About Cairns CBD
Published on Thu 24th Aug 2023 12:38:39am AEST
Cairns is a small town located in the northwestern part of Queensland state. The population is around 150,000 and it grows about 1% every year.
The name Cairns came from a British colonial administrator called Sir William Wellington Cairns in 1876. He was the Governor of Queensland.
Cairns is surrounded by big mountains which are part of the Great Dividing Range.The city centre is located on Trinity Inlet and the northern part is located on the Trinity Bay. The main two rivers that flow within the greater Cairns area are Mulgrave River and Barron River. The city centre is located on a mudflat.
Cairns is a tropical city with temperatures between 24°C to 32°C during summer and 17°C to 26°C during winter. Cairns is very hot and humid during the summer period (November to March) receiving lots of rain (wet season), but Cairns has a very mild winter with great temperature and low rainfall from April to November. Cairns is prone to tropical cyclones during the hot months. Statistics show that usually every 5 years Cairns is hit with one of these cyclones. The last was Cyclone Yasi in 2011.
Another important information about Cairns is the stingers (jellyfish). The jellyfish can be found on the beaches during the hot months between November to April. They are very dangerous so going in the water is not allowed unless wearing a stinger suit.
Stingers are more common along the beaches where the water is calm and very warm, but they can also be found in the outer Great Barrier Reef, so tourists visiting the reef are recommended to wear stinger suit If going into the water.
There are two types of jellyfish in Cairns, Box Jellyfish and Irukandji. Box jellyfish can reach 2 metres in diameter when Irukandjis are very small, reaching only 2 centimetres in diameter. But they are both extremely venomous and can be fatal, triggering cardiac arrest in the body within minutes.When the hot months are gone around end of April, the jellyfish disappear from Cairns coastline.
The esplanade is a 2.5 kilometres boardwalk path built along the coast line. It is fully wheelchair accessible. Along the esplanade you have the water on one side and hotels and restaurants on the other side. Along the esplanade you will also find kids playgrounds, exercise equipment, toilet facilities and also water bows for dogs.
Cairns Lagoon is a 4800 square metre saltwater swimming pool located in the heart of Cairns. It is a public swimming pool so anyone can go in and enjoy it. There are many barbecue facilities around the lagoon making the experience even better. This is a perfect place to spend the day with family and friends. There is a small cafe at the Lagoon that serves different types of food and drinks.
At the esplanade there is a ferris wheel called the Reef Eye and it was built in 2022. Visitors and locals can enjoy this incredible 360 degree view of Cairns reaching 35m high. The gondolas are fully enclosed and can accommodate up to 6 people.
Near the Lagoon (10 minutes walk) there is a very popular kids playground called Muddy's Playground. Muddys offers a big range of kids play equipment including water play areas. There is a cafe next to the playground which serves a big range of food and drinks. Great family place and a “must go” if you have kids.
There are a large number of restaurants in Cairns city. The types of restaurants go from pubs to fine dining offering different types of specialities such as Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese, Balinese, Portuguese, Brazilian etc. There are also lots of nightclubs such as Gilligans, the Woolshed, P.J. O'Brien's, The Pier bar, and much more. So Cairns caters for families and business people who might want a more chic venue to dine, but it also caters for young people and backpackers who might want a place to eat and party at the same time.
Cairns has a Casino located in the CBD, near the lagoon, offering a wide range of games. At the top of the Casino is the famous hotel called The Reef Hotel Casino with 128 rooms available for guests. At the rooftop there is a wildlife park called the Cairns Zoom and Wildlife Dome. At the park tourists can have an enclosed rainforest experience and they can also check out some beautiful Australian native animals such as koalas, crocodiles, wallabies, curlews, frogmouths, kookaburras, frogs, turtles, pythons, lizards, parrots, cockatoos, lorikeets, and other birds native to the Wet Tropics region.
At Cairns CBD, next to the Lagoon, locates the Reef Fleet Terminal, a place where visitors check in to travel to the Great Barrier Reef. Next door is the Cairns Trinity Wharf where most cruise ships dock.
About 4 blocks from the Lagoon there is a shopping Centre called Cairns Central Shopping Centre, one of the main shopping centres in Cairns. At Cairns Central Shopping Centre tourists will find a big range of stores such as Myer, Big W, Target, JB Hifi and others. There is also a food court with a large number of restaurants.
