I suspect one of the main problems you face is that your EQ6 mount cannot easily be set up for Cairns 17 deg latitude. The EQ6 mount has a 25 deg latitude limit before collisions between the counterweight with the tripod become an issue.
The way some get around it is to lower one leg but juggling stability, balance, and alignment with such an out of level mount will be very confusing and difficult for a beginner.
I don't own an EQ6. In the first instance, could one of our EQ6 owning IIS members reading this check and confirm whether the mount can physically be tilted to 17 degrees without tripod tilt. If so then UKbob could add an extension pier to avoid the tripod collision. If 25 degrees is the hardware limit then some other engineering solution might be in order such as an extension pier with an added 10-15 degree wedge.
There are IIS members from Cairns and surrounds. I don't know what their telescope experience is like.
cyclone from Mareeba.
Also Ian McClean,
gaa_ian (Ian) NT Stargazer from Darwin may have some experience to with the problems of mounts at tropical latitudes.
There is also plenty of support available here though none of us can help you directly..
Cheers
Joe