Cairns is the capital city of Far North Queensland and is one of Australia’s favourite destinations, due to its rare mixture of ecological environments and its cosmopolitan coastal character. In the month of September, Cairns boasts gradually rising daily temperatures, with Spring averages of between 20.5 (low) and 29°C (high). 

The Great Barrier Reef

Cairns is well known as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, which is Australia's second-largest tourist attraction after Uluru. 

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the natural world. It is larger than the Great Wall of China and is the only living thing on earth visible from space. The majestic coral structures that make up the Great Barrier Reef extend over 1,500 kilometres, and are home to the greatest variety of flora and fauna species found in any one location in the world. The reef is a breeding area for humpback whales, migrating from the Antarctic and is also the habitat of a few endangered species including the Dugong (Sea Cow) and large Green Sea Turtle. In recognition of its significance, UNESCO listed the Great Barrier Reef as a World Heritage Site in 1981. 

The Daintree Forest 

The Daintree Rainforest was added to the world heritage list in 1988. The area protected under World Heritage listing, also known as the Wet Tropics, stretches along the northeast coast of Australia for some 450 kilometres.

This stunningly beautiful area is extremely important for its rich and unique biodiversity. It also presents an unparalleled record of the ecological and evolutionary processes that shaped the flora and fauna of Australia, containing the relicts of the great Gondwanan forest that covered Australia and part of Antarctica 50 to 100 million years ago. All of Australia’s unique marsupials and most of its other animals originated in rainforest ecosystems, and their closest surviving relatives occur in the Wet Tropics. These living relicts of the Gondwanan era and their subsequent diversification provide unique insights to the process of evolution in general.