Today I had a wonderful experience whitewater rafting with the nice folks from Raging Thunder along the Barron Gorge here in Cairns. It was my beautiful wife’s plan to do something special on the last day of our holiday. Not being the outdoorsy type she was actually quite petrified thinking that it was going to be dangerous and frightening - however it turned out be the most fun we’d both had in ages. Now she wants to go back and do it again. My highest compliments go to the Raging Thunder team, and our guide Rob, for such a professionally organised trip and for their good humour along the way. Read More...

Tags: Cairns, Rafting, Queensland

In our recent visit to North Queensland to experience the Great Barrier Reef, we passed a night in Cairns. The idea was to book a luxury resort hotel so we could make good night of things for my birthday - also splurging on a fancy dinner in a chic restaurant on Cairns’ glorious waterfront. It would be nice relaxing follow-up to our Port Douglas trip, and our fun afternoon whitewater rafting along the Barron Gorge with the nice folks at Raging Thunder. Cairns truly is a fantastic city, blessed by its natural location. Aside from the Reef, it’s located close to the Daintree Rainforest - which is less well known but harbours equally astounding biodiversity. Our so-called “resort hotel” was the Novotel Oasis. It looked nice and fancy in the brochures - and our assumption was that a well-known chain would have high standards. However, aside from being a hugely disappointing place to stay, I discovered the hotel is also playing an unsavoury role destroying the same biodiversity that visitors travel there to see. Read More...

Tags: Wildlife, Queensland, Cairns, Flying Foxes, Novotel Oasis Cairns

As an apartment-dwelling Brisbanite, it’s always great to see local wildlife returning into the heart of the city. With the arrival of the spring breeding season, there are once again hundreds of flying foxes passing by my building every evening at dusk. I’m dismayed that many people, my wife included, don’t like bats - they find them creepy and somewhat ominous. They are kind of noisy when they squabble, and I admit their musky pheromone smell can be overpowering when they’re close. However, my first apartment here overlooked a small garden on the balcony below, where bats were frequent visitors. Read More...

Tags: Brisbane, Wildlife, Queensland, Flying Foxes

It’s that time of year again, when the city puts on a spectacular finale to the Brisbane Festival. The RAAF F-111s, with their fiery “dump and burn” may have gone, but the Royal Australian Air Force still has a few tricks up its sleeve - sending in their newest F-18F Super Hornet jets dumping flares as a signal to kick off the main event. Read More...

Tags: Riverfire, Brisbane, Queensland

These past few weeks have been among the most interesting since I've been back in Brisbane. Firstly, it was two months of constant rain and occasional wild weather. Brisbane was more like Wellington in NZ (famous for its inclement weather) than a tropical paradise. Then, finally, when the weather cleared we had the floods hit. Read More...

Tags: Floods, Brisbane, Queensland