Trying to leave any of them out is physically painful! So far our Oct. 2007 trip includes Lamington, Whitsunday Islands (Reef Sleep), Eungella, Daintree, Undarra, Chillagoe, and of course the GBR. They each seem so unique, that it is hard to decide. Anyone think we should/could leave one or two out? So far our itinerary goes something like this:
-fly LA to Brisbane, go to Lamington
-fly to Mackay, go to Eungella,
-then to Airlie Beach and go out to Reef Sleep.
-Fly to Cairns and go to Port Douglas with day trips to Daintree, GBR via Wavelength
-go to the Tableland for a few days
-go to Aboriginal art sites near Laura (looking into a couple of alternatives on how to get there and where to stay) suggestions?
-go on a liveaboard for 2 or 3 days
-fly to Sydney for last few days
-reluctantly fly home
We will have 23-25 days for this. We love seeing plants and animals in their natural habit and learning about them and about the native culture, hiking and snorkeling. And meeting Australians anywhere! The people here, notably Pat Woolford and liz have helped greatly with their helpful and inspiring posts, other people, too. Does anyone have any comments/suggestions? We aren't going for a year but need the itinerary soon to book our frequent flyer seats.
Sally

Hi Sally, assume you'll be driving to Chillagoe, its only 200km from Cairns and most of the road is sealed. There's a few patches of dirt but its well-graded. Check out Chillagoe Cabins for an overnight, we stayed there a few nights ago and just loved it. Birds and other widlife everywhere, flocks of galahs,as well as rosellas, cockatoos, wallaroos, kangaroos and more. Gary and Carolyn who own the cabins are wildlife carers so there's always a few animals on site. Chillagoe is a true outback town with a history, Gary runs tours for $20 an hour and its well worth it, he's a fountain of knowledge about the place and a true bushman. He'll take you to Aboriginal rock art sites, the old smelter and marble mines, and lead you through the limestone caves. Rooms are airconditioned with ensuites, dinner and breakfasts are available.

Hi, Pat, thanks for the info on Chillagoe. My ears perked up when I heard about rock art sites! And thanks for the info on Gary the guide. On the rock art sites near Laura, I have looked into Pete Baxendall (sp?) but he is so expensive if you don't have a group. Do you (or anyone) know anything about Mungumby Lodge and their tours, Bart's Bush Adventure tours or Guurrbi Tours? Would you say we could (reluctantly) leave out Lamington if we had to on this itinerary? Cairns and surrounds have so much to see and do, we don't want to short-change the area.
Thanks!
Sally

Hi Sally,
Have never stayed at Mungumby Lodge as when we head that way we overnight at Cooktown. But would like to, will so it one day. The only "criticism" have ever heard about Mungumby was from a Swiss woman who cut her stay short as she found it "too isolated", but don't think that would worry you. As you're probably aware, Cooktown (or Mungumby for that matter) isn't too far from the Quinkan rock art near Laura (UNESCO rated as one of world's top rock art spots) - have you checked the prices with the operators you mentioned?

Don't feel you'll be shortchanging FNQ by including Lamington Nat Park, its a lovely part of sub-tropical SE Qld, different type of rainforest, and just to throw in a few more National Parks, the Glasshouse Mtn area near the Sunshine Coast has some spectacular scenery.

Sally,
It has quite a few and you have made a good selection. The Atherton Tablelands is the place to see most of the wet tropics endemic species of birds and mammals. Plants in the Daintree are extremely interesting if you have a good guide or are a botanist or both. It is one of those rare places where higher altitude plants come down near the sea and also has its own special flora. When in Cairns visit the Swamp, I mean Centennary Lakes. Some exotic plants in the gardens and a few non native Aussies but the walk on the boardwalk is really good and the area is tops for birds.
Alan

Sally, you sound like a woman after my own heart! (You're not my sister-in-law Sally who lives in Seattle, are you?)

I can't help you figure what to leave out, but I can make some recommendations of what to see.

Last year, my partner and I spent 2.5 weeks in Australia and divided the time between three national parks in Queensland: Capricorn Islands (Heron and Wilson Islands), Daintree, and Lamington. We loved them all, in their different ways.

At Lamington, we stayed at one of the two lodge areas in the park, Binna Burra (www.binnaburralodge.com.au/). We drove one day to the other lodge, O'Reilly's, and took their wonderful canopy walk, but we were glad we hadn't stayed there as it looked too touristy. Binna Burra was wonderfully quiet, with good hiking and an exhibit-filled ranger station nearby. Because the lodge was a bit pricey for us, we stayed in their safari-style tents, which were perfectly decent (real beds and bed linens) and had a lovely view. We dined at the lodge's restaurant and had some lunches at the little cafe, as well as picnicked and cooked out on the campsite's grills. (Make sure you pick up your picnic food at a store down in town before you venture up to Binna Burra. There are no stores up there, and the road to the lodge is so long and winding that you won't want to go all the way back down once you're there.) Even staying in the campground, we were able to take part in the lodge's organized activities, such as a night walk to see nocturnal wildlife.

You could certainly take a daytrip to Daintree from Port Douglas. While you're in PD, I recommend some other great nature experiences. Up the road a half hour in Mossman is Mossman Gorge Park, a rocky stretch of river and forest that is worth a look. While there, we took a wonderful walking tour of the forest led by guides from the local Aboriginal group (http://www.aboriginalaustralia.com.a...info.cfm?id=71). Going into the forest with the people who know it best and hearing their lore and seeing some of their sacred sites gave the area a much richer meaning. We were blown away by some of the cathedral figs they showed us---at least as awe-inspiring as California's giant redwoods.

If you enjoy birdwatching or are interested in mangrove ecology, I can't recommend enough a short boat trip up the Mossman River with Peter Cooper (http://www.mangroveman.com.au/). It's blissful to float along in a small boat with only a few other people in the early morning and listen to this man spot birds for you and tell you about this place he knows like the back of his hand. I'm far from a rabid birder, but I loved it.

If you're interested in birds and other local wildlife, then don't overlook the Rainforest Habitat(http://www.rainforesthabitat.com.au/), located where the road out of Port Douglas meets the highway to Cairns or Mossman. It's a large enclosed animal park with a wonderful variety of birds as well as kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, etc. I was afraid it would be kitsch, but it was quite well done and seemed dedicated to conservation and science. (They do a lot of wildlife rehabilitation there.) A wonderful opportunity to see some fabulous animals up close.

And, of course, no trip to Port Douglas would be complete without taking at least one boat out to the Great Barrier Reef for a day of snorkeling. See it while you still can; there's nothing else quite like it. (Blows even the best of the Carribbean out of the water, so to speak.)

Have a great trip!

P.S. I almost forgot, if you're interested in learning about all of those strange constellations you're seeing in the southern sky, catch a show at the Brisbane Planetarium. We took a bus out there from the central train/bus station, as I recall.