Travel Australia

The purpose of this series of Guides is to introduce you the reader or new traveler as to what is available in the different parts of Australia and New Zealand and what types of Activities you might like to know about and where they are available.

The Guide is not intended to be the authority on traveling and visitor information for the whole of Australia. We recommend that you use the Tourist Information Centres around Australia for more specific aspects of the local regions.

Guide 1 – The North East

The North East area of Australia has been a destination of travellers from all over the world and from within Australia for many many years.

Far North Queensland (or "FNQ" as the locals call it) has such a diverse range of things to do and see it’s no wonder it is such a popular destination.

Places to See and Activities offered – By Area

Cairns

Cairns is considered to be the Gateway to North East Australia. Set on the edge of Trinity Inlet and washed by a Tropical climate it offers a warm and pleasant atmosphere with an easy life style.

There are a large number of different facilities and activities for the visitor and these include:

• SCUBA Diving and Snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef.
• White Water rafting – Tully an Barron Rivers
• Skyrail –  Over the rainforest Cable Car
• Tjabukai – Aboriginal Cultural Centre
• Cairns Tropical Zoo – Up close with the local fauna
• Hartley Creek Crocodile Park – Learn about and see these amazing reptiles
• Big Game and Marlin Fishing out in the Coral Sea.
• Estuary Fishing – Trinity Inlet
• A blaze of restaurants covering a huge variety of cuisines.
• Cairns Yacht Club – Offers a $10.00 Wednesday afternoon sailing experience which includes a free barbeque and drink. Great value and a great place to meet some of the local folk.
• Horse Riding – Cairns and Port Douglas
• Motorcycle Adventure tours
• Parachuting

From Cairns the visitor can travel North up to the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation area (about 1 – 2 hours drive), further north and your into Cooktown named after it’s founder Captain James Cook.

Travelling east from Cairns and you drive up the ranges (about 1,000 metres) and then you into the area known as the Tablelands. Green rolling fields and pastures and lovely small Australian bush towns. Further west and you heading off into the outback with places like Mount Isa and then onwards further to Alice Springs and Uluru.

Cooktown

Cooktown is located north of Cairns and by the main highway is about a 4 hour drive. Originally set up to service the Palmer River goldfields and surrounding gold and tin mines it is mainly famous as the place where Captain James Cook had to beach his vessel the Endeavour after hitting the barrier reef and damaging the hull.

It offers some great beaches and a wonderful museum with a feature on Captain James Cook and his “visit” to Australia back in 1770. The rivers and creeks in the Cooktown area are, unfortunately, very much inhabited by salt water crocodiles, so no matter how tempting a swim my seem as your camped by a creek, don’t venture near the water. Signs are common place right along the north coast so please be cautious.

There is a strong Aboriginal culture and heritage here and the local Tourist Information centre can help with more specific details.

The Daintree and Cape Tribulation

Words do not really describe this area with any justice. The area is World Heritage Listed rainforest and the slogan “where the rainforest meets the sea” is very appropriate. There are few places in the world where you can walk through a dense tropical rainforest and straight onto a crystal white tropical beach, and then just walk for miles.

The Daintree and Cape Tribulation offer a range of things to do and see and the scenery is truly quite breathtaking. Some of the options available to the visitor include;

Crocodile Park

Butterfly Sanctuary

Eco Bushwalks

Beachcombing

The Tablelands

Located just an hours drive west from Cairns up the Range, the Tablelands offers some great and different panoramas and activities. The climate on the Tablelands (on average the Tablelands area is about 1,000 metres higher in altitude to Cairns) is often said as being similar to many parts of Europe.

Rolling green fields, mountain mists and many of the most beautiful waterfalls in the region.

There really are a multitude of activities and things to do and see in the Tablelands but here is a taste of some of the options available:-

• Hot Air Ballooning
• Micro Light Flying
• Coffee Tasting and plantation tours
• Historic Tin and Copper mines at Chillagoe and Herberton
• Lake Tinnaroo – Camping and Boating
• Bushwalking and Hiking

The Savannah Lands

West of Cairns and the Tablelands is the area known as the Savannah lands. These stretch for many hundreds of kilometres to the west and offer some fabulous panoramas and sights. The area abounds with Eastern Grey kangaroos and many other native animals and care should be taken while driving on the roads in these areas.

Four and half hours drive from Cairns, in the Savanah land, is Undara. This is a fascinating place which features some of the world’s best Lava Tubes. Formed many tens of thousands of years ago. The lava tubes facility is set amongst beautiful native eucalyptus forests and kangaroos and kookaburras are often your nearby neighbours.

Accommodation is available in the way of converted railway carriages or it’s just as easy to rent a Campervan or Motorhome from Cairns as there are very good camperpark facilities. They put on a great bush breakfast by the campfire – a must if you are traveling with children.

On your way to Undarra you may also wish to stop overnight at Inot Hot Springs. Relax in the thermal baths and have a drink and a meal at the local pub.

One thing every visitor must do is – simply enjoy the peace and quiet of the Australian bush!

The Great Barrier Reef

The Barrier Reef strectches over 2,500 kilometres along the North East coast of Australia. Comprising of thousands of coral reefs, sand cays and islands it is an amazing part of nature.

From Cairns the Barrier Reef is only a short boat ride on one of the many boats that operate daily to and from Cairns to various different destinations on the Barrier Reef. Two islands are located within 1 hours boat trip from Cairns and these offer a range of water based activities. Fitzroy and Green Islands are quite different as Fitzroy Island used to be a part of the mainland , but Green Island is a tropical coral cay  located north east of Cairns and surrounded by coral reef. Green Island boasts a 5 star resort hotel, oceanarium and plenty of water based activities – even glass bottomed boats so you don’t even have to get wet to see the coral life.

There are a number of different ways to visit the Barrier Reef. The most popular being a Day trip on one of the many reef boats. Most of these trips start from the heart of Cairns City at the Reefleet Terminal. From here you can simply take a one day trip out to the reef which will include a lunch and use of snorkeling equipment. Prices vary from $60.00AUD and upwards, depending on the level of comfort you want. Most of the reef trip boats have marine biologists onboard who will present a lecture on the Reek. SCUBA diving is available on day trips, though you must hold a current Dive Ticket (PADI or SSI).

For those with more time, there are a number of Dive companies that also offer a Diving Course. These take between 3 – 5 days and usually culminate in a 2 day reef trip on board one of their professional dive vessels.

Other options available for viewing the reef are:-

• Glass bottom Boat tours,
• Semi Submersible tours
• Hard Hat Ocean bottom walks
• Snorkelling

Other regional places to see

Paronella Park – Located just 1 hour drive south of Cairns this Park was built totally by hand and by one Spanish immigrant back in the late 1800’s. It was a momentous undertaking and to see the work and the results of this effort are very interesting. Unfortunately some of the Park’s features were badly damaged in 2006 after Cyclone Larry came through the place with winds up to 260 kilometres per hour.

Milla Milla Falls – These waterfalls have been used as the location in so many shampoo commercials world wide, it has had fantastic exposure. A beautiful drop of water where you can swim and just take in the scenery. There many waterfalls in the region and it really is worth the visitor taking a one day drive tour of the Tablelands and waterfalls region.

As mentioned previously there are a number of other activities to see in the region and we do highly recommend that you call into one of the Tourist Information centres and seek out those types of places and activities that you prefer. You will find all staff very helpful.

The staff at CampersOZ can also arrange bookings for activities for you. Just email them info@campersoz.com.au and they will be happy to help.

So now we’ll start heading south.

Mission Beach

This little town right on the coast is just 1.5 hours drive from Cairns on the road south. If you have the time it’s about 17 kilometres off the main highway but well worth a quick visit. There are campervan park facilities and a few very nice resorts for all the family. From Mission Beach you can also get a a quich trip over to Dunk Island and that can be a nice day trip.

Townsville

Townsville is located 4 hours drive south of Cairns and is really more of an industrial and commercial centre compared to Cairns being the tourism centre of North Eastern Australia and having the International airport facility.

Townsville’s main attraction is a resort Island called Magnetic Island which is located about eight miles off the coast and offers a range of island based activities. Snorkelling and SCUBA diving are again on offer along with sea kayaking and catamaran sailing or just lazing around on the beach and soaking up the sun. Swimming here is naturally a safe option.

Townsville is a great starting point to head west (inland). Centres like Charters Towers and further west offer a very good overall picture of the “Outback”. The town of Longreach although very small was the first of home of Australia’s primary Airline QANTAS and there is an interesting museum here which focuses on the pioneering days of aviation in Australia.

Airlie Beach – The Whitsunday Islands

This region is world famous for the collection of islands and resorts. Sailing is definitely “on the menu here” along with SCUBA diving and snorkeling. At Abel Point Marina there is a flotilla of vessels catering for all budgets and offering one or more day sailing getaways out to the islands and the famous Whitehaven Beach.

Due to the tourism based nature of this part of Australia means there is an abundance of restaurants and eating places, and a visit into the hinterland also offers a pleasant half or one day excursion.

For the marine scientist in all of us whale watching, offered between July and September. Other attractions around Airlie Beach include plenty of water activities, horse riding, sky diving and walking around the Conway National Park. There are a number of walking trails around Conway National Park, which give you the opportunity to experience the various scenic highlights of the Whitsunday Coast, with picnic areas along the way. You can also visit the Vic Hislop Great White Shark and Whale Expo and the Wildlife Park which has plenty of native animals.

Upon departing Airlie Beach and heading south there is not really that much more to see for tourists until you arrive near the Sunshine Coast.

Just remember that Australia is a very big country so be prepared to spend quite a bit of time driving. Try to avoid driving at dawn and dusk as this is the main time that kangaroos and other native animals seek out the roadsides. The roads tend to hold heat after the day, so animals tend to frequent the roads and verges as the day cools off. Unfortunately none of these animals have any “road sense” so their actions are very unpredictable.

The interesting parts of the journey south of Airlie Beach can be seen on Travel Australia Guide 2 – The Central Coast,  the next in our Article Series.