Cairns Mini Guide
Cairns is an Australian city built in an area of natural beauty which is surrounded by rain forest and near to the Great Barrier Reef.
Despite having no recognised swimming beaches, this special location has meant that thousands of tourists want to visit the city every year and Cairns has catered its economy towards tourism accordingly. These international arrivals swell the population of the city which usually stands at 130,000 inhabitants.
At the Northern end of the state of Queensland, Cairns attracts so many Japanese tourists annually that many signs in the city are written in their language.
Among the things for them to do is cool out in a huge artificial lagoon which has been constructed for those times when you can’t go in the sea. The months between October and May are known as ‘stinger’ season in Australia when the water is full of deadly boxed jellyfish. But don’t let anything put you off going scuba diving on the Barrier Reef, one of the world’s natural wonders and the only living thing on earth which is visible from space. You will find many companies who can take you out to the reef by boat and guide you around.
Cairns has picked up a reputation as being a popular location for adventure sports. Along with diving you will find many shops offering white water rafting, sky dives (tandem options too) and hand gliding. Slightly more sedate but just as exciting are the chances to go hot air ballooning, deep sea fishing (large marlin are often caught here) and sailing.
Flying into Cairns airport you will be able to pick up your Rhino rental car through major car hire companies such as Europcar, DIY Car Hire, Hertz, Avis Car Hire, Budget Rental cars and Thrifty rental cars.
It is possible to get to and from Cairns Airport and many international destinations. Among them Jetstar has connections with Osaka in Japan, Auckland is accessible with Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific goes to Hong Kong on every other day of the week.
If you want to travel to destinations within Australia there is of course the national airline Qantas which flies to the major cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth as well as the other locations such as Darwin and the Gold Coast. Jetstar and Virgin Blue also have domestic flights while Mac Air flies regionally within Queensland to places such as Mount Isa and Townsville.