How Our Network Formed in Cairns

While on the topic of partner florists we thought we would share a personal, little, anecdote about how we started to deliver flowers to Cairns. As you may not know we had a florist and gifts shop in Northern NSW when we first started out and, 'back in the old days' people would still call us locally to help them send flowers to family and friends in other areas of Australia - that is over 17 years ago now. That involved calling a local florist, say in Cairns, and reading out the order and card message, and sharing our contact details including our credit card details so that we could pay that florist. One day, sitting around having a family yarn we thought to ourselves, why don't we create a landing page on our Lily's Florist website targeting Cairns. We called the florist in Cairns that we had been dealing with, who was Flowers and Lace in Bungalow, and told her what we were up to, and how we thought we could get her way more orders, she was totally 'like WOW', yes please, count me in! With that, we created that page you are now on, even after all this time. Our model has changed somewhat since then but our mantra never changes...great flowers, awesome service with a smile.

> Learn more about our flower shop days

That was over 16 years ago now, we just had a few partner florists, now we have many in Cairns. When you order flowers to Cairns, either my phoning one of our awarded staff or by ordering online your order hits our network and sent to the florist nearest to the postcode where the flowers are going to, it's that simple!

Feefo Service Award

Yearly, Feefo hands out customer service awards. In 2025, just like 2024, Lily's Florist received an award for outstanding customer service. Feefo is an an independent stamp of approval based entirely on genuine, yes real, customer reviews. This award reflects our commitment to outstanding service and customer satisfaction. In our opinion flowers are the most challenging when it comes to reviews. When you buy a camera there is nothing subjective about it, whilst flowers tend to be way more subjective. One person can see the same bouquet and see two completely different things, just like art. So putting ourselves 'out there' with a direct line to a fully Google endorsed 3rd party review website, honestly I felt it was a risk, but well worth it as your feedback genuinely helps us improve our products and service. Since partnering with Feefo we have had over 22,000 reviews, some ordinary, some okay, but most are completely awesome. So, a big thank you to all the customers who have review us, really we appreciate the feedback.

That Time NuNu Broke Our Hearts (But Cairns Didn't)

So we go to Cairns every year, have done for ages. Stay in Cairns city, Trinity Beach, or Palm Cove depending on what we can get or more importantly, for how much. NuNu restaurant in Palm Cove is our favorite, like favourite in the world probably. Takes us literally a year to save for one meal there but worth it. Early December 2024 we got a flight from the Gold Coast to Cairns, all we've talked about for weeks is this dinner. Get there. Closed for renovations, noooooo.

Speaking of NuNu, Andrew and I, for some reason, got into this hilarious habit up there of saying NuNu in a very weird voice, this some odd character from Sesame Street or something... no idea why, just one of the funny quirks. Anyway, Ivy, absolutely hates us saying it, like loses it, furious, and I cannot understand why, hahah, no not at all.

Andrew actually walked into the building site basically, just to check. The owner saw his face, felt bad, and recommended this ramen place in Cairns, Ganbaranba on Spence Street. Ended up being the best Japanese meal we've ever had. Funny how things work out.

Been delivering flowers to Cairns for 16 years now, from Trinity Beach down to Gordonvale, and it's a bit like that restaurant story. Started one way, ended up completely different, but somehow better.

Cairns Is Like Our Second Home (But The Flowers Don't Care)

We know Cairns pretty well after all these years of holidays. The Esplanade lagoon, the markets, which hotels have the best breakfast. But flowers in Cairns? Whole different thing. The humidity up there is mental. First summer we tried sending roses from Brisbane, customer rang furious. Dead in two hours. Two hours! In that sticky Cairns heat, southern flowers just give up.

> View our sturdy Cairns native flowers

But then you get reviews like Kellie from Brisbane whose mum was in Cairns hospital. She said the roses and lilies lasted "6 days, still blooming beautiful" with "fragrance that fills her room." How? Because our Cairns florists know what they're doing. Air-conditioned vans, proper conditioning, delivering early before the afternoon heat kicks in.

We deliver to Cairns Private, Cairns Base Hospital, all those hotels on the Esplanade. The Sheraton, Pullman, Riley. Each one wants something different. The Japanese hotels want minimal arrangements. The backpacker places want cheap and cheerful. After doing this for years, and staying in half these places ourselves, you learn what works where.

> View our hospital arrangements

The Weird International Thing We Didn't See Coming

Cairns gets orders from everywhere. Siobhan (same spelling as me!) from Ireland left a review saying the "website was very easy to use and flowers arrived next day." Emily from bloody Norway got flowers to her mum no problem. We get orders from Japan, China, Germany, you name it.

Makes sense when you think about it. International airport, cruise ships docking at Trinity Inlet, all those backpackers. Plus FIFO workers flying out to mines, sending sorry flowers back to Cairns. The Kuranda Scenic Railway tourists wanting specific stuff delivered to their hotels.

> View I'm sorry flowers

That's why we needed florists everywhere up there. Not just Cairns CBD but Bungalow, Edmonton, White Rock. One florist in the city can't cover Palm Cove properly, especially in tourist season when Captain Cook Highway is chockers. Learned that the hard way.

What Lives and Dies in Cairns Weather

The wet season from November to April changes everything. Roses need special treatment or they're dead before lunch. But get it right, like with Kellie's mum's flowers, and they last a week. Orchids love it up there though. Heliconias too. Those tropical things that look weird down south absolutely thrive in Cairns.

Our florists know to deliver early, before that afternoon humidity that makes you want to die. They know which flowers survive the trip to Kuranda up the range. They know natives work differently up there than down south. A waratah in Sydney is not the same as a waratah in Cairns, trust me.

Actually had someone order from Sydney for their daughter-in-law's birthday in Cairns. Karen said "perfect service and beautiful arrangement." That only works because the Cairns florists understand their own climate. We don't pretend to know better from Armidale.

The Distance Thing Nobody Talks About

Customers think Cairns includes everywhere from Port Douglas to Innisfail. That's like saying Sydney includes Newcastle. Kuranda's "just up the range" but it's 45 minutes if you're lucky. Mareeba and Atherton residents say they're from Cairns but they're not. They're Tablelands.

We drive these roads every year on holiday. Captain Cook Highway to Palm Cove in school holidays? Nightmare. The range road to Kuranda when a bus breaks down? Forget it. Gordonvale to city in afternoon traffic? Good luck.

That's why we route orders by postcode, not by what customers think is Cairns. 4870 is different from 4878, which is different from 4879. Sounds boring but it means your flowers actually arrive fresh, not cooked from sitting in a van for two hours trying to get to Redlynch.

Real Cairns Customers Tell It Better

Nikki needed same-day sympathy flowers to Cairns. Called our Armidale team and said they were "so warm and welcoming" with "outstanding friendly service." That matters when someone's dealing with death and distance.

Allison literally just "googled florist to Cairns" and found us. Said "beautiful flowers delivered exactly as promised." No fuss, just worked. That's 16 years of figuring out Cairns logistics paying off.

The Sorry Business deliveries up there need special handling. Large Indigenous population, cultural protocols matter. Chinese New Year is huge too, massive Asian community in Cairns. These aren't things you learn from Google, you learn from doing it wrong once and fixing it.

Why Cairns Trusts a Mob from Armidale

This journey for us started with Flowers and Lace in Bungalow 16 years ago. Now we've got florists from the Northern Beaches to the southern suburbs. We know Edge Hill from Earlville because we've stayed in both. We know why White Rock orders spike on Sundays (church) and why city orders die on Mondays (tourists gone).

The international orders work because we're awake when Europe's ordering and Cairns florists start early. Same-day delivery before 2PM even to Trinity Beach in tourist season. Out of 21,877 reviews nationwide, Cairns customers consistently say we deliver what we promise.

Still planning next year's NuNu visit. Hopefully they're actually open this time. But if not, we know where the good ramen is now. And more importantly, we know how to get flowers anywhere from the Tablelands to the coast, in wet season or dry, for locals or tourists or family overseas who just need flowers to get to Cairns today.

That's what 16 years of holidays and thousands of deliveries teaches you. Not just where places are on a map, but how they actually work. Order before 2PM weekdays, we'll get fresh flowers there same-day. Even if it's humid as hell and the Captain Cook Highway is packed.