We have an xtra day or two to spend in/around Cairns after our 3 night stay at Lizard Island in early Nov. After our GBR experience on Lizard, would Port Douglas or vicinity for an extra night before we head back to Sydney be worthwhile? Our other choice would be to head back to Sydney and take 2-3 days around Blue Mtns. or Hunter Valley. Any comments?

Hi Cee,

I think that you would be wasting a lot of time travelling to try and fit in the Blue Mountains or the Hunter Valley, in this instance I think you would be better off just making use of the xtra couple of days in the Cairns/Port Douglas area as there is plenty to see and do there.

Cheers

Paul_S

Hi Cee - agree with Paul - there's a tremendous amount to see around Cairns/Port douglas and 1/2 days won't even scratch the surface. There's plenty of previous postings on this forum to give you and idea.

Pat, you're the expert on the Reef, so I'll be happily corrected by you here... but isn't Cee likely to run into a lot of rain up there around November? Or is it a bit too early for that? What I was thinking is, if she's likely to be rained out in that extra 1 or 2 days, that would take the bloom off that extra "exploration" time; in this case, maybe coming back to Sydney early wouldn't be such a bad idea? Not that I'd do it for the Hunter Valley, mind -- I was thinking more of just spending a couple of extra days in Sydney in what is normally a fantastic time of year.(Of course, I don't know how long you've allowed for Sydney without this extra time, Cee, but I would suggest that three days is an absolute minimum).

Hi Alan, November's avg. rainfall is 9.3 days with most falling in early evening and afternoon, and in recent years it wouldn't have amounted to that. Much wetter in Feb/March (when there's also possibility of cyclones) and this year, April, which rained every single day. Weather has been weird up here all year, here we are in top tourist season - there's been a wretched SE wind blowing since late May and I just can't wait until Oct/Nov. when hopefully, the tropics will feel like the tropics again. I've just been up to Trinity Beach - accommodation houses packed in peak tourist season - sea is whipped up by winds and water is just a swirling brown mess. Humidity does start to build up in November, which shouldn't worry Cee as on LI she'll probably be in water most of the time anyway. Cee, hope you catch the coral spawning on GBR - it does it all at once a couple of days after the first full moon in November, described as "biggest orgasm on earth". November here is great month for rainforest - a perfect time to spot native animals with new babies and birds. It just seems a shame to come this far and not see at least a little of what is available on mainland in the area.

I should clarify that we have to return to Sydney anyway for our departure to US. So, after LI, we can either spend the extra 2-3 days near Cairns,(suggestions?) or fly back to Sydney and explore Blue Mts, Hunter Valley for 2-3 days. Weather was a bit of a concern, and since our departure is Nov.6, I'm afraid we'll miss the "biggest orgasm on earth" -- darn!

Cee, We happily spent a few days using Pat W's Lilybank B&B in Cairns as our base. We really enjoyed being up on the Atherton Tableland, hiking out to the waterfalls and cruising around (crater ) Lake Barrine spotting critters in the upland rainforest. Mossman would make a nice day trip from Cairns and a hike through the gorge w/ an aboriginal guide is a unique experience. The animal park outside Port Douglas IMHO was a better way to see Australian fauna than Taronga Zoo, but if you head up to the Blue Mtns you can always have breakfast w/ the kangeroos. I'm sure Alan will provide details if you ask him politely.

AndrewDavid

PS if you stay at Lilybank, don't miss the fabulous Garden Room Restaurant , a 5 minute walk away.

You don't have to ask me politely... just send me a tape of the biggest orgasm on earth!

Alan,
No sex please, we're Americans.

A/D

Hi alan - trouble is the little critters do it at night to avoid daytime predators. The timing of the spawning can be tricky to estimate - based on scientists' best guess, some reef operators will go out for several nights after full moon in November to try to catch them at it. Believe it's spectacular, but have never managed to time it right.

The only problem I ever had with the spawn was the god awful smell it produced after a couple of days. The brown scum really starts to hussle after a while.

I have no earthly idea what you lot are on about, and I think I prefer it that way. Paul's olfactory reminiscences remind me too much of times in grotty flats in East Sydney. These days it sounds like something best left to the steamy tropics and well away from decent, hard-working and Godfearing southerners. I think I'm on AndrewDavid's side. There must be a good reason why the state capital of New Mexico houses a mere 66,000 people.

Actually NM leads the nation in per capita teen pregnancy. But with a population of only 1.7M we don't get much bang for our buck.

Other limits to growth:

Lack of water
Lack of jobs ( outside of gov't and tourism)
Mediocre public schools
High cost of housing
Inability of flatlanders to breathe
at 2200 m above sea level ( that's why Greer Garson left)

A/D

Is it just a coincidence, AndrewDavid, that the per capita rate of teen pregnancy for New Mexico actually dipped (briefly) BELOW the national average during the time that you and John were visiting Australia? And that I'd never even HEARD of the term "biggest orgasm on earth" until AFTER you had set foot on our shores?

Neil - that deitrus from coral spawning drifts and knows no state boundaries - once there were huge brown/red masses of it visible in sea from my front window when I lived in Sydney's northern beaches. Who knows, it may have gone further south than that.