Cairns Transportation

4 more images

Lots of people ask "how far is it to?"such and such a place so I decided to put up a few distances from Cairns to some popular tourist places. The driving speed on highways in QLD is 100klms an hour or 80klms an hour.In towns and city's it is 60klms an hour on main roads and 50klms an hour in residential areas and side streets.You will need to slow down to 40klms an hour in school zones at specific times.And any roadwork signs that advise you to slow to 40klms an hour.Be aware of where you park and at what time in towns and city's.
Be very careful and mindful if you are driving early morning or at dusk as many wildlife cross the roads,wallabies,snakes,Cassowaries etc,also flocks of low flying birds and insects that can scare the daylights out of you if they hit the windscreen..whatever you do please don't swerve to miss them as this could cause the car to go off road and many accidents occur by doing that.As you travel around you will witness road-kill but most times this is unavoidable.
Happy touring,safe driving and hope this helps you.
From Cairns in kilometers

Kuranda 25
Palm Cove 26
Mareeba 66
Port Douglas 72
Innisfail 89
Atherton 100
Daintree 110
Malanda 120
Cape Tibulation 140
Mission Beach 141
Ravenshoe 147
Cardwell 180
Cooktown 235
Townsville 351
Bowan 544

4 more images

Cruise ships and liners have a new Terminal in Cairns Trinity Inlet,finishing touches are still being done but servicable at this stage.When it is completed it will be a show piece for Cairns.
Passengers will disembark from a modern tropical terminal with tropical gardens and seats and is only a stroll into the CBD or the Cairns Esplanade via the boardwalk along Wharf street and the pier.

The old terminal is still there but this will be dismantled as soon as the new part opens.
Each seat has a plaque engraved with the history of Cairns, the wharf and Trinity Inlet.

Sunbus is the local bus company that can get you around Cairns and to the northern beaches. I found that many travellers (and me in the beginning as well) find the system of the different lines quiet confusing. But once you've understood it, it's very easy!

The thing is that there are lines called 1A, 1C, 1D, 2, 2A etc. - but they are all different lines going to different places, so you should not confuse them although they have the same number.
If you want to go somewhere, just check the website and try to find out exactly which line you need.

The main tourist spots are served by:

1C, 1D, 1H - Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach
7 - City, Botanic Gardens
1N, 1X, 2, 2A - Palm Cove, Clifton Beach, Kewarra Beach, Trinity Beach, City
1E, 1G - Lake Placid

The trick is that for example 1N, 1X, 2, 2A do not all serve all the places that are indicated on the website like I have stated above. These are only the main directions.

!!!So you really need to have a look on the timetable, that's the only place where you can exactly see which bus goes to which destination!!!

Besides, I think the map on their website is the most confusing thing of all, so I wouldn't bother about it.
If you are still not sure, ask a bus driver, most of them are really nice and try to help.

Another problem is that there is neither a screen nor a voice telling you which stop is next. So if you're not sure ask the driver or other passengers.

The Transit Mall is located in Lake Street, right where it's crossed by Shields Street (Shields Street leads from the Esplanade to Cairns Central Shopping Centre). From here, all the busses from city go and there is also a service desk.

I hope this helps a bit...

2 more images

Cairns has its own international airport, although it's not serviced by most big airlines. The main international airlines going directly to Cairns are Qantas and Cathay Pacific. If you chose another airline, it might be a good idea to book a flight to Melbourne or Sydney and take a seperate domectic flight to Cairns. Domestic flights are very frequent, f.ex. by Qantas, Virgin Blue, JetStar etc.

From the airport, a taxi to town is not too expensive, but there are also shuttle services that you can book in advance.

For shuttle services, have a look at:

www.sunpalmtransport.com

www.portdouglasbus.com

www.coralreefcoaches.com

www.krystaltransport.com.au

www.tnqshuttle.com

You can reach Cairns by greyhound from Brisbane and thus travel up or down the east coast if you like. If you come from the QLD outback or want go there, you need to change busses in Townsville and jump on the Townsville-Tennant Creek-connection. This is absolutely no problem, you can just book the passage and the busses wait for each other.

The terminal in Cairns is located right on the Esplanade after you passed the Lagoon, outside the building where the counters of the reef boats are.

The Cairns city and outer areas have a rather good reliable Bus system.

Sunbus is the company. You can catch these around town and the main depot in the city is in Lake Street. Here you can see signs with routes and times on them.

If you are going to one of the Northern Beaches or Port Douglas you can find the bus at the airport, you can also buy a ticket here.This is the company that do this...Sun Palm Express
If you are travelling in a group it could be cheaper to hire a car for the day, pick up at airport and drop at Port Douglas.

Sunbus (city bus)
Australia Coach (airport bus)
Sun Palm Express (Cairns to Port Douglas/Daintree)
Whitecar Coaches (Cairns to Tablelands)
Country Road Coaches (Cairns to Cooktown)
Greyhound-Pioneer (interstate)
McCafferty’s (interstate)
Premier Motor Service (interstate)
Queensland Rail (trains)

Having an accommodation about 5 km’s outside the city centre we had to use the local bus in Cairns. Sunbus is servicing all parts of the city and specially during weekdays they are running frequently. We also used the bus for visiting Cairns Zoo and you could easily do the same for the Sky rail Terminal and Tjapukai Aboriginal Park or the beaches north of Cairns.

Depending on the destination (3 zones) there are day tickets for the use of all Sunbuses. We paid AUD 6,30 for ours to the city and AUD 10,20 for Cairns Tropical Zoo.

Buses leave to all suburbs from the Transit Centre, in the midlle of the city centre of Cairns.

The first entry point on your trip to Cairns will most likely be the airport. As Cairns is located in Tropical North Queensland, you must be ready for a couple day drive if you are not going to arrive via airplane.

Cairns International Airport has two terminals, one for domestic and one for international. The domestic terminal includes Qantas, Virgin Blue, and Jetstar. The international terminal services Qantas, Australian Airlines, JAL, Air Nuigini, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, and continental Micronesia.

One thing to watch out for is that since Qantas services both domestic and international itineraries, that you make sure you find out which one you are departing from, as you may be in the wrong place with all your baggage otherwise!