling clothing and souvenirs. Bungee jumping, fishing, and whitewater rafting are popular outdoor activities.

TOP SIGHTS

Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometers over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometers. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. It is home to countless species of colorful fish, molluscs, starfish, turtles, dolphins, and sharks.

Skyrail Rainforest Cableway

Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is a 7.5-kilometer scenic tourist cableway running above the Barron Gorge National Park, in the Wet Tropics of Queensland’s World Heritage Area in Australia. It operates from the Smithfield terminal in Cairns to the Kuranda terminal on the Atherton Tableland and has won more than 25 awards. Skyrail Rainforest Cableway journeys through the Wet Tropics Rainforest, home to the world's oldest tropical rainforest, older than the Amazon Rainforest.

Daintree National Park

The Daintree rainforest is a national park in Far North Queensland and is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland. The park consists of two sections, with a settled agricultural area between them which includes the towns of Mossman and Daintree Village. Daintree National Park is valued because of its exceptional biodiversity. It contains significant habitat for rare species and prolific birdlife.

Paronella Park

Paronella Park is a heritage-listed tourist attraction located at Mena Creek 120 kilometers south of Cairns. Paronella Park was built in 1930 by José Paronella a Spanish immigrant. Visitors can take a range of guided tours where Paronella's story is told and the highlights of the park shown through the day and into the night.

Australian Butterfly Sanctuary

The Australian Butterfly Sanctuary is a butterfly sanctuary and exhibit situated in the center of Kuranda. The Butterfly Sanctuary is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as Australia's largest butterfly flight aviary and exhibit. The sanctuary rears a variety of butterflies, most of which are native to Far North Queensland, including the vibrant Cairns Birdwing Butterfly. There are around 1500 free-flying butterflies from a variety of species.

Kuranda Scenic Railway

The Kuranda Scenic Railway is a scenic and popular railway line that runs from the coastal city of Cairns over the Great Dividing Range to the town of Kuranda on the Atherton Tableland. The tropical gardens Kuranda rail station are a well-known attraction in the area. Downhill the line cuts through the Barron Gorge National Park. The tourist train stops at a lookout, with a sweeping view of Barron Falls.

Barron Falls

Barron Falls is a steep tiered cascade waterfall on the Barron River located where the river descends from the Atherton Tablelands to the Cairns coastal plain, in Queensland. The falls were named for Thomas Henry Bowman Barron, the Chief Clerk of Police in Brisbane in 1860. The trail at Barron Falls Skyrail station leads through the rainforest to three separate lookouts providing views of the Gorge and Falls. Visitors are drawn to the natural features and scenery.

Fitzroy Island

Fitzroy Island is a large tropical island, with rainforest covering and its own fringe coral reef system. The island has also been important as a significant lighthouse base, with the last permanent lighthouse structures on the main island still being an important community attraction and is home to a 100 room resort.

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens is home to adorable koala's. At the gardens, you can also see animals like kangaroos, snakes, lizards, wombats, bettongs, bibles, gliders, tame wallabies, see wombats, freshwater crocodiles, lizards, and more. It is the only place in Kuranda village where you can enjoy the 'Cuddle a Koala' opportunity.

Stoney Creek Falls

Stoney Creek Falls is a cascade waterfall on the Stoney Creek located where the river descends from the Atherton Tablelands to the Cairns coastal plain, in Queensland. The falls are best known for the curved lattice railway bridge that passes in front of them. This gives passengers aboard the Kuranda Scenic Railway and The Savannahlander an excellent view of the falls as their train crosses the creek.