I’ve wanted to go to Australia for as long as I can remember. My brother spent quite some time there years ago and I was totally jealous.

So when we added Australia to our itinerary, I was giddy. I knew I wanted to go to Sydney, but I had no idea what other place we should add. Since I’m a OCD researcher, I just pulled up a map of the country and started googling.

We settled on Cairns, in Far North Queensland (QLD is the Aussie state in the far northeast corner). Since it’s the Southern Hemisphere, the north is hot and the south is colder, exactly opposite of the U.S. It was nice to head back to a tropical place after spending time in chilly, rainy Sydney. Plus, Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, something I knew we had to see.

Cairns turned out to be a backpacker’s paradise! (We aren’t backpackers per se, but I appreciate any place that supports travelers.) We stayed in a little cottage near the airport and rented a car. Driving on the “wrong” side of the road was way more of a thrill than I expected. And we went out to the Reef (but a full post on that coming soon!)

If you’re looking for another place to add to your Aussie trip, consider Cairns!