Queensland Sights

Tanks Arts Centre. With exhibitions and stages housed in WWII oil tanks, this edgy art house feels more like a trendy urban gallery than a museum. Tanks displays all types of art and hosts a wide spectrum of performing arts and cultural shows. Their 600-person capacity concert stage is unlike any you’ve ever seen. Concerts usually run $15-30 and might be R&B, hip hop, country, blues, pop, or anything in between. On the last Sunday of every month from April to November, Tanks hosts Market Day (9am-1pm), a free bazaar with live music, arts and crafts workshops, and plenty of pottery, crafts, and herbs for sale. (46 Collins Ave. ☎07 4032 6600. Accessible by Sunbus #1B. Open daily 10am-4:30pm.)

Flecker Botanic Gardens. This Gondwanan garden is right next to Tanks. Take a moment to follow the meandering boardwalk through swampy jungle, and explore rare plant life and orchid houses. (☎07 4044 3398. Take Sunbus #1B from City Place or drive north on Sheridan St. and take a left onto Collins Ave. Guided walks Tu and Th 10am and 1pm. Open M-F 7:30am-5:30pm, Sa-Su 8:30am-5:30pm. Free.)

Mount Whitfield Environmental Park. This last bit of rainforest in the Cairns area is home to cassowaries, red-legged pademelons, and other jungle creatures. The park’s shorter Red Arrow circuit is a steep climb to a breathtaking overlook and only takes 45min., while the more rugged Blue Arrow circuit is a 5hr. round-trip trek up and around Mt. Whitfield. Don’t stay after dark—there’s no camping, and finding transport back to Cairns might be difficult. (Wedged between the Tanks Art Centre and the Botanic Gardens on Collins Ave. Open 24 hrs.)

Kuranda. The Skyrail cableway coasts above the rainforest for 7.5km on its way to this popular mountain town. At the highest point, a boardwalk snakes through the trees; detailed information on the area is given one stop below that one. For more on Kuranda, (Trains leave regularly from the station. If you are driving, go north on the Cook Hwy. and follow the signs. ☎07 4038 1555; www.skyrail.com.au. 90min. one-way, 2½hr. round-trip; $40 one-way, $58 round-trip, children ½-price.)