trixie,
Yes you could get tours from PD to those areas but a vehicle would give you flexibility.

Cape Tribulation is north of the Daintree River and part of the Daintree National Park. There are some very pleasant accommodations there and between there and the river which is crossed by ferry/barge. The forests around Coopers and Noahs Creeks are very interesting to botanists or if you have a knowledgeble guide. The Daintree Discovery centre is great for interpretation of the forest.

If you want to see birds and mammals then the Atherton Tablelands is way ahead of the coast except for the Cassowary. On the coast a nocturnal walk may find you the odd sleeping lizard and a few spiders but on the Tablelands you will see mammals as well. This area also has crater lakes, waterfalls, walking trails and a range of accommodation.

Rather than going to the reef from Port Douglas you might try basing yourself in Cairns or one of the northern beaches. Then head up to the Daintree/Cape Tribulation area for a night and Yungaburra or near by for two nights.

Hi, my husband and I visited Australia in 2006 and were in Queensland for a week. While staying in Port Douglas you can find tours to all of the locations mentioned, however why limit yourself to Port Douglas? While we were in Queensland, we spent three nights in the Daintree area, 2 nights in the tablelands and 3 nights at Trinity Beach. We had a car which gave us a lot of flexibility. Our accommodation in the Daintree was in the rainforest so we had easy access to several self-guided walks in the area. Our lodge in the rainforest was also able to arrange guided tours. As someone has mentioned, the best place to see wildlife is in the tablelands and the best time to see some of the wildlife is at dusk or after dark. While we were in the tablelands we scheduled a private wildlife tour with Jonathan Munro that included night spotting. It was an adventure going into the forest to find the possums and other little animals of the night. During the day we toured the area on our own, going to the curtain fig, waterfalls, and the crater lakes. The owners of the B&B we stayed at in Atherton directed us to a spot where we saw a platypus. On our way back to Cairns we stopped off in Kuranda to shop and hike to a viewing area of the Barron Falls. Although we didn't get the train or skyrail experience, we enjoyed shopping in Kuranda and by not taking the tour we saved some time and money. While we were in Trinity Beach we took a snorkeling trip to the GBR. We really enjoyed our time in Queensland, and liked staying in all of our locations. Our favorite area was probably the tablelands so I am glad we didn't stay our whole time on the coast.

Sara

Wow! Thanks so much for the advice. I think the plan is now to extend our time in Queensland, do four nights in PD, including a day at Kuranda on the way up, with the Lizard Island tour and a rainforest tour with Pete Baxendell to fill two days. We will spend two nights in Daintree (probably somewhere in Cape Trib, unless any other suggestions are recommended) and then two nights in the Tablelands before heading back to Cairns for a flight to Sydney.

I will contact Jonathan Munro about night walks.

Any recommendations for rainforest and tablelands accommodation is appreciated.

Many thanks saltuarius and sari80 for your advice.

We stayed in the rainforest at Daintree Wilderness Lodge and did our day tour with Pete from there. We also went on the Lizard Island day trip. We enjoyed both very much. Here's a link to the Queensland part our trip report, in case any of this is helpful:

http://www.onelittleworld.com/australia_4.html

trixie, here's a website for accommodation in FNQ where local owners can give you all the advice you need regarding tours and things to do and see in FNQ. www.bnbnq.com.au - you'll see it covers from Cardwell in south to Cooktown in north as well as the Atherton Tableland.

Trixie, we stayed in the historic preserved hamlet of Yungaburra and it was great. We took a day and night tour with Alan Gillanders who was terrific and was cheaper since we used our own car. We didn't see a cassowary which we wanted to badly, but we saw a ton of other birds and creatures, plus he told us a lot about the history and botany of the area. Here is his website:
http://www.alanswildlifetours.com.au/
The Daintree Air trip to Lizard is great, I am glad you are going for it. We took a day trip with Cooper Creek www.ccwild.com which was informative and interesting. You can click on my name and scroll down to my trip report (the ones you might be interested in are #26 and #43.) There has been nothing but raves about Pete's tours here, but the timing didn't work out for us.
Cheers,
Sally in Seattle, sunny and cold today

Hi all, thanks for your feedback - invaluable as always.

ms_go. How was Daintree Wilderness Lodge? We were thinking of Cape Trib Beach House based on the pics on the website, but their reviews are terrible!!! I am aware I will be staying in the rainforest, so there is bound to be creepy crawlies around, but am I going to be sharing my bed with 4 inch cockroaches everywhere I stay? Please tell me not!

So we are now thinking of Wilderness Lodge, Cape Trib Sanctuary or the Exotic Fruit Farm. Any views from anyone?

Hey Sally in Seattle. Did you stay in Cape Trib too? Not sure we have time for both, and Yungaburra gets rave reviews on here. Which would you choose?

Thanks for all the help. Keep it coming!

Cheers. Tracey

Tracey, not sure I could choose between Cape Trib and Yungaburra--both so different! Yungaburra is a pleasant town with many historical houses and a pub, elusive platypus at the bottom of the hill, and rolling hills and some rain forest around. Cape Trib is a long way from anywhere and surrounded by rainforest. I don't envy you your decision! I would get together with your DH and try to clarify what is most meaningful to you both and what experiences are most important. In our two trips to Oz we went to Cape Trib during the day twice and did a night tour on the Daintree twice, but don't know how that measures up to actually being there overnight. In Yungaburra we were able to take the night animal spotting tour with Alan Gillanders which was great. Cooper Creek has a night spotlight tour, but I think they say that they don't see many animals. You just have to check out your timing, do the measuring of how many kilometers from place to place, and see how things fit in. Unfortunately, you can't do it all. Fortunately, what you can do in Oz is so fun and outstanding, you just can't lose whatever you choose!
Sally in Seattle

have done cairns and port douglas a few times
stayed at palm cove..south of port douglas and quieter atmosphere...very romantic but this time in august 2008 we are going to stay right in port douglas for four nights,,have booked the mantra aqueous which is still relatively new and very central ( 300 a night ...missed the ratestogo price of 190 per night..bummer..gotta move fast on those!)

as for day trips..dont worry about pre booking anything..the people at the hotel desk will look after you
sometimes you have to wait til the winds die down to do the reef anyway and they let you know when something is available
i recommend low isles...really pretty cay out in the middle of nowhere
you wont need a car to get around
we are getting a car but thats because we are travelling from syd to cairns by air and then will have the car but
i have flown before with my kids and never needed a car
there are buses everywhere..easy even to get into cairns for the day to have a look at the fabulous new shoreline they have created!
and shuttles for day trips will pick you up from your hotel no problem..so easy
you can get a tour to kuranda marketsand do the skyrail all in one hit ( i really recommend going into see the bird sanctuary...tame wonderful birds...amazing even if youre not a bird enthusiast...those cockies and parrots are incredible!)
theres also the popular crocodile tour and even hot air ballooning round cairns
easy to book
theyll pick and get you back right to your accommodation..small fee for petrol nowadays...seven dollars aud i think from memory
port douglas is a lot more expensive in every way...be prepared
but its a good base from which to explore cape tribulation
we were thinking of staying in the cape but decided it was a bit isolated and more for honeymooners..nothing there...but beautiful of course
id rather hang out in portdouglas and just do a day out there on the cape...in the car..not a 4wd i dont think we will need it
we are not into tea and scones tours ...we will pick and choose what we will see and how long we will stay for ...doubt that i will hang out in the rainforest too long but thats just me..seen a few of them now!

Hi trixie, We went on the 5 day Captain cook cruise of the great barrier reef. It goes to lizard Island for a day as well as green Island, ribbon reef etc. It was excellent. Spent 3 days at Daintree wilderness lodge. Do the night hike it was incredible. We did it the next night again. We went to the exotic fruit farm for a tasting/class and this was very interesting but I don't think I would stay there. I liked Palm cove much better than Port Douglas. Trinity beach also has my vote over PD. The price of the cruise was cheaper than saying on shore and taking day trips snorkling and to Lizard Island, also the food was great.

Whoa! Every time I log back in I am tempted by new and different things to do. And different ways to do it. Advice about buses is good to know - still can't decide between time in PD and time in Cape Trib and Yungaburra, but we have time to decide. I am confident, however, that whatever we do will be memorable, and that we will be back! Thanks for everything.