Judy

We are taking our nephew to Australia for 19 days in June for his high school graduation. He's into nature and animals. We're into hiking. We plan to fly into Brisbane, rent a car and explore the coast up to Cairns/Port Douglas, then fly back to Brisbane. But a friend tells me it would be better to spend 5 days in Tasmania, a couple days in Melbourne, and then fly to Cairns. Any opinions on which itinerary is better?<BR><BR>Also, if we do the Brisbane-to-Cairns drive, are advance hotel reservations required everywhere, or only in Brisbane and the Port Douglas area? Any hotel/B&amp;B/cabin recommendations? What side trips should we take (Fraser Island, Magnetic Island?) and how long should we spend on those island excursions? <BR> Thank you for your help. <BR> Judy

liz

It will be quite cold in Tasmania in June so that may be a factor here. <BR>If you are driving to Cairns take the inland route one way and the coastal route on the way back. <BR>You would leave Brisbane and head out to Roma, going via Toowoomba and Dalby ( I am assuming you can look at a map before hand) At Roma you turn north, heading for Carnarvon Gorge making sure you are never driving in the early morning or after 4pm because of the number of kangaroos about which can hop in front of your car and do a lot of damage. Head for the Lodge at Carnarvon unless you want an Aussie style outback pub experience and then you would stay at the pub in Injune. Carnarvon Gorge is lovely and there are lots of places to hike to and see animals. It has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Aboriginals and there are rock paintings in one of the gorge areas. You should see quite a few animals and if you stay at the lodge you would be able to do some night spotting. <BR>From there you drive north to Emerald where you can take a short drive to the towns of Saphire etc where there are all sorts of gems mined and you are able to either go down a mine yourself and buy one ( all cut and polished) or sift the dirt and get your own. From here you take the road up to Mackay. <BR>Just north-west of Mackay is Eungalla Gorge where you WILL get to see a platypus if you watch at the right time of day. This is a Tropical gorge so the flora and fauna are different from Carnarvon ( which is Oasis Outback) and there is some wonderful walks around here. You can then bypass Mackay and head north from Mirani to Mt Ossa and get onto Hwy 1 again en route to the Whitsunday Islands and surrounds. I you stay in Airlie Beach you can take a day boat ride to some of the islands but leave the reef till you get to Port Douglas just north of Cairns. From Mackay until you get to Cardwell there is not that much of interest but at Cardwell take a boat out to Hinchinbrook Island which is a National Park and is a large off shore island where people are limited and the walks are magnificent. <BR>There will be heaps to do in and around Cairns, Port Douglas and the Atherton Tablelands so I need not go into them here. <BR>On you way back you can stop at places that you missed on the way up but from Mackay south you will stay on the coast road. Little to see or do between Mackay and Maryborough ( especially with your limited time) where you can detour to Hervey Bay and over to Fraser Island. Here you will take a 4 wheel drive tour I should think and then you can hike around to your hearts content. <BR>From Fraser Island back to Brisbane there are plenty of things to see and do and they will be obvious to you, one of which could be Australia Zoo at Beewah if you are interested in that type of thing. <BR>Anyway apart from the cold nights in the outback the weather at that time of year should be wonderful and with this trip you will be combining both nature, animals and hiking. <BR>Enjoy!<BR>Liz<BR>

Nick

Liz has given a very comprehensive response, and totally right about weather. June in Tasmania can get pretty cold, but depending on what you are used to it may still be a good option - e.g Cradle Mountain hike.<BR>Liz did not refer to Magnetic Island - I thought it was a great place, much better than say Mackay or in my view Airlie Beach, so do some more internet research on that. Very easy to get to - quick boat trip from Townsville.<BR>Distances are long, and I found the trip by bus from Brisbane to Cairns in the end pretty tiring even with breaks, so you might consider the odd flight - say fly from Brisbane to Mackay. But ultimately depends on how much you like to drive and how much countryside you want to take on.<BR>If you are going to do a city, I would definitely go for Sydney ahead of any other (I am not from Sydney).

liz

Magnetic Island off Townsville is quite a nice island, as Nick says, but there is no reef and not many animals or too much hiking either. I havn't been there for ages and there were lots of people living there when I did go and I presume that its a suburb of Townsville now. However a nice place for a stopover on your way back if you have the time. 19 days will go like a flash. <BR>Airlie Beach really is only for staying in and getting to any of the islands or the reef and Whitehaven Beach and there is a National Park at the end of the road from Airlie Beach. What I forgot to say was - of all the islands off shore and for just pure flora, fauna and beauty then Hinchinbrook is the top of the line. It IS for the hikers and the wild life fanatics - limited number of people allowed and its size means that you are not running into others all the time.<BR>I don't think that the distance is too far with a bit of planning. Nowadays by the time you get to an airport - sit around for the plane for 90 mins etc you could be a couple of hundred miles away. Also assuming that Judy was using a rental car she would have to return it to Brisbane in any case. <BR>I must say that I agree with Nick 150% that I would be making Sydney my port of call and not Melbourne - especially in winter.

Judy

Thank you so much, Liz and Nick, for your very helpful suggestions. Based on your comments, we've decided to start our visit in Brisbane for 3 nights, then drive to Carnarvon National Park for 3 nights, then to Whitsunday Islands (not sure which one -- any suggestions?) for 3 nights, then to Townsville/Magnetic Island for 3 nights, and then to Cairns/Port Douglas for 6 nights. We hope to leave the car in Cairns (unless its super expensive) and fly home from there. What d'ya think?<BR> Thanks again for all your help!<BR><BR>

liz

OK, cut Brisbane down to either one night and a day or one day and two nights depending on when your flight arrives. <BR>2 nights will suffice in Carnarvon National Park/Gorge. Check out some of the answers and web sites for the Whitsunday islands, there are lots of them with all sorts of different rates and things to do. I am not sure that you would want 3 nights on Magnetic Island though. <BR>I would always suggest that you play it by ear a little bit. If you visit a place and find it wonderful then you will have the time to stay longer. Same applies if you don't like it. I think that there is always more to do in the Cairns/Port Douglas/Atherton Tablelands area than further south so leave plenty of time for there.