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

Monday December, 16 2002 96th Edition

There have been many festivities and bits n pieces going on around the city in preparation for the lead up to Christmas this week. Quaid Auctioneers held their auction of the year recently while the Greek festival last week was a big success. Plans are well in place for the opening of the new Esplanade lagoon in February and a new Safari zoo can also be expected to open in the New Year.

New online bookshop launched in Cairns

In Australia quality online bookshops are few and far between. This week, the Aussie Bookshop was launched marking a new era for the Australian (and in particular the north Queensland) book industry. The Aussie Book Shop, with particular emphasis being placed on publishers from Cairns and Port Douglas. The site itself is leading the way in online retailing with high speed and secure browsing as very positive features. The company behind this latest venture also own and operate Cairns Connect, the leading information site for Cairns and the surrounding region.

Auction of the year
Over 800 bazaar and wonderful items went under the hammer last week in the last Quaid Auction of the year. Among the hundreds of items bought by bargain hunters were garden gnomes, mannequins, computer equipment, bikes, games, resuscitation dummies, a tip truck and dune buggy. “Many people will be looking for Christmas gifts,” Quaid Auctioneers director Stacey Quaid said. Unclaimed items from the Queensland Police service including jewellery, bikes and gnomes were also sold.

Firefighters give to school
A generous donation was handed over to the School of Distance education recently at their end of year party. Firefighters gave over $19,000 to the school, the money raised during the annual Coast to Coast bike ride. Up to 180 riders took part in the event. “You train really hard before you go, but once you get out there it’s really good,” firefighters team co-ordinator Shane Jarvis said. Mr Jarvis said even more satisfying was knowing the hard work was going to a good cause.

Lagoon party to cost $112,000
Cairns Esplanade lagoon and Forgarty sound stage will open with a $112,000 public party on February 15. A Cairns City Council spokesman confirmed the party had been given approval with council allocating $30,000 toward the festivities, the remainder being sought through sponsorship. The event will run from 8.30 am- 10 pm including a food festival, major music acts and a grand finale of fireworks and laser light display.

Greek festival success
The inaugural Cairns Greek Festival was held at Griffiths Park recently attracting about 500 people. Organise George Karagiannis said the event was only a warm up. “Next year is going to be a big one,” he said. Festival goers were treated to a selection of Greek foods, dancing and music. The highlight of the day was the opportunity for people to learn how to belly dance. Entry was free, but gold coin donations were given to the Mayor’s Christmas Cheer Appeal.

Cairns restaurants in top 200
Nine Cairns and region restaurants have made it to the prestigious list of Australia’s top 200 restaurants. Published in Gourmet Traveller magazine, the list did not include rankings. However, the nine Far Northern restaurants were among 38 out of the 200 that were selected from regional Queensland. The restaurants that made it from the Far North region were Far Horizons at Angsana Resort, Corals at The Sebel Reef House, and Spice Market at Novotel, (which were all from Palm Cove), Catalina and Sassi Cucina from Port Douglas, Red Ochre Grill in Cairns, L’Unico at Trinity Beach, Seviche at Stratford and the Tree House at Silky Oaks Lodge, Mossman.

Safari experience in the tropics
Giraffes and rhinoceroses are to join the big cats and primates at the new Mareeba Wild Animal Park due to open around Easter. The park is nearing final stages of development, with animals to begin arriving next week. General manager Kevin Evans said the new animals would be part of international conservation breeding programs. Among the attractions is a drive-through lion display allowing visitors to get within millimetres of the big cats. “You will not see a single cage on your whole visit,” Mr Evans said.

Cards stop drink spiking
Cards are being place over unattended drinks at licensed venues in a bid to stop people becoming victims of drink spiking. The “unattended drink” cards will be printed in fluorescent colours and warn: “You left it, don’t drink it”. Liquor Licensing Minister Merri Rose hopes to have the cards in bars by Christmas. “The incidence of drink spiking is highly disturbing. There are sexual predators out there looking for their next victim,” she said. “This (the cards) will provide a clear and direct message to patrons.”

Piece of tourism history on display
One of the world’s original glass bottom boats has been uncovered from a Cairns storage shed and transported to a new site for restoration. The 40-year-old vessel symbolizes a piece of Cairns tourism history, being one of the first glass bottom boats built in Cairns by the Hayles company. The boat was last in service in the 1970s and is now owned by the Maritime Archaeological Association of Far North Queensland. Association chief diver Jon Burnett said, “when Hayles developed the glass bottom boat in Cairns, the Department of Transport said it’ll never catch on. Now every reef trip company would have one.” The restored boat will be on display at the Cairns Shipwreck Museum at The Pier Marketplace.