Cairns, Queensland Australia
Since 1987 Cairns has been our tropical Sister City down under. Located near the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns offers visitors the opportunity to explore the beauty of the sea with boating, snorkeling, scuba diving or world renowned Black Marlin Fishing. With nearly 100,000 residents, Cairns has been named Australia’s most livable regional center. The 5th busiest airport in Australia, Cairns acts as the tourism/business gateway and primary access point for the South East Asian Pacific. Quite a modern city with impressive glass–domed Reef Hotel Casino and new Convention Center, Cairns is spectacular.
The City of Cairns is the premier regional city in Australia and the international gateway to Tropical North Queensland. The Cairns local government area has an estimated resident population of 130,594, with a median age of 34 years, and is growing at an average rate of 1.8 per cent. Cairns is located about 1700km from Brisbane and about 2500km from Sydney by road.
Here are some interesting facts about Cairns and district:
In 1876, Cairns was declared a town and named after William Wellington Cairns, the then Governor of Queensland.
The suburb of Bungalow was named after the house occupied by the Venerable Archdeacon Campbell.
Mooroobool got its name from Mooroobool Peak near Copperlode Falls Dam and is also an Aboriginal name for "meeting of the waters".
Kanimbla, Manunda and Manoora were all named after steam ships which serviced the Far North Coast when road transport was unreliable.
Abbott Street took its name from Henry Palmer Abbott, who was the manager of the Australian Joint Stock Bank.
Pease Street was named after the Hon. Percy Pease, MP, and State Minister of Lands.
The city's population in 1947 was 16,444 and 30 years later was 34,830. In 1966 the combined city and surrounding Mulgrave shire population was 42,859, and is expected to top 250,000 in year 2010.