Our Three weeks in Australia and PNG
 

My husband and I, age 70 and adventurous, are headed to Australia and PNG. Our first week will be in PNG with family, now working there for a few years. We will do a weekend at a SingSing in the highlands and then three days at the Tufi Eco lodge for birdwatching and water activities. If anyone has a suggestion other than Tufi for a few days mid week please chime in as I have not yet finalized arrangements, but it looks great and expensive. We enjoy wildlife, cultural activities, hiking and photography more than cities, but we cannot miss Sydney.

That leaves about two weeks in Australia and this is what I have and would welcome comments:
Friday- We fly to Cairns in the morning and will be joined by our daughter and her husband later in the evening when they fly in after work. So, a day in Cairns.
Saturday and Sunday; Daintree and Kuranda train and the Aboriginal center
Monday; GBR tour- suggestions welcome
Tuesday morning fly to Alice Springs and tour the area
Wednesday morning early rent a car and drive to Ayers Rock with a stop at the Kings Canyon along the way. The thought of driving through the Outback is quite appealing to me plus we ran into a couple from Australia on a recent trip and they encouraged us to tour Ayers Rock on our own rather than a tour....said we could save a good bit of $$.
Thursday -Ayers Rock
Friday- fly to Sydney
Saturday, Sunday, Monday- Sydney
Tuesday- depart
Thanks so much to anyone who can offer advice!

I would suggest staying overnight in Kings Canyon (nice resort there) and driving on to Yulura the next day. It's a reasonably long drive to Kings Canyon and to add on the additional kilometres would make it a very long and tiring day, plus you wouldn't have time to walk the canyon (which is spectacular. Plus you shouldn't be driving after dusk - too many animals roaming around in the dark.
Have your day at the rock and take another full day to drive back to Alice or alternatively arrange to leave your car at Yulura and fly to Alice.

Or fly direct from Yulara ( Ayres Rock on airline schedules) to Sydney.

Thanks so much! Yes. I think we will overnight in the Kings Canyon area and then to the rock. Due to our time constraints we will rent the car one way and then fly from Yulura to
Sydney.

The Aboriginal centre in Cairns is a great choice. If you arrive in time for the the beginning of the film yo can then move through the various events in sequence and see everything without feeling rushed. I recommend eating in the cafe.

For wildlife and birding in the Cairns area take a look at www.alanswildlifetours.com.au and see if you can find some time with Alan Gillanders. You won’t be disappointed.

Sounds like a great adventure.

Thank you so much for the specific suggestions. We will try to book something with Alan! This is definitely one of our more adventuresome adventures!