Introducing Cairns
Population: Exceeds 150, 000
Lifestyle
Cairn’s is a very tourist-activity orientated capital. The activities on offer range from high adrenalin white water rafting, to relaxing with nature, snorkelling on the reef. The ‘Esplanade’ is the place to be. It offers the beach, fine cuisine, family parks and it delivers an atmosphere of a relaxed community.
Restaurants
With over 200 restaurants in the Cairns region it is unlikely that you will go hungry. Whatever your tastes or budget there will be a number of restaurants that will suit you perfectly. Every type of restaurant imaginable can be found from fine dining five star restaurants to cheap eats and small cafes. Restaurants can be found on the waterfront along the Esplanade, The Pier Marketplace and throughout the CBD area.
Family Activities
The Esplanade is an exceptional recreational area positively buzzing with fun excitement and energy. A place where visitors and residents alike can kick back and relax…swim…. play and laugh… exercise… dine… shop… picnic and enjoy life to the fullest in their very own piece of tropical paradise! At the northern end you will find Muddy’s Playground a children’s wonderland of water channels and hand pumps…water gates, rain shelters and jumping water jets…all under the watchful eye of Muddy the mud skipper sculpture! Other play areas include the pyramid climbing nets, spinning toys, the mangrove maze, a flying fox, sound chimes, the track ride, the rope bridge and slides, play houses, story telling areas, see-saw and slides. It’s enough to make you wish you were a kid again.
Climate
Industry
North Queensland has an economy that is affected by many seasonal variations. These variations can be climatic such as an active cyclone season affecting crops to political unrest in Europe affecting tourist numbers in Cairns. In spite of this often uncertain economic climate industry continues to grow and in some cases thrives.
Sugar cane is by far the largest cash crop in the North Queensland although it is by no means the only crop. Bananas, mangos and tobacco are all grown in large commercial quantities and the Atherton Tableland (west of Cairns) is a large dairy producing region.
Tourism still shows the greatest growth and potential for improvement in the coming decade, especially following the publicity of the Olympic Games.
Entertainment
Cairns is home to Cairns Taipans - The Cairns Taipans are a professional basketball team competing in Australia's National Basketball League, they entered the NBL in the 1999/2000 Season. Based at the Cairns Convention Centre, with a seating capacity is 5,300. Now coached under Aaron Fearne, for the upcoming season, previous coach Alan Black progresses the team into the semi-finals. Let’s see what Fearne can do!
For up to date information on the Cairns Taipans refer to www.taipans.com and for up to date ticket prices refer to www.cairnsconvention.com.au
Cairns Thunder – The Cairns Thunder, although small, play as a representative team in a new State Cup format. They are pitted against clubs from other centres including Brisbane teams. Coached under Matt Welden, the Thunder are yet to see a big win.
Pubs/Nightclubs - There are five nightclubs in Cairns. They are all in the CBD area and they specialise in the latest music and lots of dancing. Bars tend to open earlier than nightclubs and close earlier. Many bars in and around Cairns serve meals and drinks and provide a fairly relaxed environment for people to wind down at the end of the day.
Whilst Cairns is not renowned for its nightlife there is more than enough to keep people entertained. At the end of a day diving or white water rafting or trekking through a rainforest it is amazing that some people have the energy to party the night away.
Housing
There are 77 Real Estate agents to choose from in Cairns. You can chose from waterfront apartments, to family homes in the suburbs.
Typical Example - 108-118 TRINITY BEACH ROAD TRINITY BEACH - from $290 p/wk - long leases looked at favourably, Free gym & spa membership included. Trinity Cove is a new gated community with on-site management offering a resort lifestyle. Property Summary - Category: Apartment, Bedrooms: 2, Bathrooms: 2, Carport: Single, Available: Now
Facilities
Cairns Airport is Australia’s leading regional airport, providing air links to a range of domestic and international locations.
• The International and Domestic Terminals are open 24 hours per day. Services within the terminals operate in accordance with flight schedules.
• Cairns Airport offers direct domestic flights to Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Darwin and Townsville as well as to Alice Springs and Ayers Rock (Uluru) and regional centres. There are direct international flights to Auckland, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Guam, Port Moresby and to Singapore via Darwin.
Schools
There are over 35 schools in the Cairns region; consisting of primary schools, high schools, catholic schools, and Special Education facilities which are both public and private.
School terms are:
1st Term: 27 January – 9 April,
2nd Term 20 April – 26 June,
3rd Term 13 July – 18 September,
4th Term: 5 October – 11 December
Cairns also offer TAFE colleges. For tertiary education head to James Cook University, this is just at 15 minute drive from central Cairns. JCU's Cairns Campus offers a truly unique experience. Here, you can gain a quality university education in a modern high-tech campus nestled at the base of hills covered in World Heritage-listed rainforest and next to the Great Barrier Reef.
Hospital and Medical
The standard of healthcare in Australia is as good, if not better than anything you’ll find anywhere else. Cairns is no exception and the region is represented by excellent health services .With 1 public hospital, and 3 private hospitals plus a Breast screen clinic, your medical needs are sure to be catered for.
Shopping Centres
There are several major shopping centres in and around the Cairns region. Generally, residents have a shopping centre in every major suburb. Each shopping centre has a few familiar nation wide shops (such as Coles, and Woolworths) and sometimes over 130 specialty stores. Smaller suburbs generally have a small shopping centre, with a supermarket, and maybe a couple of specialty stores.
Hobbies
Regardless of your interest or hobby chances are you’ll find there are other people in your town with similar interests. Whether you are interested in stamp collecting or photography perhaps ornithology there is a club for you. Cairns offer over 40 sporting clubs, and over 20 recreational clubs – wether that be for hobbies, or perhaps a food and wine club.