Kuranda and or Daintree Rainforest
 

I am planning a trip to Australia from May 2-22, 2012. I will be spending some time around Cains and The Great Barrier Reef. I am interested in The Daintree Rainforest and also Kuranda (railway and skyrail). I was wondering if these two areas are similar, whether I should do one of them or both .

You'll see a rainforest if you do the train/Skyrail combo to Kuranda (a small, touristy town) and you'll get right in the rainforest if you drive to Daintree N.P. and do some of the great walks there.

Depending on how many days you have to spend around Cairns, you could do both. If your time is limited, I would choose one based on your interests. (I preferred Daintree N.P.)

And just to confuse things a bit more, if your time is really limited, you can experience the rainforest at Mossman Gorge, just 15 minutes north of Port Douglas.

http://www.portdouglastravel.com/con...man-gorge.html

World Heritage Rainforest in all directions (except east of course) from Cairns.

A little south of Cairns is Wooroonooran National Park, www.wooroonooran-safaris.com.au, with Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walk. www.wildernessecosafaris.com, maximum 7 passengers, is out of Cairns and takes you off- road through other rainforest areas, and off the beaten tourist track.

If your interest is wildlife then you should go past Kuranda to the Atherton Tablelands and do remember that most of our animals are nocturnal or crepuscular.

If your interest is primitive botany then go to the coastal Daintree.

If you just want the feel of being in a tropical rainforest then it does not matter. There are more tree species in any patch of forest than I've been able to learn in 35 years. I would do both and include the Atherton Tablelands where there is wonderful scenery too.

We just spent three glorious weeks in Australia over the Christmas holidays (from California). We owe Fodorites a trip report (daughter is working on it but she's waiting for time off work to complete it). I wanted to jump in and briefly share a little bit about our time in Kuranda, Cape Trip and the Atherton Tablelands.

Our highlight "hands down" was our stay at The Exotic Fruit Farm in Cape Trip. AMAZING! This stay and the trip to the reef with Ocean Safari set the bar for the rest of the trip.

www.capetrib.com.au

Prior to heading to Cape Trip we spent two days at Lilybank (just outside Cairns) with our gracious host Pat. This was the perfect place for our first two nights in Australia. The train to Kuranda is just a mile or two down the road. The train was closed while we were there so we did the skyrail each way.

Kuranda and Cape Trib are two totally different experiences and yes, you should do both.

After Cape Trip we went to Yungaburra where we met with Alan and he so kindly invited us on one of his Nocturnal Tours. We walked along farm roads in the rainforest and saw animals in their natural habitat. Very nice and informative.

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Hopefully, Stephanie will get that report out soon. :)

Thanks for the beer, Trav and looking forward to Steph's report.