Which of 2 tour co for Daintree tour?
Oct 26th, 2005, 05:09 PM
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Which of 2 tour co for Daintree tour?
Has anyone tried wilderness challenge tours www.wilderness-challenge.com.au? How does it compare to Pete Baxendel's that is mentioned frequetly on this forum
Oct 26th, 2005, 10:43 PM
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Vacationer - wilderness eco safaris doesn't go to Daintree - Steve or his off-sider Chris take 8-person 4WD into pristine World Heritage rainforest and Australian bush into Cairns hinterland and Tableland area daily. They mostly use restricted access rainforest tracks, so its a real "wilderness" experience. Pick-ups are from Cairns and its northern beaches and are included in price of AU$145pp.
Pete Baxendell does bushwalks in Daintree Rainforest (Tues and Sat) for AU$120pp with maximum of 6 or AU$175pp minimum of two for private bushwalking. OR you can choose your own safari destination - ie, Rainforest/Tablelands/Outback/Quinkan Country Rock Art - AU$590 flat rate per day per group (1-6people). Courtesy pick-up from Port Douglas for Daintree bushwalks - AU$45 from Cairns area - courtesy transfers for safari trips from any location.
Pete Baxendell does bushwalks in Daintree Rainforest (Tues and Sat) for AU$120pp with maximum of 6 or AU$175pp minimum of two for private bushwalking. OR you can choose your own safari destination - ie, Rainforest/Tablelands/Outback/Quinkan Country Rock Art - AU$590 flat rate per day per group (1-6people). Courtesy pick-up from Port Douglas for Daintree bushwalks - AU$45 from Cairns area - courtesy transfers for safari trips from any location.
Oct 26th, 2005, 10:58 PM
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Pat, so does this tour not take you to Daintree? http://www.wilderness-challenge.com.au/dct01.html
Oct 27th, 2005, 03:06 AM
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Hi, I went on the cape york tour with wilderness challenge. I found the company to be very professional, can't fault them. You could actually hire a car and do this trip yourself, it's very easy and everything they are offering you can do independently. Cheers
Nov 3rd, 2005, 09:17 AM
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We went with Trek North http://www.treknorth.com.au/daintree-tour.htm and really enjoyed the day. Try and get Craig as your guide (if he still works there)
Nov 3rd, 2005, 11:38 AM
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Sorry vacationer, should always wear my glasses these days. I read "wilderness challenge" as "wilderness eco-safaris" a completely different trip. Yes, Wilderness Challenge does go to Daintree and has an excellent reputation - I like the day trip which flies to Cooktown over reef and comes back by 4WD down Bloomfield Track via Cape Tribulation.
stevelondon, agree with you about Trek North trip to Cape although Craig is now working elsewhere. There's 5 or 6 driver guides, all have exceptional knowledge. Went on this trip again last week with geologist guide who really knew her stuff.
stevelondon, agree with you about Trek North trip to Cape although Craig is now working elsewhere. There's 5 or 6 driver guides, all have exceptional knowledge. Went on this trip again last week with geologist guide who really knew her stuff.
Nov 3rd, 2005, 02:17 PM
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Yes I agree with Pat.
Fly over to Cooktown.
We did that, the scenery was amazing.
We left Cairns at 8 in the morning and flew very low over all the beaches between Cairns and Cookstown. We flew across Port Douglas and out over the great barrier reef where the pilot pointed our dugong (large manatee) mants rays a hammer head shark and hundreds of turtles.
We then flew over miles of uninhabited beaches to the Daintree River where the pilot pointed out crocodiles lying in the sand on the mouth of the Daintree.
We then flew over a huge waterfall named the roaring Meg .
We passed over Cape Tribulation low level and then along the Bloomfield river seeing Woja Woja aboriginal village then along a very long beach called Cedar Bay to some huge rock formations called the black mountains. We then circled Cookstown and flew low over some massive sand dunes with multi colored sands before landing in Cookstown to meet up with the 4wd.
My husband filmed the whole event on video,We are amazed more is not known about these sorts of adventures.
We were the only four people on the plane. The pilot had been flying that route for years so knew every nook and cranny to show us.
The 4wd trip back to Cairns was very long, with stops along the way we spent around 7 hours on the return leg. We stopped for a couple of swims in some streams and enjoyed a picnic lunch at the base of a big waterfall.
We did take a ferry boat across the Daintree River but waited for ages in a long line of cars to eventually drive onto the river ferry. The driver then took us into Daintree Town for cold drinks and a look around sosme timber working shops.The driver was a marine biologist as well as a geologist, so was full of information on the rock formations and the formation of the reefs and what makes the rainforest reef thing all tick together.
There were other people on the 4wd who had flown high level to Cookstown. Apparently the tour buses use these companies on the regular flights between towns as it is cheaper than the scenis flights, any way they told us they were on top of clouds all the way and were so dissapointed when we told them what we had seen on the way over. They did not see any thing at all. We were told by our hotel we can not get a scenic flight to Cooktown to meet the 4wd as well.
We had found Daintree Air Services through this forum long before we arrived in Cairns so contacted them from our Hotel. They were very helpful in arranging our low level flight and infact booked the tour back to Cairns as well.
Fly over to Cooktown.
We did that, the scenery was amazing.
We left Cairns at 8 in the morning and flew very low over all the beaches between Cairns and Cookstown. We flew across Port Douglas and out over the great barrier reef where the pilot pointed our dugong (large manatee) mants rays a hammer head shark and hundreds of turtles.
We then flew over miles of uninhabited beaches to the Daintree River where the pilot pointed out crocodiles lying in the sand on the mouth of the Daintree.
We then flew over a huge waterfall named the roaring Meg .
We passed over Cape Tribulation low level and then along the Bloomfield river seeing Woja Woja aboriginal village then along a very long beach called Cedar Bay to some huge rock formations called the black mountains. We then circled Cookstown and flew low over some massive sand dunes with multi colored sands before landing in Cookstown to meet up with the 4wd.
My husband filmed the whole event on video,We are amazed more is not known about these sorts of adventures.
We were the only four people on the plane. The pilot had been flying that route for years so knew every nook and cranny to show us.
The 4wd trip back to Cairns was very long, with stops along the way we spent around 7 hours on the return leg. We stopped for a couple of swims in some streams and enjoyed a picnic lunch at the base of a big waterfall.
We did take a ferry boat across the Daintree River but waited for ages in a long line of cars to eventually drive onto the river ferry. The driver then took us into Daintree Town for cold drinks and a look around sosme timber working shops.The driver was a marine biologist as well as a geologist, so was full of information on the rock formations and the formation of the reefs and what makes the rainforest reef thing all tick together.
There were other people on the 4wd who had flown high level to Cookstown. Apparently the tour buses use these companies on the regular flights between towns as it is cheaper than the scenis flights, any way they told us they were on top of clouds all the way and were so dissapointed when we told them what we had seen on the way over. They did not see any thing at all. We were told by our hotel we can not get a scenic flight to Cooktown to meet the 4wd as well.
We had found Daintree Air Services through this forum long before we arrived in Cairns so contacted them from our Hotel. They were very helpful in arranging our low level flight and infact booked the tour back to Cairns as well.
Nov 8th, 2005, 06:32 AM
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natadventure:
Happened to be in Cooktown earlier today - Grassy Hill where the memorial is to Cook's efforts with his badly damaged Endeavour. A Wilderness Challenge 4WD vehicle was there with American tourists so I asked one about the flight from Cairns which she booked with Wilderness Challenge -she said it was low level all the way from Cairns with reef scenery just as you described.
Yes, it takes about 6-7 hours from Cooktown to Cairns along the Bloomfield track but its such a shame this trip is virtually ignored by o/s tourists. Yesterday, about 5 minutes after leaving sealed road at Cape Tribulation saw two wild male cassowaries and a huge goanna, just on road from car. The inland road is only about 3 hours or a bit more, unfortunately most of the wildlife you see on that stretch is roadkill.
Happened to be in Cooktown earlier today - Grassy Hill where the memorial is to Cook's efforts with his badly damaged Endeavour. A Wilderness Challenge 4WD vehicle was there with American tourists so I asked one about the flight from Cairns which she booked with Wilderness Challenge -she said it was low level all the way from Cairns with reef scenery just as you described.
Yes, it takes about 6-7 hours from Cooktown to Cairns along the Bloomfield track but its such a shame this trip is virtually ignored by o/s tourists. Yesterday, about 5 minutes after leaving sealed road at Cape Tribulation saw two wild male cassowaries and a huge goanna, just on road from car. The inland road is only about 3 hours or a bit more, unfortunately most of the wildlife you see on that stretch is roadkill.
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