A weekly re-cap of the events that have made news in Cairns over the past week.

Monday March 4, 2002 55th Edition

Well it was a huge week in Cairns with the royal visit last Friday overshadowing any event in recent years. Thousands of people lined the streets for hours to catch a glimpse of the most famous monarch of this Century. Virgin Blue has announced more flights into Cairns and the news that a major swimming meet will be held in the City have all been positive stories on the front page of The Cairns Post.

Cairns welcome the Queen with open arms
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's brief visit of North Queensland has been a resounding success, going off without a hitch. The last Royal visit to Cairns was over thirty years ago, when the city had a population of approximately 50,000 (today there are 130,000 people living in Cairns). The Royal Australian Airforce plane carrying the Queen and the Duke touched down in Cairns at 12.30pm.

The couple were met by Cairns Mayor, Kevin Byrne and a small entourage of well wishers, before being taken by limousine to the Royal Flying Doctor Hanger, where the Queen launched two new planes for the service and made her only public speech whilst in Cairns. A 2000 strong crowd of well wishers witnessed the ceremony.

The Queen and the Duke, were transferred to Freshwater Railway Station where they boarded the Australian Orient Express for the 30km journey to Kuranda. They then transferred to the Skyrail Cablecar, for the journey back to the coast, whizzing just above the famous rainforest.

Upon arrival at the Cairns end of the Skyrail Cablecar, the Queen and the Duke were escorted to Tjapukai Cultural Park, showcasing Aboriginal culture and history in the region. This visit was broadcast in England, particularly the Queen and Duke on stage with the Aboriginal dancers. This photograph appeared on the front page of most English tabloids on Saturday. From Tjapukai the Royal couple headed back to the Airport for their flight to Brisbane.

All in the Royal visit lasted just over 4 hours. Total crowds of over 10,000 were reportedly out to wish the Queen well and possibly to see the famous Royal wave for themselves.

Port Douglas on standby for Bill Clinton
After a weekend fundraiser event in Brisbane, Port Douglas is on standby for a visit from Bill Clinton. Mr Clinton has been a regular visitor to the region for the past 8 years and he tries to spend a few days in Port Douglas whenever his schedule will allow. Mr Clinton was in Port Douglas on September 11th last year. He cut his trip short to return to the USA to assist with the post terrorist attack events.

Gay tourism heads north
The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardis Gras was a huge success on Saturday night. More than 1000 travellers are expected to travel to Cairns to "recover" after the celebrations in Sydney over the weekend. The leading gay and lesbian resort in Cairns, "Turtle Cove" is booked out. Similar crowds are expected in November after the Gay Olympics. Pink tourism is considered one of the nations most lucrative and fastest growing international sectors.

Clean up Australia Day makes Cairns shine
This years "Clean Up Australia Day" campaign has once again proven highly successful. Hundreds of far northern residents took to the streets, parks and waterways with plastic bags and gloves to play their part in making Cairns and Australia a cleaner place. Across Australia hundreds of thousands of people took place in Clean Up Australia Day activities, removing over 4,000 tonnes of garbage.

Virgin Airlines announces direct flights from Melbourne to Cairns
Virgin Airlines has announced that they will be operating direct flights from Melbourne to Cairns as of May 2002. The flights will run five days per week and retail for approximately $199 one way. Tourism Tropical North Queensland Chief, Mr Ian Kean, stated that the news was excellent for the region and he expected other international airlines to make similar announcements in the near future.

ANSETT officially out of Cairns
With ANSETT administrators finally declaring that the airline will no longer be seen in the sky's over Australia, Cairns Airport faces the challenge of getting on with business. Whilst the demise of ANSETT is devastating for the staff and creditors of the airline, the decision will now enable organisations such as the Cairns Post Authority, to move forward and lease out the terminal space to Virgin.

The Taipans pluck a last minute victory out of thin air
A last minute Aaron Trahair 3 pointer, with one second to go, pushed the Taipans to a 113-110 victory over the NBL competition defending champions, The Wollongong Hawks. The game was very tight, going into five minutes of overtime with the scores locked at 99-99.