Cairns Aquarium and Cairns Botanic Garden

It rained quite a bit yesterday and continued into the night. As a result, the ferry into the Daintree Rainforest was shut down due to high water. The Rainforest was to be today’s activity, and it had to be canceled. Instead we took a bus to Cairns (which is pronounced without an R in it, so it sounds like Cans or Canes, depending on the Aussie dialect of the speaker.) Cairns has a new aquarium, less than 2 years old, that focuses on the aquatic life of the Great Barrier Reef. This fit well with yesterday’s reef visit because it gave us a chance to see the corals and fish that we were not able to see when snorkeling in the murky water.  

The aquarium has two floors of large and small tanks, including on the ground floor an “oceanarium” which is a very large tank that the observer walks through into a circular atrium and through a tunnel where fish including sharks and rays can pass overhead. The dark purple fish at the top is a red tooth trigger fish. The purple color of the coral and fish in the bottom photo are the effects of artificial lighting in the aquarium.

There is a bright orange hermit-type crab in the upper left that has taken over an empty shell. Several kinds of lobsters were on exhibit, multi-colored and oddly well camouflaged given their size. There were a number of Nemos (clownfish) in the flowing arms of the anemone, mesmerizing to watch as the fish swirled in and out and the current played across the anemone.

Lionfish are native to this area, and there’s a tank of at least 10 of the spotted tail type. Also there is a tank containing a couple of saltwater crocodiles. These are found in the river estuaries and can be fairly dangerous to people and other animals if you get into their territory.

Cairns Botanic Garden, Parasol palm and bird’s nest fern

After the aquarium, we visited the Cairns Botanic Garden for lunch and then walked in the gardens. The plants that are growing outdoors in this garden are the same plants as those growing indoors in the conservatory houses of my local botanical garden, Brookside Gardens. The conservatory in the Cairns garden included orchids, carnivorous plants, exotic ferns and butterflies.

The orchids in the conservatory are grown in small hanging planters with exposed roots. The carnivorous pitcher plant is also being grown as a hanging specimen.

There is a ‘river’ water feature, a ‘forest’ of tall trees, and a pond of water lilies:

What’s not to like about a water lily?

I’m closing with a picture of a heliconia, just because it is pretty.