Cairns Trip Wrap-up

So finally, to wrap up my Cairns experience and an opportunity to sum up the information and knowledge gained from my trip. I hope my blogs have inspired you to visit Cairns and found it useful for your own planning.

Night swimming in the Cairns foreshore... open until 10pm

 Things you need to know

• December is wet season in Cairns - it's in the tropics after all!
• There is a reason why the locals do not swim in their beaches in summer - crocs and stringers abound. It is the same reason why the locals can be found in the nearest water holes. 
• Vinegar helps with blue bottle jelly fishes!
• Cairns is quite flat and easy to drive. Rent a car - easiest way to get around Cairns and the surrounds.
• Mission Beach is located almost two hours away from Cairns - only attempt to drive there if you are staying there. Day trips from Cairns is not worth it.  
• Gillies Highway really is a winding road - trust the Information staff when they tell you this!

Swimmers Beware!

Must Do

• Take every opportunity to swim in the waterfalls particularly Babinda Boulders and Millaa Milla Falls. Catfish breeding season be damned! 
• Cool down in the pool in the Cairns foreshore - then head for the night markets.
• Take a Guided Tour of Paronella Park. The drive is worth it.
• Opt for the Outer Reef - scuba dive if your funds allow you.

Explore the Biggest Living Organism, seen from space!

 Highlights

The highlight of our Cairns trip for me:

• Snorkelling in the outer reef of the Great Barrier Reef
• Swimming in a rock pool in the Daintree National Park
• Guided Tour of Paronella Park 
• Driving along the Bruce Highway 
• Eating fresh fruit along the way
• Visiting the waterfalls 
• Guided Tour - Port Douglas to Cape Tribulation
• Staying at the Paradise Palms Resort and Country Club
• Walking along the foreshore of Cairns and wading in the pool

Explore Paronella Park... and learn about it's history.

Please feel free to leave a comments - or ask any questions.

Until next time....

Southern Atherton Tablelands Part 2 - Falls, Lakes and Paronella Park

We headed south intent on finally completing the Atherton Tableland loop - view the Map here. Cairns once again graced us with beautiful driving weather, even as we started to drive further away. We headed down past Inisfail towards Mena Creek, where the popular Paronella Park is situated.

Paronella Park

Paronella Park is located in Mena Creek, one and a half hour drive from Cairns. It's history is quite interesting and I think very romantic. I am a fan of Grand Designs, the British television show on making dream homes come to life and hosted by Kevin McLeod. I sometimes wonder if I will ever come across an individual with a vision of his home and determination to make it happen.

As we take the tour of the park, with humidity so stiffling the guide had to provide us with a fan, the story of Paronella Park unfolds. We are told that in the early 1900's, a Spanish man arrives in Australia looking to make a fortune and build his castle for his fiancee back in Spain. Having grown up with tales from his mother of castles, gardens and fountains, Mr Paronella wanted to build this vision and life in Australia. He worked long and hard to earn his fortune by learning about sugar canes, farming, buying, improving and selling farms.

With this fortune, Mr Paronella came across the Mena Creek and purchased the land so perfect for his vision. Mr Paronella returns to Spain to finally wed his fiancee. But, much to his disappointment and heart break I'm sure, he finds his fiancee married! Too much time had past (11 years). So instead he marries her sister and returns to Australia with his new wife.

Here was a man with no engineering or building background able to create a legacy well ahead of his time.

Castle in front of the fountains

Grand Staircase...

Mena Creek Falls

The Castle Ruins...

Waterfall Circuit

From here, we headed north towards Millaa Millaa following the Waterfall Circuit. The Waterfall Circuit is made up of three waterfalls...

Zillie Falls

Ellinjaa Falls

Ellinjaa Falls is part of the Waterfall Circuit in Millaa Millaa.The Ellinjaa Falls was one of my favourite waterfalls we visited. Hidden amongst the rainforest, it is gem to find it. There was no-one in sight when we arrived and it was good to relax and enjoy the sound of water and birds.

Zillie Falls

Zillie Falls is part of the Waterfall Circuit in Millaa Millaa.

Millaa Millaa Falls

Millaa Milla Falls is part of the Waterfall Circuit in Millaa Millaa. Millaa Millaa falls is surrounded by lush greenery. It is popular amongst the tourists and locals alike. When we arrived, there were a number of people swimming and sunbathing. Bus loads of tourists were just arriving for a quick dip, and I'm sure, photo opportunities.

It was breeding season for catfish and swimmers are warned to beware "Catfish breeding season. Catfish may cause injury". We overheard some locals and tour guides mention towards the left-side of the falls is the catfish breeding area.

Malanda

Malanda is located one hour and a half hour drive from Cairns. We decided to visit Nerada Tea plantation. Unfortunately there were no tours on that day and were closing for the day. We only had time to buy a few assortments of tea.

Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine

The Crater Lakes are located one hour drive from Cairns via the Gillies Highway. We had hoped to have afternoon tea at the Lake Barrine Teahouse but did not arrive on time.


Cathedral Fig Tree

The Cathedral Fig Tree is an impressive, gigantic strangler tree.We were able to walk around the base of the tree via boarded walkways.

Gillies Highway

Wow. The Gillies Highway was an experience. This very long and winding road was interesting to drive. We had been warned about it by the helpful staff at the Babinda Tourism Centre.

To quote Wikipaedia regarding the Gillies Highway - "famous for its 263 corners, and 800m elevation change in only 19 km of road", I could not wait to get to the end. Next time, I would avoid the Gillies Highway.

Next is The Great Barrier Reef.

Southern Atherton Tablelands - Waterfalls to Mission Beach

My sister Annie is such a good sport. It can't be easy being a passenger to a driver who wants to "(Let's) go and see that". When we spoke to the helpful staff at the information centre, more a travel agent really, he suggested that with a car we can easily drive to see waterfalls, the crater lakes and Paronella Park... all in the setting of the wet tropics. And so that is how our day begins.

We head down south of Cairns towards the southern section of the Atherton Tablelands - to see waterfalls and lakes. We head down Captain Cook Highway towards Cairns where we buy fruits  (I feel like I am in heaven!) on the side of the road and took the opportunity to fill up with petrol.

The weather forecast for Cairns was sunny with a chance of rain, but as we head further outside Cairns, the clouds starts to gather into threatening balls, heavy with rain. We watch the clouds surround the mountains, like a shawl wrapped around a shoulder preparing for the rain. It is rainy reason in the wet tropics and we may just find out what that means. 

We drive down the Bruce Highway, following the signs to Townsville. On either side of the Bruce Highway are the farm lands. It wasn't until much later that we find out that what we were looking at were sugar canes. Acres and acres of it as far as the eyes can see, reaching, towards the mountains.

Driving down the Bruce Highway, you start to appreciate why Queensland is where many of the fruits we love are grown. All those lovely bananas. I am reminded of the cyclone that hit Queensland in February 2011. It was still in people's minds. The devastation caused by Cyclone Yasi made news nation wide. Banana prices rocketed. It was good to see that the farmers of Queensland are recovering.

There were roadworks on the road. What impressed me about this was how we were slowly brought down to 60km zone, first 80km from 100km. I have driven long distances along the NSW, Victoria and even South Australia and I don't remember those drives being interrupted by road work this smoothly.


Babinda Boulders

Babinda is located one hour away from Cairns. It is a small town with a hidden gem - though not quite so secret - The Boulders. The Boulders are located a short drive from the main street, past the farm lands, towards the rainforest. 

The humidity invites the locals to their water hole. When we arrived there were a small number of people enjoying the sun, shade and water. A couple were reading under a tree enjoying the sound of running water. There were families swimming in the most inviting rainforest's water.

The Boulders at Babinda

Babinda Boulders

Water so clear... you can swim!

Josephine Falls

Our next stop was Josephine falls, located eight kilometres away from the Bruce Highway. Walking up the path you hear the sound of birds and somewhere far away is running water. When we finally reached the clearing there were people sunbathing, swimming, exploring the rocks and sliding down the rocks.

Josephine Falls

Inisfail and Mission Beach 

The one thing I failed to mention was our lack of appropriate swim wear. So when we got to Inisfail, we had lunch and went shopping. When we were once again on our way, we bought bags of lychees in one of those road side vendors just outside Inisfail. Lychees were in season and it was cheap.

Now to go back as to why my sister is such a good sport. You see, my plan for today was to visit Mission Beach, located two hours away from Cairns. The drive to Mission Beach, though scenic and lovely, was a long one. Long if you are only spending one hour or two there before driving back.


Coming up Southern Atherton Tablelands - Falls, Lakes and Paronella Park.

Central Atherton Tableland - Kennedy Highway to Mareeba

My sister Annie and I decided to take the Kennedy Highway towards the Atherton Tablelands. The Kennedy Highway is the gateway to the Savannah Highway, the bridge between Cairns (Queensland) and Broome (Western Australia). As you can expect, excitement was rolling inside me when I read this. This is a road I definitely must take with more planning and time. See the map of our journey from Kewarra Beach to Mareeba.

As we drove along the Kennedy Highway we saw the sign to the village of Kuranda. Unfortunately I had decided to bypass the village so we can explore further into the Tablelands. I was a little disappointed that we missed Kuranda - the village set amongst the rainforest. We have heard from our reception staff (and information centre) that it is the place to do some shopping. I am unsure if they meant souvenir shopping or fashion shopping. Karunda is also the start, or finish, of the Skyway Rainforest Cableway that must sister and I wanted to experience. That is for another adventure, I suppose.

The start of the Kennedy Highway is a long and winding road as you climbed through the rainforest, past Kuranda village. Eventually, the rainforest gives way to flat, farmed lands. It eventually levels out to a more comfortable driving.

At the end of Kennedy Highway is Mareeba. Mareeba is located about an hours drive from Cairns. Part of the Atherton Tablelands, it is rich in agriculture and cattle. It is also very hot!

We headed in to the Information Centre to ask about the area and where we should visit. We wanted refuge from the heat. We almost missed it as I was distracted by the watermelons near the entrance. Although I had a rough idea of what we wanted to visit, I always enjoy dropping for some local perspective.

From here we headed towards The Coffee Works and  Golden Drop Winery. But not before buying some watermelons - five watermelons for the bargain price of $8. On the way back, we visited Jaques Coffee Plantation.

Mareeba Information Centre

There is a museum inside the Mareeba Information Centre. There is a gold coin donation on the way out. While I obtained information, my sister took a tour around the museum taking photos.

Mareeba Information Centre - note the yellow "I".

Golden Drop Winery

It was hard to go past a winery that had the promise of the taste of mangoes. Sure enough, we were not disappointed. As we drove into the plantation, mango trees lined up the driveway inviting us in. We followed the sign towards the Golden Drop Winery cellar door.

Mango trees at the Golden Drop plantation

Trees lined both sides of the driveway - towards the distilerry

Coffee at Jaques

On our way back to Cairns, we stopped by Jaques Coffee Plantation. The plantation was eight kilometres away from the main road. We were met by plantations after plantations then finally  termite mounds lined the side of the road that lead to the plantation. We took the tour of the plantation - a promise of a ride on the Bean Machine, then coffee at the end.

Jaques Coffee plantation is rich in history. The family, coming from Africa, located land to start farming what they knew best - coffee. The Atherton Tableland was similar in temperature and environment to their homeland. Perfect for growing coffee - Arabica beans. The family went through a number of difficulties including government regulations and bankruptcy. Today, the plantation thrives - pesticide free.

To my amusement, the road that let into the plantation was also an air strip. We had to give way to planes. There were a couple we saw taking off.

Give way to the planes

Bean Mobile Safari

Coffee bean trees

Termite mounds littered all over the Tablelands

A pin for every visitor who took the tour...

I am including the The Atherton Tablelands here as the website reminds me of the brochure we obtained from the Information Centre. We can only assume that this is their web site and so is a source of very useful information to start.

Next is the Southern Atherton Tablelands.

Paradise in Cairns

Earlier this month, my sister Annie and I went to Cairns. We stayed in Paradise Palms Resort and Country Club, which I had found one night in one of those deal sites called OurDeal.

Paradise Palms is located in Kewarra, approximately 30 minutes north of Cairns along the Captain Cook Highway. You can view Google Map here.

We stayed for six nights in a one bedroom apartment. My sister and I could have easily stayed in that apartment for our entire stay but with the whole of Tropical North to explore it would be such a shame to. So instead, we used the apartment as our base as we explored the surrounding areas.

We were pleasantly surprised that the photos on the web site were a true reflection of the accommodation, the restaurant and the golf course. We had our daily breakfast - my favourite was the fruit platter with the beautiful fruits, yogurt and honey. We were also able to convince the helpful staff to let us drive the golf cart - without having to play golf. Every morning the reception and restaurant staff would greet us warmly and enquire about our day. We always had something happening so we were quite busy - and chatty.

Over the next couple of weeks, I shall blog about our experience and post some photos.

In the meantime, here are some photos of Paradise Palms.

Main entrance to the club house

View from the Restaurant - what we saw every morning!

View of the club house from afar

View of the club house from the golf course

The accommodation from the pool area

The pool

Next is Central Atherton Tablelands - Kennedy Highway to Mareeba.