RTG,
I live just near the Kuranda village on the the Atherton Tablelands. From walking out the front door to signing on in the crew room at Cairns airport is 40mins, maybe 5 to 10 mins extra if peak hour.
No aircon required, great lifestyle and I find the drive up the range to be relaxing. Coastal is for work hassles, which get left there.
Cairns itself is a bit too tourist oriented for my liking so the Tablelands gives us a great place to live and easy access to CNS for shopping or more serious medical than can be got up the hill.