Cairns

The public bus belongs to the Translink network, and Cairns is on the list of regional areas with a flat fare of 50 cents per trip. From 23 November 2026, route 100 links the airport with Cairns Lagoon every 30 minutes, from 4:00 am to 10:00 pm, every day except Good Friday and Christmas Day. It stops at the Lake Street bus station. You pay on board in cash or with a contactless card, and that route does not accept the go card. The airport is 5.5 km from the city and also has taxis, rideshare vehicles and hire cars. By taxi, in the daytime, the flagfall is A$3.80 and each kilometre costs A$2.88, plus A$4 or A$5 if it leaves from the airport rank. Several boats leave from Reef Fleet Terminal (1 Spence Street) or Marlin Marina, next to the centre. You can reach Kuranda by train from A$58 or by cable car from A$74 each way.

City centre and Esplanade: the waterfront promenade, with the lagoon and Cairns Night Markets on Abbott Street. Marlin Marina and Spence Street: boat terminal and departure points for several tours. Grafton Street: Gilligan's and Rusty's Markets. Smithfield: about 15 minutes north, with the Skyrail terminal and the armour museum. Northern beaches: Clifton Beach and Palm Cove, among others. Kuranda: a village in the rainforest, about 30 minutes by car. Atherton Tablelands: an inland plateau, with Atherton just over an hour away. To the north are Wangetti, Port Douglas, Mossman and the Daintree. To the south, Mena Creek, 120 km away.

Northern Queensland has two seasons. May to October is the dry season and the high season. November to April is hot and tropical with rain, and is the low season. According to WeatherSpark data, January is around 31 °C maximum and 24 °C minimum, and July around 25 °C and 18 °C. February is the wettest month, with about 414 mm, and September the driest, with about 28 mm. The dangerous jellyfish season in tropical Queensland usually runs from November to May, although they can appear all year.

Tourism Australia describes Cairns as a major tourist hub with seasonal work in hotels and resorts, and points to bananas, harvested all year, as the main crop of the area. There are also boats to the Great Barrier Reef, dive centres, hostels and bars. Pro Dive Cairns publishes crew jobs, such as dive instructors and dive supervisors, and says it hires only PADI professionals. The Jack has its own jobs page. These details do not guarantee vacancies and do not say whether a job counts towards another visa year: that condition is checked on the Home Affairs website.