One Week in Cairns, Australia: Australia Series Part 1

If you’re like us and want to start the trip further north, you’ll be flying to Cairns after landing in Sydney. The flight is about two hours, so after getting off a long flight to then get on another flight, this day will be very chill. We didn’t arrive in Palm Cove until the early evening, so we just spent that time walking along Palm Cove Beach and grabbing dinner and groceries for our day trip the next day.

Located just 45 minutes from Cairns, Green Island is a stunning coral cay. Whether you want to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef, take a glass-bottom boat tour to see the marine life, partake in beach activities like stand-up paddleboarding or canoeing or take a scenic island walk, there’s something for everyone. We opted to do the Eco Tour Package, which included the ferry to and from the island, the boat tour and snorkel rental. On the boat tour, we saw sea turtles, a giant stingray, plenty of colorful fish and eels. While snorkeling in the crystal clear waters, we were able to swim alongside sea turtles, fish, and even ran into a reef shark! Dining options on the island are limited, so definitely bring a packed picnic lunch (we shopped at Woolworth’s in town the night before to grab sandwiches and snacks). Be sure to bring reef shoes, rash guards and reef-safe sunscreen.

Once back in Cairns, we walked around the Cairns Esplanade and Cairns Lagoon, which is a man-made pool with beach views and lifeguards. It is a nice alternative given most actual Cairns beaches are full of jellyfish and crocodiles, thus making them mostly unswimmable.

We stayed in the Palm Cove area and thoroughly enjoyed it as it felt like a picturesque coastal retreat with soft sand, swaying palm trees and calm waters. We spent the morning at Palm Cove Beach, just laying under a palm tree, reading books and relaxing on a blanket in the shade and listening to the waves crash in the distance. Later, we headed to Barron River for an exhilarating whitewater rafting experience. We did the half-day rafting tour, where we went down beginner/intermediate rapids. The instructors were fun, the boats were boisterous (we were with a fun group of Irish tourists) and you even got to take a dip in the river once we got to the calm portion. It was a fun time and we definitely want to do more intermediate/advanced rapids when we try it again.

Daintree Rainforest is a primary reason to visit Cairns. It is one of the world’s oldest rainforests. Offering lush boardwalk trails, exotic wildlife and stunning coastal views where the Great Barrier Reef meets the rainforest. About 2 hours from Palm Cove, we drove to Port Douglas to catch the car ferry across the Daintree River. We then did a self-guided driving tour to explore the Madja, Kulki and Dubuji boardwalks. We went earlier in the morning before most of the tours got to the region and were able to see a wild cassowary cross our path on one of the boardwalks. They can be quite dangerous, so we kept a safe distance and stayed still, and it was a beautiful sight to watch it pass by. Afterward, we stopped by Daintree Ice Cream Co. where we not only toured the orchard, but also got to try some unique ice cream flavors made straight from the fruits in their orchard! We tried the black sapote, abiu, mulberry and malay apple flavors. All were very good! After cooling down with the ice cream, we headed to the Daintree Discovery Centre to climb some aerial walkways and viewing towers. As well as learn more about the region’s biodiversity. To end our Daintree visit, we walked through the Daintree Village to look through the local shops.

We drove to Mossman Gorge, which offers a serene rainforest experience with activities such as picnicking, hiking and bird watching. You’ll first park at the center and take a 15-minute shuttle to the Gorge. The trails can be completed in about 1.5 hours. Be warned, it can get very humid in the rainforest (I had heat rashes all over underneath my windbreaker) so prepare accordingly.

Afterward, we went to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures. Hartley’s was the first place in Australia to breed crocodiles in captivity and function as a crocodile conservation and crocodile farm. Here they develop crocodile skin products (during the farm tour, they do warn the audience about the sensitive nature of the farm before going into that segment). We went to the crocodile farm tour, did a cassowary feeding (which was scarier than I imagined, the birds are so big but so gentle), watched the snake show where they showed various venomous snakes and discussed their venom and antidote efforts in Australia, as well as the crocodile attack show, which felt very akin to what Steve Irwin did in the 90s/early 2000s. Additionally, we did a boat cruise around the lagoon, where they have dozens, maybe hundreds of crocodiles in the lagoons, including “Ted”, a 900kg (1984 pound!) crocodile. We also went to the various wildlife exhibits to view komodo dragons, koalas, kangaroos and — my favorite — the wombats. Given we don’t have many crocodiles in the US, it was really cool to learn more about them and see them up close.

Before heading to the airport to head to Brisbane, stop by the Kuranda Scenic Skyrail. Park at the Smithfield Terminal, where you’ll take a cable car to Kuranda (and overlook the kangaroos below along the way). The cable car will stop at Red Peak, which has lush boardwalks and scenic lookouts of Barron Falls, a world heritage site. From there, you’ll continue to the Kuranda terminal where you can explore the village filled with local shops, markets and cafes. Get to Kuranda before 10am as it gets more crowded with tour groups. The entire trip took about 2–3 hours, though we weren’t able to take the cableway back as it was raining with lightning in the distance. Unfortunately, to make our flight on time, we didn’t want to risk waiting (and we had already been waiting 30 minutes for the cable car to start back up) so we Uber’d back to our car.