Cairns is one of the most sought after places for tourists in Australia. Every single traveller that I know told me once that Cairns is a must visit place. However, it feels like is an overlooked city by Australian residents. I’ve heard from some aussie friends that they don’t go to Cairns for holidays, which sounds pretty much the same as the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil: overseas people are crazy about it, but the majority of Brazilians (including me) have never been there. What a shame, isn’t it?
The idea to travel to Cairns was magnificent. Besides the Great Barrier Reef, a World Heritage Site, and paradise places that we’ve heard about, another reason to decide immediately to get to know Cairns was to scape from July’s freezing weather here in Melbourne. And there we went…
I felt an endless peace when arrived up there. It’s not busy like Melbourne. There’s no rush, no one running to get trains/buses, no traffic jams, nor crowded places. It’s such a calm and peaceful town surrounded by green hills, where buildings are no taller than three stories. Oh! And there’s a giant barrier of reefs on the coast, as well. What’s not to like? Plus, people up there greet each other all the time: “Morning, how’s your day going? How’s your family?” at the supermarket or across the streets, like small towns in the countryside.
So, lets jump to the adventurous part of the trip. There were warning signs about giant jellyfishes and crocodiles in very single beach we visited, but we heard they are not seen very often during the “winter” (perfect winter of 25-27 degrees, thanks God!). The signs easily scared us off a little bit, but the views were definitely worth it. And no, we didn’t see any giant jellyfish nor crocodiles on the beach… We saw some of them at the Zoo, they are truly terrifying.
Have you ever heard people saying that if you ever encounter a crocodile you should run in circles or zig-zags? According to the zoo trainer, that’s totally false. You should run as faster you can from it, because still according to the trainer, crocodiles are not fast in land, they are too heavy to be fast! Phew!
Our Great Barrier Reef experience was at the
Green Island, a popular coral cay 27 km offshore from Cairns. You can clearly see the reefs from a few metres away in the sand through the crystal waters. As soon as you put your feet in the water you can see tiny fishes clustering at your feet to “say hello”, and a few more steps in you are already stepping on the reefs. Besides paradise beaches, Cairns is also known by the rainforests. The
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is certainly a must do tour. It takes you above the whole rainforest in a little cabin for an hour and a half. It’s such a stunning scenery.
There’s a lot to do and see in Cairns, and we enjoyed a lot. But our main goal was to relax and to escape from the busy world: no internet, no facebook, no calls at all. After each tour trip we spent a few hours at the
Lagoon, watching the sunset, listening to a random blues band, some ice cream, and enjoying each other’s company.
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