We have tentatively scheduled a day trip to Lizard Island and an overnight in the rainforest. Can anyone give us suggestions on what to do with the other 3 days?

From reading a lot of posts about the Atherton Tablelands and Cape Tribulation, we are interested in those areas because of our love of wildlife and scenery but are open to other suggestions.

Thanks

To maximize your time on the Tableland, I recommend that you hire Alan Gillanders for the day. He will go along with you in your car and point out the plants and animals that you encounter and give a great historical and geological overview of the area as well. His website is www.alanswildlifetours.com.au
He'll take you to special places, like the private property that has playtpus active in the daytime, and help you find whatever you are looking for. No guarantees, though, on the cassowaries!!
Sally in Seattle

Thanks for your input and I loved your pictures on your other thread. Just for kicks, I'll send you an e-mail to let you look at Smugmug for posting your pictures. It costs a little bit per year but it has great storage, super technical support, and none of those annoying ads.

In one of the threads about the GBR area, Pat W recommended "Cape Tribulation day trips include parts of Daintree World Heritage Rainforest, and these are available from Palm Cove - a good one is www.billytea.com.au

there's tons of nature based things to do; if you like walking check out www.cairnswildernesswalks.com with very small groups - Margaret is a terrific guide; you shouldn't miss the Atherton Tablelands either - see www.wildernessecosafaris.com."

Do you have an opinion on any of these recommendations? Also, is there a way to contact Pat through an e-mail?

Well, we didnt' want to do the billy tea one because we had driven up to Cape Trib ourselves on the last trip and didn't want to do the fruit tasting and other "fluffy" stuff that they do. That said, there are lots of posts here and/or on trip advisor that really liked billy tea tours. We drove ourselves and then took a 2 hour tour in the woods with a guide at ccwild.com which is cooper creek wilderness. It was wonderful. They have a night tour, too, which we wanted to do, but didn't want to drive back to PD in the dark. People staying at Cape Trib or other Daintree places might be interested. We also didn't take advantage of the Cairns Wilderness walks because we had already been to Kuranda, but people rave about the tours, I think there is a difficult one and a not so difficult one. I don't know anything about the other one unless it is the one where they drive you to otherwise inaccessible places which sounded cool. Pat's email is through their website, www.lilybank.com.au She is a gold mine of information and her place is great if you like B&Bs. I'll take a look at Smugmug because we are also looking for a website to host a family wish list. Thanks! If you like to snorkel, the day trip to Lizard will be fantastic for you. Be sure to check the tide schedule and go on a day when the low tide isnt' at about 10 am or else you won't be able to go over the Clam Garden until later, at least that was our experience. Oooo, I wish we were going to the Clam Garden. . . .
Sally in Seattle

I have so many recommendations for your visit north.. I lived there for 6 years and I am missing it desperately. I have driven the Cairns to Cape Trib road a lot and it is really worth just hiring a car, getting a good map and discovering it for your self.. if you can hook up with a local that would be great.. but there are so many gorgeous isolated beaches on this drive and on many of the tours they only obviously have time to stop at the main ones... I would set off about 8am from Cairns... head straight to Port Douglas (with a couple if view stops!!) and then take your time from PD, go and discover some waterfalls... Mossman Gorge etc cruise slowly around the gorgeous rain forest lined roads to Cape Trib... wish I was going with you!!! If you are going to Tablelands you should definately check out Yungaburra, Lake Eacham and Milla Milla Falls....