Cairns, Australia - Reminiscing the Stone

Above you can see my Australian home beach, Trinity. Yesterday I wrote about my new home beach.

Writing yesterday and then seeing my brother post about kayaking Double Island, I felt a little homesick and went through some old photos from my last trip to Australia, nine years ago. That is a long time in the history of a life, a short time in the history of the world.

I decided to share some images here so the Steemit's esteemed Steemians coud have a look at Cairns a little. I am sure it has changed a bit since I was last there but I am also quite certain that if you are a looking for a relaxed, tropical holiday destination, Cairns will be suitable. It is also popular for backpackers as there is lots of odd jobs to pay for travel (and drinks) available.

When I was living there at anyone time, about 25 percent of the population were visiting tourists.This is no tourist city though, it is much less glitzy and commercialised than many such places an one can feel quite at home, quite quickly as the locals are friendly and welcoming.

Green Island. A popular stop on the way out to the Great Barrier reef. It is a tiny place and tourist only. The locals visit Fitzroy instead.

A shot from a boat looking toward the city.

Barron falls. This is before the rains came and filled the dams. This is quite a mighty waterfall in the high wet season.

The harbour down at the Pier hotel and shopping complex. None of the boats are mine.

Looking back to the city from the Pier.

The Lagoon. This was built as I was leaving Cairns and is popular for local and tourist alike as it is the easiest place to swim and in the heart of the city.

The Kuranda railway. It climbs the mountains up to a little village that is home to many hippies.

Kuranda is a popular place for all types, not just hippies.

Paronella Park. It was the dream of a Spanish immigrant built about 90 years ago for the public.

The falls that run through the park. Some people do make their dreams a reality.

Of course, we all need to see where Bananas come from. Cairns was also a large sugar cane farming area. Lots of the farms have been developed now though.

I mentioned cassowaries in my post yesterday. It is kind of like an angry, forest emu with a helmet on.

Palm Cove, north of Cairns. It is a popular place for fancy beach dinners.

the city itself is quite small and held about 110 thousand inhabitants when I lived there. It is growing though and has almost 140 thousand now.

And to close.

Finns often ask 'why come to Finland, Australia is so exotic? Exotic just means from a distant foreign country. Finland is exotic. To me. Hopefully, these images give you a taste of where I come from and perhaps motivate you to book a trip. I am sure that there are many Australian Steemit users that will be happy to give more up to date advice.

Check out #teamaustralia for more Australian themed posts.

Maybe, like me, the images are as close as you are going to get for at least a while.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]

All photos were taken on a Canon 40D back in the day.