Should add here that if you look at our itinerary it kind of makes a counter-clockwise circle. We arrived Sydney, then Uluru, Far North Queensland, reef, island, then departed for US from Brisbane.
This is called an "open-jawed" flight and if you can arrange it with your airline, you can save some backtraking time.

Thanks Billj. Yeah, we're just lazy so we hoped someone would say "Do, the 5 nights in Sydney, then go to Port Douglas and do your 5 nights there, then go ... ?!? Is there a bus to Port Douglas or a train? I'm guessing flying is very expensive compared to land travel. Because we won't be renting a car, we'll have to rely on buses and trains.

We don't dive but like to go to pretty beaches, as well as see rainforests. I'm not much of a snorkeler (I can't use the snorkel thing but can use a mask to see fishies and hold my breath for a long time - don't ask ). So, we'd like to see the Barrier Reef, we'd like to see the Rainforest, we'd consider Ayers Rock area too but Julia won't camp out. I hear hotels are VERY expensive out there... I'll have to look into that.

I'm just wondering what exactly we CAN do if we don't have a car? We don't want to spend too much on hotels but we hate dives, too. We love Sheratons and Westins but could happily do a Holiday Inn Express type place, too. Not too keen on scuzzy motels or hotels right on a noisy highway. She loves to chill at fancy resorts on the beach so the Sheraton at Port Douglas should quench that thirst.

Islands? That sounds amazing. But which one? How the heck does one pick one over the other? Someone... just give us an itinerary and we'll be happy to take "your" trip . The open jaw thing sounds good too. Not having to backtrack is much better.

Steve R