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

Monday January 21, 2002 49th Edition

Cairns is getting ready to celebrate Australia Day (26th of January) this coming weekend. There will be a host of activities in and the around the city over the entire long weekend.

Rare Tiger seen on Lizard Island
Tiger Woods has been spotted relaxing on the luxurious Lizard Island, approximately 250km north of Cairns. The exclusive resort has been host to many famous celebrities including Prince Charles, Sarah Ferguson, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman to mention a few.

Air New Zealand increase flights to Cairns
As Cairns continues to enjoy the attention and plans of the aviation industry, more good news has come from across the Tasman Sea. Air New Zealand has announced that they will add another weekly service into Cairns, starting in April 2002. At present Air New Zealand fly to Cairns once per week, limiting the types of packages and length of stay for New Zealand tourists. The new flights will allow for shorter mono-destinational stays.

Building boom continues
Hundreds of builder's licenses have been issued in Cairns this year with the huge growth being attributed to the boom created by the Federal Governments first home buyers scheme. Whilst demand for builders is expected to level off as the grant drops from $14,000 to $10,000 and then finally back to $7,000, the positive effects will be felt in the community for several years to come.

New croc spotting boat to assist with management of the animals
The Cairns City Council has funded a crocodile boat specifically to monitor and remove any animals that pose a risk. The boat is called "Croc Watch" and it will have a number of other uses throughout the year including research into Box Jellyfish and assistance in emergency situations such as cyclones.

Frog survey the biggest of its kind
Cairns is famous for the numbers and variety of frog species found in and around the City. To determine exact population sizes and distribution of the various species, volunteers will be recording every "croak" during this wet season. The survey is an Australian first, being coordinated in response to concerns about declining frog numbers worldwide. Cairns is reported to have 25 frog species.

Push for a $1.5 million aviation training school
The Cairns Aviation industry is working towards the establishment of a $1.5 million training centre in the City. A business study by Aviation Australia has found that Cairns is an excellent location for a training centre of this kind. Funding is currently being sought from within the aviation industry and from State and Federal Government departments.

Pineapple plant opens in Mareeba
A $2 million pineapple packaging plant has been opened in Mareeba and it is expected to become a major centre for exporting local produce to the lucrative South East Asian and Japanese markets. The Federal Member for Kennedy, Mr Bob Katter, officially opened the new plant. Mr Scurr, Managing Director of Pinata, stated, "Mareeba is as good as it gets for the growing of pineapples. The climate is perfect". The new plant has been welcomed by the Mareeba Mayor, Mick Borzi, as a new industry for the region that will employ local residents and with the potential for significant growth in coming years.

Demand for units grows
Cairns real estate industry continues to recover strongly, especially demand for inner city apartments. Many developers are selling all units in proposed projects before building has even commenced. Quaid Real Estate Sales Manager, Mr Steve Cordenos said that he had sold $4.5 million in units in the past seven weeks. He stated "the last seven weeks in November and December were my best weeks in my 12 years in the industry". Mr Cordenos stated that many capital city investors were looking further afield for better value real estate, making Cairns a very popular choice.

Taipans break their long drought
To the elation of coach Guy Molloy, the Cairns Taipans have shown that they can play premier league basketball with the best of the NBL teams following two very convincing victories in the last week.

The first match was played on Wednesday night, before a near capacity crowd in Cairns. The Taipans outplayed Canberra from the start, ending up with a 98-73 victory. The high energy crowd lapped the game up and celebrations continued long into the night.

The second match of the week was against the Brisbane Bullets in their hometown before a capacity crowd at the Brisbane Convention Centre. Despite a shaky start, the Taipans continued to stay in the game, finally taking the lead and holding it towards the end of the game. The final score was 90 - 84.