Exclusive Editor’s Tips:

With no time to properly lace up your boots and explore the Daintree Rainforest, which is about two hours from Cairns, the Botanic Gardens is the next best thing. Almost 90 acres, the sprawling outdoor green space is a microcosm of the world’s oldest living rainforest, with landscaped gardens displaying not just native Australian flora but plants from around the world that relish a similarly steamy climate (carnivorous venus fly traps, the Cooktown orchid from Queensland). Get there by 10 a.m. to join a free walking tour and make sure to visit the Tank Art Centre, a contemporary arts facility housed in three converted World War II naval oil storage tanks inside the commons.

Founded by Oliver James, who kickstarted the local specialty coffee scene back in 2009 with his laneway joint Caffiend, Guyala is a spacious and breezy café at Cairns North. Located toward the end of the Esplanade, it’s an all-day cafe serving crowd-pleasing dishes with a tropical north spin. Try an Aussie ‘roo-ben’ sandwich made from kangaroo loin; the smashed avocado on toast served with indigenous finger limes, lemon myrtle, macadamia, and coconut dukkah; or the ever-popular chili crab omelets made with local banana flower and palm heart slaw. Excellent coffee goes without saying.

Behind a set of heavy doors, in an unassuming laneway in the heart of the CBD, you’ll find Wolf Lane Distillery, a surprisingly bright and light micro-distillery. Pop in for a quick tasting and to learn how the gin is distilled, and see if you can identify the flavors of the region (sticky-sweet mango, Davidson plum and pepper-berry,) before leaving with some souvenir bottles. If time permits, head across the lane to the dimly lit Three Wolves cocktail joint for some boozy home-grown drinks shaken and stirred by dapper bartenders.