dave_261

OK... I've been pulling my hair out over how we should spend the 3-4 nights we have planned for N. Queensland during our January trip to Oz. We have narrowed it down to 2 options, and I'd welcome some votes!

OPTION #1:
Day 1- Land at Cairns at 7pm and spend the night at a B&B in the area
Day 2- Skyrail/Kuranda in the morning, drive to Mission Beach in afternoon and spend night at Sealords in Mission Beach
Day 3- Take morning boat from Mission Beach to Dunk Island Resort. Overnight on Dunk Island
Day 4- Day/night on Dunk Island
Day 5- Take afternoon Macair flight to CNS, and fly from CNS to Sydney for evening arrival.

This scenario would basically leave us only 2 full days in Sydney, with our return flight home leaving at 9am the 3rd morning.

OPTION #2:
Day #1: Land at Cairns at 7pm and spend night at B&B in the area
Day #2: Great Barrier Reef day trip; overnight at B&B in the area
Day #3: Morning Skyrail/Kuranda, afternoon drive to Silky Oaks Lodge; overnight at Silky Oaks
Day #4: Spend morning at Silky Oaks, and in afternoon drive back to Cairns Airport for flight to Sydney

This option would only give us 1 night at Silky Oaks (which at the price for the resort isn't a bad thing!), and would also give us a full additional day in Sydney.

I know both scenarios are a bit rushed, but it's not like we get to Australia that often!

Thanks for voting!!!

mpoll

Re Option #2, why not spend all 3 nights at Port Douglas (1 hr north of Cairns). Its a much nicer place than Cairns, has its own netted beach and Marina for GBR trips. Its also closer to the Daintree and Cape Trib National Park - I'd recommend a day up there over Kuranda. Is 1 night at Silky Oaks worth the extra cost and also the hassle of changing hotels? Port Douglas has plenty of great places, close to the beach.

LynAK

I vote for #2. I don't think you should miss a trip to the reef and you wouldn't get that by going to Dunk.

Mission Beach is a sweet little place though not much to do there, so if time is limited I wouldn't pick it over the GBR....beaches are lovely but it will be stinger season so you can't swim. Nice to see the countryside south of Cairns, but you can't do everything. Dunk Island is nice, though I've only gone over there for a day trip and didn't stay in the resort.

Still the GBR is a must-do, IMHO. I don't know anything about Silky Oaks.

Also, Sydney is great and you will not mind having an extra day there.

Also, Kuranda is a good thing but I recommend taking the train one way at least. The train trip is quite an experience plus the train station with all the ferns and plants is really worth seeing. The train surely takes longer than the skyrail but you go by waterfalls and do get some beautiful views, plus the train is old fashioned and really interesting. Focus on how the tracks were built and you will be in for some fascinating history of the region.

pat_woolford

For January, I vote for Option 1, althought its a pity you can't do both Dunk and Silky Oaks. January is the hottest month of the year and I'd be after every bit of sea breeze I could catch. Assume you know Dunk is a continental island, but there's easy access to reef beyond, which is what I guess you have planned for day 4.

As it will be well and truly dark by the time you land and collect your luggage a nearby B&B is a good idea, and I can thoroughly recommend one only about 6 minutes from airport. Its Galvins, situated at Edge Hill, a premier Cairns' suburb with lovely restored traditional homes (as is Galvins), beautiful tropical gardens. In fact its within walking distance of Flecker Botanical Gardens and nearby restaurants. www.cairns.aust.com/galvins - do email the hosts now as its a very popular B&B, guest accommodation is completely separate from hosts'.

If you take the first train up to Kuranda you'll be there at about 10am - you could spend a little time in Kuranda and take a Skyrail down (as you're driving Skyrail has a shuttle back to your car at Freshwater Station). Allow 1 and a half hours for Skyrail. Its about 2 hours from Cairns to Mission Beach if you don't stop, but there are some lovely parts of that rainforest, missed by most, which you could at least have a quick peek at. If you stay at Galvins, the hosts will be able to give you top information on that area, Jesse works for Wet Tropics and knows the place backwards.

portlander

Dave - I know how you feel. Exactly one year ago we were planning our 3 wk trip and were stumped. We've been to Cairns, Dunk, Port Douglas, and just this last trip we enjoyed 3 too-short days at Silky Oaks. We were there in December, 04. Either of your options is fine as long as you get to the reef. It's the most important. I think 2 nights on Dunk would be excellent --- remember, it's a tiny island with only one resort and no one on the beaches! I agree you should get out of Cairns --- and on to Port Douglas, at least. Did you know Bill Clinton has just purchased a condo nearby? Anyway, if you skipped the Skyrail and got yourself up to Silky, you'd have more time to explore the rainforest on foot just around the resort. And with any extra days at Silky, you can have an all-day guided trip to the Daintree that you book at Silky. There are 45 luxury cabins set all up a hillside and we had a python on the path to our cabin! Never could find the local platypus, though! Cool if you like critters. If you're a city person, you'll love the extra day in Sydney. If you must decide among your options, do the things your friends will ask about when you return. You'll feel cheated either way, but you can always see a city; the rainforest and GBR are mandatory. Oh, here's an extra thought: maybe in Option 1 on Day 4 you could take the Quiksilver (reef boat company) on out to the reef that day. It's spendy (do I remember $150 USD?) and it goes daily as far as I know. Remember, even when you're on Dunk, it's a heckuva long way out to the reef, but you still have to do it if you're a snorkeler. If you don't go in the water, skip it. Keep in mind the reef is 50 miles offshore, so have lots of sunscreen and talk to people onboard. By the way, I've wrestled with my answer because you can't really go wrong with either --- do you want snorkeling, diving, just swimming, critters, city? We didn't do the Skyrail so can't weigh in on that. I want to go right back and do it all again now! PS Keep in mind you can book activities when you get to either Silky or Dunk.

fuzzylogic

The Kuranda marketing folk must be pretty good. Never understood why it appears on so many people's lists. If you have 5 or more days in FNQ then go, why not?

But if you only have three? IMHO it shouldn't feature at all. The time would be better spent taking a trip to the Daintree. All sorts of tours available to fit your budget and requirements.

Or go and stay somewhere north of rhe Daintree River and make sure they offer a nighttime "safari". You'll never forget it, whereas Kuranda is a clone of x and y. The trip up there is fun, but nothing special.

Honest!

Tassietwister

To me Mission Beach is Australia, Port Douglas is anywhere.

I would overnight at Mission Beach rather than Dunk. Dunk is a great day trip, you can see it clearly from land.

Mission Beach is a place before it gets developed to be the same old same you can get in Hawaii without going the distance.

marg

Decisions! Decisions! All the places are good and so hard to chose just a few.
If you do decide to drive to Mission Beach, can I suggest visiting two of our favourite places en route. About 60 km south of Cairns, turn off at Babinda for The Boulders - great spot for a break and a short walk and really pretty. Another favourite is Paronella Park - make sure you take the guided walk.
Personally, I'd stay at Palm Cove and I wouldn't bother taking all the time to go to Dunk Island.
I'm sure that will all these comments, it will still be hard to make a choice.

pat_woolford

Thanks Marg, Babinda Boulders was one of the places I was referring as worth a peek on drive from Cairns to Mission Beach. Everyone has their opinions, but I took it as given that dave261 had already made up his mind as to where he was going and it was just a vote for Option 1 or 2.

It's an incredibly hot December this year, stifling, talk about a "pityless blue sky". Hotter than December last year, and unless we get rain January will be hotter. Which is why I think somewhere with a NE coming from sea would make things more comfortable than staying at an inland resort. Palm Cove would do admirably, but it wasn't mentioned in dave's comparison. However it's an ideal time for reef with amazing under-water visibility, and if it was my trip I'd spend every available minute on reef and forget the land based stuff.

Christa

I 2nd Tassietwister, Mission Beach is much more charming than Port Douglas. Although it is a very small and sleepy beach town I found Port Douglas to be like any international resort town, shades of Waikiki ... full of resorts and shops aimed at tourists.

I would give Kuranda a miss as well, especially as time is short and if you head south, there are some lovely rainforest trails near Mission Beach and if you head north, make the effort to do a trip to the Daintree area, much more authentic than Kuranda which is, effectively, a tourists theme park.

marg

Question for Pat Woolford - is the road through to Cooktown bitumenised all the way yet? We're making early plans for our annual pilgrimage to the sunny north for next winter.

pat_woolford

Hi Marg - drove up to Cooktown a couple of weeks ago - north of Cape Trib, the Bloomfield Track is 4WD only and there's still about 28km of dirt on development inland road south of Cooktown. Its a big project, not just a bitumen surface on old dirt road, its brand new all weather road, with tunnels for wildlife crossing, would think it won't be much longer until its finished as they were working on it like mad. Even with the dirt it only took us about 4 and a half hours to return from Cooktown to Cairns, (including a few stops) via Mt Carbine and down to the coast at Mossman via Julatten. Or you can continue on to Mareeba on the Tableland.

Cooktown is still the "last frontier" in FNQ - the view from Grassy Hill (where Cook could see the passages between reefs to navigate his ship out) has to be one of the best in the country. And its so close to untouched reefs, the place is wide open for tourist development, let's hope it will be done sensibly.

marg

Thanks Pat, for your information on the Cooktown road - we're looking forward to a sunny winter in FNQ.