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Cairns
 Find bargain family Cairns Accommodation
 The tourist capital of Tropical North Queensland, Cairns is a laid-back city whose population of 70,000 is constantly swollen by the flood of visitors who flock from all corners of the globe.
Cairns has it all at its doorstep: the rich blue water of the Coral Sea and teeming tropical plants; the Great Barrier Reef and dense rainforests you can enjoy from the forest floor; the famous Kuranda mountain-climbing train, temperate tablelands and bushclad coral atolls; nightclubs and the classical Aboriginal Tjapukai Dance Theatre. Set on Trinity Inlet, which was named by Captain James Cook on Trinity Sunday, 1770, Cairns has the total tropical package. A huge fleet of cruisers of all sizes is on standby to transport you to the off-shore coral gardens of Arlington, More and Sunbury reefs, while the quick sea trip to Green Island National Park leaves day-trippers plenty of time to snorkel, scuba dive or just potter about in a glass-bottomed boat.
Perched in the shadow of the Whitfield Range - stepping stone to the Great Dividing Range and the Atherton Tablelands - Edge Hill is one of Cairns’ fashionable, north-western suburbs. It overlooks the International Airport and is only minutes from the twin stations that transport visitors, either by the scenic railway or skyrail, to the rainforest village of Kuranda. The 110-year-old rail line zigzags through the spectacular rainforest, past and over rivers and waterfalls of the Baron Gorge, while the Skyrail’s gondolas offer unparalleled views from over the forest canopy. The Skyrail makes several stops where passengers can alight to take the boardwalk trails through the rainforest. Kuranda's high-spots include the Butterfly Sanctuary where you can wander among superbly coloured insects, the Noctarium, which features nocturnal rainforest animals, and the Rainforest Markets.
The waters off Cairns and Innisfail are famous throughout the world for their big blacks - the largest black marlin in the world. Some of the world's most enthusiastic big game fishermen - have come to test their mettle in waters where it is not uncommon for more than 150 fish to be caught from a single boat, though most fish are tagged and released.
Modern Cairns tour operators know they have a unique landscape and they flaunt it. And visitors should take the opportunity to hop one of those cruisers for the likes of Green Island and Fitzroy Island where first-class diving conditions introduce thousands of tourists to some of the 1500 varieties of reef fish. But a Cairns holiday doesn’t necessarily mean hopping air-conditioned coaches, cruisers, limos or the skyrail. Cairns is a fascinating mix of the old and the new, with a climate that commands that you take it all in at your own, measured pace.
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