Pleiades

We've just had a fantastic month long holiday in Queensland, highlighted by a week on the Reef. Here's a basic report on how it panned out.

Gold Coast - 5 days at Broadbeach. We've previously stayed at Main Beach but this time opted for Ocean Royale Apartments, just south of Surfers. Wonderful beach and our apt was 1 min from 2 patrolled zones. Broadbeach is not nearly as built up as Surfers. I very much enjoyed NOT staying at Surfers. Broadbeach is about 2 mins by car to SP but it is much more of a residential community. You do not have to cross the busy main road to get to the beach, or trail through the shopping area for a swim. I'd vote Broadbeach or Main Beach anytime.
It's also very close to the Casino, an excellent mall and has good access to the highway for visiting theme parks etc.

Ocean Royale Apts was just fine .. note that it is not air con but has the traditional Aussie fan. This was fine for us and its location can't be beaten.

Sunshine Coast - 5 days at Alexandra Headlands, Grand Palais Apts.
Grand Palais is a v nice apt complex right across from the Beach, air con. and good view. This is going to sound odd but it is right near a traffic light so you literally walk out of hte apt and over to the beach, whereas some of the other complexes are a little walk before you can cross.

Again, a beautiful beach and very close to Mooloolaba which is still very pretty.
From here, we did a day trip to Noosa,which we had visited before. It's a nice drive up the coast.

From Alex, we also did Australia Zoo .. congratulations to Steve Irwin for creating such a pleasant environment for the animals. And Steve was doing the Croc Show the day we visited!! It was great! But although there's plenty of shade around the zoo, do take a fan or something cooling as it can be very hot inland, with no coastal breeze.

Barrier Reef - 1 week with Captain Cook Cruises Reef Endeavour. Stayed one night at the Hilton prior to departure.
I can't speak highly enough of this cruise. We began with the 4 day and linked into the 3 day, did Kuranda sky rail in between. Although I am an experienced snorkeller, this itinerary gives a better flow for beginners as you start out with beach snorkelling before you hit the reef proper.
Cooktown, Lizard Island and Headley Reef were highlights - saw two reef sharks 'in the flesh' while in the water and even managed to get photos of them!
The crew were fantastic, enthusiastic and helpful, the food was fabulous - we had the best time!
I did hire a stinger suit for our 9 year as there had been a tragic accident involving a child in far north Queensland the day before we left Cairns. This was more for my own peace of mind as in reality we were very far south of the area concerned and there were no signs of trouble during our cruise. The crew are obviously very experienced and err on the side of caution.

It was fantastic to be able to see one of the great natural wondres of the world at a leisurely pace. The longer you can stay out on the Reef the better.

We saw the Coral Princess while at sea, it is a lovely looking ship too.

Brisbane - 1 week at Stamford Plaza.
A lovely luxury hotel right on the River. Pier 9, Il Centro and e'cco are great places to eat in style in Brisbane.
However for everyday eating, a good tip is the Surf Clubs .. generally excellent places to eat and you are supporting the community as well. Mooloolaba, Alex Headland, Kuwarra and Southport all have excellent surf clubs & restaurants.

All in all, a fantastic break. Back to reality now but we can still dream of the white sand and the sunshine. Sigh. Questions welcomed.

BarbaraS

Thanks for the trip report. I am very interested in the cruise you took. How much time did you have on the islands. Were there many divers on board. Did you have problems with seasickness. How were the cabins?

Thanks!

Barbara

Pleiades

Hello Barbara. The cruise visits several islands

FOUR DAY CRUISE
1) Fitzroy Island (after leaving Cairns) .. a v attractive island with some nice beaches and bush walks. The ship's naturalist takes you on a guided tour, or you can free walk 20 mins through a pretty rainforest to the oddly-named Nudey Beach (!!). There is an alternative walk up into the hills, which also looked v nice. Also walks to the LIghthouse (longer and more strenuous).
The resort on this island is now closed and is being renovated for apartment style accom.

Cooktown: not strictly an island but an interesting landing place where Captain Cook beached the Endeavour for repairs.

Two Isles: a white sand cay for snorkelling. Not a lot to do on the island itself but the snorkelling was interesting.

Lizard Island: good snorkelling beach adjacent to the famous resort. There is also an option to climb to Cooks Look (1200ft) to where CC tried to spy a way out of the reef, and another walk to a Blue Lagoon on the other side of the Island. My husband v much enjoyed this walk, said the lagoon was most attractive. Lizard is a very dry, non-forested island with different plants and wildlife.


THREE DAY CRUISE
Hinchinbrook Island: no landing here but get a good view of Australia's largest island national park.

Dunk Island: well known resort island where you can stop for a swim in the pools (like me) or go for a walk (again, husband did this rain forest walk and got great views).

The other day on this cruise is spent at Hedley Reef.

Hope that helps!

Pleiades

Sorry, I got interrupted!!

THere were three divers on the opening cruise and two on the second. The dive master went with them and they seemed very happy with what they saw. All the boat handling / dive organisation was efficiently handled.

Certainly no problems with seasickness on our cruise .. but then again, we didn't have much wind. Sorry to sound like Pollyanna but the weather was brilliant (January). The only day it really rained was when we did the Kuranda sky rail and hten it was perfect because the forest came alive and the waterfall was in full spate!

I know that some people had booked lower deck cabins b/c they were worried about seasickness but I would be very surprised if anyone had felt ill.

The cabins we had were staterooms, second from the top. From what I understand the upper deck staterooms are pretty much the same. THey can be fitted with either single or double beds. I suppose you could say there is not acres of room but we thought they were fine. I haven't been on another cruise ship to compare. However I have spent a lot of time on boats (launches, yachts, canal boats) so compared to those, they were quite spacious.

The air con is great. The bathroom has a shower & loo. They're perfectly adequate and the water pressure / hot water is fine.

This was our first cruise ship and we would go back again!!

BarbaraS

Thanks for all the details. Do you wish you had more time on Lizard Island? Did your 9 year old stay in the stateroom with you?

Thanks!!!

Pleiades

He ended up with his own room next to ours .... lucky boy!

susiesan

I am considering the 3 day cruise for our trip to Cairns in November. Did you have many opportunities to snorkel? That is what we really want to do. How is the storage in the cabins? We will have 2 weeks worth of luggae with us as this cruise would be just part of our Oz vacation.

Pleiades

Hi there
There is a decent sized wardrobe in the cabin. We had a bag each. The rooms are not huge .. but then they are cabins, not hotel rooms. We were in Aus for three weeks, our quantity of luggage was fine.

On the three day cruise, you get a morning and an afternoon snorkel on the Saturday at Hedley Reef. You definitely get more snorkeling on the four day component but two snorkels might be enough for some people?

Good luck!

Stephe78

Hi Pleiades,

Sorry I took so long to post this, but I've been meaning to ask... my husband & I are taking the Captain Cook's tour in May. I noticed there are some options available for the day between the 4-night & 3-night trips on Captain Cook's. I think the cruise company offers a few options, or you can just go off & do your own thing. I remember seeing the Kuranda skyrail as one option, do you recall the others & what people thought of them?

Also, we love snorkeling & are a bit worried there might not be enough snorkeling time during the cruise (were hoping to get either beach or snorkeling time on maybe 6 or 7 days of the 8). Should we be worried or trying to take a different cruise? Sounds like this is a very land-intensive trip. How well balanced did you think the trip was?

Sorry, I'm not sure how to ask this.

Thanks for your help!
Stephanie

Pleiades

Hi Stephanie

All the people on our cruises (I think there were 12 from memory) did the Kuranda sky rail and v much enjoyed it. It was pouring with rain and the forest seemed very 'alive.' Kuranda township itself did not impress me too much as it was full of very similar & touristy type shops but the Sky Rail is a good outing over the tree tops.

We made our own way back into town afterwards and still had time to wander around Cairns for a bit of shopping.

You should have plenty enough snorkeling especially if you take the 4 day cruise followed by the three day, rather than the other way around. There is more snorkeling in the first four days. By the end of the cruise, I was very happy with the time in the water. We had good weather for it. Tips: buy a disposable underwater camera (if you dont have a better quality one that is) .. I got some great shots of fish and even two reef sharks, just on a $15 camera!!!
Also do buy a plastic fish guide from the shop on board the boat .. you attach it to your wrist and it is a great way of identifying fish that you see .. also an attractive souvenir.

I think there is a good balance between land / sea activites. I am the keenest snorkeler, my husband enjoyed that but also went on all the walks. So there is something for everyone, I think.

also I meant to mention in an earlier post that I think the cruise line may have the facility to story luggage. So if you only want to take a smaller bag on board, you could leave your other material (no valuables of course) with them. Worth asking about anyway.

Let us know how you get on.