Cairns

  • The cane harvest

    We left Cardwell early, there being no point in looking for breakfast there. It wasn’t far to Tully, a much bigger place than Cardwell. Maybe we’d be lucky there. The cane harvest was in full swing in Queensland. We had already passed a number of mills belching thick columns of steam into the atmosphere. Out…

  • A mini-break at Cairns

    It was supposed to be an all-girls chill-out – just my best friend and me, but the boys decided they wanted to come, too, so we booked flights and headed off to meet in Cairns, FNQ (Far North Queensland). Pete and I left on a respectable 10am flight. We had a slight scramble at Brisbane…

  • Time to go home

    Sunday was to be our last day in Cairns. Pete and I passed on the half-day city tour – we’d been up this way for a week just a few weeks before and we thought we’d like to check out the city for ourselves. The half-day city tour had included the Cairns Botanical garden –…

  • Back to Kuranda

    Last time we were in Cairns we took the trip up to Kuranda, a tourist village at the top of the mountains, via cable car going up, and by the Kuranda scenic railway going down. This time, we were driven up a steep, winding road to the village, with a short stop at a lookout…

  • Australia’s cuddliest critter (not)

    Would you believe not all of Australia’s animals are cute and cuddly? You would, wouldn’t you? The place is crawling with lethal snakes, deadly spiders, murderous little octopuses, excruciatingly painful jellyfish… It’s all true, of course, but it’s pretty much a case of if you leave them alone, they leave you alone. But not salt…