Everything about Cairns totally explained
Cairns is a regional city and
Local Government Area located in
Queensland,
Australia. Originally settled in 1876, and named after
William Wellington Cairns (the then
Governor of Queensland) to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, the settlement declined when an easier route was discovered from Port Douglas. However, Cairns' future was secured as it developed into a railhead and major port for the exportation of sugar cane, gold, precious metals and agricultural industries from the surrounding coastal and Tableland regions. The city is rapidly expanding, with a population of 122 731 (as of 2006) and is reliant on the sugar and tourism industries.. An
oceanway allows pedestrians and cyclists to move along the
foreshore from the Lagoon in a
sustainable manner.
Geography
Cairns is located on the east coast of
Cape York Peninsula on a coastal strip between the
Coral Sea and the
Great Dividing Range. The northern part of the city is located on
Trinity Bay and the city centre is located on
Trinity inlet. Some of the city's suburbs are located on flood plains. The
Mulgrave River and
Barron River flow within the city's boundary but not through the city itself. The city centre's foreshore is located on a mud flat.
Urban layout
Cairns is a
provincial city and has a linear urban layout that runs from the south, at
Aloomba, to the north, at
Ellis Beach. The city is approximately from north to south. Cairns has experienced recent urban sprawl, with suburbs occupying land previously used for
sugar cane farming. Many houses have also been built on hillsides, partly due to lack of space and partly due to a perception of prestige living. The population increase is so fast that the local phone book maps and other maps can not keep up with the amount of development.
Regions of the city are:
The
Northern Beaches are low in elevation and consist of a number of beach communities extending north along the coast. In general, each beach suburb is located at the end of a spur road extending from the
Captain Cook Highway. From south to north, these are
Machans Beach,
Holloways Beach,
Yorkeys Knob,
Trinity Park,
Trinity Beach,
Kewarra Beach,
Clifton Beach,
Palm Cove and Ellis Beach.
The suburb of
Smithfield is located inland and against the mountains of the
Great Dividing Range and serves as the main centre for the Northern Beaches. It is located between Yorkey’s Knob and Trinity Park. Smithfield is the main hub for the Northern Beaches with the large Smithfield Centre which has recently been refurbished for a more modern feel. The
Kennedy Highway starts at the
Kennedy Highway/Captain Cook Highway intersection which is currently a large roundabout but has plans for an overpass with the
Kennedy Range Motorway which will run from Smithfield to Kuranda.
Located inland from the Northern Beaches along the edge of the
Barron River flood plain are the suburbs of
Caravonica,
Lake Placid,
Kamerunga,
Stratford, and
Freshwater. This area is sometimes referred to as Freshwater Valley. Further up Freshwater Valley is Redlynch Valley. The suburb of
Redlynch is located on the western side of Redlynch Valley, and
Brinsmead lies on the eastern side. Stratford, Freshwater, Redlynch and Brinsmead are separated from Cairns city by
Mount Whitfield (elevation 365m) and Whitfield Range.
Crystal Cascades and
Copperlode Dam are also located behind this range. This area is serviced by the Redlynch Central Shopping Centre, a new shopping centre with only Woolworths at the moment which is located in the fast growing area of the Redlynch Valley. This shopping centre is also due to be expanded in the future.
Cairns City, located on what once was
swamp, is in close proximity to the suburbs of
Cairns North,
Manunda,
Edge Hill,
Whitfield,
Kanimbla,
Parramatta Park,
Mooroobool,
Manoora,
Portsmith,
Earlville,
Westcourt,
Bungalow,
Woree and
Bayview Heights. The small suburb of
Aeroglen is pressed between Mount Whitfield and the airport on the
Captain Cook Highway north of the central business district towards Smithfield.
Southside Cairns, which is higher in elevation and is situated in a mountainous valley, includes the suburbs of
White Rock,
Mount Sheridan,
Bentley Park,
Wrights Creek,
Edmonton and
Centenary Heights, and the townships of
Babinda,
Goldsborough,
Little Mulgrave, Aloomba and
Gordonvale, which is located on the Mulgrave River. The southern strip of Cairns is populated along a small skinny area between the Trinity Inlet to the east and the Lamb Range to the west. It is serviced by the
Bruce Highway which is also due to be developed into a motorway between Woree and Grodonvale due to increasing traffic congestion.
The town of
Kuranda is located upstream on the
Barron River on the western side of the
Kuranda Range, part of the
Great Dividing Range. Kuranda is located in the
Tablelands local government area and, due to the geography of the Kuranda Range, isn't part of the Cairns urban area, however it forms part of the Cairns economic catchment. In early 2007 the Cairns City Council expressed interest in assuming responsibility for the administration of Kuranda, as well as
Port Douglas.
History
The future site of Cairns was first sighted by Captain
James Cook in 1770 and closer investigation by several official expeditions 100 years later recognised its potential for development into a port. Hastened by the need to export gold discovered on the tablelands to the west of the inlet Cairns was founded in 1876. The land on which the settlement was hewn initially consisted of mangrove swamps which were gradually cleared by labourers and sand ridges which were slowly filled in with ballast from a quarry at Edge Hill, dried mud, sawdust from several local sawmills and debris collected from the construction of a railway to Herberton on the Atherton Tablelands, a project which started in 1886. The railway opened up land that was later used for agriculture on the lowlands (sugar cane, corn, rice, bananas, pineapples) and fruit and dairy on the Tablelands. The success of local agriculture helped Cairns come into its own as a port and the creation of a harbour board in 1906 meant its economic future was assured.
During World War II, Cairns was used by the Allied Forces as a staging base for operations in the Pacific.
After World War II, Cairns slowly reinvented itself as a centre for tourism. The opening of the Cairns International Airport in 1984 and the building of the Cairns Convention Centre established the city's overseas reputation as a desirable destination for the holiday and business conference markets.
Climate
Cairns experiences a warm
tropical climate. It experiences a
wet season with tropical
monsoons between December and April and a
dry season between May and November, which, however, isn't completely dry like in most of tropical Australia: there are frequent showers for most of this period. Mean
rainfall of Cairns is . The township of
Babinda at the southern end of the city is one of
Australia’s wettest towns, recording an annual rainfall of over . It has hot humid summers and milder temperatures in winter. The temperature varies from a mean temperature of in July to in January. Monsoonal activity during the wet season occasionally causes major
flooding of the
Barron and
Mulgrave Rivers, cutting off road and rail access to the city.
Climate Table>
|
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
| Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) | 31.4 |
31.2 |
30.6 |
29.2 |
27.6 |
25.9 |
25.7 |
26.5 |
28.0 |
29.5 |
30.6 |
31.4 |
29.0
|
| Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) | 23.7 |
23.7 |
23.0 |
21.6 |
19.9 |
17.8 |
17.0 |
17.4 |
18.6 |
20.6 |
22.3 |
23.4 |
20.8
|
| Mean total rainfall (mm) | 385.0 |
448.5 |
419.5 |
202.1 |
92.2 |
47.2 |
29.3 |
27.7 |
33.8 |
39.2 |
92.2 |
179.8 |
1994.8
|
| Mean number of rain days | 15.3 |
16.7 |
15.9 |
15.2 |
10.5 |
7.1 |
5.5 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.4 |
7.7 |
10.6 |
119.9
|
| Mean number of clear days | 3.8 |
2.6 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
6.7 |
8.7 |
9.9 |
11.6 |
12.4 |
11.8 |
7.9 |
5.6 |
90.0
|
| Mean number of cloudy days | 16.1 |
17.3 |
16.3 |
14.0 |
12.5 |
10.3 |
9.8 |
7.5 |
5.6 |
5.3 |
7.5 |
11.7 |
133.9
|
Source: Bureau of Meteorology |
Tropical cyclones
Like most of North and Far North Queensland, Cairns is prone to Tropical Cyclones, usually forming between November and May.
Notable cyclones that have affected the Cairns Region include:
Cyclone Larry
Tropical Cyclone Larry struck areas to the south of Cairns at 7am on
20 March 2006. Cyclone Larry crossed land near the town of
Innisfail, south of Cairns as a
category five cyclone. It was downgraded to a category four cyclone shortly before midday, and further downgraded to a category three cyclone a few hours later. Wind gusts of up to have been recorded around the Cairns region, with wind gusts up to reported in the City. It is estimated that about one in four houses in Cairns and surrounding areas have been affected by Cyclone Larry.
Governance
Cairns is governed by the
Cairns Regional Council. The Council consists of a mayor and ten councillors. The Mayor is elected by the public, and the Councillors are elected from ten single-member divisions (or wards) using an optional
preferential voting system.
Elections are held every four years.
The
Cairns Regional Council local government area consists of three former local government areas. The first was the original City of Cairns, consisting of the Cairns City region as listed above. The second, which was amalgamated in 1995, was the Shire of Mulgrave (comprising the other areas, namely the Northern Beaches, Freshwater and Redlynch Valleys, and Southside). The town of
Gordonvale was once called Mulgrave. The third area is the
Shire of Douglas, which amalgamated in 2008 during major statewide local government reforms.
At the time of the 1995 amalgamation, Cairns City had a population of approximately 40,000 and Mulgrave Shire had a population of approximately 60,000. Both local government authorities had chambers in the Cairns CBD. The old Cairns City Council chambers located on Abbott Street has been converted into a new city
library. The old Mulgrave Shire Chambers were located on the Cairns Esplanade. In a controversial decision, new council chambers were constructed on previously industrial contaminated land in the mainly industrial suburb of Portsmith.
Cairns has four representatives in the
Queensland Parliament, from the electoral districts of
Cook,
Barron River,
Cairns and
Mulgrave. The city is represented in the
Federal Parliament by representatives elected from the districts of
Leichhardt and
Kennedy.
Prior to the abolition of the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), the Indigenous people in Cairns were represented by the Cairns and District Regional Council. The Council comprised 12 Councillors, who elected a Chair from among them -
Terry O'Shane was the last Chair. The Cairns area was represented on ATSIC by the Commissioner for Queensland North Zone. The last Commissioner for Queensland North was
Lionel Quartermaine who also served as ATSIC’s Deputy Chair.
Economy
Cairns serves as the major commercial centre for the
Far North Queensland and
Cape York Peninsula Regions. It is a base for the regional offices of many government departments.
Tourism
Tourism plays a major part in the Cairns
economy. According to
Tourism Australia, Cairns is the fourth most popular destination for international tourists in Australia after
Sydney,
Melbourne and
Brisbane. While the city doesn't rank amongst Australia's top 10 destinations for domestic tourism, it attracts a number of Australian holiday makers given its distance from major capitals . The city's proximity to the
Great Barrier Reef and the
Wet Tropics of Queensland makes it a popular destination. The city contains hundreds of
hotels,
resorts,
motels and backpackers
hostels. Activities in the region include golf, white water rafting, snorkelling, diving and hiking.
Industry and agriculture
The land around Cairns is still used for
sugar cane farming, although this land is increasingly under pressure from new suburbs as the city grows. Within the Cairns City Council area, sugar
mills operate in
Gordonvale and
Babinda.
The
Barron Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station is located nearby in
Kuranda and provides
green power for some of the city's needs.
Commercial
Cairns local businesses are assisted by the Cairns Region Economic Development Corporation (
CREDC), which promotes a cluster-based model for economic development.
The suburbs of Cairns contain a number of shopping centres of various sizes. The largest of these are the
Cairns Central shopping centre, located in the central business district, and Stockland Cairns, located in the suburb of Earlville.
The City is currently going through a boom which has led to many high rises being built in the city . The city is currently beginning to become a bigger economical centre in not just tourism, but in services as well with many new office towers being built and planned for the near future including the Cairns Corporate Tower #2.
Media
The Cairns Post is a daily newspaper published in the city; a weekly paper, The Cairns Sun, is also published.
The Courier-Mail is a daily Queensland-wide newspaper published in
Brisbane.
The Australian newspaper also circulates widely.
Cairns Newspapers publishes independent suburban newspapers - the
Cairns Northern News and the
Southern Herald - which circulate suburbs from Palm Cove in the north to Gordonvale in the south.
Cairns is served by three commercial
television stations and the two public broadcasters - the
ABC and
SBS. The commercial stations are regional affiliates of the
Ten,
Nine and
Seven networks.
Austar Limited provides subscription satellite TV services.
Cairns radio stations include a number of public, commercial and community broadcasters. The ABC broadcasts
ABC Radio National,
ABC Local,
ABC Classic FM and the
Triple J youth network. Commercial radio stations include
4CA-FM, AM846,
HOT FM,
SeaFM, 4CCR-FM, 87.6 XFM, 98.7FM, 101.9 Coast FM, and 104.3 4TAB sports radio.
Transport
Cairns is an important transport hub in the Far North Queensland region. Located at the base of
Cape York Peninsula, it provides important transport links between the Peninsula and
Gulf of Carpentaria regions and the areas to the south of the state.
Cairns International Airport is essential to the viability of the tourism industry.
Roads
The
Bruce Highway runs for from
Brisbane and terminates in Cairns on the corner of Mulgrave Roads and Sheridan Streets in the CBD. At this point, the
Captain Cook Highway (also referred to as the Cook Highway), between Cairns and
Port Douglas approximately to the northwest, commences.
A need for future upgrades to the
Bruce Highway to
motorway standards through the southern suburbs to
Gordonvale has been identified in regional planning strategies to cope with increasing congestion from rapid population growth. This will result with overpasses at all major intersections between Ray Jones Drive in Woree and Riverstone Road in
Gordonvale. The
motorway won't take the old route along the highway through Edmonton but will follow a bypass that will travel from the Roberts Road intersection at Bently Park to the intersection of Hill Road and the
Bruce Highway north of
Gordonvale to ease noise from cars in Edmonton. There will also be overpasses at these intersections.
The
Kennedy Highway commences at Smithfield on the Barron River flood plain north of Cairns and ascends the Kuranda Range to the township of
Kuranda. The highway then extends to the town of
Mareeba on the
Atherton Tableland, and continues to communities of
Cape York Peninsula
The
Gillies Highway commences at the township of Gordonvale and ascends the Gillies Range (part of the Great Dividing Range) to the town of
Atherton on the
Atherton Tableland, passing through the township of
Yungaburra on the way.
The controversial private road,
Quaid Road, was constructed in 1989 through what is now a
Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and links Wangetti, on the coast just north of Cairns, to Southedge, just south of
Mount Molloy.
A network of secondary and local roads of varying quality is maintained throughout the Cairns suburbs by the Queensland State Government Transport Department and Cairns City Council.
Coaches
Cairns is also served by long distance coaches to Brisbane, and regional cities to the south. Coaches also operate west to
Mount Isa via Townsville and the
Northern Territory. Desert Venturer Coaches operate twice weekly to
Alice Springs and
Darwin (weekly service in wet season).
Public transport
A
public transport network is operated throughout the city by
Marlin Coast Sunbus. A transit mall is located in the CBD through which all services operate. Services include most parts of the city, from Palm Cove on the Northern Beaches to Gordonvale in the south, all travelling via the CBD. Bus services operated by
Whitecar Coaches run to
Kuranda and to the
Atherton Tableland. A smaller minibus service,
Jon's Kuranda Bus runs between Cairns and
Kuranda. Cairns also has one major Taxi company
Black and White Cabs who service the Cairns region.
Rail
Cairns is the terminus for Queensland's
North Coast railway line, which follows the eastern seaboard from Brisbane. Services are operated by
Queensland Rail (QR) and include the high speed
tilt train. Freight trains operate along the route. There is a QR Freight handling facility located at Portsmith.
Pacific National Queensland (a division of
Pacific National, owned by
Toll Holdings) operates a rail siding at
Woree. It runs private trains on the rail network owned by the Queensland State Government and managed by QR's Network Division.
The
Kuranda Scenic Railway operates from Cairns. The tourist railway snakes its way up the
Kuranda Range and isn't used for commuter services. It passes through the suburbs of Stratford, Freshwater (stopping at Freshwater Station) and Redlynch before reaching Kuranda.
Freight services to
Forsayth were discontinued in the mid-
1990s. These were mixed freight and passenger services which served the semi-remote towns west of the
Great Dividing Range. There is now a weekly passenger-only service, "
The Savannahlander" that leaves Cairns on Wednesday mornings. The Savannahlander is run by a private company, Cairns Kuranda Steam Trains.
Cairns is served by a
narrow gauge cane railway (or cane train) network that hauls harvested
sugar cane to the Mulgrave Mill located in
Gordonvale. The pressure of
urban sprawl on land previously cultivated by cane farmers has seen this network reduced over recent years. There has been discussion that these railway corridors may be used for a possible future
light rail mass transit system, however no plans have been drawn up .
The use of the existing heavy rail line for commuter services between Redlynch and Gordonvale is occasionally discussed; however this isn't a favoured option under the
FNQ 2010 Regional Plan, which recommends the use of buses.
Airport
Cairns International Airport is operated by the
Cairns Port Authority and is located north of Cairns City between the CBD and the Northern Beaches. It is Australia's sixth busiest domestic airport and fifth busiest international airport. In 2005/2006 there were 3.76 million international and domestic passenger movements.
The Airport has a domestic
terminal, a separate international terminal, and a general aviation area. The airport handles international flights, and flights to major Australian cities, tourist destinations, and regional destinations throughout North Queensland. It is an important base for general aviation serving the
Cape York Peninsula and
Gulf of Carpentaria Communities. The Cairns airport is also a base for the
Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Sea port
The Cairns
Seaport, located on Trinity Inlet, is operated by the
Cairns Port Authority.
Most major tour operators have their check-in desks located inside the Reef Fleet Terminal. It serves as an important port for tourist operators providing daily reef trips. These consist of large
catamarans capable of carrying over 300 passengers as well as smaller operators who may take as few as 12 tourists. Cairns Port is also a port of call for
cruise ships, such as Captain Cook Cruises, cruising the South
Pacific Ocean, and it provides freight services to coastal townships on
Cape York Peninsula, the
Torres Strait and the
Gulf of Carpentaria.
Yearly cargo through the port totals 1.13 million tonnes. Almost 90 percent of the trade is bulk cargoes - including petroleum, sugar, molasses, fertiliser and LP gas. A large number of
fishing trawlers are also located at the port. There is also a
marina that houses private
yachts and boats used for tourist operations.
The
Royal Australian Navy has a base in Cairns (
HMAS Cairns) where, by May 2007, 4
Armidale Class patrol boats will be based.
The Trinity Wharf has recently been subject of a major redevelopment to improve the area for tourist and cruise ship operations. The
freight wharves are located to the south of Trinity Wharf further up Trinity Inlet.
Sister cities
Lae, Papua New Guinea (Morobe Province) since 1984
Minami, Japan (Tokushima Prefecture) since 1969
Oyama, Japan (Tochigi Prefecture) since June 15, 2006
Riga, Latvia since 1990
Scottsdale, USA (Arizona) since 1987
Sidney, Canada (British Columbia) since 1984
Zhanjiang, People's Republic of China (Guangdong province) since 2004
Education
» See List of schools in Cairns
Cairns has numerous primary and secondary schools. Separate systems of private and public schools operate in Queensland. There are 20 state primary schools and 16 state high schools operated by the Queensland state government Department of Education within the Cairns City Council area, including 6 schools in the predominantly rural areas south of Gordonvale. There is one combined primary and secondary school in Bentley Park.
Catholic schools are operated by Catholic Education Cairns. The Catholic system encompasses nineteen primary schools, six secondary colleges and one P-12 college. There are almost 6,000 primary students and 3,250 secondary students enrolled in the Catholic school system.
The Cairns Campus of James Cook University is located at Smithfield. The city is also home to a TAFE college, and a School of the Air base, both located in the inner suburb of Manunda.
Health
The Cairns Base Hospital is situated on the Cairns Esplanade and is the major hospital for the Cape York Peninsula Region. The smaller Cairns Private Hospital is located nearby. On the north side of the Base hospital is located the Australian Red Cross Blood Service
Cairns is a base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which operates clinics and provides emergency evacuations in remote communities throughout the region.
Churches
» See List of churches in Cairns
Sport and recreation
Cairns also has a National Basketball League (NBL) team, the Cairns Taipans. Notable sporting grounds include Barlow Park, Cairns Showground and Cazaly's Stadium (cricket, Australian rules football and rugby league), the Cairns Convention Centre (basketball), and the Cairns Hockey Centre.
The Northern Pride Queensland Cup rugby league team will play their first season in 2008 and will act as a feeder team to the North Queensland Cowboys who play in the National Rugby League.
Cairns is unusual among Queensland cities in that Australian rules football is followed, and there's an active local league.
Cairns is a major international destination for scuba diving due to its close proximity to the Great Barrier Reef. Other recreational activities popular with tourists include whitewater rafting, skydiving and snorkelling.
Wildlife
In addition to the wildlife in and around the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns boasts a variety of inland and airborne wildlife. Whilst in the forest areas, keep an eye out for Kangaroos however in the sky be aware that pelicans and large fruit bats are common place. In the mud alongside the esplanade can be seen when the weather is right, the occasional 'mudskip' a kind of mud burrowing prehistoric looking fish.
Further Information
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