jcrob

Major expedition in August to Australia with 5 boys aged 11 -16, starting with 5 days in Cairns. Accommodation rented house) and car sorted.The boys want to dive (never dived before)We thought of two day trips to the reef, one day doing Kuranda/Skyrail.Any bright ideas for the other two days that we can drive to ourselves (organised coach tours seem just too expensive for seven people).We would drive about an hour and a half each way. After Cairns, we are going to Darwin, Melbourne and Sydney, but I will come back to that later!

SnRSeattle

Besides diving, what are the boys interested in doing? There are all kinds of things around Cairns, as I am sure the local people will chime in about. I have looked into things for our upcoming trip, so to get you started thinking--animals--the Cairns zoo and/or the animal habitat outside of Port Douglas; night animal spotting; boat trip on Daintree River to spot crocs; a 2-day trip to Chillagoe where they have caves to tour and outback to see (drive out and stay in a cabin overnight). Bless you for taking your large family on such a great trip.
Sally in Seattle

BarbaraS

Are 11-year-olds allowed to dive in Australia. I thought the age restriction was 12.

jcrob

Thank you both. We would love to see crocodiles, so I'll see about that. Also will look into night animal spotting - actually, the evenings might be a bit of a problem to fill, as we won't be eating out, and the boys are not old enough for "socialising" independently - they will not be hitting the local night-spots! Barbara, it never occurred to me there was an age limit for dives - another thing to check, though he will be 12 in September. Any restrictions on snorkelling? Anyone with any ideas for evening activities for this age group that us parents could attend too?

pat_woolford

Barbara's dead right, minimum diving age in Queensland is 12. So your 11yo will have to be content with snorkerlling. Most reef boats offer introductory diving, you'll be asked to fill in a medical form for each person before they're allowed to dive.


There's not a lot of things for kids and younger teens to do in evenings, local kids play a lot of organised team sport. They might enjoy the go-kart race track on Capt Cook Hwy near Smithfield which is open until 10pm, and there's always the movies. Nocturnal night trips are a good suggestion and as you'll be driving you could meet Alan at Yungaburra on Atherton Tableland for a guided evening tour. Alan's website is www.alanswildlifetours.com.au

pat_woolford

Meant to say "nocturnal native animal spotting" trips!

chimani

What do the boys do at home?

I don't know, so you must tell me.

Won't the fact that they are immensely privileged just to be there be enough?

Tell them to go outside and sniff the air. And look at what is around them. You could come prepared with reference books on Australian flora.

They could make all those plants they have never seen before a project. Or they could make Australia a project - like find out something about its history.

Is it necessary these days for kids to be entertained all the time. Why not encourage them to feed the mind?

Cos they are lucky, aren't they?

jcasale

Take them to Hartley's Crocodile Adventure. It's part zoo, part breeding farm for crocs. They do some fun shows and you can walk around and see various native animals and reptiles. I thought it would be kind of hokey, but DH really wanted to see a BIG saltie and we had only seen smaller ones on our Daintree trip. It was pretty fun and I think kids would like it alot. it is sort of halfway between Cairns and Port Douglas (maybe a little closer to Port Douglas). Enjoy!

jcrob

Many thanks. Hartleys is now on the agenda, and we will make a note of Alan's wildlife's Tours.
Chimani, you are right in that we are all immensely privileged to be able to go to Australia at all, and the boys are well aware. At home, they "hang out" with their friends in each others houses, do homework, play football, and play in some bands in their garden sheds (drums are Loud!!), play golf (some of them) etc. It's just we will be in an unknown place, and we want them to have a few experiences that they wouldn't have at home, and where we can supervise them. Wouldn't they just love to tour around down town on their own!Would you let them?! And they are surfing the net and finding out lots of things. A day in Daintree might be on the agends too.
When we come back in September, there will be a great Trip Report!