Australian Natural Adventuresnature travel, wildlife tours, adventure travel and general travel to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific
NANCY GASEN
AUSTRALIA
November 2005
Day 2 – Lost in Space Day 3 – Sydney / Cairns Day 4 – Great Barrier Reef Day 5 – Cairns / Kuranda, Atherton
Tablelands Early this afternoon you will be picked up for an
afternoon/evening tour to the rainforest of the Atherton Tablelands.
These World Heritage listed rainforests, at Day 6 – Atherton Tablelands Day 7 – Atherton Tablelands Day 8 - Atherton Tablelands / Cairns Day 9 - Great Barrier Reef
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Terminal
for your Qantas flight to Sydney, Australia. Australia begins the
moment you step aboard your Qantas flight. The
Australian style is apparent—easy going, casually efficient
and very friendly. Qantas is known for its excellent food and in flight
service, so sit back and enjoy the hospitality, meal and a movie.
waterfront
hotel, the 
areas are prime feeding for hundreds of shorebirds, from large pelicans
to medium curlews to tiny, busy Terek Sandpipers. After your lunchtime
arrival the rest of the day is free to relax. don't, however, be tempted
to have a nap or even lie down - you need to stay awake until at least
8pm to sleep well enough tonight to fall into the local time zone.
As well as your hotel restaurants there are 
and the sandy vegetated cay formed on one end. Michaelmas Reef lies
about 22 miles off the coast just north of Cairns, with 
most
of which is off limits, is a National Park within the Great Barrier
Reef Marine Park. However, the birds are very tolerant of visitors
and stand thickly along the beach, allowing us to approach them within
a few yards. Immediately offshore in waist-deep water, the first of
the corals can be seen. For those not used to snorkelling, there is
no easier introduction—just walk up to your waist, and bend
over. 
marine biologist describes the species seen and some of the processes
at work. For those interested, there are guided snorkel tours led
by a marine biologist; for those who are certified, scuba diving is
an option, or a non-certified introductory dive. On your trip out,
one of the marine biologists explains the development of this and
other reef systems and gives us an introduction to many of the animal
species that you see. Lunch is a tropical smorgasbord. In the afternoon
you return to Cairns, under sail if the winds are right. Your transport
to the reef is a 
aboriginal
people to the world’s oldest living culture, while at the same
time showing by example to the Aboriginal people themselves that their
culture, often ignored and looked down upon by its own people, is
of great value and interest to others throughout Australia and the
world. Activities here include the Aboriginal History Theatre, the
Creation Theatre, the original Tjapukai Dance Theatre, a didgeridoo
demonstration, spear and boomerang throwing, and descriptions of traditional
foods and medicines. Although the park is a little hard to describe,
I know you will enjoy it 
and
learn a lot about Aboriginal life. 
an elevation of about 2,500 ft, are home to some of Australia’s
rarest and most unusual animals, including four kinds of very restricted
possums, gliders, and the definitely weird tree kangaroo, a kangaroo
which has adapted to a life in the trees, rather than on the ground.
Your guide will 
take
you to a small stream to wait for platypus, the egg-laying mammal
unique to Australia, all the time describing the plants and dynamics
of the surrounding rainforest. A variety of rainforest birds and other
animals, perhaps including the leaf-tailed gecko - eight inches long
and colored and shaped like a piece of bark - will be found and seen.
After dinner out, a couple of hours will be spent spotlighting for
nocturnal animals, always a highlight of the day. The return to Cairns
will be late, around midnight, but the long day will remain in your
memory for years to come.
before
you arrive at the village itself turn right to your accommodation
for the next three nights, 
and
many species, from cassowaries to delicate sunbirds frequent the gardens.
A variety of mammals also can usually be seen here, including the
tiny Musky Rat-kangaroo, the smallest of the kangaroos. Your hosts
will welcome you to their house, and advise you of where best to are
for wildlife and scenery. The rest of the day can be used to explore
the area, which includes rainforest and the granite-based forests
of small creeks.
more
elusive birds of the area, or continue your personal discoveries.
Nearby is Granite Gorge, a good place for Rock Wallabies, Sandy Wallabies
and Great Bowerbirds, among others. Mareeba Golf Course is another
good stop, with its resident mob of Grey Kangaroos. It’s a convenient
stop on the way to the 
Continue
today exploring the Atherton Tablelands, returning this evening to
Cairns. The southern Tablelands, around 
your
hotel on the Esplanade at your leisure, and return your car. During
your stay in Cairns you may wish to vist the 
and
other marine life. You will be on a smaller boat,