Known for world-class white water rafting, the Tully River in Far North Queensland is once again welcoming adventure seekers to its foaming waters.
Following a 12-month hiatus, white water rafting is back on the Tully River. This is where the 2019 World Rafting Championships were held, but you don't have to be a champion to try your hand. What's more, rafting is an interesting way to experience some of the world's oldest rainforest.
Above: Two ways to get to Kuranda, the Skyrail and the scenic railway; Cairns; Port Douglas.
Queensland is the second largest of Australia's six states – it's almost five times the size of Japan and seven times the size of the UK – and its far north is a tropical region centred on the city of Cairns and stretching north to the Torres Strait and west to the gulf country. Offshore is the magnificent Great Barrier Reef and inland is the Wet Tropics Rainforest, both of which are included on the World Heritage list.
Cairns (above), where I once lived and worked for four years, is the hub of the region. It's a city of almost 170,000 residents and host to more than 3 million visitors in a normal year. Apart from Cairns itself, the reef and rainforest are what visitors come to see, as well as the hinterland towns of Atherton, Mareeba, Mossman and Kuranda and the coastal town of Port Douglas. North of the crocodile-infested Daintree River are Cape Tribulation and Cooktown.
Cairns was founded in 1876 and for the next 110 years it was just another remote regional outpost. In the 1980s the local airport was redeveloped and upgraded to international standard, which together with a major tourism drive transformed Cairns from a sleepy regional town to the thriving city of today.
Here are a few things to do that have popped up since I was last in Cairns and which are a little different from regular tourist activities.
Join the Australian quoll conservation team collecting data on the endangered spotted-tailed quoll in the world's oldest rainforest. The 10-day tour with No Limit Adventures also includes work at the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre on Fitzroy Island and data collection on the Great Barrier Reef. With NLA you can also taste Australia's highest altitude coffee, visit a micro-distillery and try native Australian fruits and organic wines on a small group tour of the Atherton Tablelands, ending with a paddle of beer among the cane fields at the end of the day.
Experienced certified divers can join conservationists assessing reef health on the Great Barrier Reef with a new tour launched in Cairns by Passions of Paradise. Participants will monitor coral planting undertaken through the Coral Nurture Program. The experience is part of a full-day tour to two outer reef locations and includes two dives.
A prehistoric giant platypus is part of a new exhibition at the Cairns Aquarium giving visitors an insight into tropical North Queensland's little-known third World Heritage-listed site, the Riversleigh Mammal Fossil site. The Aquarium has also launched a behind-the-scenes Marine Life Encounter including hand-feeding Cownose Stingrays and a visit to the Cairns Turtle Hospital.
And right now the countdown is on for the Dwarf Minke Whales to arrive on the Ribbon Reefs north of Port Douglas in June and July. Day and overnight trips are available to swim with these inquisitive creatures.
Food and beverage
All of this outdoor activity is likely to build an appetite and bring on a thirst, so check out these opportunities for refreshments.
Try tea paired with Gallo cheeses at Nerada Tea Plantation, the latest addition to the gourmet itinerary on Brett's Outback Tasting Adventures. The plantation is home to tree kangaroos and is one of several tasting stops on the Atherton Tablelands including Mount Uncle Distillery, the Australian Platypus Park and Jaques Coffee Plantation.
Flynn's Italian is the Crystalbrook Collection's new signature Italian restaurant at Flynn Hotel. It opened on 9 April and celebrates the agricultural heritage of the region and its Italian immigrants, with hearty pasta and classics like beef carpaccio.
Sunlover Reef Cruises has launched a new tropical banquet in partnership with Nu Nu restaurant on its daily trips to the outer Great Barrier Reef. Chef Nick Holloway sources local produce for the lunch which includes chilled prawns, Tolga beef with sweet tamarind and noodles and a shredded slaw using vegetables from Rusty's Markets in Cairns.
If you fancy some laksa, pork bao buns or hoisin duck pancakes call in to Soy Kitchen Street Food for flavours inspired by the best street food of several Asian cultures. It's open for lunch and dinner from Wednesday to Sunday at The Reef Hotel Casino.
Third on the Left is a niche bar with an ever-changing carefully curated wine list and cocktails, and you can devise your own platter of speciality cheeses, charcuterie and marinated vegetables. As the name suggests, it's the third premises on the left upstairs in Palm Cove Village (below) on the Cairns northern beaches.
