Cairns is way up north in Queensland, and on the heavily-trafficked East Coast Australia pathway where backpackers run up and down constantly, it is a very common beginning or ending point of the trip - everyone here is generally starting or finishing a trip up the coast. Which means backpackers here are really happy in general. I don't know how to explain it - very few backpackers choose Cairns to stay and settle for a long time (unlike many I've met who spend generally spend between 2 and 6 months in either Sydney or Melbourne), so most are here to just be travellers. It makes for a festive city.
It's a tourist town, to be sure, but there isn't the commensurate spike in prices that there can be. Cairns actually has a lot of reasonably priced dining options - at their fast food Chinese places (I love this) the fod is all self serve, and you pay by the plate; whatever you can pile on the small plate, which is easily 2 meals for me, is $7.99. I wish Panda Express did that. It's also a town that is basically branded by Billabong and Quicksilver, and there is a lot of reasonably priced shopping here - I haven't bought much, but if I were in the market for a bikini, board shorts, or dijiridoo, this would be where I would get 'em.
Last night was also St. Patrick's Day, and it was a great place to be for that. Plus, my hostel is like a resort - this is the pool AT THE HOSTEL:
So call me biased, but I really like Cairns.
1 comment:
wow great pool! how come none of the hostels, or hotels, for that matter, you took me to looked like that?
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