Amazing August (Part 1)

Posted On 18 October 2026

When we last spoke, I said I was so far behind with my weekly posts I was just going to do some photodumps so I can catch up. If you recall, last time I was in Brisbane at the end of July, but I still had several hundred photos from the next leg of the trip, which was Cairns, to edit before I could move into Amazing August.

Today, I have FINALLY finished editing them so without further ado, I present:

Amazing August Cairns Edition

Disclaimer/Disclosure: this post and all of my posts and all of my writing is done solely by me with no input from generative AI or any other form of AI. I have used the AI masking feature in Lightroom Classic in a small number of my photos for the purpose of selecting the sky to I can edit it separately from the rest of the image. I do not use AI for any other purpose. I do not give permission for my words or images to be used for training AI.

Week 1: Cairns

Cairns / Gimuy is located on the traditional lands of the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people.

We were there from Friday (which was actually 31 July so those photos are in the previous post) until Wednesday.

a red brick modernist church with striking arch windows and a set of bells to the side
St Monica’s Cathedral
The side of q church that is white with a red roof. There is a palm tree out the front
St John the Evangelist Anglican Church
A wide view of a city on the waterfront with a mountain in the background
Cairns from Campbells Lookout
A body of water with mountains in the background. There is a boat in the water
Cairns Wharf
A dam surrounded by trees with cloud over the mountain in the background
Copperlode Dam
A sunrise over the water with hills in the background
Sunrise at Cairns Esplanade
Two plovers (masked lapwings) on the beach. They are walking in the direction of the camera
They have plovers here too!
Sunrise over the water. There is a mountain in the background and a bird flying across the picture
Sunrise and a bird

Botanic Gardens (Content warning: Photo of a spider following)

Apart from getting bitten by an ant, I had a lovely time here.

Some ancient trees
Some ancient cycads at the Cairns Botanic Gardens
Some long fingerlike roots of an ancient plant
I have no idea what this plant is but it is an ancient plant from the Gondwanan Evolution Garden
a bright orange spider hooked onto a web
A spider outside the Cairns Botanic Gardens

Cairns Museum

The Cairns Museum had a large exhibition commemorating 150 years since the establishment of the colonial township, so I learned a lot about the recent history of this place and some of the people who lived here.

a mock-up of a butcher shop called Marsh's Butcheries
Marsh’s Butcheries has been in the Marsh family since 1926
A very old large format camera resting on a wooden stand
Century 4 large format camera, Chargois Studio, Cairns

Art galleries

Cairns has some great art galleries. The gallery complex has three buildings and we went into all of them while we were there. We saw the Mulgrave Gallery the first day, and the Court House and the Public Curators Building on our last two days.

A large woven artwork which is three bulbs attached along two walls
Philomena Yeatman: Babim, Muudjum, Djanguul. This made me cry.
An art installation of hanging birds and black and white prints
Sam Harrison: Kin’o’centrism
A colourful artwork in blues and reds and brown that represents flickering flames moving across the country
Samantha Hobson: Burn grass season – night time coming
An oil painting of frangipanis, in beautiful warm colours.
Christopher Bassi: Untitled, Frangipani

Innisfail

Innisfail is about an hour south of Cairns and it’s famous for its Art Deco architecture, which was constructed after a cyclone destroyed much of the town in 1918. I had first heard of the town when it got hit by Cyclone Larry in 2006.

The traditional owners of this place at the Mamu people.

Here are a few buildings that caught my eye.

A yellow and brown streamline modern building that is used as a library
Allan Maruff House, Rankin Street, Innisfail
The side of a concrete building, It is rather grungy and dirty
Side of 59 Rankin Street
A modernist church that is triangle shaped. It is made from brick and has a green roof
St Andrew’s Presbyterian Memorial Church, Rankin Street

On the way back to Cairns we called into Gordonvale and saw the sugar mill.

A brown factory with a smoke stack sending smoke into the air
Gordonvale Sugar Mill

We were there the day of the annual Pyramid Race, which is a running race to the top of the local mountain, Walsh’s Pyramid. We couldn’t get close to the mill because of the race and the associated activities, and the town was packed.

A triangle shaped mountain. There are trees in the foreground
Walsh’s Pyramid

Stay tuned for Amazing August Part Two, where we do some exploring further away.

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