Cairns – Where the Reef is Your Front Yard

Cairns is a tropical little town on the north coast of Australia that often serves as a home-base for Great Barrier Reef adventurers, but it has enough shopping and restaurants to keep you entertained when you’re not off doing other things.

Hot and humid, you can leave your hair implements at home, they won’t help you here. But it was never an oppressive heat or humidity, and I found it very comfortable.

When in Cairns, I managed to survive seeing one of the wonders of the world – the Great Barrier Reef. A bird’s eye view from a helicopter was one of the best ways to see it, though the snorkeling was also amazing – save an incident with a Blue Bottle jellyfish. I had the unfortunate occasion to bump into one of these, and it felt like I’d stuck my finger in a socket. Lucky for me, the lifeguard sprayed vinegar on it and I was good as new a few hours later.

Seriously, worth almost the entire cost of the trip was getting to hold a koala at the Kurunda Koala Gardens, about a one hour trip from Cairns on either the Kurunda Train or the Kurunda Skyrail. (You can also do this from the Cairns Tropical Zoo, closer to the city, they two zoos are run by the same group.) The koala that I had the pleasure to meet was named Hogan, he was only a baby (a year old) and smelled like eucalyptus and was so soft! It’s one of the only locations in Australia where you can physically hold one of these cute animals, in other places, you can merely get up close for your photo.

I also had one of the best cocktails ever at a café called “Mangos”. The Original Drinkable Dessert” that I savored was the Bananas in Pyjamas.

I also had easy access here to two of the big surf shops in Australia, RipCurl and Billabong. I wanted a t-shirt souvenir of my trip, but not one of the common tourist shirts. I could buy surf shirts with Australia on them, and I did. : )

Quick Tips:

While you can use the Internet in your hotel, and it’s probably more convenient that way, there are Internet cafes within a 5 or 10 minute walk, and they offer rates much cheaper than the hotel. Plus, rather than a countdown of time which is on most hotel computers, at the café you just use the computer, and then pay for your time after.

It's prounounced "Cans" in Aussieland, by the way.

See my other journals from my Australia trip for more.

Sydney (Where I spent New Years Eve!) | Melbourne | Alice Springs | Uluru

Best Way To Get Around:

You won’t need a cab, you can walk most anywhere you want to go. And that’s the best way to see all the shops, restaurants, etc., scoping them out for your next purchase, dinner, etc.

The tour group was already buzzing about this hotel before we arrived due to a radio story about how the Hilton had been downgraded from a 5- to a 4-star hotel. Needless to say, we were all a bit worried, having had at least one crappy hotel experience during our tour.

We had absolutely nothing to worry about. Why this recently-refurbished hotel was downgraded, I’ll never know. The lobby was beautiful, with plenty of seating space, designed with a modern flair (we called them Star Trek seats), and also featuring a coffee bar. Just off the lobby was the dining room and near the front desk there was a small gift shop. The rooms were well-apportioned and featured outstanding tropical views of Trinity Bay. The staff was also very helpful and attentive. The business center was fairly large, and Internet access was provided at $5 for 15 minutes. (Though a quick walk up the street was an Internet café that had a price of $1 for 20 minutes, so use it only for convenience.)

The pool access was from the third floor, until we realized that we could walk through the dining room. You needed your room key at all times to get you into the pool area. It was a large pool, spilling out over the edges, with a shallow end and a deep end that had seating around the side. Noodles for floating aimlessly were provided. But watch your head, the local birds liked to swoop down for drinks!

Only twice did I run into any incidents. One day, our room didn’t get cleaned until very late in the day, which wasn’t a huge deal. On the day we went to the reef, we were told we could get towels to take with us at the front desk – for a $3 fee. You could take them from your room for free, but that was the day our room hadn’t been cleaned until late, so we didn’t have any clean towels to take. (The reef tour, by the way, departs at the dock just outside the hotel.) On a separate day, the front desk also provided us with umbrellas at no cost.

Our breakfast was included, and featured the standard fare. The kitchen could also prepare omelets, etc. There was a lot of choice, and it was one of the better buffets we’d had.

All of the shops and restaurants on the Esplanade were within easy walking distance, and the casino was right across the street.

For a similar Saturday-Monday stay, rates started at $190. Breakfast is $30 extra. Though there are lots of nearby cafes that offered a breakfast under $10.

It was a 5-star hotel in my book anyway. I wouldn’t hesitate to send a friend here.

Mondo is the restaurant that can be found just underneath the Hilton. Featuring outdoor seating with a tropical setting – palm trees and tiki torches with breathtaking views of the mountains in the distance and Trinity Bay in the foreground.

“Mondo,” which means “world” takes its menu not only from the local fresh seafood, but also on dishes from around the world. I was dining with two fellow tour members, and two of us went Mexican with fajitas, and the other went with the local grilled barramundi and chips. Of course, we sampled each other’s food, and all of us agreed that the fish was very tasty (probably caught right outside the restaurant) and that the fajitas were well done. I’m a special order girl (sauce on the side, etc.) and they accommodated all my requests with no complaints and no extra waits.

First, find yourself a table (a challenge at night, and the later you wait, the more crowded it gets) and get someone to sit there and hold it while the rest of you head to the bar to place your orders. Get your order number and take it back to the table so your friend can go order. It was only about a 10 minute wait to have the food delivered to your table.

With the fajitas, a side (baked potato), and a strawberry daiquiri, my total came to about $40. The drink alone was $12. So it’s not a cheap meal (but then, none of the meals in Australia were cheap. I would schedule about $60 day for food and water). But, it was a tasty meal, and it’s got one heck of a view (however, since you’re sitting outside, you’re screwed if it rains. Also, wear your bug spray.) It’s also convenient for Hilton guests.

Located on the Esplanade in Cairns, Mangos is a small café that features normal café fare, with their claim to fame being the “original drinkable desert.” Easily found by its large orange sign, the tables are conveniently located under an awning so rain or shine you can enjoy your food.

While the promoted item was the wood-fired pizza, I had a burger and chips (fries), which was edible, but dill was sprinkled on top, and dill isn’t my favorite flavor. It wasn’t a bad burger, it just wasn’t what I was hoping for. My special order (no lettuce, tomato, sauce) confused them enough to forget my fries. In my defense, there was only one waitress working, so she had her hands full.

Desert, however, was the best part of the meal. The “original drinkable dessert” is essentially a choice of flavors of drinks made with flavored liquors and ice cream. I had the Bananas in Pyjamas, and my dinner companion had a Strawberries and Cream. They spent more time on the drinks than they did on the dinner! What fancy concoctions! The straws were affixed to the OUTSIDE of the glass (using condensation I’m guessing), and the presentation of the drinks themselves were very detailed. It was almost a shame to drink them, they were so pretty. But one sip of my drink, and there was no doubt that I’d be drinking it. It tasted a lot like a creamy banana milkshake, and it was gone way too soon. (Web site lists ingredients, Banana liqueur, Cadbury's liqueur, Coruba Rum and cream blended with fresh banana and vanilla ice cream). It’s a good thing it was tasty, because it cost me $13. The whole meal was about $30 each.

We had another smaller dinner companion as well. A small brown salamander, which I am assuming had suction cups on his feet or something of the sort, crawled out onto the underside of the ceiling to catch his buzzing dinner while we enjoyed ours. He was very interesting to watch, and didn’t at all affect the enjoyment of my own food.

If for no other reason, stop in for a drinkable desert after a long day on the reef or sightseeing. When we got back, we told our entire tour about our fun night of dining there.

The Esplanade in Cairns is where most of the restaurants and shops are, and on our last night there, a few of us walked a little further than we did previously, and decided to have dinner at a rowdy little place called Rattle and Hum. Additionally, some Quantas flight attendants staying at our hotel recommended it, because they's said they'd heard it was the hippest spot in town.

While it doesn’t look very big from the outside, it stretches back a long ways. There is indoor seating – more of a pub/pool hall feel, and outdoor seating. (Note, Smokers are allowed to puff in the outdoor seating if you’re on the street side, but not if you’re on the sidewalk side.) Despite the smokers next to us, we wanted to spend our last night in Cairns eating outdoors.

Take a seat, have someone hold the table, and then go inside toward the back and place your order for food at the order counter. Drink orders have to be placed at the bar. The menu is posted on the side of the building, and is also located on tables. I was pretty surprised to find fried chicken as an option on the menu, as I didn’t end up seeing much chicken on menus in Australia. I ordered the chicken and mash (mashed potatoes) with a drink called a Toblerone (a chocolaty concoction.) The fried chicken was VERY good, and served with a red-wine gravy. The mashed potatoes could’ve used some salt, but there was a shaker on the table, so all was well. The drink was good, but left me thirsty.

My total came to $35. I kept getting told I shouldn’t tip, or if I did, just to round up. Regardless, I still felt weird not leaving anything, so my general rule was 10%.

The Quantas girls were right, this was good food, a good atmosphere, and plenty of people watching to be had on the Esplanade.

The Great Adventures (www.greatadventures.com.au) reef cruise I took offered two options. The first stop was at Green Island, which features snorkeling, beaching, scuba, semi-submersible, helicopter options, etc. This is the option that is best for those who are weak or non-swimmers, etc. It took the boat about 45 minutes to arrive at Green Island.

I chose the second stop, 50 more minutes, the outer reef near Moore Island. Everything above was offered here as well, but the boat is moored to a pontoon in the middle of the reef. Total time at the pontoon ended up being just under four hours – but it goes fast.

My first view of the reef was aboard the optional helicopter tour. $125 for 10 minutes in the air seems a bit excessive, but having done it, I can’t imagine not seeing the reef this way. The colors are just unbelievable, and you can’t detect the subtle differences from a boat or in the water. Plus, you take off from this teeny floating pontoon. We saw turtles and a shark (our cool female pilot, Jo, said it wasn’t a shark, but a shark cousin, but if it looks like a shark and swims like a shark . . .) Sign up on the boat to assure a time.

The second view of the reef was from the semi-submersible (the only time-sensitive activity). Perhaps it’s because I really wanted to hit the snorkeling, but I just wasn’t all that impressed. The windows have a green tint, and I think really distorted what you were seeing. Of course, if you don’t like to swim, this is probably the best way to see the reef.

My last activity on the reef was to snorkel. At the outer reef location, you get off the boat in some 30 feet of water, then swim over to the most colorful, most abundant coral reef. The water was a bit choppier than I expected, due to the high winds that day. But I was a strong snorkeler, so I adjusted quickly. I had never seen so many fish in one spot, and in so many different shapes, sizes, and colors. It truly was the best snorkeling I’d seen in my travels. While in the water, I was stung by a jellyfish. A young girl had just died on another beach from a deadly box jellyfish sting, so I was more scared of what got me than anything else. The cute lifeguard – Scott Who Saved My Life – sprayed vinegar on my wrist and knee and told me to get back in the water and avoid the Blue Bottles (like I went looking the first time.)

The cost (which was included in my overall tour) for the outer reef adventure was $168 pp, $428 for a family. (Lunch and morning tea included) Great Adventures is Eco Certified (please don’t destroy the reef).

You can’t go to Australia and miss this. One of the trip highlights.

Hot Air Balloons

If there was ever a reason to get up at 3:45 a.m. for a 4:30 a.m. activity, this is it. We boarded a van from our hotel belonging to a company called Hot Air, who would then take us on a one-hour excursion to a town called Mareeba to A) find and B) board our hot air balloon. We stopped for a bathroom break (full of lovely legged creatures) and then waited. We were waiting for an announcement on which way the wind was blowing, which would determine our launch site. When we got the “go”, we got going to a launch site that apparently no one on staff that morning had ever been to before. We stepped out into a big field, paid our $165 to the nice man in the green shirt, and watched the process unfold (Plus a $25 aviation levy). (That money was for a half-hour flight; a one-hour flight can be had for $265.)

The passenger baskets started out on their side, and a truck rolled out the balloon in front of it. Wires were hooked where they needed to be on the basket (oh please get that part right!) and two folks held the balloon open while a really big fan blew cold air into the balloon to inflate it. When it was mostly inflated, the propane heater started to heat up the air and make the balloon rise off the ground. That’s when we all loaded in – all 20 of us, five in each of the four compartments with our very cute pilot named Jay in the center.

I was astonished at how effortlessly the balloon lifted off the ground. Not once did I feel unsafe or scared. We floated around for a while with some really great views of the Australian tablelands, and as we came down from the clouds we saw a few wild roos hopping around. We managed to get a few extra minutes in the balloon, because as you change altitude, you change winds, and we couldn’t land where we originally planned.

The landing was also smoother than I thought it would be. One bounce, which wasn’t even that jarring, and we were on the ground with big men hanging off the sides to keep us down! We did have to assume a landing position, grasping hand ropes and backs against the padding, but no problem.

Then they Huck Finn-ed us into helping them deflate and pack up the balloon (It’ll be fun!) It was kind of fun.

Photos were taken while we were in the air, as well as in a group with the basket when we landed. They can be purchased separately.

I enjoyed this so very much. I think everyone should give it a go!

I have a new friend. His name is Hogan, and he’s a one-year-old baby koala bear. He smells like the eucalyptus he eats, and he was so very soft. I met him at the Kurunda Koala Gardens, which is in the village of Kurunda. You can reach the village in one of two ways – the train or the skyrail.

Meeting and holding Hogan the koala was certainly what being in Australia was all about. This location is one of only two in the country that I know about (the other being the Cairns zoo) where you are actually able to HOLD a koala (rather than just a close-up photo-op).

It cost $14 for entrance into the Kurunda Koala Gardens, then another $14 to have my cuddling/photo op. The map they give you at the train station has a $1-off coupon, but the woman at the front desk had given us that discount before we could remember we had the coupon.

There are other animals there as well – alligators, wallabies, and kangaroos. We saw a kangaroo with a joey in her pouch. Only his feet were sticking out at first, like he jumped head first into her pouch. But he turned around and stuck out the part of him we wanted to see – his head. : ) Get a handful of feed for them upon entering their paddock, but they didn’t seem all that interested.

The journey there is half the fun. The train chugs up into the rainforest for an hour and fifteen minutes, and there’s a hand-held map that explains what you’re seeing. There’s one stop, at the Barron Gorge Waterfall. Get back on the train, by the way, because it’d be a long walk into town. People stayed behind anyway! At the train station in Kurunda, shuttle buses will take you to the top of the hill, and you can tourist yourself back down the hill, which is where the skyrail also picks up and deposits people. The skyrail also offers two opportunities to stop and take photos. Other than that, it’s about a 10-minute ride down. ($144 train/skyrail)

The tour we purchased to get to Kurunda took us up on the train, and back down on the skyrail. The price of the tour (which we purchased at the train station after a shuttle from our hotel dropped us there) was $109. There are other options, like skyrail first, skyrail up and back, train up and back, etc.
Also of interest in Kurunda are the markets – lots of shopping, good prices. There’s also Bird World and Butterfly World, at $14 each admission. (We skipped those in favor of shopping, as we had about 2 and a half hours in the town.) Kurunda Café was a lovely place to stop for lunch (I also picked up a meat pie from a shop next door). If you’ve had a day on the reef and have more time in Cairns, I highly recommend this excursion.