Great Barrier Reef for someone not very interested...
 

Interesting situation has come up... what advice/thoughts would you offer to someone taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Australia who has no interest in seeing the Great Barrier Reef? Not particularly interested in swimming/snorkeling or any water sports, boating, ecology, marine tourism, etc. Rather MORE interested in the "off the beaten path" countryside journeys, history, people-watching in city parks/cafes, etc. I don't know if this is an isolated inquiry (if the MAJORITY of tourists to Australia want to see the Reef) or if there are plenty that avoid it altogether in favor of days elsewhere. I know the obvious responses may be either "You HAVE to see the Reef if you're here!" or "If you really have no interest, then don't go." I don't know if it would feel a bit like... going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower, or Egypt without the Great Pyramids, etc... if there would be any regrets afterward about being so close and having not gone, or finding something to love about the area even if there was an initial inkling to skip it altogether.

Not really looking to be told what to do per se, just wondering for discussion's sake, your thoughts on a trip to GBR if you've been there, or were on the fence about going... thanks for the counseling.

One can never see everything and just because "everyone" does something is no reason for you to be a sheep.

You'll get plenty of people asking about the reef on hearing that you've been to Australia but so what. It is even more likely that people will want to tell you about their wonderful experiences. Expand your mind; don't let them merely lengthen the conversation.

Hi itspat!

I don't see it as a problem at all if you're not interested in the GBR. It's just not everybody's cup of tea and I think you'll find most people would understand that.

It doesn't mean you have to write the area off as we have areas such as The Daintree and much more.

Lucky for you we have just so much to offer here and if you want 'off the beaten path' well we have plenty of it. I love our great Outback but we really do get off the beaten path but that's not everybody's cup of tea either - LOL!

You need to let us know more details about how much time you have - how far off the beaten track do you really want to get etc? Every state here is unique and each has it's own individual offerings - it wouldn't matter too much where you opted to go as I'm sure you would not be disappointed.

itspat, I live in Australia and have <i> absolutely </i> no interest in the Reef, and I'm beyond terrified by the idea of snorkeling.

But just like not everyone visits the Grand Canyon when they go to the States, seeing the Reef is not compulsory when visiting Australia.

Wouldn't the world (and travelling) be boring if we all thought the same?

If people mention it as THE thing to see in Australia I think this is more to do with marketing than reality. Australia's such a huge country, with so many things to see, but the advertising hook for tourists is pretty much set in stone- the Reef, Uluru etc, etc.

It sometime annoys me just how limited Australia's tourism advertising can be....don't believe you have to see anything just because the tourist gurus think you should.

Don't forget, too, that Australia is the most urbanised country on earth- more people live in cities here than anywhere else. I know my own American family members while enthusiastic about the stunning countryside, have also been amazed at how interesting our cities can be. You'll find such a wide variety of things to see and I'm sure you'll get some great advice here.

I'm not the least bit interested in the GBR. Not a water person at all. Not much interested in Uluru either.

On our first visit to Australia, my scuba diving husband arrived a few days ahead of me and took a liveaboard to the GBR, then we met up for landlubber activities later.

When we went to Ningaloo Reef, he did the whale shark dive, I explored.

Several people thought we were nuts for visiting Tasmania without seeing Port Arthur or taking a cruise down the Gordon River. We visited Port Arthur on our second visit, just because we thought we might be missing something. It was interesting, but I certainly could have lived a full life without ever going there. Never did do the Gordon River Cruise. No regrets.

Different strokes for different folks. Nothing wrong with that.

THANK YOU all for your responses. We were beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with us for wanting to visit Australia but skip GBR.

Sooo... with that in mind, could you list 2-3 spectacular experiences that you could recommend in place of GBR and/or Uluru (we are slightly more interested in Uluru)? They may/may not be our cup of tea, but we're just looking for ideas at this point. We are definitely spending at least 3 days in Sydney, so we'd have about another week. Thinking of maybe a train ride. We truly just want to experience the landscape and as much of the country as possible.

A few years ago, we took a 2.5 week trip and drove cross-country across the USA. It was fabulous and really gave us a sense of the contrasts and beauty of the country, from fields to mountains, cities to deserts, and yet the common threads that tie the people together. Would love a similar experience in Australia, although excluding Sydney it would just be a week or so that we'd have. It may be that you feel Cairns is part of that wonderful contrast, feel free to say so if that's the case.

Thanks so very much.

Don't suppose you're coming to Western Australia?

We could. We hashed it out a bit more, and here's a little bit more clarity to our thoughts:

If we planned to arrive Australia around Nov 1 and leave Nov 10, we'd like to have at least 3 days in Sydney, either as a base to see Bondi Beach or Blue Mountains or just take in the city. That leaves about a week elsewhere.

Originally we thought it would be easy to just do the "triangle" with Uluru and Cairns, but the more we thought about it, the more it felt "forced" (especially Cairns and GBR). We are now trying to find a way to fill that week in a way that would be as representative of the people, history, geography and culture as much as possible. An Aussie's perspective is most helpful here - if you feel seeing Cairns/GBR IS important to the identity of the country, then by all means we should see it. But if locals roll their eyes at the amount of tourists who make a beeline for just GBR and don't bother to see anything else, we are comfortable skipping it, too, because we aren't snorkelers or anything of the sort.

What about a flight to Tasmania? A train ride to Perth then fly back to Sydney? Great Ocean Road? Hiking the outback? If your family were visiting from out of the country, and you could take them anywhere YOU wanted (not where the tourbooks say to go)... where would that be?

We aren't sure if it can be done logistically with the time we have, but we'd like to investigate and try!

Many thanks, again.

itspat,
I suggest that the Cairns region could serve you very nicely for a road trip. Firstly hire a 4WD which you are allowed to take onto dirt roads.

Day 1 Cairns to Yungaburra. An easy day to get used to driving on the 'wrong side of the road'. Drive north of Cairns and take the road to Kuranda. In Mareeba visit the Heritage Centre http://www.mareebaheritagecentre.com.au/ . Drive to Granite Gorge to see the Rock Wallabies if that interests you but otherwise south to Yungaburra with its heritage listed buildings. After checking into your accommodation explore the area around town, the Crater Lakes and the Curtain Figtree. Take a nocturnal tour if you like mammals. www.yungaburra.com

Day 2 Yungaburra to Undara
After a walk along the creek to see Platypus drive to Herberton to have a look at their Historic Village http://www.herbertonhistoricvillage.com.au/ and then to Ravenshoe for their wonderful information centre. They have a delightful bakery where I get morning tea every second Tuesday. From there onto Undara where this a range of tour options.
http://undara.com.au/ I suggest that the sunset and half day morning would suit.

Day 3 Undara Tour and drive to Chillagoe
Of course rather than take a half day tour you could take a full day tour and travel the next day. A visit to the Hub will set you up nicely for any touring you want to do around the place. They can book your tours and accommodation for you. http://www.chillagoehub.com.au/

Day 4 Chillagoe to Mt Malloy

Day 5 Mt Malloy to Cape Tribulation

Day 6 Cape Tribulation to Cairns

Sorry I am running out of time to chase up websites and fill in the itinerary but if this takes you fancy then let me know and I can add some meat to these bones. The trip will give you rural, outback and tourist places to see, taking you through rainforests of different types, eucalypt woodland and savannah, from sea level over 1 000 metres and back down again.
Alan

<If your family were visiting from out of the country, and you could take them anywhere YOU wanted (not where the tourbooks say to go)... where would that be?>

I'd take them to the SW of WA, but I'm biased, because I live here. I'd also take them to SA and make the road trip from Adelaide to Coober Pedy, but only during the cooler months.

WA is not on the radar of most first time visitors to Australia, as it's so freaking far away.

Thank you all, again. I think we are stressing ourselves out too much trying to figure out how to do it all, and conflicted with what we feel we SHOULD see and do. This trip keeps constantly evolving. I definitely don't want to exploit all this great advice as a replacement for a good travel planner/agent, as eventually we do need to figure it out ourselves and be happy with it. We'll keep planning, but our goal is to lift any pressure off our shoulders to make this "the perfect" trip. It will be, wherever we are and whatever we are doing. I may start a separate thread to deal with that, but for now, just happy to get any thoughts on skipping GBR altogether. I think we are going to be okay with it. Thanks again, this is a great forum and a great help.

I'd second AlanJG's suggestion (mostly!). It's an easy 3-hour flight to Cairns which is a great jumping-off point for several different experiences, rainforest, lakes and waterfalls, beautiful beaches and the Outback - and you could even have a last-minute change of mind about the Reef too!

Cairns itself doesn't really offer very much so as Alan suggests you could drive up to cooler, picturesque Yungaburra on the Atherton Tablelands (now known as the Cairns Highlands). Probably about an hour's drive from Cairns.

From there head out towards Chillagoe - a real Outback-type drive, road is mostly sealed but there are some unsealed stretches. Perhaps an overnight stop at the fascinating Undara Lava Tubes on the way. At Chillagoe there are amazing limestone caves.

Overnight there then head back towards the coast - I, er, would perhaps not recommend Mt Molloy as there is not very much there, although the old pub has accommodation and would perhaps provide an Aussie bush-town experience!

Otherwise Mossman is only a further 30 minutes so perhaps overnight there so that you can visit the amazing Mossman Gorge with it's rainforest walks - self-guided or with an Aboriginal guide - and swimming holes.

Mossman to tiny historic Daintree Village with it's wildlife-watching river cruises and newly-established self-guided historical walk is about half an hour away. You could overnight here or keep going, over the Daintree River vehicular ferry and enjoy the beautiful drive through the rainforest to Cape Tribulation. This drive is the only one in the world where you can drive through rainforest at the very edge of the ocean.

Depending how much time you have left as you drive south back to Cairns (also one of the most stunning coastal roads in Australia) you could call in to have a look at Port Douglas where many of the Reef cruises leave from, and perhaps overnight there - lively resort town with lots of restaurants and shops - or keep going to one of Cairns' northern beaches such as Palm Cove.

Of course there are loads of other things to do here so I'm trying not to overload you with suggestions! If you google the places I've mentioned you'll get a better idea of what each has to offer.

Have fun!

I certainly agree with others who say spending time on Great Barrier Reef is not compulsory, in fact there'd be many an Australian who hasn't immersed themselves in its waters. But it is an incredibly diverse reef system, which stretches through several climate zones, and you may just change your mind when in area. I've seen that happen many times

Both Alan's and Stormbird's suggestions are good, however I would not sell Cairns short either. Just 4km from city are the tropical Flecker Botanical Gardens, with both Red and Blue Arrow rainforest walks, plus the new Tanks Art Theatre. Its on Collins Avenue, some of the best tropical street landscaping I've seen in the north, plenty of photo ops.

Crystal Cascades, about 20 min drive from Cairns city, is definitely worth a visit, unlike Mossman Gorge it is not visited by tour buses, indeed not even a public bus, so you must have a car. If you're energetic enough there's a 6km uphill walk through pristine rainforest to Copperlode Dam. The Catanna Wetlands at the nearby beach suburb of Yorkey's have extensive wetland walks and lots of bird spotting opportunities, as does Cairns Esplanade and Centenary Lakes, near the Flecker Gardens.

Right from the city centre is Trinity Inlet a vast system of pristine mangroves, leading to a crocodile farm, not for everyone but the boat trip through the mangroves is.

If I were you I'd keep away from the typical tourist "eye rolling" department, have a look at accommodation on www.bnbnq.com.au, you'll find many a place off the beaten track, with local hosts with a comprehensive knowledge of area.

I love the GBR. It is fabulous. While I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to see it, Australia indeed has much, much more to offer.

My wife and I have seen a lot of Australia over the years and have had the opportunity to do several relatively off-the-beaten-path trips. My favorites, not in any particular order of preference:

South Australia: Adelaide, the wine valleys, the Flinders Ranges (in the outback) and Coober Pedy. Some very good walks in the Flinders Ranges, which are very beautiful.

Central Queensland - we drove from Brisbane NW to Carnarvon Gorge (superb walks and wildlife) then to Longreach and Winton deep in the outback. Loved hanging out with the locals at the pubs in Winton, birthplace of "Waltzing Matilda"

North Queensland - We drove the rugged Bloomfield Track (4WD only) from Cape Tribulation to historic, isolated Cooktown, then back to Cairns via the inland road through the outback. Saw lots of interesting and beautiful places en route in both directions, most of which we had to ourselves.

In another trip to NQ we explored south of Cairns - great places like The Boulders, Mission Beach, the Tully River, towering Wallaman Falls (inland from the sugar town of Ingham), then inland to the Atherton Tablelands, Chillagoe and the incredible Undara Lava Tubes.

Central Australia - much more to see than Uluru (which is still worth seeing!). We visited several spectacular gorges in the East and West MacDonnell ranges, including Palm Valley. Also the magnificent Kings Canyon and the Olgas.

Western Australia - we traveled to Kununnura where we joined a 6-day el-cheapo, backpacker 4WD tour that took us out to the unbelievably amazing Bungle Bungles then across the Kimberly via the Gibb River Rd to Broome. Think it was about 400 miles of unsealed road through one of the most remote and ruggedly beautiful parts of Australia. If I could re-live one trip we did, this would be the one!

Northern New South Wales, Southern Queensland: took a wonderful trip through the lovely Gold Coast Hinterland, inland to the Granite Belt then continued SW to the Warrumbunble Ranges in central NSW. Great walking in Lamington Nat'l Park, Bald Rock (Granite Belt) Girraween Nat'l Park (Granite Belt) and in the Warrumbungles.

Re: the GBR ... I'm not a snorkeler or diver. But we invested one day of our time in N. Queensland taking a Quicksilver boat from Pt. Douglas out to the reef -- where we transferred to a pontoon and took a semi-submersible sub. It was INCREDIBLE. Like visiting another planet--and far beyond my expectations.

We based in Pt. Douglas and there were other sights in that area that were spectacular. We drove North most days and had amazing times at Mossman's Gorge; the Daintree; and the many stops to walk boardwalks through the rainforest along the way to Cape Tribulation. Also loved the wild animal park in Pt. Douglas where kangaroos roamed in a beautiful setting -- and ate from our hands!

I'm glad I saw the GBR -- but it wasn't the main reason for going to N. Queensland.

Anoth highlight for me was driving the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne--and ending in the Grampians. Again, absolutely spectacular scenery.

But ... bear in mind that I'm lucky enough to work in Sydney and Melbourne every year -- so I haven't needed to cram everything in to 9 or 10 days. You really have very little time, when you factor in that OZ is the size of the U.S.--and you'll need to fly (which takes a lot more time than it seems -- when you include packing and checking in and out of hotels; getting to an airport; arriving early for security, etc ...).

A couple of other thoughts ... you don't need more than a day at Bondi Beach. It's a beautiful boat ride with great views of the Sydney skyline--and a pleasant walk when you get there.

The Blue Mountains were fantastic. I went on a day-tour from Sydney, but I'd love to spend several days there.

I have no interest in Uluru -- or at least not nearly enough interest to warrant flying so far to get there.

With your limited time (and don't forget the jet lag when you first arrive) I think you'll have to limit your decisions to two bases. Whatever you pick will be great.

Look like your other replies....I agree if you are not interested don't go. Yes the GBR is a great natural wonder and large attraction on the Cairns coast, but if its not your cup of tea then don't include it in your itinerary.

There is sooo much more to Australia than the 'main' attractions and similar to the destinations you have listed there is more to Egypt than the Pyramids, yet it is these 'main' attractions that highlight each country to traveller who will then - hopefully like yourself - want to savour what really makes the country unique, special and reknowned.

In Australia it is our isloation and vastness (if thats a word - but hopefully you undersatnd what I mean). In QLD that is where the contrast is...yes GBR and Daintree as world known attractions. But the unique areas such a chilligoe and the lava tube etc are there as well...well worth a visit and are off the beaten track.
you mentioned a 'train trip' to see the landscape. well if you have the time the train trips that will impress would be the ghan (adelaide to darwin) will take you through great scenery through the middle of australia and the indian pacific along with others
heres the link:
http://greatsouthernrail.com.au/site/the_overland.jsp

hope this helps, I know you didn't want 'you must do this' in the reply, just some ideas It is your holiday after all!!