Stephens Family Vacation - Australia 2025: 2025-04-20: Leave Palm Cove - stay at Cairns
| Travel | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Name | Service Provider | Origin | Destination | Cost | Notes | ||
| Other | Hotel Shuttle or Other Transport | $0.00 | We'll catch the hotel shuttle or other transport to Cairns for the night. Station: 142 Bunda St. +61 1800 577 245 | |||||
| Accommodation | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Name | Service Provider | Location | Cost | Notes | ||
| Hotel | Hides Hotel | Agoda | Cairns | $95.37 | 87 Lake St. +61 7 4058 3700 | ||
| Tip | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Name | Description | Service Provider | Cost | Notes | ||
| General Info | Advice from WikiVoyage | Oddly, Cairns is pronounced Cans, with a stretched-out a sound. The R is silent. | $0.00 | Cairns is touted as the \"gateway to the Great Barrier Reef\" and other destinations such as Kuranda and the Daintree Rainforest in Far North Queensland. Although the city has little to offer to travellers besides tour agencies, a handful of restaurants, cafes, and backpacker bars, and a long walk along the esplanade looking out at the swampy shoreline. Its 150,000 residents are regularly outnumbered by both domestic and international visitors. The Cairns area was historically inhabited by the Indigenous Walubarra Yidinji people. Mapped by James Cook and named Trinity Bay in 1770, it was officially founded in 1876 as an export port for gold and renamed after the then-Governor of Queensland. The city's name is pronounced \"Canz\" by locals; use of the accepted pronunciation of the governor's surname, the Scottish town, and piles of stones is obsolete. Queensland Rail's Spirit of Queensland services connect Cairns to Brisbane (via Townsville and Rockhampton), taking 25 hours for the full journey. A trip between Townsville and Cairns takes nearly 7 hours by train (compared to only 4 hours by car). The train is primarily designed for tourists to take in the scenery at a leisurely pace, with a \"railbed\" class that features seats that can recline into a bed for the night. If you are pressed for time, driving yourself will often be quicker. | |||
| Blog Entries | ||
|---|---|---|
| Move to Cairns\n\n Today we took a local bus (for $0.50/ea) from Palm Cove to Cairns. \n\n I’ve been mostly coughing for the last two days but today the sinuses opened and the snot poured forth. I don’t know where it’s all coming from. I’m going to be a desiccated shell by the time I’m done. \n\n I know I don’t look too miserable in the pics but dang… it was a rough day. I’m hoping that it’s better tomorrow for our seven-hour train ride to Townsville (apparently aka ‘Brownsville’ because it’s so brown compared to the lush greenness around Cairns).
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