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

Monday December 10, 2001 44th Edition

Cairns continues to gear up for Christmas. Despite searing heat and humidity the Christmas spirit is being spread with many community based activities underway. There was some doubt regarding the New Years Eve fireworks due to lack of funding which has now been resolved and the City will welcome the New Year in with two fireworks shows - one at 7.30pm and 12 midnight. For visitors from the Northern hemisphere, the lack of snow can be a new experience for Christmas.

Cairns City Council doubles cash surplus
The Cairns City Council has worked long and hard to put the organization into a stronger financial position in the last 12 months. This appears to be working with the Council releasing the news that their cash surplus has more than doubled since the same time last year. Debt has also been reduced in the same period by 5.4% to $111.6 million. These figures are audited and signed off by the State Auditor General's office.

Palm Cove operators unite
Four of the leading accommodation properties in Palm Cove (25 km north of Cairns), have joined forces to promote the destination to the lucrative incentive travel market. The united team consists of the Novotel Palm Cove, Angsana Resort and Spa, Courtyard Great Barrier Reef Resort and the Sebel Reef House. Ms Elizabeth Bindon-Bonney, Convention Bureau Manager, said that the co-operation between the resorts was unique and showed an overall maturing of the industry.

The incentive travel market to North Queensland is relatively small at present, however it has potential to grow dramatically and to become a strong source of business in the coming years. Palm Cove is well suited to take advantage of the incentive traveller mainly because of its beachside location, village style atmosphere and excellent facilities for land based and water sports.

Developer positive about Wildlife Park
The developer of a 40ha wildlife park near Mareeba has expressed enthusiasm towards to response received to the concept of the park so far. David Gill, owner of the park expects up to 100,000 visitors to the attraction in the first year of operation. Mr Gill stated that he wanted to provide both education and conservation messages. Mr Gill also mentioned the enormous encouragement he had received regarding the unusual project since its inception.

Sea Wall Completed
The first stage of the Cairns Esplanade Redevelopment has officially been completed, ahead of schedule and under budget. Mayor Kevin Byrne inspected the site last Friday and was please with the result of the project to date. Now that the sea wall has been completed work will commence on the design and construction of the saltwater lagoon.

Cairns Posties ready to do battle
December in the Cairns Post office is the same as December in most Post Offices around the world - very busy. The Cairns Post Office is gearing up to handle over 5 million pieces of mail in the coming few weeks. Australia Post has announced that special priority will be given to all letters being sent to Santa at the North Pole.

Taipans release single
World-renowned artist and musician, David Hudson has released a theme song for the Cairns National Basketball Team, the Taipans. The song is called " Feel the Bite" and it will be played at all Taipans home games and it will become the official anthem for the team. The team was said to the extremely happy with the song.

New Year's Eve fireworks saved
This years Esplanade fireworks looked uncertain in recent days as funding for the annual event could not be found. With the assistance of the local media the funding shortfall was overcome, resulting in two huge firework shows planned for the night. All Cairns families are invited to come to the Esplanade on the night to celebrate the New Year. There will be two shows - one at 7.30pm and one at midnight. Both fireworks shows will last for approximately 20 minutes.

Cairns heatwave
Cairns is in the grip of the usual pre-Christmas heat wave as temperatures and humidity soar. The typical sultry conditions are considered very normal at this time of year and they will continue until the wet season starts in several weeks. Temperatures of around 35 degrees Celsius and 95% humidity are being experienced.