Arriving in Cairns was like returning to South East Asia in terms of the weather; very hot and humid all day and night. The city itself was also somewhat smaller and quieter than I expected and not very built up at all.

Unfortunately upon arriving I heard on the radio about a cyclone forming off the coast and heading inland, which threw off a lot of peoples plans. The following day I was supposed to be on a trip out to the great barrier reef but everything was cancelled and with little time there to rearrange I did annoyingly miss out on what I imagine would’ve been some great sights. The cyclone was making landfall further south so the weather in Cairns wasn’t actually too bad and I still got out to explore the town, walking the long esplanade and visiting the botanical gardens.

The following day I had another trip that luckily wasn’t cancelled, being an inland journey north to the Daintree rainforest and Cape Tribulation. With only 5 people on the trip and an experienced guide it was good to learn a lot of the area and it’s importance as a rainforest and wildlife habitat. Afterwards we had a short cruise on the Daintree river and managed to find a few crocodiles.

From there it was a short trip further to Cape Tribulation, a picturesque beach and bay. We were also lucky enough to see a couple of wild Cassowaries along the road.

Despite never really seeing the effects, the cyclone was still causing disruption and my train heading south was cancelled. They did end up providing replacement bus services though so I continued my journey south, towards Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday islands.