Cairns Botanic Gardens

After my hike at Mt. Whitfield I decided to walk through the Cairns Botanic Gardens, which are right up the street. Hot from my hike and in need of a break I went to the visitor’s center cafe for a smoothie. I stood in line and waited my turn. Then someone stood in front of me as if I weren’t there. Strange…I ignored it and continued to wait. Then someone else cut in front of me. What was going on?! Apparently Australian’s don’t take lines as seriously as North Americans do.  I finally got to the register and ordered my smoothie, which may or may not have been worth the wait. Thankfully the gardens would not disappoint.

The first area I walked in was Flecker Garden and it was beautiful! I made a figure-eight through the garden just to be sure I didn’t miss anything. The little paths, creeks, and bridges made it a very enjoyable walk. Some of the areas would have been perfect for a live-action Disney movie.

The point of Flecker Garden is to show trees and shrubs from tropical regions all over the world, not just Australia. There was vegetation from Asia, Africa, and South America too. The first thing I noticed was the large number of bright red flowers, each unique in their own way.

While peacefully wandering down the boardwalk I heard a loud chatter. When I got close to the noise I had to dodge various tree parts falling from above. The troublemakers were a flock of Rainbow Lorikeets enjoying lunch, and boy were they loud.

I thoroughly enjoyed every flower I found in the botanic gardens. Many of them had such bright and beautiful colors, and were unlike anything I’d seen before. I wanted to look up all of their names, but the list of flowers is too long. If you’re up for the task,  check out the scientific names here.

The Cannonball Tree, or Couroupita Guianensis, has seeds about the size of a softball. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see a flowering seed, but they produce large pink and yellow flowers. And the seeds do look perfect for throwing at siblings…

This white flower was one of my favorites; it looked so delicate. However it must have been late in the season because the rest of them were withered and burnt. Thanks for sticking around so I could photograph you!

This beautiful pink and yellow group of flowers is Aphelandra sinclairiana. It’s nickname is “orange shrimp plant,” and I can absolutely see why someone decided to give it that name. Although I doubt they taste as good as actual shrimp. Care to try?

This white flower, Cheilocostus speciosus, is related to the ginger family and is used around the world for its medical benefits. Sadly, it is threatened in some areas due to its popularity.

The Cairns Botanic Garden has more than this one area. I finished Flecker Gardens and moved onto the Rainforest Boardwalk. First the boardwalk winds through a traditional Cairns coastal rainforest, as it looked before human take-over. Then the boardwalk goes through a swamp rainforest, which looks exactly how it sounds.

It’s amazing to look around when you’re surrounded by rainforest. I couldn’t see very far due to layers upon layers of trees, foliage, and plants. I hope to never get lost in a rainforest because I certainly would not see my way out. Still, I can’t get over how beautiful the canopies are.

After the rainforest boardwalk I found myself walking next to the saltwater lake. It was fascinating! Everywhere there were crabs with one large orange claw. As I walked down the path a wave of crabs would scurry away and hide in their holes.

When I settled down to take pictures of the crabs I saw a different shape in the background of my viewfinder. Although it blended in perfectly with the mud, I spotted (what I think is) a mangrove mudskipper. What are the chances?!

I made my way to the freshwater lake which was perfectly sunny and beautiful. There were birds standing on the edge of the lake, and little fish swimming everywhere. Very picturesque. As beautiful as it was, it was getting too hot to stick around, and I made my way back to the main road.

At the end of my walk I saw another Australian Brush Turkey. This time he was close and laid back enough that I could take a good picture. Yay! On my way out a flock of birds also flew into a tree in front of me. They were fig birds, and I managed to get a picture of a male and a female together.

Walking through Cairns Botanic Garden was wonderful. I wish I had gone earlier in the day when it wasn’t so hot, but I saw so many interesting things that the heat couldn’t hold me back. Unfortunately I didn’t make it to every area of the garden, but if you want to check it out for yourself their website has descriptions of everything here!