wildlife and nature custom tours & travel, adventure travel and general travel to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific

Cairns, Daintree & The Great Barrier Reef

Cairns, Daintree and the Great Barrier Reef are the best known areas of Queensland. They are part of the Far North, from about Townsville to the tip of Cape York Peninsula. There’s plenty of “far north” to the west, but the top of the Northern Territory is called “The Top End”; further over it’s “the Northwest”. (By now, given that two States are called “South Australia” and “Western Australia”, you can be forgiven for thinking that Australians tend to be a bit literal in their geographic naming.)

The best-known aspect of the Far North is the Great Barrier Reef, followed by the Daintree rainforest. In fact, the Reef runs right down the Queensland coast for about 1200 miles, ending a couple of hundred miles north of Brisbane, the state capital. But access to the reef is best up north, unless you stay on one of the southern islands such as Heron Island, or the northern Lizard Island. The variety of fish and coral increases the further north you go. Of course, this is relative — there are still some 900 fish species, 1200 mollusk and more than 250 coral species around Heron.

You can read about how one diver felt about the Reef in her Sport Diver article here. We can also recommend Spirit of Freedom, and her smaller, day-trip sister ship, Tusa. If you are a first time snorkeler, Michaelmas Cay and the Frankland Islands give you the chance of walking in off the beach to practice, and seeing coral and reef fish while you're at it. Then, just a few yards further out, are beautiful coral reefs for you to explore. The beautiful tropical island, with its sandy beaches and rainforested center is an added bonus. Day trips are made to both these islands from Cairns.

Similarly, there is tropical rainforest patchily all the way from about Proserpine to Iron Range two thirds of the way up the Peninsula, although the best developed and richest is in the Daintree region and the Atherton Tablelands, where most comes under the auspices of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.

Both the Great barrier Reef and the rainforest and must-sees when on an Australia tour, whether you are on a nature tour or just personal travel, although there is much more to do as well.The Undara Lava Tubes are quite spectacular, and their dry-country setting adds a new dimension to the reef and rainforest scenario. Further north the wilds of Cape York Peninsula beckon the adventurous, looking for 4WD trips over long and often rough tracks, crossing crocodile-inhabited streams, and camping out in the evening. But Cape York is also rich in wildlife, where a number of New Guinea species such as eclectus parrot, cuscus and green python attract naturalists and birders. The main center of the Far North is Cairns, although Townville, 200 miles south, has a developing tourism infrastructure and a less busy pace. From Cairns day and longer trips are available to all points — the rainforest, reef, Cape York and the outback. Click here for a browsable map.

We tend to emphasize the Cairns region in our Australia travel, nature tours and custom itineraries, for a number of reasons. One, of course is the Reef, and ease of accessibility. Secondly, some of the best wildlife and nature tour experiences can be had in this area, and no comprehensive look at Australia’s natural history is complete without seeing the forests and wildlife of this tropical region. The Atherton Tablelands, for example, is by far the best and most reliable place to see the strange, egg-laying platypus in the wild, and one of only two places that tree kangaroos can be found. Around two thirds of Australia’s bird species occur nearby, and many of its rarest and restricted mammals. On the other hand, some of Australia’s best resorts, both luxury - we immediately think of beachfront Thala Beach Lodge and rainforest Silky Oaks - and ecolodge, such as Chamber's Rainforest Lodge, are also here.

There are many things to do in the Cairns region, from white water rafting to wildlife outings. The Aboriginal culture is strong in this area, and can be shared through visiting Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park, or taking a guided tour with a locally born Aboriginal guide in Mossman.

Even if you're not staying there, Bay Village Tropical Retreat has one of the most interesting restaurants in Cairns, Bayleaf. The dominant cuisine is Balinese, a specific variety of Indonesian fare. This is not just recipe-following, the Chef's are Balinese, Chef Made and Komang; you do not get more authentic Balinese than these names, which indicates child number two and child number three. For those who have not tried Indonesian, let alone Balinese, you are in for a surprise. There are many who claim that Indonesian cuisine is the best in Asia, certainly the tastiest, and deserves ranking along with French and Chinese as the world's most distinctive and best cuisines. (We count ourselves in this group.) Even the surrounding gardens have a Balinese look, with small thatched offering houses dotted about. After the Balinese dishes, if you want something a little more familiar, the owner is an Executive Pastry Chef from Austria, so we're sure your sweet tooth will also be satisfied.

If you'd rather discover some of Tropical Queensland's culinary delights straight of the tree, you can visit tropical fruit farms, coffee and macadamia plantations on a fully guided day tour from Cairns.

The Far North is tropical, with a distinct wet and dry season. From about December to April heat and humidity rule, with often heavy rain from January to March. However, like most wet tropical regions, it rarely rains all day, and not every day. We also find that while it’s raining on the mainland, the Reef can be clear and sunny. From about May to October the weather is usually fine and sunny, with daytime temperatures mostly in the eighties, and nights in the sixties. Our own favorite months are September and October.

There's more about Queensland on our sister site, still being developed. Click here on Queensland Australia and go from there. Click on Queensland's Great Barrier Reef islands if this is the part of Australia you are interested in.

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