The Queen’s Baton reaches the tropics
Two Tropical North Queensland tourism icons were included as the backdrop for the Queen’s Baton Relay around Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics rainforest were showcased alongside Indigenous culture as the baton passed through Cairns on Monday.
The Commonwealth Games baton was taken by Great Adventures to Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef, given a traditional Welcome to Country by Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park and travelled on Skyrail Rainforest Cableway through the World Heritage rainforest.
"TTNQ has been working with the Australian Commonwealth Games
Association to maximise opportunities for exposure for our region which will be seen by people throughout the Commonwealth as part of the coverage in the lead-up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow," said Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO, Rob Giason.
Quicksilver Group managing director Tony Baker said Great Adventures diver Craig Hardes took the Queen’s Baton to a coral garden at Green Island.
A helicopter transported the baton to Skyrail Rainforest Cableway where it was met by Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park performer and Djabugay elder Martha "Cookie" Brim who accepted the message from the Queen from Australian long-distance runner and Olympian, Steve Moneghetti.
Tjapukai CEO Geoff Olson said Cookie was one of the five Tjapukai performers who had been part of the Gold Coast’s final presentation at St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean as part of the successful bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The baton left TNQ for Papua New Guinea.
Ian Jarrett
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