B10: Cairns & the Great Barrier Reef

Day Sixteen April 26th 2011      Up to the Tropics!
 
An early start. At 0730 we piled onto the coach and made for Melbourne airport, normally a quick 25 min run but with roadworks and the first day working day after a very long holiday weekend traffic was heavy and it took twice as long.  Very quick and efficient check-in, didn't even have to touch our suitcases!  Then a short wait before the flight.

We took off on the Qantas jet slightly late and it took about three hours to Cairns. Good thing we were flying, it's a couple of days by road!  Coming into Cairns airport we could make out the sea and tropical greenery of the tropics.  Stepping out of the aeroplane it was warm but not quite as hot and sticky as we'd expected...
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Cairns is in the heart of the Tropical North and is a major city and primary gateway to 

Northern Australia.  It’s a fairly modern city that has developed rapidly with the growth in tourism in the last couple of decades.
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It makes an ideal base to explore the wider region with the Great Barrier Reef, rainforest and out back in close proximity.  The city itself has a wide range of shops and markets, and a huge diversity of restaurants, bars, clubs etc.  As for shopping, there are many markets and shopping arcades.

There are a lot of things to do in and around the city.  Here are 8 Things to Do In and Around Cairns:

1. Dive at The Great Barrier Reef
2. Visit Hartley’s Crocodile Adventure.
3. Visit Cape Tribulation and Daintree, travelling the Captain Cook Highway, spotting crocs, Bounty-Bar beaches and tropical rain forests.
4. Daytrip to Kuranda including Skyrail and the famous Kuranda Railway.
5. Visit the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park.
6. Cairns Tropical Zoo, visit by day or night.
7. Shop at Cairns famous night market.
8. Sightseeing Cruise on the Barron River. 

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View from our hotel room

A short transfer to the Shangri La Resort Hotel in Cairns, a perfect location on the waterfront in the modern city.  We checked into the hotel for a four night stay, enough time to actually unpack and excavate to the depths of our cases!

Staff were friendly & helpful.  First impressions of the room were that it was a little dated.  We were on the second floor and there was a smell of damp in the lift lobby; maybe to be expected in such a tropical area.  The route to our marina view room was a bit circuitous having to go along an outside veranda and re-enter a long hallway to get to the room.  The room was clean but with dated fittings in the bathroom and dated TV.  However, the view from the room was fantastic and went some way to make up for the room's shortcomings.

We loved sitting on the veranda watching the boats coming back in the evening time.  One night we almost got locked out on the balcony after the door clicked shut when I closed it too strongly.  There are lots of restaurants under and near the hotel.  During our stay, we ate at The Pier Bar & Grill and in Donnini's which were both great but a little pricey.  The breakfast in the hotel was excellent.  We also ate a P.J. O'Brien's on Shield Street which was great value; a main course with a drink for $10 at that time.

The Lagoon for swimming is also nearby.  If you need to get laundry done, I would recommend The Laundry Express on Lake Street; they do an express wash of a large bag of clothes in a couple of hours (wash, dry & fold) for $20 and pick-up/drop-off at the hotel is complimentary.  The girl there was also really helpful and friendly towards us.  And I’ve been folding socks their way ever since!

All in all we had a nice time here but the hotel rooms at the time of our visit needed an update to the decor, fixtures and fittings.  The hotel has a good pool, but there aren't really any beaches too close.  Just as well as we are not encouraged to swim off the beach – box jellyfish (stingers) that give an extremely nasty and dangerous sting frequent these coastal waters, though there are sometimes netted areas which are supposedly safe.  What with the saltwater crocodiles (salties), venomous snakes, spiders, and sharks it's a miracle we had survived intact thus far!
 
Road km:33                    Air km: 2312

We arrive at the Agincourt Reef!

Day Seventeen April 27th Cairns

For some a completely free day to enjoy the hotel and its pool, Cairns and environs. The weather was a bit wet, with some tropical rain.  But it didn't put us offer our explorations.
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Most of us in our travel group just relaxed and unwound after the travails of the tour.  But some went further afield: a couple went to see crocodiles and another couple more travelled right up the highly scenic road to Cape Tribulation via Port Douglas and the Mossman Gorge.  There was some crocodile-spotting cruises on the Daintree River.  A couple were sighted!  On the way back they spent some time in the lookout Daintree Rain Forest, and walked the overhead walkways for great views.

Charlie and I went walkabout in Cairns and spotted a tree-full of bats hanging upside down on our way back!!

Day Eighteen April 28th The Great Barrier Reef
 
A day most of us had been looking forward to!  And it was really memorable, that's for sure.
The somewhat twisty drive up the Captain Cook Highway offered some wonderful coastal scenery.  It took an hour to reach Port Douglas where we boarded the Quicksilver wave-piercing catamaran for a fast cruise out to the Agincourt Reef.  The navigation took around an hour and a half (a bit bumpy in parts – be sure and take your seasickness tablets if you’re prone!) and we moored alongside the floating platform that was the base for the day's activities.

Our group spent the next three and a half hours snorkelling, viewing colourful and multifarious fish and coral from the comfort of the semi-submersible, walking down the short underwater corridor, taking exciting helicopter rides to experience the astounding kaleidoscope of colours from above.  And of course enjoying an included buffet lunch! Underwater ocean walking was also available and Charlie went for a walk (but sorry, no smoking allowed underwater).  I was travelling with a burst eardrum and so was restricted in what I was allowed do…..but I went down in the sub and really enjoyed the whole experience.

There had been tropical storms offshore the week before we arrived so we were told the water was a bit more murky than usual.  We had been expecting a riot of colour underwater but unfortunately because of the preceding storms that was not to be.  I guess you have to be prepared for that when you travel.  Nature doesn’t always play ball!  Nonetheless we all really enjoyed the experience.  At 1430 we boarded the Quicksilver catamaran again and sped back to Port Douglas, where we coached down to Cairns.  Back in the hotel by 1810 after a great day out.
 
Road km: 125

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Charlie Ocean Walking at the Great Barrier Reef

​Day Nineteen April 30th 2011 Kuranda, Tjapukai, Skyrail trip

We awoke to another beautiful day.  It was an optional free time today, but almost all of us had opted for the Kuranda day trip, an excellent choice.
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A very short transfer to Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural centre.  There we learnt how to play the didgeridoo, a short but impressive theatrical presentation in Creation Theatre, dance show (participation encouraged!).  It was done very well and in some ways quite thought-provoking.

The Colourful Tjapukai Cultural Centre (Editorial credit: /Shutterstock)

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A two minute walk brought us to the outstanding Skyrail, small cable-car gondolas that travel above the rainforest canopy.  The 5 mile long trip was fantastic. The views were amazing, and so many different shades of green!

We made a couple of stops, the first for an interpretative centre and small nature trail at Red Peak, the second for a vantage point of the Barron Falls.  Really gorgeous.

We were met at the top by our tour guide and we had free time to explore Kuranda - famous for its markets and this once slightly alternative village is now a major tourist attraction.  We made a bee-line to Annabel's Pie Shop where they bake superb pies with an interesting range of fillings.  Sure you have to try a pie in Australia! 
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We had plenty of time to spend in Kuranda village before we descended back to sea level, this time by train, on the famous Kuranda Railway!.  A handful of our group took the delightfully relaxing and gorgeous wildlife cruise on the placid Barron River.

At Kuranda station we boarded the diesel-hauled train for the journey down from the Atherton Tablelands.  It's an historic railway line, something of an engineering marvel with all the tunnels and trestle bridges, 153 cuttings and 93 curves... It was memorable trip: apart from the railway and views, and a stop again to see Barron's Falls, we were plied with champagne and juice.  Wonderful, and we arrived in Cairns in a happy state of mind.

A short walk brought us back to the Shangri La for our last evening in the tropical north of Australia.
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Road km: 12

Kuranda Railway

​Bucket List Items Ticked Off in the above Blog post
Number 15 - Great Barrier Reef
Number 57 - Continents - Australia
Number 58 (2) - Countries - Australia
Number 59 (8) - Hotels - Shangri-la, Cairns, Australia
​Number 60 (6) - Cities - Cairns, Australia
Number 64 (1) - Epic Train Rides - Kuranda Railway
Number 76 (4) - World Heritage Sites - Great Barrier Reef
Number 76 (5) - World Heritage Sites - Wet Tropics of Queensland

Related Blog Posts
Blog 4 - London/ Singapore
Blog 5 - Perth, Australia
Blog 6 - Uluru, Australia
Blog 7 - Alice Springs, Australia
​Blog 8 - Adelaide, Australia
Blog 9 - Melbourne, Australia

So have you been to Cairns/ Great Barrier Reef?  What did you enjoy most about it?

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