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

Monday September 16, 2002 83rd Edition

This week in Cairns scientists discovered a new method of researching stingers, an exclusive beach village will be developed at Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas and some local wildlife find comfort in strange places.

Researchers find new method to combat stingers
Cairns researchers have revealed their newest weapon against the potentially deadly irukandji jellyfish. A unique trapping system is to be used at Cairns beaches during the next stinger season from November to February. The traps will be used to predict when stingers are most likely to appear and where as well as enabling scientists to capture live specimens for research and collection of venom. Australian Stinger Research Unit zoologist Jamie Seymour said, "this research will allow us to predict when the animals are most likely to occur on Cairns beaches and when best to deploy or remove the newly-developed Uninet finer mesh stinger resistant swimming enclosures."

Cairns attracts long-term stayers
Cairns is likely to attract a new segment of the Japanese market that could see older, long-stay tourists holidaying in the region for up to three months. Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive officer Bill Calderwood said four major Japanese operators were packaging longer-term holidays due to a demand from the new over 50s market. Mr Calderwood said the market was looking for stays between two weeks and three months, rather than the average Japanese stay of about a week. While the new market represents 5 per cent of the Japanese population, it is expected to double within the next four years.

Oasis Resort nabs awards
The Oasis Resort Cairns has had success in nabbing an array of national, state and local awards for excellence in diverse areas of its operations in recent months. The Great Accor Restaurant Competition last month saw Oasis win against every resort in Accor Australia and New Zealand, taking out the Best Resort Dinner Buffet award. Oasis food and beverage manager Alan Barnes said a mystery panel who visited the resort, analysing areas such as guest greeting/welcome, ambience, product, presentation and general value judged the category.

Coffee has potential in Mareeba
Mareeba's potential as a coffee plantation area is being analysed as part of a new marketing project for the Tablelands. Tableland marketing manager Graeme Ison announced that the Mareeba Dimbulah Irrigation Area is possibly one of the best places in Australia to grow coffee. At present, the industry has around eight growers producing different varieties of coffee. "The project has been working hard to develop quality standards and a taste profile," he said. Mr Ison said the project was looking at regional branding, packaging and a uniform taste.

Opera in the outback
If you are a lover of great food, music and country hospitality, then you cannot miss the Opera in the Outback experience at Undara near Mt Surprise, southwest of Cairns next month. The signature event, which was a huge success in 2000, will take place again on October 4 and 5. The award-winning Cairns Youth Orchestra along with Malanda-based bass-barritone Peter Axford will be among the performers at this year's event.

If the shoe fits
Two wayward snakes found a new home in a pair of boots left at the front door of Redlynch home in Cairns recently. Hamish Little said his family was taken aback when they discovered the new arrivals had made a temporary home in Mr Little's shoes. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Steve Collins said snakes were becoming more active around the city as the weather warmed up. "Most of the snakes people come across will be harmless pythons but the Far North has quite a few varieties of venomous snakes so you can never be too careful," he said.

Beach village to be built at Port
A highly exclusive residential beachfront village will soon form part of the luxury Sheraton Mirage hotel at Port Douglas. Design work will commence shortly on the 47-lot, high security development situated on 33ha just north of the Sheraton Mirage. Mirage Resorts chief executive officer Ric Cameron said final details had not yet been decided, however it was expected that 10 of the blocks will face the beach, although beach access will be through a walkway at the side of the estate. "We'll have a large reserve park in the middle and we're saving all the large trees we can," Mr Cameron said.