Inspired by BarbaraS, finally got round to posting photos from our trip, including pictures of most places mentioned in the report. It is fun looking at them again...what a great time and what a great place!

http://picasaweb.google.com/CJNoonRo...Australia2008#

OK, now back to normal life in dreary December Connecticut..

Ralph - thanks for posting your pictures! It looks like you had some great adventures. I laughed when I saw your picture of the Cassowary speedbump sign. We thought it was a very clever sign as well!

Barbara...thanks! That sign must be the 4th most photographed thing in Australia, after the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and Uluru!

Fantastic photos Ralph - I loved the shot of Thornton Beach - the colors are amazing - and all that blue sky...

Nice pics, Ralph, thanks for posting.

I'd like to know how you got the Ulysses butterfly to pose so well, every time I try to photograph one it will perversely fold its wings together, hiding all that amazing iridescent blue.

Great pics! Thank you Ralph.

All...thanks! Pat...the butterfly shot was taken in an enclosure at the Insect Museum, Cape Trib. It could well have been a dead butterfly, though I'm not sure.

ttt for me.

thanks, Ralph!

Ralph, we're planning to go to the GBR in early July. I've been there like 10+ years ago, but it's the first time for my DH. I'm intrigued by your report on Cape Tribulation. Is it a good place to base for snorkeling trips to GBR? Are there many boat operators up there?

Besides snorkeling, we're also interested in hiking. But we only have about 5 to 6 days total in the area. Probably will be flying into Cairns. Is there another airport up there that's more convenient?

Please advise whether skipping Cairns and just doing Cape Tribulation would be a good experience, esp to snorkel in GBR.

Thank you!

I saw that you took the Rum Runner to GBR for snorkeling. Was it a live aboard boat? I know they do live aboard out of Cairns, and am considering that.

Thanks!

JC - Well it's been almost 6 years since we stayed in Cape Trib, so what I say may not reflect the present. As far as am aware, Rum Runner was the only boat out to the reef from Cape Tribulation. Unlike Port Douglas, the Cape isn't a town per se and there is no harbor to speak of. We accessed Rum Runner by dingy from the beach. It was purely a day trip, no liveaboard.

Unfortunately, the only proper hike at Cape Trib, as far as I was aware, was the climb up Mt. Sorrow. Unlike, say Lamington Nat'l Park in SE Queensland, the Daintree rainforest does not have a large system of trails running through it. There are more hiking opportunities on the Atherton Tablelands and Undara Nat'l Park offers good walks with excellent wildlife viewing in open scrub. July would be a good time to hike Undara (not too hot!)

Here's another hike in the Daintree, south of the river: http://daintree.info/manjal-jimalji-trail-map.pdf.

Suggest looking at my trip report from our 2012 trip to north Qld for more ideas: http://www.fodors.com/community/aust...queensland.cfm

I think Cairns is your only airport option for flying on a major airline. No need to stay in the city.

JC - just chiming in here, we flew into Cairns and then picked up a car to drive up to PD which took us just over an hour. It's a nice drive with quite a few places en route, none of which we stopped at including some wonderful beaches which were sadly deserted in November because of the risk of stingers.

There are a number of operators in PD running trips to the GBR, you should have no difficulty finding one to take you out to the reef. That said, my DH was not able to go on the day he wanted and had to book for the day after, but that was in late November and PD was very busy.