Final planning stages-at last !
 

Thanks to all (esp Pat) for help in this wonderful, sometimes overwhelming task of planning this June 1st trip to Oz with my family(hubby and girls 15 & 18)

We are spending 3 nights in sydney, then on to Queensland. The question is:not sure how I see the rest of the trip[.
I want to stay based in Cairns area( already picked out a place to stay) to use as a base for 3 nights. Not sure of where to stay the other 4.

We want to spend 1 or 2 nights in the tablelands, maybe 2 nights in Mossman and then the other 3 in Cairns?(so we can be near the airport)I have always envisioned the "outback" ( on TV, I guess) as rugged cowboys,pubs with great beer,etc)The Matilda highway sounds like such a place to find this, but we will not be near there.Where to go to get this experience?
I have found info on farmstays, but not on any "ranches", any advice??

Mossman isn't a great place to stay. It is basically a sugar mill town - not a tourist spot at all. The Atherton Tablelands or somewhere in the Daintree would be much more pleasant.
If you want a taste of the outback, you could drive to Undara - old volcanic lava tubes. I think from memory it took us about three hours from Cairns to drive there. There is accommodation there but better to prebook your accommodation (and tour) in advance as it is limited.

>>>>>>I have found info on farmstays, but not on any "ranches", any advice??<<<<<<

Australians call a "ranch" a "station," so a Google search for "cattle station" may turn up useful information. (I'm guessing that stations run cattle rather than sheep that far north.)

donna - Judy's right - very few sheep here in North Queensland - there's a couple of farm stays on the Tableland where they run beef and dairy cattle and some mixed farming but you need to go far afield for a real cattle-station. They're usually spread over huge tracts of land so you only see them at mustering time. I'd look it up for you, but don't have time as am going on long-awaited holiday - Emu Creek west of Dimbulah on the Chillagoe rd has accommodation.

Better off without sheep IMHO. A ram killed a guy at Berrima, in the New South Wales Southern Highlands, this week. "He didn't seem to like men," someone commented.