My life in Cairns had just started for real and I was pretty happy about it. That being said, it took me a little over a month to find a job in Cairns. While it is truth that the city is way smaller than Sydney or Melbourne, it is still a very touristic city, specially during the dry season, which is when cities like Sydney or Melbourne experience a cold weather. For some unknown reasons though, that year was one of the worst for the tourist economy in Cairns. That’s to say that throughout my time in Cairns I pretty much never saw a venue full, like I saw in Sydney, Melbourne or even in Port Douglas.
At the same time, as I mentioned before, Cairns is one of the few “big” cities over the Tropic of Capricorn, which means that a huge amount of 462 visa holders will go there sooner or later to find a job that allows them to extend their visa one more year.
I think the reason why it was so hard for me to find a job in Cairns was because of what I’ve just mentioned above. And, I wasn’t alone in that. I met plenty of people who, after a couple of weeks, had to leave Cairns because they were running out of money and they couldn’t find a job. All in all I’m happy I was persistent and eventually I managed to achieve what I wanted. Now, let’s talk about Cairns 🙂
Where to stay in Cairns?
Accommodation in Cairns is cheap. In fact, compared to towns like Port Douglas, (in high season) Melbourne or Sydney, accommodation in Cairns is really cheap. I spent almost 4 months in Cairns and I lived in three hostels and in one shared house.
Hostels
We booked a couple of nights at Red Key Hostel to finish our Australian Trip. The hostel was cheap but I didn’t like much the vibe. It was also kind of far away from everything.
I then spent some nights at another hostel called Asylum. It was a little bit pricier than Red Key but the location and the ambience were much better. I met plenty of backpackers who were staying there.
What can I say about my third and last hostel? I spent almost 3 months altogether at Caravella Backpackers. It wasn’t the cleanest hostel in the world but eventually got way better thanks to the job of some backpackers (thanks Camille, Lotten, Sophie, etc.,) who were doing that in exchange for accommodation. It was pricier than the previous ones but you could get a room for as low as 100 AUD per week if you were going to stay there for some time.
The hostel had a pool, a chill-out area and some tables and benches, which made it pretty convenient to have some food, drinks and talk to people. The location was a little far from the city center but it was right on the Esplanade. The fridges were old and didn’t work very well but the rooms and bathrooms were OK overall. I made a bunch of great friends there.
Shared houses
It is funny how when I arrived in Australia I was desperate to find a room and as time went by I got used to live in hostels. Once I “settled down” in Caravella, I didn’t even consider to look for a room. One day though, a friend of mine told me she was going to Spain for a month and a half and she was renting her room during that time. The room was very nice and I already knew some of the tenants in the house. After we got the fifth person in our hostel room (I spent like a month and a half in a 6-person room that was huge and most of the time kind of empty) I thought it was time for a change, and so I went to the shared house.
So, in my case, I didn’t have to look for the room but, for those of you who have to, I would say you should go with Gumtree, Flatmates or Facebook. Most of the people I met where living in “Parramatta Park”. It was a nice neighbourhood just behind Cairns Central Shopping Center. It could feel a little far away from downtown and the Esplanade but most of the people where riding their bikes. My house was also there and I was happy with the location and the ambience. Prices could range from 130 to 250 AUD for the room.
What to do/see in Cairns?
I didn’t feel like Cairns itself had many stuff to do or see, at least when it came to cultural activities. The city itself was nice but it didn’t have any “interesting” museums, bridges, churches, towers, etc. Nevertheless, there are some spots I would encourage you to check. Some of them made my life in Cairns an unforgettable experience 🙂
What to see in Cairns city?
What I liked the most of Cairns was its promenade and its Lagoon. The promenade was beautiful and so the landscape you could see from there. The lagoon, which had the setup of an artificial beach, was nice and refreshing. It was the perfect spot to lay down and chill. The marina area, where all the boats and fancy restaurants were, was also nice. You could go for a walk and enjoy the views and calmness of the open sea. There was also the typical botanic garden that you can find in pretty much every big city in Australia. I went there just once but I felt like it was worth it. It is not too far to go by walk. If you follow the promenade path, (“Esplanade” street) leaving the marina behind, you’ll get there easily.
Dining options in Cairns
You will find plenty of restaurants and bars all along the promenade, or the “Esplanade”, which is the name of the street parallel to the promenade. There are plenty of local food options but also international ones like Chinese, Italian, Brazilian, etc. If you keep walking on that street, right in front of the lagoon, you will find the Night Markets. This place is pretty cool. It emulates (somehow) the night markets you can find in some countries in South East Asia. You can find plenty of food booths as well as souvenir shops.
You can also check out “P.J.O’Brien’s Irish Pub“, which offers you not just beers and spirits but also some typical dining options for a fair price. If you are staying at Caravella Backpackers you would be given a 10 AUD coupon that you could use to get a full meal with a small beer, not bad at all 🙂
Nightlife in Cairns
When it comes to party, the city of Cairns provides you with some interesting options:
– Monday: It was one of my favourite days of the week. If you walk to the lagoon and then turn left, you will get to the marina area. You have plenty of restaurants there but also a venue that is both a restaurant during the day and a club at night. The name of the venue is Salt House. Every Monday night they were playing electronic music. As far as I know it was the only club playing electronic music, so for me it was great. They were doing jager bombs and other drinks for as low as 5 AUD before midnight.
– Wednesday: Wednesday was the night at P.J’s, where you could show the world your singing skills with karaoke, get a 2 x 1 on drinks until midnight and even win 300 AUD if people voted you the best singer. We won once and we started to order drinks 2 by 2 lol.
– Thursday: You could choose between playing some free pool (every day of the week) and singing karaoke (and even getting some big and cheep jugs of beer) at Down Under or showing your “salsa” and “bachata” skills at The Pier Bar.
– Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: These days, as far as I was concerned, there were no special events or promotions, so you could pick the one(s) you want depending on what you like or how you feel.
– The Woolshed: One of the most famous venues in Cairns. The location is perfect, between the Cairns Central Shopping Center and the Esplanade. It has two dance floors. The first one, as soon as you enter the venue, which normally plays less comercial music than the one above. The one upstairs has a terrace for smokers and some bars where people go crazy showing their “Coyote Bar” skills. I was lucky enough to have my friend Mónica working there so I was visiting her now and them to keep her busy lol. My life in Cairns wouldn’t have been the same without her behind the bar 😉
– The Jack: This place has it all. It is a hostel, a bar, a restaurant and a club. I went there mostly for sport events like the World Cup, because they were showing the games on some huge screens. I think what I liked the most about the venue was the huge terrace inside, that gave you a feeling of “freedom”. They also had a gaming area if you wanted to try your luck with “Keno”.
– Gilligan’s: The first club I visited in Cairns. I went there with my friend Chaves and eventually we met Mónica there. You can see some snapshots from these moments here:
Similar to The Jack, it is also an all-in-one venue. The music in these places was not my favourite but it was alright. As mentioned before, I really enjoyed the electronic music at Salt House.
– Hemingway’s Brewery: One of my workplaces. I spent around 3 months working there. The venue itself was nice but my favourite part was the view of the sea right in front of you. You have a huge variety of beer and spirits to choose from, but from my point of view it was kind of expensive. From Monday to Friday, 17:00 to 18:00, they were doing happy hour and you could get the house beers or wine for 5 AUD.
– Cairn’s Casino: If you are up for some gambling, drinking or just to watching some games on proper screens, Cairn’s Casino is your place. I went first there with Chaves and we ended up winning around 500 AUD first by playing Keno and then by getting number 10 (D10S) at the roulette.
What to do/see in Cairns’ surroundings?
As I said before, while Cairns city might not be the most interesting in the world, its surroundings are full of treasures. Within a one hour drive you can reach plenty of amazing waterfalls. You have plenty of diving companies in the city to take you to the largest living organism in the world: the Great Barrier Reef. Next to the city of Cairns, by boat, you can reach some beautiful islands like “Green Island” and “Fitzroy Island”. There is pyramid-looking mountain, just 20 minutes away by car, where you can go for a beautiful and somehow challenging hike. The name of the mountain is “Walshs Pyramid” .
If you want to get a hold of what your life might be if you were in Jurassic Park, you can go check the oldest tropical rainforest in the world: “Daintree National Park & Cape Tribulation”, which takes around 3 hours by car. If you feel like trying some different sport you might want to check out the Wake Park in the outskirts of Cairns, where you can enjoy a day falling off the board and smashing your face against the water :).
Waterfalls around Cairns
There are plenty of amazing waterfalls around Cairns. Some are pretty close, like 30 minutes by car, others are a little further, like 2 hours. Throughout my time in Cairns I had time to visit some of them and I was really amazed by what I saw. I will provide you here with a couple of links to the most famous waterfalls around Cairns and then I’ll show you the ones I visited myself 🙂
https://blog.queensland.com/2017/11/09/top-waterfalls-near-cairns/
– Barron Falls: I first visited this waterfall or gorge when I was driving around Cairns trying to find a job. They were pretty much on the way from Mareeba to Cairns, so I decided to stop there when I saw the sign on the road.
There was a short walk through the rainforest that you needed to follow in order to arrive to the platform where you could appreciate the magnificence of mother nature. I saw a couple of huge spiders and some information panels along the way. Once there you could see a train rail and some tables and benches to sit down. If you feel like, you can take the train and go on a tour around the gorge. I didn’t do it but still I enjoyed some amazing views.
– Crystal Cascades (& Fairy Falls): This was my second time chasing waterfalls. I did it in July, once I had already settled down in Caravella Backpackers and I had my jobs working at Hemingway’s and at some events with TopEnd and Staffing Solution. Life was good back then 🙂 Crystal Cascades are at a convenient 30-minute drive from the City of Cairns.
On a sunny day in the beginning of July, Nicola, Maria and Camille decided to join me and my Time Machine to get to see what the whole fuss with Crystal Cascades was about. The drive there was pretty straightforward. Once we parked the car we started to walk the “easy” path to try to get to the “Fairy Falls”, which should be pretty close from the parking lot, by going in the opposite direction to Crystal Cascades.
Well, we were four people, sober and with functional brains but yet, we never had the feeling that the path was easy or straightforward. At some point during the hike, I felt like if we were in the middle of a rainforest, in some areas where no human beings had been before. There were some arrows painted on the trees, which we tried to follow, but eventually they would disappear. It was funny to see how they were getting nervous and I would tell them everything was alright lol. Eventually we made our own path through the rainforest and we got to some sort of fall or natural pool, which I want to think it was the Fairy Falls 🙂
With a lot of effort we went back up to the regular path and we followed the arrows back to the parking lot. We were exhausted but we had proven ourselves we were able to survive in the wildness, at least for one hour. We walked the easy (this time it was for real) path to the Crystal Cascades and we laid down to have some rest while enjoying the views.
– Babinda Boulders & The Devil’s Pool: One week after visiting the Crystal Cascades, on Monday the 16th of July, Jessie was celebrating her birthday. We were planning her birthday the week before and we wanted to do something “different” but, unfortunately, most of the people had to work that day. Nevertheless, to make her happy, Camille, Tristan, the birthday girl and myself drove the car to Babinda Boulders. It was my third time chasing waterfalls.
The drive there was longer than the others and, I’m not sure why, but I remember I felt pretty tired that day. I managed to get the group safe and sound to the parking lot of Babinda Boulders, where we used the barbeque area to prepare a nice lunch. After walking for like 15-20 minutes we arrived to Babinda Boulders, with the Devil’s Pool as the icon of its landscape. We took some pictures and enjoy the views, which were truly amazing (mother’s nature as its best again) and eventually…
I fell asleep lol. When I woke up it was one of these times you don’t even know where you are anymore, like the “is this the real life?” baby in the video. Not without effort I stood up and started to slowly walk the path back to the car. I was feeling very sleepy but so the rest of my group (instead of helping me out, as soon as they got into the car the fell asleep!) and I had to trust myself and my music to drive us back to Cairns.
We arrived in Cairns safe and sound. By the time we got back most of the people had already come back from work so we started the second round of Jessie’s birthday, by doing yet another barbeque and by visiting Salt House. It was Monday, what did you guys expect? 🙂
– The Waterfall Circuit: On Monday the 3rd of September we went on a trip to visit Millaa Millaa, Zillie and Ellinjaa falls. This time the group was formed by Mónica (the first Spanish girl I met when I arrived in Cairns) and Ariadna (my room and workmate). We tried to do something like this:
We had agreed with Monica the day before that we would pick her up at her place and from there we would start the trip. One hour before picking her up she texted us saying she didn’t feel like doing it… We didn’t care and we showed up at her door and eventually we “convinced” her to join us in an unforgettable trip.
And I bet if you asked her now she would tell you the trip was indeed unforgettable. She spent the whole way feeling dizzy because of the curvy road lol. For me it was like driving back home 🙂
Due to her motion problem we decided to stop when we saw a sign pointing to a lake. We took the right decision. The name of the lake was “Lake Barrine”. It was beautiful and we were able to lay down and chill for a while. There was a “tea house” that looked far from cheap so once we felt like we were ready, we went back to the car to keep driving to our first waterfall: Millaa Millaa.
I really enjoyed driving all the way there. The scenery was changing constantly from mountains to valleys to shallow to steep roads. It was beautiful and the weather was just perfect. We arrived at Millaa Millaa at around lunch time. I think it was one of the most beautiful waterfalls I’ve ever seen. After parking the car we walked downwards for a couple of minutes and we made it to a some sort of picnic area. From there, we could majestically see the water falling from the “fall”. There was like a small “lake” created by the water falling and we swam from there to the drop of the waterfall. The water was super cold but it was worth it. It was an incredible feeling being under the water falling.
Our next waterfall was Zillie. It was a short drive from Milla Milla and we got there easily. The scenery wasn’t as majestic as the Millaa Millaa falls but we still enjoyed some views from the upper part of the waterfall. The way from the parking lot to the waterfall was easy and short, but once there you had to be careful with the surface, which was kind of slippery. Below the drop of the waterfall there were huge sharp rocks, which gave the landscape a point of beauty but also a point of warning.
Our third and final waterfall was Ellinjaa, which was also a short and easy drive from Zillie falls. I would say this was my second favourite waterfall of the day. The size of the waterfall was smaller than Millaa Millaa but the scenery, with a small pond and some beautiful rocks in the middle, was pretty nice. We enjoyed the views and took some “professional” pictures and after a while, we left.
After seeing all three waterfalls we decided to drive back to Cairns. The drive ahead us should take a little over an hour. On the way there though, we saw a “Cathedral Fig Tree” sign on the road and we decided to take a little detour. That’s how we got to the Curtain Fig Tree. The detour wasn’t that long, maybe 5-10 Km.
After parking the car we started walking on some sort of platform and we made it to one of the most impressive trees I’ve ever seen in my life (and I’ve been to Yosemite National Park). When you see things like that there is not much to say or do, other than awing and enjoying. I’ll try to make you feel that way:
After enjoying the tree and its magnificence for some time, we got back to the car and finally we arrived back in Cairns. Because it was Monday, after taking a shower and having some food (and wine), we went to Salt House, to enjoy one of my last Monday nights in Cairns 🙂
