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A new week and the start of a new set of adventures; the next stop on my Antipodean Adventure Itinerary is Cairns! After breakfast at the Mangata, it was time to haul my luggage down to reception and board the complimentary transfer back to the airport. Ayres Rock has been a fascinating place to visit – steeped in so much history and culture – and the Desert Gardens, my oasis home, has served me well. I tip my hat and bid you both a fond farewell 🎩

Cairns itself is located on the eastern coast in the Australian state of Queensland – a state which borders the Northern Territory to the west, Southern Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south.

Airborne Again

Having been allocated a seat by the emergency exit – the benefits of which come with extra legroom – I settled in to run some lines for the stage show I’m in next year. 🤔 Did I mention I’ll be starring as the mature Bill (Bryson) in a production of Notes from a Small Island at the Ilminster Warehouse Theatre in April/May 2025? 😉

Travelling a lot with work over the last year or so, I think I’ve forgotten how much fun flying can actually be. Being in the little Embraer 190, felt like I was much more “intimately” connected with the sky – or perhaps my experience at Uluru simply (re)connected me with something I’d lost? Either way, as I gazed out the window at my surroundings passing by, I definitely felt a smile creep across my face 😁

I especially like the airlines that offer you free stuff to eat and drink on flights, especially when the free stuff they give you is quite eclectic. It tends to be the smaller – often internal flights – where it happens, and it tends to be the brands that are less “corporate” that do it. It’s cute, it’s quirky, and it’s quaint; I think more airline companies should do – or go back to doing – it 😎

Touching down some two and a half hours later – at an airport about the same size as Bristol Airport, my local airport back home – and a half hour ahead of the time at Ayers Rock (my destination being in the Australian Eastern Standard Time zone), I had arrived in Cairns 😎

Collecting my trusty mount and four-wheeled companion for the majority of this week – a white Hyundai Tuscon SUV – I headed 30 km or so north along the Captain Cook Highway and the aptly named Great Barrier Reef Tourist Drive. Yes, I am now in that part of Australia that is not only famous for having some of the oldest Rainforests on the planet but also for being the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef! Both of these will be destinations I shall be visiting during my stay here, and I’ll be sharing more about those adventures in future posts 😁

The Thala Beach Nature Reserve is where I’ll actually be staying during my time in Queensland; it’s my first stop on my “road trip travels”, and you can read more about it here. Having the car means I’ll also be taking day trips to various places, and I’ll be talking about those in posts like this one and this one, too. Driving in Australia is exactly the same as driving at home in the UK – OK, traffic regulations may be somewhat different, and the Aussies might prefer KMs to Miles, but the cars are right-hand drive, and they drive on the left hand side. Also known as the proper way to drive 😂

🤔 What to say about Cairns? Well, it’s different! Like Melbourne, it has a CBD; unlike Melbourne, however, there are no high-rise buildings 🤷🏻‍♂️ If someone were to ask me to describe Cairns, I guess I would describe it as a mash-up between something like Milton Keynes and Bournemouth. But then again not really like either, and way more humid than both! 😂

CBD

The best way to describe the Central Business District is that it’s squat and typical of those archetypal US mall towns – the ones arranged in “blocks” consisting of single-story buildings that house fast-food restaurants, cafes, dental practitioners, hairdressers, etc.

Esplanade

Running parallel to the CBD and along the waterfront is the Esplanade, reminiscent of something associated with quite a few seaside towns I know. The Esplanade is a picturesque feature and arguably a redeeming quality of Cairns – though, like most things in this part of Australia, it comes with the usual warning of potentially deadly outcomes! 😳

Botanical Gardens

The singular redeeming feature of Cairns, without a doubt though, has to be the Botanical Gardens 😎 If you have the time, then a visit to these is highly recommended; it was something the reception lady at Thala Beach recommended I do when I was talking to her during checkout…and it’s completely free, too!

There are several areas in the gardens, and the place is filled with all manner of flora and fauna. In a fashion similar to the Gorge at Mossman, there are also a number of info boards placed strategically that tell you about the various species and also provide some interesting general information regarding the collection

Be warned, though, it is monumentally humid in the gardens – at least during this time of year! To be honest, this is no different to the rest of Queensland, though it felt a lot more humid in Cairns than it ever did in Port Douglas 🤷🏻‍♂️ My recommendation would be, as ever, take and drink plenty of water! Oh, and also stop in the little cafe for an ice-cold beverage – I had the Sunrise Juice, consisting of Orange, Pineapple, & Watermelon, and it was delicious! 😋

Tanks Arts Centre

Left over after the Second World War, several massive and strategically concealed above-ground fuel storage tanks have been converted to form the “Tanks” Arts Centre complex that’s “twinned” with the Botanical Gardens – home to an ever-changing collection of contemporary artistic exhibitions. Depending on when you visit will depend on what’s actually on, but it’s definitely worth taking the time to look around 🤗