Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones for Cairns and its aquarium.
On this page
City, rainforest and aquarium
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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1876
Cairns is founded
The town is founded and named after William Wellington Cairns, then Governor of Queensland.
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1988
The Wet Tropics are listed
The Wet Tropics of Queensland are inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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2003
The Esplanade lagoon
The swimming lagoon on the Cairns Esplanade, a block from today’s aquarium, opens in March.
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2017
The aquarium opens
Cairns Aquarium opens on Florence Street, with 71 tanks across 10 ecosystems.
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2018
Building awards
The aquarium wins two Master Builders Queensland awards, including Project of the Year.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.