okkuriwin

My friend and I have a horribly cranky travel agent who doesn't seem to want to help us so I'm turning to the experts. We know for certain that we want to do the Penguin Parade in Melbourne (and if there's a winery visit that can be included with the Penguin Parade that would be swell) and that we want to go to the Great Barrier Reef and SEE it (not snorkel or scuba) and lastly go to Kuranda and see the waterfall, the koalas and anything else of interest. Does anybody have any tour company suggestions for us? We're going June 1-10, do you educated people think we need to make reservations for these tours in advance or go to a tourism place once we arrive? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated as we are ready to tear out our hair. Thank you in advance.

Barbara_in_CT

You can easily book the great barrier reef and Kuranda from your accomodations in Cairns (or anywhere in the area). Do a search on "Great Barrier Reef" to see the different recommendations. I chose Quicksilver and was pleased with their semi-submergibles for viewing. There are other good ones too.

For Kuranda, I would recommend taking the Skyrail in one direction and the train in the other. We also included the Tjabukai Aboriginal Experience in the same day. It is located a few feet from the start of the Skyrail. This can easily be arranged from your accomodations too.

As for Melbourne, the wineries are in the opposite direction from the Penguin Parade. Healesville Animal Sanctuary is more in the direction of the wineries. We stayed with friends so I have no travel logistics suggestions.

pat_woolford

I certainly understand your frustration with travel agents for local tours, apart from the lovely Melodie who posts here and knows what she's on about, most of them are a disaster with local tours. And this is not confined to US agents, Sydney and Melbourne ones are just as dreadful. They make booking, take their commissions and thats it. They invariably muck up tour pick-up points, often by many miles and leave the accommodation houses to sort out their mistakes, whilst they are taking the tour commission.
Far better to book your trips through whatever local accommodation house you are staying with, they have more local knowledge anyway.


TTheIf you arrive with a pre-booked reef trip and the weather is terrible on that day, a local will do their best to put you on a better day. Certainly they will take a small commission off the price of the trip, but it won't cost you any more than booking direct with the operator. Kuranda trip from Cairns is very easy, just ask your tour desk at wherever you're staying to book it on arrival.

fuzzylogic

Agree with above. Absolutely no need to book any of that in advance. Wherever you are staying should be able to point you in the right direction - and if not, certainly in Cairns, just go walking thru the town - you can't see the wood for the travel agents.

Not sure you will see any koalas in Kuranda!!

shandy

I am in agreement with the others. Tours in Melbourne to the wineries, penguin parade etc. are plentiful. There should be no problem booking only a day ahead. If you have several days to play with you can then book for the day which is also likely to be the best weather wise as well.

pat_woolford

Yes, there's a multitude of tour booking offices in Cairns, but still better to book with wherever you're staying. If there is a problem with pick-up, doesn't happen too often, but it can,the hotel/resort/B&B/motel or whatever will know what is happening and get straight on the phone to rectify matter.

If you want to see the reef without scuba or snorkelling you'll need an operator with at least a semi-submersible, far better than a glass bottom boat, but do remember reef trips are set up for snorkelling and diving and a semi is just an adjunct to that. Snorkelling is incredibly easy, and you'll get all the guidance you need from operator. Ocean Spirit to Michaelmas Cay would suit you, it has a semi-sub and easy snorkelling for those less confident from a sand cay, just like entering water from a beach.

Koalas aren't native to North Queensland but you can see them in Kuranda at both Koala Gardens and Rainforest Station. Barron Falls is is in full flood at moment,due to long and extended wet season, don't know when you'll be here, but it can be just a trickle in winter until rains come again early next year. Hopefully.

You should also allocate at least one day to Daintree rainforest, and another to Atherton Tablelands, both day trips out of Cairns