We survived Hurricane Charlie
Aug 22nd, 2004, 06:28 AM
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We survived Hurricane Charlie
Four of us (two 65+ couples)live in the area devastated by Hurricane Charlie (Us in Ft. Myers the other couple on Sanibel Island). We suffered some damage to our homes but are grateful that we had no personal problems.
will be in Oz from 5 November starting in Sydney and then heading for the GBR. From the recent posts, there seems to be many more options for accommodations than we realized. We had originally considered only Cairns and were divided on the Lilybank B&B. But now I read that there is Port Douglas, Palm Cove as well as Cairns. None of us dive nor do we snorkel. We live here in Sunny (most of the time) Florida and aren't interested in beaches, swimming or watching waves. We do want to see some aspects of the GBR.
Looking for comments and suggestions comparing the alternatives. Any information you can supply would be appreciated
will be in Oz from 5 November starting in Sydney and then heading for the GBR. From the recent posts, there seems to be many more options for accommodations than we realized. We had originally considered only Cairns and were divided on the Lilybank B&B. But now I read that there is Port Douglas, Palm Cove as well as Cairns. None of us dive nor do we snorkel. We live here in Sunny (most of the time) Florida and aren't interested in beaches, swimming or watching waves. We do want to see some aspects of the GBR.
Looking for comments and suggestions comparing the alternatives. Any information you can supply would be appreciated
Aug 22nd, 2004, 07:25 AM
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Hello Sarah,
Talk about a close shave! So glad you came out of the hurricane basically okay.
Even if you live at the ocean and think you aren't interested in diving or snorkeling, PLEASE do go out to the GBR for a day. All you have to do is put a glass mask over your eyes and look down into the water, and what you'll see will amaze you. You can wear a life jacket if you want, and it's as easy as pie. And if you don't want to do that, you can look at the coral and the fish from a glass bottomed boat. And if you've been to Hawaii or the Cayman Islands, don't think you've seen anything on the scale of the GBR.
It's also fascinating to visit the rainforest. One of the popular areas to do that is the area between the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation. There are a number of good tour operators who collect passengers from Cairns, Palm Cove and Port Douglas for day trips into the rainforest. I went on Trek North's day tour, and enjoyed it very much. Other rainforest tour companies that get excellent reviews here include David Armbrust and Heritage & Interpretive Tours.
An interesting part of FNQ is the Atherton Tableland / Cairns Highlands. I took the Skyride to Kuranda, which is a small town at the edge of the tableland. I enjoyed that a lot, but I regret that I did not explore more of the tableland. I regret that I did not, at the very least, do an overnight trip to the Undara Lava Tubes.
One of the beauties of FNQ is that there are such differences in scenery within a relatively short distance. When one climbs the escarpment onto the tableland, one soon gets into a drier environment and can get a sense of Australia's Outback. This is something I definitely will spend time on next time I go to FNQ.
Another dream for the future is an idea that I got from Pat Woolford and one of her guests who posts here at Fodors, and that is "Playing Postie for a Day." One accompanies a pilot in a small plane that delivers the mail to small towns in Queensland's Outback.
Some months ago, Pat W. provided a fabulous amount of information on what there is to do in Queensland's Outback, but I don't seem to be able to find that post right now.
However, here is another information post from Pat:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34520212
Also, Amanda_Chicago's trip report has an excellent post devoted to "Cairns Tablelands" that I think could provide you with some inspiration:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34522150
If you're going in November, you might want to head up to Queensland at the start of your trip and then explore Sydney after that. In the southern hemisphere the weather heats up in the north first and travels southwards. I know the weather varies from year to year, but my husband was in Sydney in November / early December 2003, and the weather was quite cool. He wore a sweater nearly the whole time he was there. The weather grew warm enough for shirt sleeves only in the last few days that he was there.
If you decide you want the assistance of a travel agent and don't have a local travel agent with whom you have good rapport, I recommend Melodie Kennedy of Kennedy Kruises at http://www.kennedykruises.com/ . She's based in California, but has clients all over the States. She regularly travels to Australia and New Zealand, so she knows those countries from first hand experience. She posts here at Fodors under the handle of wlzmatilida.
Hope this helps.
Talk about a close shave! So glad you came out of the hurricane basically okay.
Even if you live at the ocean and think you aren't interested in diving or snorkeling, PLEASE do go out to the GBR for a day. All you have to do is put a glass mask over your eyes and look down into the water, and what you'll see will amaze you. You can wear a life jacket if you want, and it's as easy as pie. And if you don't want to do that, you can look at the coral and the fish from a glass bottomed boat. And if you've been to Hawaii or the Cayman Islands, don't think you've seen anything on the scale of the GBR.
It's also fascinating to visit the rainforest. One of the popular areas to do that is the area between the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation. There are a number of good tour operators who collect passengers from Cairns, Palm Cove and Port Douglas for day trips into the rainforest. I went on Trek North's day tour, and enjoyed it very much. Other rainforest tour companies that get excellent reviews here include David Armbrust and Heritage & Interpretive Tours.
An interesting part of FNQ is the Atherton Tableland / Cairns Highlands. I took the Skyride to Kuranda, which is a small town at the edge of the tableland. I enjoyed that a lot, but I regret that I did not explore more of the tableland. I regret that I did not, at the very least, do an overnight trip to the Undara Lava Tubes.
One of the beauties of FNQ is that there are such differences in scenery within a relatively short distance. When one climbs the escarpment onto the tableland, one soon gets into a drier environment and can get a sense of Australia's Outback. This is something I definitely will spend time on next time I go to FNQ.
Another dream for the future is an idea that I got from Pat Woolford and one of her guests who posts here at Fodors, and that is "Playing Postie for a Day." One accompanies a pilot in a small plane that delivers the mail to small towns in Queensland's Outback.
Some months ago, Pat W. provided a fabulous amount of information on what there is to do in Queensland's Outback, but I don't seem to be able to find that post right now.
However, here is another information post from Pat:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34520212
Also, Amanda_Chicago's trip report has an excellent post devoted to "Cairns Tablelands" that I think could provide you with some inspiration:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34522150
If you're going in November, you might want to head up to Queensland at the start of your trip and then explore Sydney after that. In the southern hemisphere the weather heats up in the north first and travels southwards. I know the weather varies from year to year, but my husband was in Sydney in November / early December 2003, and the weather was quite cool. He wore a sweater nearly the whole time he was there. The weather grew warm enough for shirt sleeves only in the last few days that he was there.
If you decide you want the assistance of a travel agent and don't have a local travel agent with whom you have good rapport, I recommend Melodie Kennedy of Kennedy Kruises at http://www.kennedykruises.com/ . She's based in California, but has clients all over the States. She regularly travels to Australia and New Zealand, so she knows those countries from first hand experience. She posts here at Fodors under the handle of wlzmatilida.
Hope this helps.
Aug 22nd, 2004, 02:33 PM
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Thank goodness you came through unhurt -it must have been a terrifying experience.
Will you be hiring a car when you reach Cairns? As Judy in Calgary says there is such a diversity of scenery, all within an hour or two of each other. We live near Daintree Village which is a tiny, laid-back little place which still retains a delightful "village" atmosphere and is a quieter alternative to some of the busier places. We have a variety of accommodation options, rainforest, crocodile-spotting river cruises, beaches, sugar-cane, tropical fruit farms and cattle farming and it's a great base for visiting Cape Tribulation (an hour to the north), Cairns Highlands (hour and a half to the south-west), Port Douglas (an hour to the south) and Cairns is only an hour and a half away.
Our local tourism association website is at www.daintreevillage.asn.au. and gives heaps of regional information.
Wherever you stay I hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Will you be hiring a car when you reach Cairns? As Judy in Calgary says there is such a diversity of scenery, all within an hour or two of each other. We live near Daintree Village which is a tiny, laid-back little place which still retains a delightful "village" atmosphere and is a quieter alternative to some of the busier places. We have a variety of accommodation options, rainforest, crocodile-spotting river cruises, beaches, sugar-cane, tropical fruit farms and cattle farming and it's a great base for visiting Cape Tribulation (an hour to the north), Cairns Highlands (hour and a half to the south-west), Port Douglas (an hour to the south) and Cairns is only an hour and a half away.
Our local tourism association website is at www.daintreevillage.asn.au. and gives heaps of regional information.
Wherever you stay I hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Aug 22nd, 2004, 07:58 PM
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Dear Sarah,
Glad you survived and will be able to get to Australia. We stayed at Lilybank w/ Pat and Mike in April. It's a lovely place and Pat and Mike have an encyclopedic knowledge of the area.
At Lilybank you are only a short walk from Phoebe's fabulous Garden Room Restaurant, one of the culinary highpoints of our 5 weeks down under.
AndrewDavid
Glad you survived and will be able to get to Australia. We stayed at Lilybank w/ Pat and Mike in April. It's a lovely place and Pat and Mike have an encyclopedic knowledge of the area.
At Lilybank you are only a short walk from Phoebe's fabulous Garden Room Restaurant, one of the culinary highpoints of our 5 weeks down under.
AndrewDavid
Aug 22nd, 2004, 08:37 PM
#5
I have to admit I didn't know about Hurricane Charlie but am so glad you were not hurt. A good website to start looking at accommodation is www.jasons.com.au If you key in Cairns for example then narrow it down to resorts or apartments, etc you will have lots to choose from.
Cairns is where most people fly into, it is a large town with lots of tourists, no beach but a new lagoon swimming area that I've heard is great, lots of shops and restaurants etc.
Palm Cove is about 30 mins further north and set on a lovely white sand beach. It is like a small village with some nice places to stay and a few places to eat/shop. It's fairly quiet.
Port Douglas is about another 30 mins north and is very popular. It's much bigger than Palm Cove but has more of a villagey feel than Cairns. PD has lots of places to stay, lots of reef trips leave from here and there are shops and restaurants, a marina, lovely beach etc. Last time we visited we had 4 days in Cairns then 4 days in PD, exploring each area. From PD we went up to the Daintree to Cape Tribulation, from Cairns we went up to Kuranda, etc.
You might enjoy Paronella Park, about 1-2 hrs south of Cairns. They have a website. It's like an old crumbling Spanish castle set amid the jungle, quite unique. If you visit, try the homemade scones with homemade jam - makes my mouth water just thinking about it!
Kay
Cairns is where most people fly into, it is a large town with lots of tourists, no beach but a new lagoon swimming area that I've heard is great, lots of shops and restaurants etc.
Palm Cove is about 30 mins further north and set on a lovely white sand beach. It is like a small village with some nice places to stay and a few places to eat/shop. It's fairly quiet.
Port Douglas is about another 30 mins north and is very popular. It's much bigger than Palm Cove but has more of a villagey feel than Cairns. PD has lots of places to stay, lots of reef trips leave from here and there are shops and restaurants, a marina, lovely beach etc. Last time we visited we had 4 days in Cairns then 4 days in PD, exploring each area. From PD we went up to the Daintree to Cape Tribulation, from Cairns we went up to Kuranda, etc.
You might enjoy Paronella Park, about 1-2 hrs south of Cairns. They have a website. It's like an old crumbling Spanish castle set amid the jungle, quite unique. If you visit, try the homemade scones with homemade jam - makes my mouth water just thinking about it!
Kay
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