CAMPSITE # 159 - Cairns, Queensland

Everytime I hear the name Cairns, I am always reminded of my favourite joke (of which Tom hates)...

Two sardines travelling around Australia, where do they end up??

In Cairns!!

Now having visited Cairns for myself, I will no longer need to be instantly reminded of my cheesy joke but instead I can actually paint my very own picture.

Cairns is a traveller’s paradise. Not just for us but even more so for those new to Australia, desperate to experience our culture and ready & waiting for a really good time. It is seriously party central. Just walking through the streets of Cairns on a Thursday night, you can feel the busy nightlife atmosphere floating through the air. All of the restaurants along the Esplanade were exploding with people engaging in loud & expressive conversations over their Cabernet Sauvignon and fresh barramundi. The trendy oceanfront bars serving beers on tap by the pint would have their music blazing as their stereos compete with their neighbours to lure in potential customers. You could hear the buzz of the Night Markets every night of the week, as tourists barter their way into a new pearl necklace or genuine Australian Merino sheepskin Ugg boots. When it all just gets too much and you need a break from the abundance of tourists bouncing down the street, you can venture over to the boardwalk for a gentle stroll along the beachfront with the ocean breeze giving you goosebumps as it lightly touches your skin.

So why is Cairns such a Mecca for potential tourists? Let’s say you wanted to book a holiday. Perhaps a relaxing walk through a rainforest searching for cassowaries and birdlife is totally your thing. Or perhaps you prefer to bask on white sandy beaches sipping the milk from fresh coconuts. Or perhaps you’re an adventure seeker and are desperate to sky dive over the ocean and land on the beach. Whatever it is you’re looking for, I can almost guarantee you’ll find it... in Cairns!!! ;)

Site : Cairns Holiday Park

Rating : 10 / 20

Facilities : We kind of cheated and booked ourselves into a cabin. For $70 per night, the three of us slept in a cabin together, shared bathroom facilities with a few other cabins and a communal kitchen area. Really great value for money. 

Somehow, five weeks managed to just fly right by. Returning to Cairns meant dropping young James off at the airport for a 30 hour journey back home to England as an unaccompanied minor. Saying goodbye was really difficult, we instantly felt as if something was missing. James came and spent time with us and transformed our trip in ways he'll never even know. His leaving meant Tom no longer had his little bro around to teach the ways of the world and I no longer had him around to gang up on Tommy with. Oh and it also meant I no longer had an excuse to consume Coco Pops every morning. 

James - we loved every second we spent with you on the road. I just hope that you take with you everything you learnt during your travels. For years to come, the three of us will enjoy sharing memories of these past few weeks. We will certainly miss your big smiling face.