Vivid01

Hi All,

Everyone is so kind to offer suggestions here, I'd appreciate any tips.

So far, all I've done is purchase plane tickets to and from sydney, so I can at least GET to the country My tentative plans are to spend 5 nights there (aug 10-aug15), fly to townsville, pick up a car and take my time driving up to Port Douglas by the 18th. Staying at the Lychee Tree Apartments, Wavelength snorkeling, Daintree Forest, beach, et. Plane connects from Cairns to Sydney for trip home, decided that staying in Cairns that one night before makes sense as flight leaves at 6am. Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.

marg

Some of our favourite places along your route are Paronella Park, a few km west of the main Bruce Highway, turn off at Silkwood just south of Innisfail. Look at www.paronellapark.com.au for more information and if you go there, make sure you go on the guided walk for the story of the park.
Mission Beach is a delightful little village - think of palm trees and a long wide beach - do it as a detour off the main highway or an overnight stay.
The Boulders is a great place to break a journey and have a walk - in my opinion, better than Mossman Gorge. Turn off the highway at Babinda and it's only a few km.
Lots of things to see and do on the Atherton Tablelands - turn off the Bruce Highway north of Innisfail and you can then return to the highway just north of Cairns.
Port Douglas has a great market on Sundays - right on the waterfront.
Hope you have a great holiday.

Sand_Dollar

Must stop Mission Beach. If you were flying into Cairns then Port Douglas for 3 days would make sense but with driving from Townsville you have the luxury of staying at far superior beachside so stop there. Also you can do reef trips from there if you wish on Calyspo Dive and also day trips to Dunk Island. Plus they have remnant rainforest right up the water at Clump Point plus some beautiful licuala forest. Gorgeous place, not so resorty as Port Douglas but they are now opening the newly refurbished Horizon resort though will undergo a name change soon that I cannot recall. heaps of other accommodation choices.

If not staying in Townsville my reco would be

first night

Hideaway Cabins - Paluma - they have tours from site for only $10-$15 ppp for seeing nocturnal wildlife or platypus. About 1.5 hours from Townsille - north.

Drive to Wallaman Falls then back to highway upto Mission beach for 2 nights.

Then as marg suggest visit Paronella Park, up the ranges through national park (stop for some waterhole swimming or bushwalking, also lookouts) then onto Yungaburra after doing waterfall circuit. Lots of nice places around here, lake cruise, curtain fig. Stop the night, lots of charming accommodation in rural town.

Next day (maybe after cruise) drive down through Mareeba to Kuranda to see mass tourism lol. Nice enough though but do walk down to Barron falls lookout. Drive down the range, turn left then onto beautiful drive to Port Douglas. Maybe stop at Palm Cove for a peek, ony 3 mins off the highway.

Stop port Douglas 2 nights, see toads race, have nice dinner and take Cape Trib tour.

After day is done drive to cairns (not far) and book yourself into a nice downtown hotel and maybe have leisurely walk along esplanade (if tide is in, very pretty, if tide is out lots of mud lol) before dinner and maybe a nice show at the Casino (sometimes they have good show, but not every night).

This is six nights! You need 10 lol

Saltuarius

Sand_dollar has given really good advice but..

I would stay in Townsville one night. The aquarium is worth seeing to give you an insight before snorkelling on the reef.

Spend an extra night on the Atherton Tablelands to see more of the wildlife, take a nocturnal tour and eat at least two of Yungaburra’s restaurants.

Drive down to port Douglas the inland route north of Mareeba as you will be driving back to Cairns along the coast. Spend a second night in Cairns and do Kuranda from there by train and skyrail. don’t forget to see some of the Aboriginal culture on display in the area.

Now you still have one night to play with.

kerikeri

are you still traveling yourself and two teen boys?

i hope you know a lot of "car songs" as that route is murderously long and (at least the stretch between cairns and mission beach) terribly dull.

wouldn't you rather fly into cairns or go explore an offshore island and the water instead of inland?

there is so much to see in daintree and fnq and you could get a vehicle that allowed you to go north for some very unique adventures?

i liked the curtain fig, but are teen boys really interested in the charms of paronella park? they might rather have a ferry boat ride to dunk island. or you all might enjoy magnetic island where i have never been but am now wishing i had done given the raves it gets here.

please beleive me, the drive is not worth your precious time in australia, unless you are repeat visitors.

lastly with that extra time, had you considered some of the other uniquely australian wonders such as darwin's kakadu (arguably doable in the same three days) or uluru (absolutely doable in 3 days)or even a second city like melbourne?

kerikeri