Cairns and Nearby

The best time to visit Cairns is broadly considered to be Australia’s cooler months, thus avoiding the wet season, tropical cyclones, and stinger season. If you’d prefer to avoid these natural phenomena, you should visit between May and October, these are the months many people consider “ideal” for visiting Cairns. However, you can visit Cairns …

Mossman Australia is a small town in Far North Queensland. It is north of both Cairns and Port Douglas, south of Daintree Village and the Daintree Rainforest. It’s not really a tourist town other than for visitors going to the Mossman Gorge, an incredibly beautiful rainforest spot, for walking, learning, enjoying, and sometimes swimming. You …

Cairns with kids. Fun things to do in Cairns with kids. In this post, we cover family-friendly things to do in Cairns for a family holiday or vacation. Both in Cairns, and near Cairns. Child-pleasing and family-friendly things to do in Cairns Australia. We already published our guide to things to do in Cairns, now …

Dining in Port Douglas is made all the better if you can find a restaurant with a good view. A delicious dinner of local seafood or a modern Australian dish is always enhanced by a wonderful sea view, don’t you think? We have a few Port Douglas restaurants to share with you, where you can …

What’s it live to live, sleep, eat, scuba and snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef? We’ve taken 2 liveaboard scuba diving trips on the reef now in Queensland Australia, both departing from Cairns. But what do divers and snorkellers do out there, what’s it like? It’s the ultimate dive experience and we did it as …

What’s it like to learn to scuba dive? Our post covers the basics of scuba certification and follows my son learning to dive in Cairns, Australia and on the Great Barrier Reef with Divers Den, a local dive school and scuba operator. Yes, kids can scuba dive too, but how old do they need to …

Cairns has numerous great attractions within easy reach of the city and CBD but there are also loads of things to do in the surrounding area. We’re local travel bloggers, we live just outside Cairns when we’re not travelling the world, so we really enjoyed putting this Cairns travel blog section together for you. In …

The only way to get from Cairns to Port Douglas is by road (unless you take a helicopter or charter a boat) and it’s officially one of the most beautiful drives in the world. The Captain Cook Highway between Cairns and Port Douglas hugs the coast offering stunning views of the Coral Sea. Along the …

To the north of Cairns and Port Douglas, you will find the oldest rainforest in the world, the Daintree Rainforest. Daintree Village, Daintree River, Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation are areas you will most certainly want to see during your time in Port Douglas and Far North Queensland. A look at everything the Daintree has …

Yes, you read that right we have a stinging tree in Queensland. It’s not just a bit “ouch” it’s more searing blinding agony that can persist for months. It’s not going to kill you with venom, but suicide could sound like a good option. Yes, it’s that bad. This post is about Gympie Gympie, the …

If you’re visiting the Cairns and Port Douglas region in summer, you absolutely must check out some of our freshwater swimming spots as well as the iconic Great Barrier Reef.  These are where the locals go to cool off and some, like Mossman Gorge, receive large numbers of tourists too. Families visit these jungle swimming …

Cairns, Australia, is one of the stepping off points for snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, but is there a beach in Cairns?  No, actually, there’s not in Cairns City itself. There is a pretty esplanade walkway and a narrow strip of sand but mostly Cairns has a busy estuary and salt water crocodiles, big ones. …

Looking for a foodie treat in Cairns or this area of Far North Queensland? I’ve posted about London’s Borough Market before, well this is our local version when we’re at home in Port Douglas. Rusty’s Market Cairns is not to be missed! Rusty’s Market Rusty’s Market is fabulous, every type of fruit and veg you …

Stinger season Cairns, Port Douglas, the Great Barrier Reef area and the whole of Far North Queensland is something you need to be aware of. Insider knowledge on how to be safe, for you and your kids is essential. We lived up here for 6 years safe from jellyfish, so read on. Dates for Stinger …

We saw an Australian animal that less than 10% of all Australians have ever seen near Cairns, the fantastic, and surprisingly tiny, platypus. That’s wild platypus, not in a zoo.  If you’d like to share in this incredible experience, check out the Atherton Platypus Park near Cairns at Tarzali Lakes. You can visit for the …