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

Monday October 8, 2002 86th Edition

This week in Cairns, many tourist operators and accommodation venues saw bookings rise for coming months, with the Sydney Gay Games just around the corner. The north celebrated the Festival of the Forest over the weekend with various unique timber products on display. New kniche markets have also been opened in the region, with the use of natural Australian products. And an unusual find for a Darwin bus driver - a crocodile discovered on his minibus last week.

Gay Games brings tourists North
Gay resorts in the Far North are booked out in the weeks before and after the Sydney Gay Games. Gay resort 18-24 James Street manager Keith Holt said his complex would be "packed to the rafters" for two weeks either side of the Gay Games, which is November 2-9. Mr Holt said due to the high demand, he has had to refer business on to other hotels. "Put it this way, we've given 143 room nights to the other resort," he said. The region's newest gay accommodation, featuring 364 person villas, Liberty Resort, in Kuranda is also booked out.

Timber festival shows local talent
Cairns celebrated the 30th annual Festival of the Forest in Ravenshoe over the weekend. The concept was created by local residents and members of the timber industry and features a competitive exhibition, which seeks to encourage the development of timber crafts. Entries included wood sculptures, inlay work, woodturning, cabinet making and bark pictures.

Native vegetable on trial
An aboriginal community living in rainforest just south of Cairns have begun trials in harvesting Taro, the potato like vegetable of the tropics. Since traditional crops such as sugar cane have had poor results, the Jumbun community are looking at alternative options for their freehold farms. Taro, which is a root vegetable, is rarely used in Australia, but is in high demand in the South Pacific. The community has been growing the crop for three years, with all profits going back to the locals. Taro can be roasted, boiled, baked or made into cakes and chips. While most of the harvest is sold to markets in Sydney and Melbourne, there are plans to develop trade to Indonesia.

Banana fibre used in materials
A local hairdresser has become the first to order business cards made from banana fibre. Philip-Jon Hairstylist has designed the card, to show the banana fibre at its best. He says the liked the paper as it complimented his natural approach to hairdressing. But business cards are only one of many products now being created from the long-life biodegradable material by Transform Australia. The paper, made from banana tree stems, will be used to promote a 'clean and green' image.

Crocodile on bus
A passenger discovered a live crocodile as she boarded a bus on the outskirts of Darwin last week. The bus driver, Baz Young, was amazed when the Aboriginal woman pointed out the 75 cm reptile as she was boarding his minibus. "The lady wasn't sure about hopping on the bus because she said, 'You've got a crocodile under your seat', Mr Young said. "I said, 'Oh yeah?', so I had a look and sure enough there was a crocodile." The freshwater croc was dehydrated and had its jaws taped.