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AIRPORT
The
Cairns International and Domestic Airport is located within ten minutes
drive from the Cairns CBD and is easily accessible by hire car, taxi or
airport shuttle bus. A taxi will only cost you around $16 one way into
the CBD and the airport shuttle will set you back around $7.00 per
person.
Hire cars can be picked up and returned from/to the airport and
you will find many hire car booths there on arrival in the lounge at
both terminals.
If you are heading overseas from Cairns the airport departure tax is
slightly higher here than other Australian airports due to it being
privately owned. The departure tax is currently $46 per person.
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BANKING
All
transactions are in Australian Dollars. Currency conversion is available
in all tourist areas. All the major Australian Banks have branches here
and they are open between 9.30 am and 4.00 pm from Monday to Thursday -
9.00 am to 5.00 pm on Fridays. There is also no shortage of ATM's, they
can be found everywhere in the Cairns area that accept all types of
cards from all banks, anywhere in the world. It would pay to check with
your own Bank before coming to Cairns as to which bank here has a
reciprocal agreement with them.
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BUS
STATION
The
local Sunbus services Cairns and it's suburbs. The main depot is in City
Place on Lake St. Very close to the Cairns CBD the interstate bus
terminal is located at the Reef Fleet Terminal. Here you will find the
bus services of Greyhound Pioneer, McCaffertys and Coral Coaches.
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CROCODILES
Cairns
is home to the Estuarine or Saltwater Crocodile. These are the largest
on earth and could potentially ruin your holiday (and life). However
they are not really an issue as long as some common sense is shown.
Don't swim where you see a crocodile warning sign, don't swim where you
think there should be a crocodile warning sign. Generally if you avoid
muddy waters and only swim in the ocean or fast flowing clear rivers and
creeks you'll be OK.
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CYCLONES
Cyclones
are the Australian term for hurricanes or typhoons. Cairns is in the
cyclone affected part of Australia, and has had a few near misses as
well as a few smaller direct hits. Don't worry, if a cyclone was coming
our way on your holiday you'd have time to leave and everything would be
all OK. We would usually be placed on a cyclone warning 4 or 5 days
before the event. In March 2006, Cyclone Larry, one of the largest
cyclones to cross the Queensland Coast narrowly missed Cairns, making
landfall at Innisfail.
If there is a
Cyclone threatening Cairns click here
because I'll be running a blog for as long as we've got an internet
connection.
Click here for a blog
about Cyclone Steve, or here for
photo's of Cyclone Larry's
destruction
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DRIVING
In Australia we drive on the left side of the road.
Cairns is relatively easy to negotiate with adequate signage. We do have
a few round-abouts, and these can be tricky for visitors. Just be
careful of suicidal cyclists at times. Click here for more info on
driving in Australia.
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| DRIVE IN MOVIES AND OUTDOOR
CINEMA
Cairns is
home to one of Australias last surviving Drive In's. The Rodeo Drive In
at Mareeba screens all the latest movies every Friday and Saturday
night. Click
here to see what's showing.
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INTERNET
ACCESS.
You
will probably not see as many internet access places anywhere as there
are in Cairns. We seem to be the E-mail capital of the world and the
prices vary all of the time. Some places will let you check your email
for free then start charging you after the first five minutes. Around
Cairns at the moment the average price per hour seems to be about $3,
but it goes as low as $1.00 and as high as $6.00. If you want to search
you can even find many places offering a free half hour. Wireless
Hotspots are available at many cafe's and shopping centres as well as
most Fast Food Restaurants.
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JELLYFISH
The
waters of Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef are home to 2 of the most
deadly Jellyfish in the world. The Box Jellyfish, which inhabits coastal
waters (stinger season is Oct to April) and the Irundkandji, which is an
oceanic jellyfish which is mostly kept out at sea but northerly winds
can sometimes bring them to the reef and as well as coastal beaches.
During the stinger season stinger nets are provided on the
beaches. If you swim in the stinger nets provided at most of the
beaches and wear a stinger suit (thin lycra wetsuit) when at the Reef
you won't get stung. Stinger suits are available on most boats - they
also act to protect you against sun burn too and abrasions! As
long as you are sensible - you have nothing to worry about! (Click here
to visit our
marine stinger page
for more info.)
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MOSQUITOES
These
guys can be pretty annoying, especially in the wet season. Both Ross
River Fever and Dengue Fever have been passed by mosquitoes in Cairns.
I've lived here all my life and never got either. We use a product
called "RID" which contains DEET and is very effective in
keeping them away. "Bushman" is also very effective. Don't bother
bringing repellent from overseas as it isn't formulated against our
tropical bities!
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PERSONAL SAFETY
Cairns
is generally a safe city. The Queensland Police Force have a large
presence in the city and in co-operation with the Cairns City Council
make personal safety a priority. Make sure you use hotel safes and as
with anywhere never carry large amounts of money around always better to
be on the safety side just in case. One thing we don't recommend is
walking around the city at night alone especially if you're a female.
While there are security camera's located in various points around the
inner city they won't act as a deterrent all of the time. Catch a taxi
home or walk with a male friend if you have one handy. If you plan to
drive a vehicle do not speed and/or drink and drive you will get caught!
The Esplanade lagoon and flagged areas on all Northern Beaches are
patrolled by lifesavers.
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POSTE
RESTANTE
The
Poste Restante is open between 9 am and 5 pm from Monday to Friday. You
can have your mail sent here for collection while you are travelling as
well as taking care of all of your other postal needs. A lot of shops
and news agencies can also sell you stamps however they may not have
stamps for posting international letters, parcels and postcards.
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SNAKES
& SPIDERS
There
are lots of these in Australia, in fact more than anywhere else in the
world. However you'd be pretty lucky to see a snake in the wild and if
you do see one it won't bite you unless you annoy it. They are mostly
shy creatures and try and stay away from humans! So just be
sensible and if you see one walk away! Same goes for spiders. I've
lived here all my life and never been bitten, and I've been pretty
stupid.
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SHARKS
A
lot of people ask about sharks. Unfortunately films like Jaws have
created a national fear of sharks - this is such a shame as they are
beautiful mostly peaceful creatures, most of which are very shy and
believe it or not - are more afraid of us than we are of them! If you
are lucky you might get to see a small reef-shark - these are completely
harmless. Most people are excited to see them. Heidi has a great
love of sharks and has dived all over the world looking for
sharks! She has even done a 4 day great white shark expedition in
a shark cage which was fantastic! However fear not - these amazing
beasts (they are huge!) do not live in the tropical waters around here -
she had to dive the chilly oceans off South Australia for this
adventure!
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SHOPPING
Cairns has all the
shopping you could need on your holiday. There is a major shopping
centre located in the middle of Cairns City called "Cairns Central" as
well as other centres in the suburbs. All major Australian Chains have
stores in Cairns. There are 3 supermarkets located in the city centre.
As for souvenirs and T'Shirts etc, you can't miss them, almost every
second shop sells them.
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TRAIN
STATION
The train station is located right
beside one of our major shopping complexes - Cairns Central, on the
southern side. It is only a five minute walk from the Cairns City centre
and the Esplanade. The train to Kuranda departs from this station in the
morning and returns late in the afternoon. Whilst Cairns does not have
local train services this station caters for long distance rail
journeys.
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