Queensland travel: Where to go for adrenaline-packed adventure in Cairns

Abseiling on a trip with Cairns Canyoning. Photo / Tourism Tropical North Queensland

New Zealander Bazz Goes runs Cairns Canyoning and manages AJ Hackett Skypark in Cairns. Here, he talks about the thrill of adventure, coaxing nervous visitors and why nature is the perfect escape from everyday life.

I had my first taste of adrenalin sports when I was sent to live with my uncle and aunty in Queenstown. They got me on to all the adventures there that I could manage. This led to me doing a rafting course, and receiving my ticket to see the world. There were a couple of scary moments during the course but I was hooked on adventure sports from there.

First-time canyoners can expect to be challenged, relive childhood memories and learn a bunch of new skills. Canyoning is a mixture of a range of elements like abseiling, sliding, jumping, swimming and exploring. Most canyoning trips have only two to three elements, we pack in all five on every trip at Cairns Canyoning.

Canyoning and bungee jumping guide, Baz Goes, has been hooked on adventure sports since he was a kid. Photo / supplied

What I love most about it is it's like being a kid again. You get taken away from all the chaos that everyday working-life pressures put on us as adults, and you get to take an emotional roller coaster ride through Papatūānuku's (Mother Nature's) playgrounds.

Baz says there's nothing like the thrill of adventuring in nature. Photo / Tourism Tropical North Queensland

During my world travels as a raft guide, I wanted to keep expanding my knowledge of adventure sports. I learned how to be a bungy master in Interlaken, Switzerland, then operated a bungy site in Rishikesh, India, before eventually coming to Skypark Cairns.

When people are nervous about jumping, it helps to explain to them the "why" of bungy, as it shows your expert knowledge, so they can trust you. Trusting someone they have just met is hard because we are taught growing up to be scared of strangers. We are also told "get down from there", "don't climb up there" and so on. But bungy jumping is the greatest, safest adventure sport in the world.

Bungee jumpers enjoy rainforest views at Skypark Cairns. Photo / Tourism Tropical North Queensland

When it comes to the best time to visit Cairns, winter is great as Ranginui (sky father) gives us beautiful clear blue skies, with temperatures of 25-30C. Summer is spectacular too, Tāwhirimātea (god of the weather) opens up the heavens with massive downpours of rain in short bursts, and the tropical rainforest really comes alive with beautiful vibrant colours and hundreds of amazing, powerful waterfalls.

For more, see cairnscanyoning.com and skyparkglobal.com