Clifton
Beach queensland is one of the northernmost Cairns Beaches.
It is far
enough from Cairns that you truly are
outside the city, but still close enough if you do want to go in.
The beach is
beautiful
and it is a great beach to walk or jog if you like exercising.
You can
walk along the beach,
all the
way north
to Palm
Cove, and to the south almost to Kewarra
-
not many
Cairns beaches have
such long walks.
It is a nice
suburb, not as sleepy as Kewarra and not as touristy as
Palm Cove, and
there are enough beach
accesses.
Just
across the Cook Highway
are Cairns
Tropical Zoo and Cairns
Night Zoo - where you can see the typical Aussie animals, and also the tropical Australian animals,
like cassowaries
and crocodiles. UPDATE
2016 -
closed.
A night zoo
visit includes an
Aussie barbeque dinner
with drinks, music and entertainment - meant for
international travellers.
And there is also the Outback
Opal Mine - which is not a bad opal
shop if you are
from overseas and interested in Australian
opal.
If you are from southern parts
of Australia, you surely have heaps more
choice down there.
Clifton Beach Accommodation
Agincourt
Beachfront Apartments Luxury apartments
accommodation right on the beach. Large living areas,
private balconies,
all self
catering facilities, TVs, internet, washing machine and a dryer in the
rooms; and a swimming pool and BBQs downstairs. Ground
floor apartments have patios instead of balconies.
Argosy
on the Beach
Right on the Esplanade of the beautiful Clifton Beach, this
accommodation
complex is a walking distance from Palm Cove.
Spacious rooms and balconies with views, kitchenettes, TVs, internet.
BBQs, a pool and a sauna in the complex.
Clifton
Palms Holiday Units
This complex has 14 self contained one, two and three bedroom units on
an
acre of tropical palm gardens with an undercover entertainment
and BBQ area, a
large salt water
swimming pool, and a
large
lawn area for children to play. There are also fax and internet
facilities, and a laundry.
Clifton
Sands Apartments
Clifton Sands Holiday Apartments is quite a small complex one
block back from the beachfront. It has one room accommodation with a
TV, internet, a kitchenette with tea and coffee making facilities, a
fridge and a microwave. There is a swimming pool, laundry service and
off street parking.
Lahania
by the Sea
This low rise apartment complex is right on the waterfront.
The rooms have Austar satellite TVs, ensuite spas and kitchenettes with
tea and coffee
making facilities.
There is an outdoor swimming pool, a poolside BBQ
and entertaining area, 24 hours
reception and off street parking.
Cairns
Outback Opal Mine
It is
next door to Cairns Tropical Zoo and Night Zoo, and it is one of the places to have a
look if you are in Cairns and want to buy youself an Australian
opal.
I always used to say 'it's just a shop', and mainly it is, but if you
go in and spend some time, there
is a small replica of an opal mine, with lots of interesting information.
A great place to learn
about different types of opals, as well as a few different
ways they are cut, and what is a valuable opal. The
Cairns Outback Opal Mine
is next to Cook Highway as you drive past
the suburb of Clifton
Beach, you can see it from the highway.
The first time I came in, years ago, I
happened to walk in at the same
time with a tourist group, so I got a free drink and got
to listen to a talk about opals :-)
But you can also have a look on your own, the info is all written on the
walls or info boards.
In the walls of the cave of the mine replica, there are different types of Australian opal.
There is even a movie room
if you want to watch how opal is formed, cut and polished.
And of course, there are
plenty of gems to buy!
There is opal jewellery, but
also Torres
Straitpearls,
.. and also loose stones
if you want a cheap one for fun or as a memory from the Cairns Outback
Opal Mine.
The staff is amazing.
If only they have the time, they will explain everything - not only
about the opals, but also pearls. We learned all about what is a 'real'
pearl, whether wild or cultivated, and what makes it
expensive.
UPDATE 2020 - The Outback Opal Mine is unfortunately closed.
Get
this 50 pages
guide totally for FREE.
It
contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip.
You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you
should take, how to get
there and get
around, where
to stay (general info), what
will it cost..
and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.
This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact
detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
gear by my vehicle-recovery-guy partner).
Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)
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This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.