Car Rental
 

My husband and I will be in Cairns (first time) in September. We are thinking of renting a car to drive to the Daintree rain forest and Tableland. We are used to with the U.S. driving system and do you think we will have problems with the driving system in Aus? If it is not such a good idea, do they have any public transportation that we can use to get to the rain forest and tableland? Thank you for your advice.

It's not such a big deal to learn to drive on the other side of the road. The only problem I've had is in cities, when I still tend to look the wrong way across an intersection for oncoming traffic. Some car hires do not allow their vehicles to be driven on unsealed roads, which could be a problem, depending on where you intend to drive - the roads get more dicey north of the Daintree River.

I don't think that there is much in the way of public transportation, although there are tours to both the Tablelands and Daintree.

Thank you ALF. I guess we will just drive and see what happens. Don't feel like joining any tours as we will have no freedom to do whatever we want.
By the way, what do you think about the Hilton hotel in Cairns? Is it a good one? It is about $157/night.

I just searched this forum on "wrong side of the road" and came up with this thread, which has some good advice:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34897179

I think driving into the Atherton Tablelands is a good idea, but personally I'd opt for a tour of the Daintree. I doubt that we'd have seen or learnt so much had we driven ourselves.

Thanks Neil_OZ, very helpful info.

And if you want to hire a car for some general driving eg Atherton Tablelands and along the coast look at www.drivenow.com.au . I have used it two or three times and found it good as have posters from the USA who found its prices very good . It is a site that lists all hire companies and gives you comparable prices .You can pick up the car at Cairns airport.
Driving is quite easy as it is largely highways with roundabouts at intersections.We found Thrifty the cheapest but that depends on the type of car.We hired a four wheel drive as there were four of us and needed the space.

You know, Australians also travel to countries where driving is on the opposite side of road to which we are used to and we do adapt fairly quickly - our first intro was straight out of LA north. The two areas you mention have very light traffic, at least as the Daintree is concerned I do agree with Neil about taking a guided tour with a knowledgeable guide.

Two good guided trips for this area out of Cairns are Billy Tea Safaris and Trek North.

busybee128:

Hire a rental and don't be afraid.

Cairns is a small town so you will not have the congestion of Sydney or Melbourn.

Drill the mantra "KEEP LEFT" into your mind, take it slow and you will be fine.

I suggest that you rent a used vehicle so the odd scratch you put on it will have the company of others.

We rented a Camry in Cairns and tooled all over with it. Great freedom and convenience but certainly take the tours as well to have the advantage of the local knowledge.

Be sure to go out to the Barrier Reef.

My biggest problem driving on the left side of the road was that my windshield wipers activated when I signaled to change lanes!

Have a good one.

Woodie.

Woody, it took me a week of driving in Cairns to get the backwards blinker and windshield wiper thing down and then when I got back to the US it took me 3 months to stop doing it.
Busybee-the Hilton is a nice hotel but it is like every other Hilton. You know what you are getting. I personally liked the Zanzoo B&B which I stayed at also for 2 nights.
The hardest part of remebering to stay left is if you are in a residential area.

The last time I rented my car had a "Keep Left" sticker prominently posted on the windshield or the dashboard. It was a good idea. I might suggest making your own with a post it note or something similar if the car doesn't come that way. I also prefer to rent cars that don't have identifying decals with the rental company name on them.

We just came back from Spain where they drive on the opposite side of the road (we are from the UK)I drove thru Palma and to our villa about 1 hour away and it was ok (the roundabouts took a bit of getting used) but i havent driven on the other side for 8 years and i quickly adapted... you will be fine i am sure.