Dear All

I am very excited to tell you I received ‘Special Mention' at this year's Cairns Tourism Association Kamsler Awards. It is essentially second place and I shared that placing with Nicole Cairn of Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort.

The winner was Michaela Flood of Back Country Bliss Adventures. It was out of 100 points and apparently there was ½ a point separating all of us three! I was extremely humbled to be nominated within this standard of people and very proud to receive a Special Mention Representing The Northern Greenhouse.

Dave and Ronnie from The Northern Greenhouse, and my partner Stu came to support me. I won a day trip on Sunlover for two people, a certificate, and a glass trophy!

There were quite a few distinguished guests including the Cairns Mayor and TTNQ CEO!

In summary I am proud to receive this award for matching people from my extensive famil experience and feedback to suitable tours. The result is happy travellers who come back into the Northern Greenhouse each night with a beaming smile.

My aim is that these visitors to Cairns and our region go back to the far reaches of the globe telling and boasting to their friends about Cairns.

Anna x

The Cairns Wildlife Safari Reserve is located in the Tablelands between Kuranda and Mareeba. We enjoyed the breakfast with the lions and then entry into the park and were very impressed with the friendly service of the reception and food staff who welcomed us warmly into the park.

The food was outstanding, we were not expecting a chef to personalise our order and bring it to the table. The lady serving us made sure we all had plenty of food and drink and answered our questions. The lions certainly knew it was feeding time and we got some awesome photos and videos of them having a morning snack. The feeder was very knowledgeable and patient with all our questions.

We thought the best part of the day was over but we were equally rewarded with the other elements to the park. We watched the hippos munching, the otters eating (who ‘box' for their food on command), the brown bears playing like children in the pool, the cheetah and spider monkeys sleeping. It was an absolute treat to be let into the dingo cage to play with the three one year pups. And I have never before patted a one tonne Rhinoceros. We didn't spot the tiger, the pigmy hippos or the lemurs but I'm sure if we had stayed for their eating times we would have seen them, but we were off to Hartley's Crocodile Farm for the afternoon.

So maybe we will come back another day to see the afternoon feedings. We were all very impressed with the large spaces that the animals have to move around and the information the keepers gave on each animal. We also liked the care taken to keep each animal entertained within the enclosures. Highly recommended!

Anna

What a great great horse ride I experienced the other morning at Mount N Ride. The property was stunning, and I enjoyed seeing and interacting with all the other animals around (dogs, sheep and goats).

Lilly, my mount, was a joy and very comfortable to ride - very responsive. Being an experienced horse rider I relished the freedom of the ride and it was nice to see I hadn't forgotten how to ride a horse! I was able to canter up hills and through the beautiful creek in the picture. Importantly the horses are very well cared for and in great condition.

I can't estimate the beauty of this property with loads of tree, creeks, rolling hills and open grasslands. I even saw a Jabiru - quite a rare bird.

If you are interested they also have barramundi fishing, private rides and an overnight option in very affordable and comfortable cabin accommodation. Food is included in all packages.

Horses and riding is suitable for all levels and you get a really decent time too. It is also the cheapest horse riding in Cairns.

Anna

Friday was lovely and sunny with very little wind. I was surprised about how quickly and smoothly the big Quicksilver boat moved over the water out the pontoon. Because the boat is spilt into many different layers, I forgot that I was siting on a boat that can take hundreds.

As a certified diver I joined my three friends and went diving with Nick Dolphin. He gave the most comprehensive and clear introductory dive lesson I have witnessed (and I have sat through a few!) The dive lines are an excellent and safe way to get everybody to ascend and descend at the same rate - I had never used them before and found I had no problems with equalising or reverse block, which I sometimes suffer from. Nick did very well making us all comfortable in the water (a hard task seeing as my friend Cameron water phobia as a child!)

I felt very comfortable on the pontoon, again there are a lot of people but they are all spread out so there is plenty of room for everybody. Some are in the semi sub, some snorkelling, some eating, some in the underwater observatory, some sun baking and some out diving or Helmut diving. There is certainly something for everybody even if you don't want to get wet. I enjoyed some wonderful snorkelling along a wall just off the pontoon for about an hour just following parrotfish and trigger fish. The food was plentiful and it was lovely to have a warm dish after my dive, some boats only offer cold smorgasbord - which doesn't help you warm up after being in the water.

I found all the staff on board very friendly and accommodating. The highlight of the day was seeing a whale that came up and swam around and under the boat. This was truly a very magical experience and very funny to hear 300 people say ‘ohhh' at the same time.

Anna