Cairns Travel Forum

Hi all,
A group of 8 of us (4 couples) in their forties are travelling to Cairns on 22 August for 8-9 days. We started our little travel group 2 years ago when we all went to Darwin for a wedding. Loving the place we all returned together the following year in time for the Darwin cup (another great time) but we felt we had done Darwin and all voted on our last night through a ballot at Dinner and hence we are off to Cairns (polled 5 out of 8 votes). Needless to say we are all very excited but clueless as to where to stay, what to do, see, tours etc. When in Darwin we stayed in very comfortable but not expensive accoms around 3 stars - no need for cooking facilities as we tend to eat out somewhere close by for breakfast and every other meal depends on where we are at the time. But it's pretty much a holdiay of eating, drinking, sightseeing in great company. Any info at all would be greatly appreciated in particular where to stay. Thanks in advance and hello from York, WA

I visited Cairns with my family quite a while back, and i found it to be pretty much a good place for relaxing.

Some things we did: snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, taking the Kuranda railway, and hot air ballooning. Seeing the great barrier reef is a must, and hot air balloning too (if you don't mind the heights!)

For places to stay, there's plenty of variety, depending on your requirements

Hello,
You live in a lovely little town. I always tell people to go and check out York, it has amazing buildings there.

Anyway, your trip to Cairns.
I would suggest that you think about dividing your time between Cairns and Port Douglas.
Say, 3 days in Cairns and area, then rest in Port Douglas.
Your time in Cairns could be filled by doing the Kuranda train/skyrail trip. This is a great days outing and Kuranda is a little village where you can browse for a few hours. Take the train up and the skyrail down as the skyrail runs all day and you can come down the mountain anytime you want, as the train only runs a couple of times up and down.

Another morning or afternoon, could be spent at the Botanical Gardens/Lakes area. Just beautiful here. One of my most favourite places here. There is a little cafe there where you can have breakfast or lunch/afternoon tea.
Also Crystal Cascades is a great spot to visit, this is just out of Cairns. Nice place to have a picnic and walk. Very casual and lazy day. You could do Crystal Cascades and Botanical Gardens in a da,plus more.

You could also do a day trip up to the Atherton tablelands, here we have lakes and waterfalls, lovely little towns to explore as well.
Plus a pub or two where you could have a meal, or cafe's.

In Cairns you have many restaurants to dine at. Heaps along the Esplanade and also at the Peir ( this is near the Esplanade) The Pier looks over the MArina. Very nice.
One of my favourite meals is the Buffet at the Cairns International Hotel. This is nightly and is $59 per person. You have all the seafood you can eat, plus other wonderful little morsels to eat, the deserts are rather yummy as well.
This I think is great value, the wines and drinks aren't over the top prices.
Also the Bayleaf Restaurant is a good one. Great Food.

Cairns has it's shopping areas, this should help your retail therapy.

If you go to Port you can do a lot from there, you are closer to Cape Tribulation, also you can get the Quicksilver boat to the outer reef, this leaves Port each morning.
I always recommend the Quicksilver, I think it's damn good value for a day out at the reef. Lunch is included and also you can have a wine or two:) If you stay in Port, you don't have to worry about driving as they will drop you off at your accommodation, or you can walk.
A wonderful day from Port is doing the Cape Tribulation drive. This is via Mossman Gorge, then onward to Daintree Village and up to Cape Tribualtion. I highly recommend that you hire a car for your stay here.( meaning Cairns and Port Douglas) the rental places are at the airport. They do have larger people movers:) Renting a car means that you can do things in your own time, that is is the way to go.
Port also has a beautiful beach, the Four Mile Beach, this is just lovely...great place to lay and relax. August should be bloody perfect!!!:)

When you arrive here there are heaps, and heaps of Info places where you can get a map of all the areas I have mentioned.

Port Douglas has wonderful cafe's, just great. Some along the Marina, other just off the Marina, along Wharf Street. One of my most favourites in Salsa Bar and Grill.
Places to stay in Port are usually apartments, these have up to about 3 rooms.
Some are near the main street, others a little out of town. It doesn't really matter if they are out of town as there is a little local bus that runs all day long, into late night.

One place that I have stayed at is Oakes Lagoons, this is a little out from the main drag, but is new and lovely. They have apartments that join each other, two of these would nearly sleep 4 couples.Some have Hot Tub on balcony, others have swimout to the Lagoons.
We also stay at Villa San Michelle often, this is right in the centre of the main street, easy stagger, I mean walk home from pubs and restaurants.It also has pool there.Not at you will need a pool at this time of year, August is great beach weather.
Port has some wonderful shops to browse and also a few Day Spa/ Massage places, just in case you want to indulge.
Have a look at wotif.com and check out this one and others, this will give you an idea of what you can get.

The drive from Cairns to Port is wonderful.

That is all I can think of at the moment, please don't hestitate to ask more questions.
I have visited this area for 20 odd years and am a new local:) 2 plus years.
I love this place, it's Paradise.

Hi I am a long time Cairns local & not ashamed to give our area a good old fashioned plug.
If I were you I would look at renting an apartment or try the Discovery Resort Cairns 183 Lake Street Cairns --this is within an easy walking distance to the Esplanade and city centre. www.discoveryresort.com.au or you could try Park Regis Cairns City Quays 6 Lake Street Cairns or visit www.parkregishotels.com
you may get an early bird special rate. This hotel has a rooftop pool & a tour desk,broadband internet & secure parking.

Apart from exploring Cairns eateries & shopping and the famous mudflats on the Esplanade where you can see many different species of birdlife and of course the mudcrabs--you could take a trip to Green Island or Fitzroy Island spend some time there before heading out to the outer reef to experience the reef in all its glory. Some day trips could be a tour North to Cape Tribulation stopping for lunch at Port Douglas & visiting Mossman Gorge--if you have time visit Silky Oaks Lodge for a quite drink or for lunch it is a beautiful place and not far from Mossman township.Along the way it is worth stopping in at Palm Cove one of Cairns Northern beach suburbs.You could have a day at Mission Beach & take either the ferry across or a water taxi to Dunk Island & if you are adventureuos a white water raft trip down the Tully river.
The Great Green Way Tropical Drive South from Cairns to Townville (457 km)or part of this trip takes in some great places such as Eubenagee Wetlands North of Innisfail--it contains a number of rare plant species and assists in the conservation of the regions wildlife particularly birds,butterflies,turtles and crocodiles.From there you could visit Mena Creek Paronella Park which is a major tourist attraction based on the remains of a Spanish grandious home and construction undertaken by a Spanish canecutter early in the centry.The park offers the Dream continues tour--a botanical walk through the rainforest gardens and swimming areas. Hinchinbrook Island is Australias largest island national park and is worth a visit to some of the most pristine and beautiful environment areas.Cardwell is the main town near this area and I love this place as it is situated right on the beach--lots of places to eat but in my opinion they bake the best meat pies in QLD you can puchase these from the pie van or from the bakery in the main street.This is the half way point between Cairns & Townville so if you choose to continue on you can visit lots of great places like Lucinda,Tyto Wetlands where there are lots of wallabies and crocodiles that you can view from platforms. Ingham cemetary is a tourist attraction & well worth looking at.Townville is a beaut city and boasts the Strand and Magnetic Island.

West you can do a day trip to the Atherton Tableland South of Cairns to the Kennedy Highway just before you reach Innisfail and follow the waterfall trail to Malanda or up the Kuranda range North of Cairns to Mareeba & then to Atherton or up the Gillies range South of Cairns turn off at Gordonvale and visit Lake Barrine & Lake Eacham & Lake Tinaroo--Yungaburra is a lovely heritage town with some very nice places to eat,Nicks restaurant is great.Take a look around & see some of the old wood churches. Then onto Atherton & you can do a loop going over the top of the range to Mareeba & down to Kuranda via the range & back to Cairns, You can do a guided tour of these places or you could rent a people mover. No matter what you decide Cairns has a lot to offer,One of my favourite places to go for breakfast is the restaurant at Fleckers Botanical Gardens in Collins Avenue Edge Hill ( a suburb of Cairns) To have one of the waffles with decadent ice cream & chocolate is a wonderful start to the day.
The Pier boardwalk overlooking Trinity inlet & marina with False Cape in the foreground is an ambient place to have lunch or dinner.Tides Hotel serves a good buffet.Mondos part of the Hilton Hotel is a nice outside restaurant & has some special recipes which are a bit different.If you want any more information you can log onto www.cairnseye.com.au

August is a wonderful time to visit --wishing you all the most wonderful trip.
Regards Dorrise

The replies from Anne and Tropicd are the types I find very useful, thanks for taking time to write in detail. it would be nice for us to find it the next time any one of us are looking to come visit Cairns ( in my case at the end of September )
Anne I looked for you at the coffee shop you mentioned but it was a late evening flight to Darwin on Qantas and you probably were off. Next time, then
Greetings from Cuba.. I did meet some cubans on the streets of Cairns!

Hello Sudah,
Thankyou.
I am sorry I missed you, next time:) I work the early shift, 4am to around lunch time.
I hope you had a wonderful trip.

Anne

Thanks so much for the quick replies. They have been extremely helpful and I will be taking them to the group so that we can get organised. You have given us plenty of ideas and locations...if anyone thinks of any more, please add. Thanks again guys...this is a wonderful website...Cheers, Shelley :)

You are very welcome

Dorrise

Hi Shelley. Just dropped by to say that we are having a big downunder vt meet in Darwin next month. What a shame you guys have already been there :o( But it would be nice for you to join us at our big downunder vt meet next year! Just keep your eyes peeled on the vt meeting thingy beginning of June as the big downunder vt meet will be advertised there for 2009. We would love to have you join us :o) It's heaps of fun!!
Also if you want to catch up with other vt members in Perth to welcome visitors from overseas, we would be happy to welcome you to our little group :o) Cheers, Ann.