The on-site kiosk is a genuine convenience when you have been driving all day or wrangling kids in and out of the pool. We grabbed a coffee and an ice cream on our first afternoon and ended up staying poolside longer than planned, which pretty much sums up the pace of this park. The camp kitchen and BBQ areas do the heavy lifting for self-caterers, and there is something quietly satisfying about firing up a barbecue under the palms while cicadas hum in the background.

For a pub feed, Edge Hill Tavern is just up the road in Manunda and is the local's pick. We wandered over for a Friday night steak and found a big outdoor deck, a decent kids area and the sort of easy pub atmosphere that makes travelling with children feel effortless. The burgers and schnitzels are also tasty.

Breakfast is worth planning around, and Caffiend is where we kept going back. It sits on Grafton Street in the CBD, pulls a beautiful coffee and does big brunch plates. Get there early on a weekend because the laneway tables fill fast. The kiosk at the park covers you for a quick cereal and coffee start if you would rather get on the road to the reef.

If you fancy a night out in town, Ochre Restaurant has been showcasing native Australian ingredients for decades and is our favourite splurge in Cairns. For fish and chips done well, the takeaway shops around Edge Hill and the nearby CBD are worth the short drive. We took ours back to the park and ate them at the picnic table.

The park itself is a good place to slow down for a morning. The saltwater pool is the obvious drawcard in Cairns humidity, ringed by lush tropical gardens, and we found the kids happily cycled in and out of the water for hours. The tour desk at reception is useful for locking in reef trips and rainforest day tours, and staff pointed us to a couple of operators we would not have found on our own.

The Cairns Esplanade is a five minute drive away and remains our favourite free activity in the region. The saltwater lagoon is patrolled, free to enter and swimmable all year with no stingers or crocodiles to worry about. The boardwalk stretches for kilometres past playgrounds, BBQs and mudflats teeming with birds at low tide. Time your visit for late afternoon when the light softens over Trinity Inlet.

The Great Barrier Reef is the reason most travellers come north, and day boats from the Reef Fleet Terminal in town run out to the outer reef pontoons and quieter spots like Michaelmas Cay. If diving is not your thing, an outer reef pontoon day with snorkelling, a glass bottom boat tour and lunch is honestly hard to beat. For something equally jaw dropping but green rather than blue, drive an hour north to Kuranda via the Skyrail cableway and return on the historic Scenic Railway. Walking through the rainforest canopy at Red Peak station is one of those quietly surreal experiences that stays with you.

Closer to base, the Cairns Botanic Gardens in Edge Hill are free, beautifully maintained and full of shaded boardwalks through tropical species and a small rainforest gully. Follow it up with a walk up the Red Arrow circuit for city views. If you are travelling in the drier winter months, check the Cairns Festival calendar in late August for street parades, concerts and night markets on the Esplanade.

We loved how close the Park is to the CBD and Esplanade, but it still feels tucked away enough at night that you can actually hear the tropical birds at dawn.