Cairns

Cairns
Climate diagram
	Temperature in ° C , precipitation in mm
	Source: wetterkontor.de

Cairns

View of Cairns from Mt Whitfield

State :	Australia Australia
State :	Queensland
Founded :	1876

Coordinates :	16 ° 55 ′ S , 145 ° 47 ′ E Coordinates: 16 ° 55 ′ S , 145 ° 47 ′ E-16.916666666667 145.77972222222
Area :	254.1 km²

Residents :	144,787 (2016)
Population density :	570 inhabitants per km²

Time zone :

AEST (UTC + 10)

LGA :	Cairns Regional Council
Website :	www.cairns.qld.gov.au

Cairns

Cairns is a city in northern Queensland , Australia . When the city was founded in 1876 by the then Governor of Queensland, William Wellington Cairns , it was originally used as an export port for gold and other mineral resources extracted from the mines west of the city. Over time, sugar cane became the main export product.

museum

Former Post office

location

Due to its proximity to many attractions, Cairns has become a popular destination for foreign tourists and is considered the main travel destination in Australia by many backpackers .

The so-called Lagoon in Cairns

The Great Barrier Reef can be reached in an hour and a half by speedboat . Green Island and Fitzroy Island National Park are popular yacht excursion destinations. The Daintree National Park in the north offers its visitors the experience of a tropical rainforest . To the west are the Atherton Tablelands . This high plateau offers a cooler climate compared to the tropical heat of the coastal region. In the vicinity there are many attractions specially developed for tourists, such as the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park , the Skyrail , a 7.5 km long cable car to Kuranda or the AJ Hackett Bungee Center in the rainforest. Although Cairns is located directly on the sea, the city has no direct access to the beach in the strict sense of the word. There is an artificial lagoon that is filled with salt water and is therefore very child-friendly. At low tide, the beach promenade, which has been modernized with great effort, is bordered by a mud plain hundreds of meters long on which small mangroves grow. However, a few miles to the north are some of the most beautiful beaches in Queensland (such as Trinity Beach). The botanical garden "The Flecker Botanical Gardens" is 4 km from the center. In this tropical garden there are rare plants and flowers: titan arum , orchids and pitcher plants among others.

Flecker Botanical Gardens

administration

Cairns is part of the Cairns Region administrative region . 98,000 people live in the city's area (as of 2007). The following districts and places belong to Cairns: Aeroglen, Aloomba, Babinda, Barron, Barron Gorge, Bayview Heights, Bentley Park, Bramston Beach, Brinsmead, Bungalow, Cairns City, Cairns North, Caravonica, Clifton Beach, Deeral, Earlville, East Russell, East Trinity, Edge Hill, Edmonton, Ellis Beach, Eubenangee, Fitzroy Island, Freshwater, Goldsborough, Gordonvale, Green Hill, Green Island, Holloways Beach, Kamerunga, Kanimbla, Kewarra Beach, Lamb Range, Macalister Range, Machans Beach, Manoora, Manunda , Mirriwinni , Mooroobool, Mount Peter, Mount Sheridan, Palm Cove , Parramatta Park, Portsmith, Redlynch, Smithfield, Stratford, Trinity Beach, Trinity Park, Westcourt, White Rock, Whitfield, Woopen Creek, Wooroonooran, Woree and Yorkeys Knob.

traffic

Cairns has an international airport seven kilometers north of the city and can be reached directly from Europe .

Cairns Airport

A railway line connects the city in the south with Brisbane and extends to Forsayth in the west . At the end of 2013, a new connection, the “Spirit of Queensland”, went into operation on the railway line between Brisbane and Cairns . The train stops at several stations along the 1,700-kilometer route. The total travel time is around 25 hours. The other railway line that " Kuranda Scenic Railway " is called, was built from 1882 to 1891. The journey from Cairns to Kuranda takes about two hours. In addition to the two railway lines built in the large cape gauge, there is the extensive network of sugar cane railways with a gauge of 610 mm, which also runs through some quarters of Cairns.

The Bruce Highway (No. M1 or A1) runs from Cairns to Brisbane and the Captain Cook Highway (No. S44 or A1) leads to Port Douglas . Cairns has a port on the banks of the Cairns River, the importance of which hardly goes beyond the regional supply. More important is the landing stage for cruise ships , which regularly stop there.

Economy and Infrastructure

medicine

Medical care for the city and the hinterland is ensured by the Cairns Base Hospital , which opened in 1884. The Royal Flying Doctor Service is also located in the city and supplies northern Australia and neighboring countries such as Papua New Guinea from here . The base in Cairns is the largest Flying Doctors location in Australia.

Sports

Since 2012, a long-distance triathlon (3.86 km swimming, 180.2 km cycling and 42.195 km running) has been held here every June with the Ironman Cairns .

climate

In Cairns there is a tropical climate, it is determined by hot and humid monsoons . The maximum temperatures can reach around 34 ° C in the period from November to April. This is also the time when the humidity is highest. In the remaining months the temperatures drop a little and the humidity is also lower. The water temperature is 23 to 28 degrees.

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Cairns

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	31.5	31.1	30.4	29.1	27.5	25.8	25.6	26.6	28.0	29.4	30.6	31.3	O	28.9
Min. Temperature (° C)	23.6	23.6	23.0	21.6	20.0	17.6	16.9	17.5	18.7	20.6	22.4	23.3	O	20.7

Precipitation ( mm )	397	422	449	225	107	50	26th	22nd	33	44	100	190	Σ	2,065

Hours of sunshine ( h / d )	6.7	6.1	6.1	6.4	6.3	7.5	7.2	8.0	8.3	8.6	8.2	7.7	O	7.3

Rainy days ( d )	14th	15th	17th	15th	11	6th	5	5	4th	5	8th	10	Σ	115

Water temperature (° C)	27	28	28	27	26th	25th	24	23	24	25th	26th	26th	O	25.7

Humidity ( % )	77	79	79	78	77	74	73	72	70	70	72	74	O	74.6

Source: wetterkontor.de

Cairns is located in the zone of tropical cyclones ( cyclones ). On March 20, 2006, Cyclone Larry just missed the city with winds of up to 290 km / h when it caused damage of around 500 million Australian dollars on the Queensland coast . Also on the night of February 2nd to 3rd, 2011, Cairns was lucky when the storm center of Cyclone Yasi passed south of the city and left only minor damage.

architecture

Former town hall

St. Monica's Cathedral

Performing Arts Center

Among the few historic buildings that have been preserved in Cairns are the Cairns Museum, construction of which began in 1907, as well as the former City Council , built in 1929-30 , which now houses the city library, and the former post office from 1882 on Lake Street. The courthouse ( Cairns Court House Complex ) on Abbot Street was built in 1919-21, the former Central Hotel on Lake Street 1908-09. The Grand Hotel from 1926 and the Hides Hotel, built in 1928, are also well preserved. A vivid contrast to this is the modern Performing Arts Center , which opened in 2018 and in front of which sculptures in the colors of the Aborigines can be seen.

One of the most striking church buildings in Cairns is the Roman Catholic St. Monika Cathedral, built between 1967 and 1968, which is known for its modern, colorful glass windows, among other things. They illustrate the creation of the world, whereby in addition to Aborigines, primarily plants and animals occurring in Australia - such as. B. Cassowary , monitor lizard and kangaroo - are shown.

Green spaces

The 38 hectare Botanical Garden ( Flecker Botanic Garden ) extends about 4 km northwest of the city center . It is followed by the Centenary Lakes green area with two freshwater lakes, which were created in 1975 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the city's foundation. The Zhanjiang Chinese Friendship Garden was laid out next to the lakes in 2004-2007 , pointing to the Chinese twin city of Zhanjiang from Cairns, and in which plants of both Chinese and Australian origins can be seen. The redesign of the Esplanade, an elongated green area by the sea, in which the Cairns Cenotaph war memorial erected in 1925 rises, was completed in 2004. In the immediate vicinity of the marina and the newly created lagoon, the Fogarty Park , which was redesigned in 2003 and has a music shell ( soundshell ), which is often used for cultural events, is located on artificially raised grounds . Munro Martin Parklands , which was named in 1954 and previously called "Norman Park", was laid out in the city center around 1890 . After its redesign in 2016, it was reopened.Not far from an obelisk erected in 2015 and an elongated pergola covered with red-flowering Mucuna benettii, there is an open-air stage with an amphitheater seating area with 3,000 seats.

Old graveyard

Just north of downtown is the city's oldest cemetery, 4-acre McLeod Street Pioneer Cemetery on McLeod Street on the Kuranda Scenic Railway . It was in use from 1877 to 1954 and has been a listed building since it was entered in the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992.

tourism

Cairns ranks fourth among the destinations visited by international tourists in Australia. First place goes to Sydney, second to Melbourne and third to the Gold Coast. Cairns is known as the diving capital of Australia and is the starting point for many liveaboards and day diving tours in the Great Barrier Reef. Cairns, itself, there are several large training centers , where thousands of people each year, the learn diving or in scuba continued form. For tourists, Cairns is the starting point for the Daintree Rainforest, the Atherton Tablelands and the Cape York Peninsula . Mainly cultural institutions, recreational facilities and markets are among the sights in the inner city area. The Cairns Museum provides information about the city and regional history. Classical, modern and traditional Aboriginal art are on display at the Cairns Regional Gallery. The Bolands Center and St Monicas College are the two most important historic buildings in the city center. The organizations JUTE Theater Company, KickArts Contemporary Arts and End Credits Film Club are based in the Center of Contemporary Arts. They perform regularly in the two rooms of the art center or organize exhibitions. The Rondo Theater is another well-known playhouse.

The city has no natural beaches. Playgrounds, green areas, seating, BBQs, information boards and a lagoon filled with salt water were built on the approximately 3 kilometer long esplanade . During the opening hours it is possible to swim here under the supervision of lifeguards. Opposite the lagoon is the Night Market, which sells souvenirs, massages and Asian food from Monday to Friday (5:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.). Rustys Market is on Grafton Street, which runs through the city center.

The Tom McDonald Park is located in Palm Cove.

Special events

Vegetation between Cairns and Townsville

On November 14, 2012 (local time), Cairns was the only major city in the total area of a total solar eclipse . This solar eclipse took place in the morning shortly after sunrise . The phase of totality lasted 2 minutes and 4 seconds in Cairns. The weather forecast was relatively favorable for the Australian east coast (the average sky cover is 40 percent). In fact, in the urban area of Cairns, clouds prevented an observation of totality, from the Northern Beaches , which adjoin the urban area to the north, and from the mountainous hinterland, however, one often had a good view.

Town twinning

	Hiwasa - Minami , Japan since 1969
	Lae , Papua New Guinea ( Morobe Province ) since 1984
	Sidney , Canada ( British Columbia ) since 1984
	Scottsdale , USA ( Arizona ) since 1987
	Riga , Latvia since 1990
	Zhanjiang , People's Republic of China since 2004
	Oyama , Japan since June 15, 2006