Around the World in 106 Days with

Ray & Claire!!

Part 21 – Cairns

The Pilot having completed his job departs and we dock in Cairns

In the late 1700’s , Captain Cook’s

discovered the Cairns area and named the bay

Trinity Bay, but it was another 100 years

before gold was discovered at the Palmer River, east of Cooktown in 1872, which resulted in thousands of miners

arriving and, as a consequence, this rush

resulted in the establishment of Cairns

in 1876

The name Cairns was chosen to honour Queensland’s first Irish-born Governor, Sir William Wellington Cairns

Beginning as a tent city, the first major structures

to go up were wharves and storage sheds

but despite initial success, the slowing of the gold rush

saw the town at risk of

disappearing due to lack of

income, until it was chosen as

the starting point for a

railway line that was to service the Atherton

Tableland

The entire project was built by hand with workers using buckets, bare hands and dynamite, and the amount of dirt

removed added up to just over 2.3 million cubic metres

Sugar cane became a major export crop for the Cairns

region together with a growing dairy produce

Today the remnants of massive sugar plantations can be seen along the coast of the Cairns region but The Atherton Tableland continues to be dotted with

dairy farms, tobacco growing, large coffee plantations and other dry weather

crops

Cairns (with an estimated population of around 130,000) now mainly survives on tourism and is an ideal base to discover the Great Barrier Reef

Unfortunately the North Queensland coast is subject to tropical

cyclones which, whilst similar to the effects of

hurricanes and monsoons can be far more disastrous........

......these cyclones are a huge mass of low pressure air that forms over the

warm tropical water swirling in a clockwise direction. As the air mass

grows, strong winds and torrential rain result, and if large enough, the winds

can be very destructive with wind gusts up to 285km per hour

You would never be stuck for things to do whilst staying in Cairns, as there is limitless accommodation and dining options as well as its culture, shopping

all combined with an enjoyable seaside atmosphere

Cairns Regional Gallery Cairns Botanical Gardens

..and of course some

lovely beaches

...which, unfortunately, from March to

September it is too dangerous to swim in

the sea (unless inside a special netted area)

because of the jelly fish and the sharks

Port Douglas is a spectacular one hour drive north of Cairns along one of the most scenic coastal roads in Australia

The Project Manager of this particular Ozzy

Project made a little bit of a mistake.

He asked for a 3ft statue of Capt Cook and got a 30ft one!!!

But then that sort of mistake isn't apparently uncommon in this

part of the world – look at where the sea eagles build their nests!

Port Douglas is home to some of tropical North Queensland’s most exclusive resorts, award winning restaurants, beautiful galleries and boutique shopping. Holidaymakers relish Port

Douglas’ natural beauty and excellent year round climate

Port Douglas has a relaxed seaside village atmosphere with some great cafes and restaurants, for you to enjoy a delicious tropical snack or lunch – but with the increased cost of living in Australia

and the poor exchange rate of £Sterling – we didn’t bother!

On our way to Port Douglas we stopped off

at the Rainforest Habitat which was divided into three

different and unique environments that depict numerous

species of the surrounding rain forest,

wetlands and grasslands

Noot

Please Note that the Scribe did not manage to get the names of all the birds and animals and so we hope you just enjoy the pictures

But, of course, one of the first things that we

saw was a Koala Bear

Kangaroos doing what kangaroos do best

The tree frog

A kookaburra

Sorry, humans

have to go round the other way

I just got attached by these huge

turtles!!

Could you please show me the way to the Exit ?

Then we headed for Cairns proper

Lookout – Claire is crossing!!

But it is difficult to know who is worse –

Claire or the crocodiles?!

However with jelly fish in the sea from March

to September and Crocs at the water edge – its not the

perfect place to go swimming!!

The home of thousands of bats

The Black Watch is patiently awaiting our return but......

.....not before....

..and now (after that melodious interlude) it is really time to

“Buckle up and look forward to the next Port of Call – Hamilton Island”