Cairns, Queensland
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- "Cairns" redirects here. For other uses, see Cairns (disambiguation).
Cairns is a regional city and Local Government Area located in far north Queensland, Australia. Originally settled to serve as a port for exporting gold and other precious metals from mines west of the city, it later became a center for the crushing and exporting of sugar. The city is rapidly expanding, with an approximate population of 137,000, and is reliant on the sugar and tourism industry. The City of Cairns is located about 1700 km from Brisbane and about 2500 km from Sydney by road.
Cairns is a popular travel destination for foreign tourists because of its proximity to many attractions. The Great Barrier Reef is only one and a half hours away by boat. The Daintree National Park and Cape Tribulation are popular areas for experiencing a true tropical rainforest. It is also a starting point for people wanting to explore Cooktown, Cape York Peninsula, and the Atherton Tablelands.
The city has used its natural surrounds to its full advantage with the construction of many small theme parks for tourists. Among them is the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park, and Skyrail, a Gondola Cableway that extends for 7.5 km over World Heritage rainforest.
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Geography
Cairns is located on the eastern side at the base 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 Cairns Inlet. Some of the city's suburbs are located on fertile 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. The highest mountain in Queensland, Mount Bartle Frere, is located within the city's boundaries.
Urban Layout
Cairns is a third class metropolis and has a linear urban layout that runs from south (starting at Aloomba) to north (ending at Ellis Beach). The city is approximately 52 km from north to south. Cairns has an urban sprawl problem, with suburbs incurring and 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. Building on Cairns hillslopes is extremely dangerous. According to national geologists and geographers, Cairns is the most likely place in Australia for a landslide to occur because of the fertile but weak clay based soils. The urban layout of Cairns is similar to Honolulu's urban layout.
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. Extending 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 at the base of the Kuranda Range Road.
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 the Freshwater Valley and can be considered as part of the Northern Beaches area. Further up the Freshwater Valley is the Redlynch Valley. The suburb of Redlynch is located on the western side of the Redlynch Valley, and Brinsmead lies on the eastern side. Stratford, Freshwater, Redlynch and Brinsmead are separated from Cairns city by the Mount Whitfield (elevation 365m) and the Whitfield Range.
Cairns City, which is based on what once was swamp, includes: Cairns CBD, Manunda, Edge Hill, Whitfield, Parramatta Park, Mooroobool, Manoora, Portsmith, Earlville, Bungalow and Woree. The small suburb of Aeroglen is pressed between Mount Whitfield and the airport on the Captain Cook Highway north of the CBD towards Smithfield.
Southside Cairns, which is higher in elevation and based between a mountainous valley, included the suburbs of White Rock, Mt 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 town of Kuranda is located upstream along the Barron River on the western side of the Kuranda Range -– part of the Great Dividing Range. Kuranda is located in the Mareeba Shire local government area and, due to the geography of the Kuranda Range, is not part of the Cairns urban area, even though it is part of the Cairns economic catchment.
Climate
Cairns experiences a warm tropical climate. It experiences a dry season between April and November and a wet season with tropical monsoons between November and March. The township of Babinda at the southern end of the city is one of Australia’s wettest towns recording an annual rainfall of over 4200 mm. It has hot humid summers and milder temperatures in winter. Many tourists consider Cairns to have a similar climate to Hawai'i. Cairns is also subject to possible cyclone activity during the wet season. Major flooding can occur to the Barron River and the Mulgrave River during the wet season causing the city to be unreachable by all incoming road routes.
Government
The City of Cairns is governed by the Cairns City Council. The Council comprises of a Mayor and twelve Councillors. The Mayor is elected by the voters at large and the Councillors are elected from twelve single member Divisions using an optional preferential voting system. Elections are held every three years. The current Mayor is Cr Kevin Byrne.
The Cairns City Council Local Government Area consists of two former local government areas which were amalgamated in 1995. These were the Cairns City Council (consisting of the suburbs listed under ‘Cairns City’ above), and the Mulgrave Shire Council (comprising of the other areas, namely the Northern Beaches, Freshwater and Redlynch Valleys, and the Southside). The town of Gordonvale was once called Mulgrave.
At the time of 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 have Cairns City Council chambers located on Abbott Street have 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 sends four representatives to the Queensland Parliament from the seats of Cook, Barron River, Cairns and Mulgrave. Two Federal Parliamentarians represent the area in the seats of Leichhardt and Kennedy.
Prior to the abolishment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) the Indigenous people in Cairns were represented by the Cairns and District Regional Council. The Council comprised of twelve Councillors who elected a Chair from among them. Terry O'Shane was the last Chairman of the Cairns and district Regional Council. 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 Region. It is a base for the regional offices of many government departments.
Tourism plays a major part in the Cairns economy. After Sydney and Gold Coast, Cairns is the most popular tourist destination in Australia. Cairns is second only to Sydney for the number of international visitors to Australia. Its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef and rainforest make it a popular destination. The city contains dozens of hotels, resorts, motels and backpackers hostels. Activities in the region include golf, white water rafting….
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 are two sugar mills operate in Gordonvale and Babinda.
Communications
The Cairns Post is the only daily newspaper published in the city. The Courier Mail is a daily Queensland-wide newspaper published in Brisbane. The Australian newspaper also circulates widely. All three of these newspapers are owned by News Corporation, controlled by Rupert Murdoch. The Barfly is the weekly street press newspaper providing information about entertainment in the region. Weekly suburban newspapers are also published.
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.
Cairns radio stations include a number of public, commercial and community broadcasters. The ABC broadcasts ABC RadioNational, ABC Local, ABC Classic FM and the Triple J youth network. Commercial radio stations include 4CAFM HOTFM, SeaFM and 4CCRFM
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. The Cairns International Airport is essential to the viability of the tourism industry. Rail, sea port and road connections are also important.
Roads
The Bruce Highway runs for 1700 km 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) commences between Cairns and Port Douglas approximately 80 km to the north.
The Kuranda Range Road 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 on the 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 Tablelands.
A network of secondary and local roads of varying quality is maintained throughout the Cairns suburbs by the State Government Queensland Transport Department and the Cairns City Council.
Coaches
Cairns is also served by long distance coaches to Brisbane, and regional cities to the south.
Public Transport
A public transport network is operated throughout the city by Sunbus. A transit mall is located in the CBD through which all services operate. Most services run from the Northern Beaches to the southern parts of Cairns through the CBD. Bus services also operate to Kuranda and to the Atherton Tableland.
Former cane train corridors have been set aside 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 is not a favoured option under the FNQ 2010 Regional Plan, which favours the use of buses.
Rail
Passenger trains operate on the Brisbane to Cairns railway line. These are operated by Queensland Rail (QR) and include the high speed tilt train. Freight trains also operate along the route. There is a QR Freight handling facility located at Portsmith.
The Cairns to Kuranda Tourist Railway also operates from Cairns. The scenic railway snakes its way up the Kuranda Range and is not used for commuter services. It passes through the towns of Stratford, Freshwater, Redlynch before reaching Kuranda, stopping at the Freshwater train station.
Passenger services to Mount Forsyth west of Atherton were discontinued in the mid-1990’s. These were mixed freight and passenger services which served the semi-remote towns west of the Great Dividing Range.
Cairns has been served by a narrow gauge cane railway (or cane tram) network used to haul harvested sugar cane to the Mulgrave Mill located in Gordonvale. The pressure of urban sprawl on land previously cultivated by cane farmers, together with the need to reclaim cane train tracks for local roads has seen this network reduced over recent years.
Airport
The Cairns International Airport is operated by the Cairns Port Authority and is located 7 km north of Cairns City between the CBD and the Northern Beaches. It is Australia's sixth busiest in terms of international and domestic passenger movements. In excess of three million international and domestic passenger movements were recorded during 2003–2004. The Airport has a domestic terminal and 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. General aviation provides important lifeline links to these communities. The Cairns airport is also a base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Sea port
The Cairns Seaport is located on the Cairns Inlet is operated by the Cairns Port Authority. 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 liners cruising the South Pacific Ocean and provides freight services to coastal townships on the Cape York Peninsula, the Torres Strait and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Cairns. A number of fishing trawlers are also located at the port. There is also a marina which house private yachts and boats used for tourist operations. Unlike the port of Townsville which is a major export point for cattle, wheat and minerals mined in Mount Isa, the Port of Cairns does not handle and bulk exports.
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 Cairns Inlet.
Education
Cairns has numerous public and independent primary and secondary schools. It has a TAFE college and the Cairns Campus of the James Cook University is located at Smithfield. Cairns also has a School of the Air base located in Manunda.
Schools
St Gerard Majella, Woree, St Anthony's Primary, Dimbulah, St Mary's Catholic College, Woree State School, Woree State High School Cairns West State School, Parramatta State School, Edge Hill State School, Trinity Anglican School, Cairns Christian College, Smithfield State High School, Cairns State High School, Peace Lutheran College, Freshwater State School and Bentley Park College, St Augustine's College, St Monica's College,Yarrabah State School,Balaclava State School,Hambledon State School,Our Lady Help of Christians,Cairns North State School
Health
The Cairns Base Hospital is situated on the Cairns Esplanade and is the major hospital for the Cape York Peninsula Region. The smaller private Cairns Private Hospital is also located nearby.
Cairns is a base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service which operates clinics and emergency evacuations in remote communities throughout the region.
Sport & Recreation
As in the rest of Queensland, Rugby Union and Rugby League are popular in Cairns. Cairns is unusual among Queensland cities in that Australian Rules Football is also very popular and there is an active local AFL league. Other sports such as martial arts, dance, soccer and cricket are also popular. The Cairns Taipans are a National Basketball League (NBL) team who play at the Cairns Convention Centre. Notable sporting grounds include Barlow Park which hosts cricket and AFL matches, the Cairns Convention Centre and the Cairns Hockey Centre.
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 and snorkelling.
External links
- City of Cairns Official Website
- Cairns Local Directory Website
- Cairns Local Accommodation Directory
- Tropical Australia Official Website
- Cairns & Region Convention Bureau Website
Categories: Cities in Queensland | Coastal cities | Local Government Areas of Queensland | Far North Queensland
