Cairns: Botanic Gardens

Today we visited the Cairns Botanic Gardens … billed as a tropical paradise. It is considered to be one of the best exhibitions of tropical plants in the country.

To make the most of the cooler hours, we took an Uber to the Botanic Gardens, arriving about ½-hour after the grounds opened at 7:30a. By 10:00a, the heat and humidity had risen … but was still bearable. Another hour saw us sweating buckets and seeking shade and breeze where we could.

The gardens consist of several collections that are grouped in smaller gardens that span both sides of the road that bisects the grounds.

To name a few of the areas where we strolled today … the Flecker Garden … featuring plants from steamy SE Asia jungles to Tropical North Queensland; the Gondwanan Heritage Garden … tracing the evolution of plants; the Watkins Munro Martin Conservatory … housing the most tender plants, including orchids, and a collection of local butterflies … the latter two had been removed, unfortunately; the Zhangjiang Chinese Friendship Garden … located at the Freshwater Centenary Lakes … reflecting the Chinese cultural heritage of Cairns.

Also on the grounds of the Botanic Gardens are three of the WWII era fuel storage tanks that were connected to the naval docks in Portsmith via 3.5 miles of pipeline under the streets of Cairns. These reinforced concrete tanks were excavated into the side of the mountain in order to make them less visible to enemy planes flying along the coastline. In 1991, the tanks were redeveloped into an arts center. Two of them are used for performing arts and were closed today. Tank 4 is primarily used for visual arts and was open today with a small art exhibit that we enjoyed in between our garden strolls.

We wrapped up our visit at Tank 64, the café at the visitor center … highly recommended by our Uber driver. He did not steer us wrong. The food was delicious, and the A/C seeping out from the café itself on to the terrace where we sat was most welcome.

Definitely a not-to-be-missed place in Cairns.Read more