If you ask me what’s my favourite part of Australia so far, now I can tell you that’s Tropical North Queensland for sure! I’ve been lucky that I got to hang out with a local, my friend Andy, who I know from when we were living in Barcelona. Having a house in Cairns, garden, dog, car, motorbike, the knowledge about the region and a humoristic fun loving friend at full pruposal for ten days is a treat at its own. Count with that this regions breathtaking nature, its winter temperature of 25C and the surpising quantity & quality of tours and activities offered… it makes you feel at least a bit sad when leaving.

Of all the great fun we’ve had – along came Julia to celebrate her birthday with us – I am glad to be able to share my best experiences in this region, made possible with the enthusiastic co-operation of several organisations and tour operators. Many thanks to them for letting me explore the beauty and excitement in this Sunshine State!

To kick off and get the vibe of the region, Andy and I jumped on his motorbike and besides showing me around in Cairns’ Botanical Garden, and the city centre, he also took me up to see, in total nine, waterfalls and never-ending cane fields.
By the end of the first day he made sure I’d have seen a fair bit of what he calls “the Best City in the World”. Cairns, that is. With its 130.000 inhabitants spread out over a relatively large surface, its breeze is one of  an easy goin town. At the same time the lively city centre and presence of many backpacker vans makes you feel like being in a popular holiday destination, in peak season. That last bit obviously doesn’t apply for Cairns, as it’s an all year holiday destination.

Which is perfectly understandable as the winters up here get as chilly as the best summers in the Netherlands…

I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Gillies, Director of Tropical North Queensland, and Donna Gray, Sales and Marketing Manager, for their after work drink at the Blue Sky Brewery. Although I don’t like beer, I had to try an organic, home brewed ginger beer. Along with the rugby game displayed it actually tasted quiet good! Jeff offered to arrange a reef tour with Quicksilver for the next day, which I happily accepted. Once on board the great staff showed that they are having the Best Jobs in the World as they had so much fun among each other and with the passengers. We did three stops along the reef and the first two stops I went snorkelling. These were the best snorkelling times for me so far as the sun did its best to color the corals to their max and… I finally swam with a reef shark.
After a yummie buffet lunch, the third plunge was in diving gear. As we descented 12 meters, I high-fived with a sea turtle, found some more Nemo’s and met their crazy colored mates.
The vessel was very comfortable and I advice you to get that spot on the front deck in the sun as you return from your visit to this peaceful and relaxing world beneath the surface.

My hunger for more green, more rainforest, got easily tamed as the next day we visited Paronella Park, voted nr. 1 of 150 must-do’s in Queensland. It’s eco-certified and heritage listed.

This park tells the story of the dream of a Spaniard called José Paronella, to build a castle in the most beautiful part of the world. On 13 acres beside Mena Creek Falls he completed building his castle in 1935, along with picnic areas at the lakeside, tennis courts, tunnels and bridges, and wrapped it up in an amazing range of 7000 tropical plants and trees.
After misfortune healthwise for the Paronella family and battles with nature, like facing cyclones, fires and floods, this nearly lost park was rediscovered in 1993 by its current owners Mark and Judy. During my conversation with Mark I could imagine how passioned José would have talked about this mythical park. Mark spoke in a remarkably admiring way about José and his dream, which has become Judy’s and Mark’s main focus now to let the dream continue. Inspiring for sure, of great historical value too and the tour guide John made it easy to go back in time and use your fantasy.

So far sealife and greenery, but what about the wildlife on land? I desperately needed to cuddle Skippy and chill out with a koala. “Can we do that, Andyyy?” We visited the wildlife sanctuary Rainforest Habitat near Port Douglas, eco-certified as well.
The park is divided in the three surrounding environments: Rainforest, Wetlands and Grasslands. After walking through the habitat of cheering parrots and even the endangered Southern Cassowary, I tried to get frightened by the crocs, but they couldn’t even bother me leaning over the fence. Then happy times! After asking Andy to go see Skippies every day, there they were! I catched up with some and had the chance to cuddle – strictly in exchange for kangaroo food, that is.
Furthermore Andy and I visited a crafts market as you don’t get to see them very often. Quality organic products and authentic art, loved it!
When Julia arrived in Cairns, Andy took us to waterfalls, swimming lakes, swamps (mozzies!), postcard scenery beaches and more beauty.
These days Julia and I shot over 200 photos each, it’s hard to make a selection for back home, so poor friends who ask for some pictures; you better take a day off.

The 9th of June we celebrated Julia’s birthday with an exclusive dinner overlooking Cairns harbour and mountains at Donnini´s. Jeff le chef had a birthday cake made for Julia with, as Andy and I had to google for correct spelling, “happy birthday” in German.

The last day spent in the Terrific Trio formation was packed again with more fun, more nature and more animals.
In the morning we catched the old-style train travelling The Kuranda Scenic Railway, which is constructed between 1882 and 1891 and travels 34 km through 15 tunnels and acrosses 37 bridges. Two hours of spectacular scenery guaranteed as we came up close and personal with huge waterfalls and gorges and great rock formations in this World Heritage Listed Rainforest.
Yet once more it threw me back into history and I could imagine how, since the start only 150 years ago, Queenslanders remarkably managed to built their way through the overwhelming nature, in an environmentally respectful way.

Two hours of one of my best train rides later we arrived in Kuranda, a small village 400 meters above Cairns. We got picked up by Roy, who works for Blazing Saddles, a company that provides great outback adventures like quad riding, rafting and what we had planned for that afternoon: horse riding. As we drove along, Roy told us about his switch from city life to the purity of the outback. Since I have a crazy mix of absolute fear of and curiosity for snakes, I asked him if he often saw any snakes in this region and if this scared him. “At first”, he said, “I didn’t quiet like them, but now I got to know more about them and I’m not afraid anymore. I learned how to pick up a snake and they are actually great creatures.” “Why would you pick up a snake?” I asked as I thought this was maybe a crazy habbit to play with your life that the guys up here enjoy. “Oh well, to put them out of my house.” The expression on my face by hearing that, made Andy and Julia make fun of me several times during that day.
When we arrived at Blazing Saddles I felt like we entered an old western movie: guys walking around with traditional comboy hats, blocked shirts and firm boots; only the straw of hay was missing there!
As they were a cattle farm and had more animals grazing around, I was very pleased to cuddle little cattles, some pigs and little lambs. Never get enough of that! They even had a bull with the largest horns of Australia, each horn worth over AUD$10.000. Soon on TV. After the lunch we jumped on our horses and followed Tim and Marc, two superfunny outback guys who amused us with a perfect blend of information about the region and stories that left the credibility in the middle.

What Andy, Julia and I often noticed is that the tour guides are the people who make the tour special, they add soul to it and make the difference between “just an activity” and a unique experience with a personal touch. Although they might repeat these activities every day while you join just once, I have to tell you they ensured me they had their Best Job in the World. After a lovely ride down the hill, crossing the creek and going into gear 2 and 3, we returned to the farm to cuddle with the animals some more.
Marc provided some great pictures and Tim showed his lasso skills which were impressive! Suiting the perfect cowboy picture better then Tim is impossible…
Enough action for this day, we agreed, especially Andy as he hadn’t worn a special horse riding pants meaning he walked in a funny way for a while.
I faced my biggest fear and went to the Venom Zoo were I came eye in eye with the most dangerous, poisonous and aggressive snakes of Australia. The snakes and I looked at each other and agreed on a mutual understanding to better stay out of each other’s way. Julia and Andy wanted to pet a Water Python afterwards and as I am not a cry baby but just half a cry baby I at least touched the scary worm – quite liked the feeling though. I sat next to Julia who was playing with and caressing Miss Snaky with a look in her eyes as if it was a baby. Next time, I promised myself, next time I will put a Scary around my neck and look cool too…

“Back to Cairns!”, we said, and walked over to the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.

To compensate all the need-for-speed motorbike rides, we were now about to hop on an eco-certified attraction that was awarded with ISO 14001, which stands for an internationally recognised environmental management certification.Innovative touristic opportunities combined with respecting and protecting the environment, that’s the way I like it!We glided just several metres over the canopy, it’s definitely the closest you can get to the Barron Gorge National park! Steep ravines under our feet, boasting coastal mountains on the left and the mighty Barron Falls on the right… It’s truly breath taking. It finally made the three of us be quiet for a moment.

So there you go, this was me trying my best to keep it short. Friends already warned me writing blogs might be tricky for me because there is this (unwritten?) rule about a maximum number of words. Well, too bad for the rule-followers then. If you enjoyed reading this chapter in my Australia Book only 50% as I did experiencing it for real, I’m not worried at all that I bored you.
Viva Tropical North Queensland, viva las aventuras!

Next post is dedicated to Australia’s second largest sand island: Moreton Island. So much to do in Queensland, even on the islands. Got to go to eat some fresh caught fish now!

Posted from Moreton Island with Vodafone Mobile Internet on my notebook

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