Travel Traveling to Australia.. any suggestions?

Been to Cairns twice now and altough a bit touristy, it's a good base for heading off to the reefs or rainforest.

Quiksilver has the best reef tour IMHO and did used to leave from Cairns [though it's been a while since I've been there]. There's another tour that takes in Green Island plus the reef which is good if you don't want to spend all your time on the boat or in the water. Both tours include lunch and you can do extra activities while you're out there such as taking a helicopter ride across the reef or scuba diving. Both have little "submarines" so you can see the fishes if you can't swim or the water is freezing [which it can be!].

Kuranda - the closest rainforest to Cairns and another day trip. You take a train up to the village then travel across the tops of the trees on the way back down in a small cable car. At the bottom is an aboriginal cultural centre where you can watch dancing / see bushtucker etc.

Daintree - slightly further north and into "proper" rainforest. Again a day trip - though don't expect to be back before 8pm at the earliest from Cairms. Really lovely drive with the chance of seeing some wildlife en-route.

Have fun!!:yahoo:
 
If money is no object, there is a day tour to Lizard Island from Cairns which is AMAZING. It's a one hour flight up north. Definitely the most beautiful place I've ever visited. The snorkelling was out of this world. It's about 500$ per person for whole day. Totally worth it.
 
My family and I are going to Australia in august and I was wondering if anyone has any tips or suggestions? We will be staying in Queensland btw.
Hello! More information please!! I live in Brisbane which is the capital of Queensland, so I will be able to help you!

Are you flying into Brisbane? Brisbane is in the south-east corner of the state. Queensland is HUGE!! I read somewhere it is 5 times the size of Texas!

Brisbane is a very pretty city (I am probably biased) on the Brisbane River. It is close to the coast, but no beaches. To go to great beach areas, there is the Sunshine Coast to the north (approx 1 - 1.5 hours drive) and the Gold Coast, approximately the same distance south of the city.

The Gold Coast is very touristy and lots of high-rise, great beaches and heaps of shopping, but also has lots of beautiful scenery in the hinterland. Lots of theme parks there, ie Dreamworld, Movie World etc. From there you can also cross the border into northern New South Wales.

The Sunshine Coast is very beautiful and diverse, ranging from cool green hinterland towns, stunning upmarket Noosa on the coast and touristy beach holiday towns like Maroochydore and Caloundra. Australia Zoo is located in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

These areas are within day trip range of Brisbane if that is where you are staying. Bear in mind August is winter here and while the weather will be mild with warm sunny days, it probably won't be warm enough to swim in the southern parts of Queensland at that time unless you are very brave!!

If you are planning to travel north, bear in mind that Cairns is 1700 kilometres from Brisbane (about a 2.5hour flight), but this is probably the best area to base yourself if it is the warm, tropical rainforest areas you want to see.

The Great Barrier Reef is huge and can be accessed from a great portion of the Queenland coast, so you don't have to go as far north as Cairns.

If you want great islands, but not as far north, the Whitsunday area is very beautiful too.

Of course Queensland can also offer the true Australian outback experience if this is what you want to see. You just need to head inland!

Anyway, I think that is enough for now! Let me know where you will be landing and how much time you have if you want more detailed information!

You will love it here!
 
Do a search in this forum, there was a pretty long thread last year on tips for travelling to Australia, there will be some great advice throughout the sub-forum. :biggrin:
 
Dbf and I went out to Sydney for New Years. It was amazing! Unfortunately we didn't really plan ahead and missed out on the reef. That was our biggest regret. The bridge and opera house were amazing, as was Sydney and the beaches, but we really wish we had seen the reef. In fact we are planning another trip out there again this coming winter so that we can see the reef this time.