Page 10 - Palm City Spotlight - May '22

Page 10, Palm City Spotlight

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Cairns: Gateway To The coral, and more than 1,500 species of fish.
Coral reproduces by spawning
Great Barrier Reef annually. The eggs are released in polyps
varying in color from bright pinks and
By Don Kiselewski, MCC, reds to blues and greens. The coral
D.S., Palm Beach Gardens spawning is synchronized over several
Travel Leaders nights following a full moon in October
First things first: The or November. The reef is also a breeding
residents of Cairns, Australia, ground for such endangered species as
are very proud of their name, the humpback whale and the dugong, an
and get somewhat perturbed herbivorous marine mammal.
when foreigners try to Visiting and enjoying the reef has
pronounce the name of their become a special tourist adventure that Green Island, located on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
beautiful city using all of the can be experienced from many of the
letters in the spelling. Quite towns that stretch along the 1,200 miles of reef, but none is that it climbs give passengers spectacular views of the tropical
simply, it’s “Cans,” like cans quite like Quicksilver. The 2,000-horsepower catamarans of scenery and waterfalls.
of beans (or beer). the Quicksilver fleet are aluminum-hulled vessels that skim the In 1995, the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway started making
Located in Queensland on the northeast coast of Australia, water with over 300 passengers aboard. There are numerous the journey from the valley at the plane of the Coral Sea to the
Cairns serves as the transportation hub for visitors to the Great destinations that these sleek crafts visit; the most popular is mountaintop at Kuranda. The trip is made in enclosed gondola
Barrier Reef, with an international airport and deepwater port. the floating aluminum oasis of the sea. The floating platform, cars on a cable. One gets a unique view of the canopy as the car
While it is true that Cairns is the gateway to some of the world’s anchored above the reef, is self-contained and allows for the travels just above treetop level through the rainforest.
greatest natural wonders docking of the Quicksilver. All snorkeling and diving equipment Enjoying both the historic train and the skyrail on your visit
– a tropical rainforest and is on hand, kept in top-notch condition. The platform also can culminate in experiencing the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural
the Great Barrier Reef – provides dockage for semisubmergible vessels that take viewers Park. Here you witness the true lifestyle of the Aborigines
it’s also true that Cairns below the water to capture views of the reef without getting wet. through their music, dance and Dreamtime stories. You can get
has its own special charm. A special scuba training dive platform and snorkel platform some hands-on experiences, possibly throwing a boomerang or
The city has colonial- with easy access to the water are all part of this great facility. spear. This is all part of a full-day experience.
style homes, broad avenues Scuba instructions are given to the novice on the 90-minute And for those who prefer a bit slower pace and lodging
lined with palms, fig trees trip out, which, when coupled with the dive platform practical directly on sand beaches, the Palm Cove and Port Douglas areas
and giant bougainvilleas, training, qualifies them for the two dives on the Great Barrier just north of Cairns are excellent venues to do just that.
and a pretty esplanade Reef that they will make that very same day. Few places on earth have as much diversity in so small an
that leads to an active A few miles west of Cairns lies the Great Dividing Range, area. There is always so much to do, and so little time to do it,
downtown area. The buzz which separates the subtropical coastal area from the lush beauty but even a short visit to North Queensland will give you a unique
in the downtown area of the hinterland with its national parks and unique birds, animals perspective of the real Australia.
centers around the casino and plant life. The indigenous Aborigines have lived in these Don Kiselewski writes from his personal experiences, having
being built in the center elevated areas for thousands of years. Their culture has continued traveled in 122 countries and cruised the oceans, seas and rivers
of the main complex of A dugong feeds on sea grass for millennia by “Dreamtime,” the oral history that is passed daily of the world. Palm Beach Gardens Travel Leaders, his family
hotels. This, coupled from the elders to the youth of the tribe. The Aboriginal culture owned and operated agency, is located at Mirasol Town Square,
with a convention center, has been dated back some 50,000 years. 11360 North Jog Road, Building A, Suite 102-6, Palm Beach
brings the city into an Kuranda, 16 miles northwest of Cairns, is a picturesque Gardens. The agency has been serving the travel needs of the
urban setting. village set in the lush area on the edge of the Atherton Tableland, South Florida area for over a quarter of a century. Contact him
Al t h ough a n which is served by both the Kuranda Scenic Railway and the at (561) 694-9696 or Aussie@PBGTravel.com.
oceanfront community, Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. The railroad was built to supply
Cairns does not have goods to the miners of the area who were often trapped atop the
any beaches, so for those plateau because of the rain and mud. The steep walls of the gorge
looking for that white
sand experience, you’ll
have to go offshore to
Green Island, or head
north to one of the six A green turtle floats above the coral on the Great Barrier Reef
wonderful beaches just
north of the city on the
Marlin Coast. The city
has created a man-made
lagoon with sand beaches
for visitors to save the People keep cool at the Cairns Esplanade’s public swimming
trip north. Touching the Palm Cove lagoon
ground isn’t important
to most who visit the area. The excitement they seek comes
35 miles offshore, at small islands or floating platforms that
hover over the Great Barrier Reef.
Stretching along Queensland’s coast, Australia’s Great Barrier
Reef is the largest, most beautiful and complex single reef system
in the world. It covers an area of 217,526 square miles, which Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. Photo by Louise Marshall
makes it half the size of Texas. The reef harbors an incredible The Kuranda Scenic Railway overlooking Barron Gorge
array of marine life, with more than 400 types of hard and soft National Park in tropical Queensland Photos by Don Kiselewski

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