I wonder if any of the experts living on this messageboard could offer a little advice?
I apologise in advance if this turns into a ramble.

A group of four of us (two couples) are travelling to Oz this August. (We're from UK/Spain)
We're all biologists and are attending the entomology conference in Brisbane for a week (any advice for a day trip/nice bars/restaurants etc.. ?) following which we fly up to Cairns.
We arrive in Cairns on 22nd and fly back to Brisbane on 30th. We've only booked accomodation in Cairns for the first two nights as we're not sure what to do. We're not exactly flush with cash and are used to staying in fairly rough & ready accom, just as long as it's clean. We're all pretty adventurous and, being biologists, are into anything involving seeing nature.

OK, any advice for a rough itinerary.
How much of the rainforest/bush can we see by ourselves without going on organised tours? Will we see anything if we don't go on an organise tour?

We'd like to see the reef, obviously. Only one of us is certified at diving though we can all swim. Any advice on the way to go? Day trip? 2 day live aboard? We'd obviously like to see as much as possible so does this mean going tothe outer reef?

What's the case about travelling further north? Is car hire an option in August. Can we get access to nature reserves etc? Anything reccomended re Daintree/Cape Trib?

Also are the Artherton Tablelands worth a visit? If so, 1 day/2 days? By car?

Any advice on where to stay, # nights in Cairns/Reef/Daitree etc ?

Well, sorry about the vague nature of this request. All and any advice gratefully received. (Especially if they're good value - hoping not to be bankrupt come November)

Thanks, Mark, Rosa, Adela & Gomeo.

My husband is also going to the Brisbane conference, but we will be in Cairns the week before, rather than after. It is our first trip there so we are not experts, but Pat Woolford, who frequently posts on this forum and can be reached at Lilybanks B&B([email protected]) has been incredibly helpful. Check her website, and you will want to stay there too! I can let you know what we've decided to do, and can give you a report at the conference if you desire.
We are staying at Lilybanks for 4 nights, spending one day driving to Atherton Tablelands, one day on the Ocean Spirit sailing cruise to Michaelmas Cay for snorkeling, one day on the Trek North Cape Tribulation day tour, and one day in Kuranda and environs.
Then we move to Port Douglas and are staying at the Comfort Inn, spending one day on the Wavelength snorkeling tour and one day with Pete Baxendell(www.nhiqt.com.au) going to Laura, where my husband is interested in seeing the magnetic termite mounds, as well as giant termite mounds and the "Weaver" or "Tailor" ants in Daintree area. We have chartered Pete to drive us there on August 12; if you can get to Port Douglas by then, and are interested in joining us, or know others who might be, let me know, as we have 3 passengers and he can take up to 6.
Good websites for general info are
http://www.tropicalaustralia.com.au/
http://www.pddt.com.au/Port_Douglas_...s_Map_Link.htm

I hope this has helped.

Hello Mark, Rosa, Adela and Gomeo.

I just returned from Australia on Thursday and we spent a couple days in the Cairns Tablelands - what a beautiful and magical place - a trip highlight for us. I would be happy to share photos and trip report if you would like - email me at:
[email protected]

Otherwise- here is a brief synopsis:
Our goal for the Tablelands was to see the rainforest and as many animals as possible. To do this we hired a naturalist guide to take us out nightspotting to see the nocturnal animals in the rainforest and to see kangaroo and wallaby and platypus during the day. What FUN!!

Jonathan Munro was our guide and he was a "hoot" and so knowledgeable about the land, history, fauna, animals...

We stayed at the Chambers Lodge in the rainforest at Lake Eacham. The lodge had wild brush turkey running around and supposedly a python out back that eats wallaby!

We saw many types of birds, vegetation, platypus, kangaroos, sugar gliders, bats, pademelons, lizards, and more...
Jonathan is an expert at taking you to remote places to find the animals. We explored a billabong (wetlands) and drove through a savannah woodland and sclerophyll forest to observe wild kangaroos of several species and other wildlife.

His company is called Wild Watch Australia at http://www.wildwatch.com.au
and it will be just you and Jonathan on the tour. Just tell him what you want to see (we so wanted to see a tree kangaroo) and he will
go above and beyond to find it for you in the wild.

Good luck
-Amanda

consider heading up to port douglas for a few days. nicer atmosphere than cairns and a great jumping spot for day trips.

you could very easily spent a day on your own in the Mossman gorge. Take something to swim in and enjoy the clear water and wonderful hikes. seek out the boyd's rainforest dragon. pack a lunch from the nice grocery store on the road into port douglas.

we had a great reef trip on calypso, a small family run boat. The certified diver gets a great trip and if others want to take a resort course, calypso does a great job. And if you just want to snorkel, they had some wonderful areas and we did not see another boat.

Hello Linehamuk - Both Jonathan Munroe and Pete Baxendell are excellent - they do take very small groups and if you're looking for something a little cheaper I can thoroughly recommend Steve at www.wildernessecosafari.com who takes an average of 8 people. He has access to "restricted access only" areas on the Tableland so can keep you away from crowds. You can see a fair bit up there by self-drive (with 4 sharing its a cheap option) if you know the right places - Mareeba Wetlands has an amazing variety of birdlife and kangaroos in the wild - it's about an hour's drive from Cairns. Admission is AU$8.00 a person and Hasties Swamp near Atherton is free. There are several B&B's with on-site platypus on the Tableland - have a look at www.bnbnq.com.au under "Tropical Tablelands". Two of them, Millstream Retreat and Pond Cottage are near Mt Hypipamee crater (tropical highland rainforest) which is also ideal for viewing wildlife at night. You can usually see platypus at night just outside Atherton (there's a free public viewing area). Crystal Cascades is about a 25 minute drive from the centre of Cairns and is like Mossman Gorge without the tourist buses - this is where locals go when its too hot for the beach or to hike in the rainforest. You would need a car, there is no public bus. Other than crocodiles you have far more chance of seeing a bigger variety of wildlife on the Tableland than you will at Daintree.

another "off the beaten tourist track"is Wooroonooran National Park, south of Cairns which contains the two highest mountains in Queensland as well as numerous rivers and waterholes - website is www.wooroonooran-safaris.com.au for guided trip with Oliver or you could do it yourself (with a good map!) There are many reef trips from either Cairns or PD at various prices - with the majority leaving from Cairns - all offer snorkelling and most offer diving, both certified and intro. Just do a search to see which suits you the best.

Hope this helps.

Hope

Whoops, forgot to mention - you'd probably be interested in Australian Insect Farm near Innisfail, about a hour south of Cairns and the Flecker Botanical Gardens(admission free) - 38 hectares of australian tropical native plants at Edge Hill - about 4km north of Cairns city

Heaps of good advice here but I would like to put in a word about the Daintree Region which actually stretches for about 60km between Mossman Gorge in the south up to Daintree Village and over the Daintree River to beyond Cape Tribulation. There is an enormous amount of wildlife on the Tablelands - but Daintree is very much more than just crocodiles! There are many crocodiles to be seen on any of the river cruises but there are also tours catering for birders, biologists and other nature specialists on which you will also see many of the 430 species of birds which are found in the Wet Tropics, reptiles, butterflies, bats, snakes and much more. There are only 38 species of mangroves in the world and the Daintree River has 30 of them!

You don't always have to hire a guide to find wildlife - if you stay in one of the many, many smaller B&B's, retreats and host farms the wildlife will come to you. Go to sleep to the sound of night insects and frogs and forest rustlings and awaken to a symphony of birdsong. And around your accommodation you may spot bandicoots, wallabies, possums, incredible tropical butterflies and moths, bats, tiny skinks and if overlooking water sometimes platypus and turtles.

Daintree Village is in the heart of the Daintree region and is a quiet alternative for visitors who may not always want to stay in busy hotels and resorts - Daintree Village Tourism Association website is at www.daintreevillage.asn.au and the site is currently being updated with more regional information. Another informative site is 101 Things to do in Daintree at http://members.dodo.net.au/~chrisld/.

linehamuk: Sounds like you'd really like the Undarra Lava Tubes. A great add-on to a visit to the Atherton Tablelands. Wildlife guaranteed and a taste of Aussie outback. Below I've copied an earlier post of mine on teh subject.

Ralph R

Message: I thought Undarra was really cool...even my city slicker wife had a great time there too. We arrived by car with the intention of staying one night...ended up staying 2 nights and taking the full day tour. (The tubes can only be seen by tour.) The drive out there is interesting going from tropical rainforest to the lush Atherton Tablelands to the dry open savannah with zillions of termite mounds in all directions. We spent our first afternoon at Undarra doing a pretty long walk through the open forest over lava fields to a large rock outcropping. Lots of wildlife...roos, emus, red tailed black cockatoos...we even had bettongs (small kangaroos) hopping through the outdoor dining area at night. We went spotting at night...saw a few Australian possoms (nothing like their US cousins)and sugar gliders. A couple of dozen kangaroos always seemed to he hanging around the grounds during the day.

At night we went stargazing and a lot of the guests gathered around a big fire the staff got going. The Lava Tubes themselves were very impressive... the longest in the world. Pockets of rainforest survive in some of the collpased sections. Our lady guide was a real fair dinkum Aussie character and a lot of fun. She took the time to explain various plants and which one can be eaten as "bush tucker".

The first night we stayed in one of the RR carriages. Nice, but we were actually more comfortable the next night when we stayed in one of the "swags" - semi-permanent tents with shared facilities. Food was pretty good, not gormet. All eating was out of doors...breakfast was served in a separate area out in the bush, cooked over a campfire.

That was 10 years ago...I assume not much has changed. Undarra's a great place to go for a little adventure, lots of wildlife, and a taste of the Aussie Outback within a day's drive of Cairns.