Sideline Sid Sports correspondent & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

This edition of Sideline Sid's weekly sports blog, finds Sid and Mrs Sid in the far north of Australia on thier bi-annual winter migration to Queensland, to flee the inclement Western Bay of Plenty winter weather.

The intrepid travellers flew in to Cairns for seven days last Wednesday, before journeying to Townsville and then on to the Sunshine Coast until the end of July.

The magnitude of the Australian continent is shown by the two and a half hour flight from Brisbane, to get to the far north tourist attractions.

Many of the Quuensland population based in the south-east around Brisbane and the tourist hotspots of the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, know little about the tropical paradise, at the top of their state.

Cairns has a population of around 150 thousand which makes it a little bigger than Tauranga City.

Tourism is the regions life-blood, with over two million people each year, visiting the Great Barrier Reef and the other tropical attraction.

The big surprise is the international airport that sees flights arrive and depart to Japan, South Korea, China, Honk Kong, Singapore, Bali and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.

While Western Bay of Plenty residents are shivering in the depths of winter, the average Cairns June and July daytime temperatures are 26 degrees falling to 18 at night.

On the sporting front, the weekend sporting headlines were the State of Origin played in Sydney on Sunday evening.

Queensland needed victory to stave of a series loss, however, New South Wales won a battle royal 18-14 to grab the series title.

The torrid encounter featured a controversial penalty try awarded to New South Wales, which was just the second in the 113 games between the two foes.

The challenge for the (Queensland) Maroons is to advoid the dreaded series whitewash when game three returns to Brisbane in a couple of weeks time.

The big game in town in Cairns is basketball, with the region represented by the Cairns Taipans in the ABL.

Formed in 1999, the Taipans attract sellout crowds to the Cairns Convention Centre, which is known to the Cairns fans as the snake pit.

While the Taipans had financial difficulties a few season ago, Cairns Regional Council support ensured that basketball continues to be the biggest sporting attraction in town.

There is a real rivalry between the Taipans and the New Zealand Breakers, with the Kiwi side receiving a torrid time from the Cairns supporters each time they come to town.

In 2015, the Taipans won the NBL minor premiership before going on to square off with the Breakers in the grand final.

A Breakers win on the road in Cairns in game one, took them back to Auckland, where the New Zealand team wrapped up the ABL title.

Next week, it will be Townsville where the Queensland Cowboys rule the roost and the roar of the Super-Cars as they come to town.