From cane fields to tourism adventures
THE cane fields of Caravonica have been transformed into tourism central in the past two decades with the arrival of Skyrail, Tjapukai, Cairns Wake Park and the Australian Armour & Artillery Museum.
Tjapukai is where Australia begins – providing a taste of Aboriginal culture dating back 40,000 years.
By day, it’s a chance to learn how the world’s oldest peoples lived, cooked, hunted and told their stories.
Visitors can watch a firemaking ceremony, dances passed down through the generations, learn how to throw a boomerang or spear and discover the Dreamtime stories.
By night, follow warriors to a corroboree, join the Rainbow Serpent circle and learn traditional songs under the stars.
The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum is the largest museum of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
Located next to Tjapukai and Skyrail, owner Rob Lowden has turned his private collection into an international attraction of 150 armoured vehicles and artillery pieces, many not found anywhere else in Australia.
For an army-style adventure, visitors can ride inside one of the museum’s decommissioned armoured vehicles at 11am and 2pm daily.
Skyrail has consistently been voted as one of the best things to do in Cairns, giving a bird’s-eye view of the oldest tropical rainforest on earth from aerial gondolas.
The trip between Caravonica and Kuranda includes visits to two rainforest stations and can start or finish at either end of the cableway.
Cairns Wake Park is home to the Far North’s only cable water ski park and is suitable for ages 10 and above.
Kids Club sessions are available during the school holidays and the park will also be operating for longer hours from 10am-6pm during the break.