Bowling Green Bay National Park

Covering 55,300 hectares, this is the largest National Park in the region, and the area was once home to the Wulgurukaba Aboriginal people who have left their mark in beautiful rock paintings. It is sited between Townsville and Bowen and includes the Mount Elliot area and adjacent coastal wetlands, saltpans and mangrove swamps. Alligator Creek meanders through the park, with beautiful waterfalls and cascades crashing into deep pools, surrounded by tropical rainforest.

Quilpie Opals

Australia is known for producing the world's finest opals, with 95 percent of the world's production of these gems originating from rich mineral deposits in New South Wales, South Australia, and Quilpie in Western Queensland. Quilpie Opals has opened a retail store in Cairns, which also serves as an educational venue for visitors wishing to learn about the Australian national gemstone. The shop, which offers a vast selection of opal jewellery as well as souvenirs, also has a mini-theatre where visitors can watch an informative video on opal mining, cutting and polishing.

The Esplanade

The recently renovated Cairns Esplanade is the hub for visitors to the city, providing an entertaining promenade with numerous recreational opportunities, lined with a host of restaurants, bars and cafes. Apart from a safe, sandy swimming lagoon and vast lawns used for all sorts of purposes from picnics and barbecues to kite-flying, the Esplanade features wonderful Saturday arts and crafts markets, spiced up by buskers and colourful street characters. There is never a dull moment on this lively foreshore.

Cairns WIld World Tropical Zoo

Hundreds of indigenous and exotic species of animals have been gathered in the Cairns Tropical Zoo to delight young and old, who can explore six hectares of tropical landscaped gardens and interact with the animals. Pet a koala or stroke a snake, and meet (not too close in this case) the largest living crocodile in the world, 'Sarge', who has lived in the park for more than 20 years. The zoo is dedicated to engendering a greater understanding of the wildlife of the area and promoting the preservation of their natural habitats.

Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park

The name 'Tjapukai' means 'people of the rainforest' and applies to the indigenous people who have inhabited the tropical region between Cairns and Port Douglas, and inland to Kuranda, for eons. About 20 years ago a group of entertainers established Australia's first aboriginal dance theatre at the village of Kuranda, near Cairns, in a shopping centre basement. Its popularity with tourists led to expansion into a fully-fledged award-winning 25-acre Cultural Park, which now draws the crowds at Smithfield, a few miles north of the city. Show business, in the form of history and dance theatre, remains the basis of the attraction, and at the Camp Village visitors can interact with the Tjapukai and try out traditional activities like playing the didgeridoo and throwing a boomerang. The park also offers a nighttime show experience where the audience is swept up into the ancient rituals and ceremonies of the 'Dreamtime', including a dinner banquet of local food and wine.