Imagine accommodation with Barramundi that lurk in amongst ponds that wind through a ‘jungle zone’ complete with secret paths, bridges and fountains AND a table tennis table! PLUS Cookies upon check-in!! It’s obvious that family fun with a sprinkle of quirkiness is part of DoubleTree Cairns mission.

“Can I do it again” were Charlie's first words after doing the Giant Jungle Swing (Minjin) at AJ Hackett Cairns for the first time. You certainly feel like once is not enough when you’ve completed this thrill ride.

Up on stage they were dancing, and you could see the twitch of a kangaroo’s ear, the stamp of a paw, and the cheeky attitude of the youngster as he stirred the big roo into action.

“That’s 14 Mum!!” shouted Josh as he sped past me yet again on his kneeboard. It was his first time ever being towed at the Cable Ski Park and he had already clocked up a HUGE number of laps…

So here I was ‘cruising’ the Cairns Wake Park, upright, on a wakeboard and feeling like I had finally got the concept – ‘cause no trip to the ‘Lake’ (Tinaroo) had ever got me to this point.

When you’re in the Tropics one thing you learn pretty fast is – “the Wetter the Better” – and on all accounts the Cairns Aqua Park ticks all the boxes in this case.

Let me get one thing clear – when you arrive in Cairns there is no shortage of activities to choose from. But we all know kids, sometimes its hard to work out which things will really tick all their boxes AND which activities will work for you the adult (after all we count as well!!).

As I zip-lined over the massive Saltwater Crocodile I had to remind myself that I was doing this for my son’s birthday party.

There are a thousand options (or at least seems to be) when you book a trip to Kuranda via Skyrail BUT here is MY list of things that are worth taking time out to do on your Kuranda Skyrail adventure…

It’s Show season in Tropical North Queensland. Every July Cairns hosts Queensland’s biggest Agricultural Show outside of Brisbane’s EKKA. Cairns Show has 3 days of exhibitions

A collective scream rose up from the crowd that had gathered around the crocodile enclosure at Cairns Tropical Zoo. It wasn’t so much the sound of the Saltie’s jaws snapping as he lunged at the keeper

Should I be concerned about my 10-year-old’s need for speed? After spending a session with him on the Cairns Go Kart track I’m already dreading the moment he gets his drivers license.