5/15/06
Cairns, Queensland

We finally reached Cairns, pronounced “cans” with the slightest hint of the “r” by the locals. It was the furthest destination north we wanted to reach in Queensland before heading back to Sydney for our flight home. With time to spare, we’ll probably head a little further north, but there’s not much more road left!

Cairns is a big tourist town, catering to many nationalities. People from all over the world come here to expereience the Great Barrier Reef, and this community seemed accustomed to serving them. Every other shop sold cheap souvineers from asian made boomerangs to stuffed koalas. (It seemed ironic that a tropical destination had an assortment of snow globes for tourists to buy!) If they weren’t selling gifts, they were selling tickets to cruises or helicopter rides. There were dozens of booking desks waiting to get you on the next big adventure. Cairns felt less like a town and more like bus depot.

Much of the town stayed open late into the evening because most visitors were out on the beach or the reef during the day. The food wasn’t bad, but there were plenty of hawkers out front trying to get you into their restaurtants. We were looking forward to something a little more subdued.
 

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