Vacation Australia
Highlight & Safari tours
Departing Cairns?
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The Northern Reef From Cairns, daily cruise boats and sail boats, helicopters and seaplanes travel to Green Island, Fitzroy Island and the Outer Reef where boats are anchored or moored to floating pontoons just offshore. You have many 1 day or more dive options if you wish to snorkel the reef close-up. Go to Islands and Beaches to see most of the Great Barrier Reef Islands including the fabulous Lizard Island where you can charter Great Black Marlin deep sea fishing tours. Beaches There are no beaches at Cairns. If you wish to spend a day on the beach, Green Island is a short ferry ride away and there are 6 beaches on the Marlin Coast nearby and north of the city. Watch out for the stinging jellyfish through October to early May. Protective swimming enclosures are provided and warning signs are posted on beaches. Nightlife & accommodation: The Reef Hotel Casino This region features world class resort courses, as in the Golf Coast and the Sunshine coast, you can stay and play at the resorts and golf carts are available. Play your choice if resort golf in between your Great Barrier Reef cruise/s while visiting Cairns. Golf all year round as you are north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Summer golf best played in the mornings.
See Cairns Resort courses Getting about Public Transport; the Marlin Coast Sun Bus operates regular, daily bus services that link Cairns beaches such as Trinity Beach and Palm Cove further afield. The Cairns Red Explorer Bus departs from the Transit Centre on tours of Cairns, which passengers can leave and rejoin as they wish. Trip and Day tickets available.
Climate: Warm to hot tropical climate all year round. Tropical rains June to August. Beyond Cairns From Smithfield, an outer suburb, take the Skyrail, a gondola cableway over the rainforest to Kuranda, a picturesque village on the edge of the Atherton Tablelands. Also departing Cairns is the famous Kuranda Scenic Railway. This commentary train provides spectacular views of tropical scenery and waterfalls. If the sight of Aboriginal ceremonial dancers is your "cup 'o tea", don't miss seeing Kuranda's Tjapukai Aboriginal Dance Theatre and the Pamagirri dance at the Rainforestation. Learn how to throw a boomerang, take a tour in an Army Duck; see ancient palms and fern trees and visit the free artisan markets while at Kuranda. Birdworld, go for a cruise on the river or shop for local art and crafts. Board the Kuranda Scenic Railway back to Cairns. 62 miles/100 km west of Cairns is the Atherton Tablelands. Explore by car along the waterfall circuit over this tableland of rolling hills, lush rainforests, waterfalls and crater lakes. One of the closest towns to the Reef is the resort of Port Douglas, 44 miles/70 km north of Cairns. Here you can stay at modern hotels, backpacker hostels and sample "fair dinkum Aussie tucker" at old style pubs and tropical restaurants where sophisticated fare is offered. Attractions and activities include the Rainforest Habitat, Ben Cropp's Shipwreck Museum, the colorful Sunday Markets and tours to the outer reef and rainforest - the largest tract of virgin rainforest in Australia - is the World Heritage-listed Daintree and Cape Tribulation National Parks, beginning in Mossman, a sugar-milling town and gateway to Mossman River Gorge. This is an area of clear, running streams, walking tracks and towering forests. While there, visit the Butterfly Sanctuary. Further north is Cooktown, an historic town on the banks of the Endeavor River, which served as a port for the nearby goldfields during the nineteenth century. Rare and abundant native flora flourish in the area. If you want to return to today's real west, take the trip to Queensland's oldest outback working cattle property, Weatherby Station, 60 miles/99 km northwest of Cairns. Have you ever wanted to know what "aussie tucker", "billy tea" and "damper" is?. Being an experienced "bushie", Kangaroo Kelly knows this lingo. Aussie tucker is food, billy tea is tea served from a tin can with a wire handle that hangs the "billy" over the campfire and Damper is a dough-like bread cooked in a campoven on the campfire. Cape York Peninsula The Cape is the most northerly point and the wildest, least
populated region of Australia, about 100 miles/160 km north-west of Cairns. For those who
are independent and adventurous, Kangaroo Kelly suggests a Cape York Safari; rent a 4wd
and make the trek via Cooktown to Cape York via a rugged dirt road crossed by
several rivers. At the Cape, flights to Thursday Island are available and you will
encounter the Thursday Island Aboriginal people and their culture. For those less
adventurous, overland tours, fly/cruise options and a daily airborne mail run to different
places of the Cape York Peninsula are available. Gulf Savannah Region This region stretches as far west as the Northern Territory border. Attractions include Mt Surprise, a centre for gem fossicking. Want more adventure? Keep the 4wd and make the Safari trek inland to the Undara Lava Tubes. Its a 155 mile/250 km outback bush trip to see the Tallaroo Hot Springs and the lava tubes that are over 100 miles long, dotted with rainforest and are big enough to drive a train through. Stay overnight at the Lava Lodge. For others, air, rail, or bus tours are available from Cairns. The Southern Reef Islands This group includes Lady Elliot, Heron, Great Keppel, Brampton and the fabulous Whitsundays; Lindeman, South Molle, Daydream, Hayman, Hook, Hamilton and Long. Mackay, 600 miles/965 km north of Brisbane, has cruises to the Whitsundays. Vacation Australia provides custom planned, competitively priced tours & packages Vacation Australia's "Kangaroo Kelly" has comprehensively golf and travelled all States in Australia over a period of 44 years. He not only knows the popular tourist regions but also knows the favourite places of the crafty locals. Groups 8 or more persons His assistant, "Wallaby Wendy," is an experienced travel buyer who individually negotiates the lowest possible price for your group. We assure you that your itinerary price will be the most competitive possible. Go to Enquiries & Quotations for your custom planned, competitively priced itinerary |
Budget Rental Car - Used and
recommended by Vacation Australia. Vacation Australia provides rental car, 4wd Toyota
Landcruiser (4 persons) and 4wd Troopcarrier (8 persons) vehicles and luxury limo if
that tickles your fancy. 
While at the Cape, take the 95 mile/152 km