Cairns-Port Douglas and Beyond

So skipping the northern fruit bowl and the towns along the way (Ingham, Mission Beach, Innisfail, Tully)…You eventually hit Cairns.

Best way to get to Cairns is to fly.  Domestically, from Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, possibly others.  Cairns also has an international airport with most flights arriving from SE Asia or Japan.

Cairns was designed for tourism.  The place absolutely reeks of it.  I swear there’s more Japanese speaking retail sales people than there are English speaking.  Duty free shops on every corner.  Souveneir shops in between.  I don’t like it, but then, I’ve never really been a tourist there.  I’d drive up for a visit when I was living in Townsville from time to time, but none of that mass market tourism thing ever appealed to me.

The foreshore in Cairns consists of mudflats and more mudflats.  They’ve tried to pretty up the Esplanade (waterfront) by building a waterpark.  That’s fun, but it still doesn’t take away you can see and smell the mudflats right next to it.  Sorry, but the waterfront in Cairns is ugly.  And smelly.

Hotel wise, I prefer not to stay in the centre of town, but rather up in the northern beaches.  It’s quieter, more relaxed and less touristy.  It’s only a 10-15 minute drive along the highway into the city from there anyway.

Things to do in Cairns?  Shop.  Go out on day trips to the islands or the reef.  Head up to Kuranda and go on the Skyrail (which is actually fun, but expensive).  Shop some more.

Or 90 minutes drive up the road you hit Port Douglas.  It’s sort of a mainland version of the Whitsundays.  Tourist central.  Lots of beach resorts.  Golf resorts.  Like most of North Queensland, the tourism is based around the Great Barrier Reef, so day trips out to the reef or the nearby islands are common.  It’s nice, but maybe a little pretentious.  At any rate, the drive from Cairns to Port Douglas is pretty spectacular.

Further north still you hit the Daintree head on.  Lots of rainforest.  There’s a few eco-lodges up there.  It’s totally amazing.  It’s all national park, so it’s largely undeveloped and untouched.  Really hits home how awesome and how bizzare nature can be though

Once you head much further north of Mossman Gorge you’re really heading into the bush.  It’s an awesome place to go camping, but infrastructure is minimal, towns can be 500km apart, and you should make sure you have a satellite phone and a 4WD

I once went all the way up Cape York Peninsula with some mates.  It’s extreme and it was fun.  But not something I want to do again.  You’re too far from civilisation.  It sounds childish, but I like my creature comforts.

And that makes my trip up the Queensland coast complete!  I might eventually get around to posting something about my outback adventures.

Townsville

Now what do I have to say about Townsville? 

Nicknamed Brownsville due to the fact that it rains much much less than just about anywhere in North Queensland and as such most of the landscape is pretty dull and brown.

Getting there?  Fly in from Cairns, Brisbane or Sydney.  I think there’s a few flights a week in from Melbourne as well.  It does have an international terminal, however it’s currently not being used.

That aside?  Townsville is nominally considered the capital of North Queensland.  It’s the biggest city in the region.  It’s home to one of Australia’s largest Army bases.  It has its own university.  It’s got pretty decent infrastructure.  It’s got a major shipping port (and they’re in the process of building a big cruise ship terminal).  It’s really a normal (big regional) city, it doesn’t revolve around the tourism market.

That being said, there is tourist stuff.  You can do day trips on the big cats out to the Great Barrier Reef (and it’s actually nicer there than the day trips from the Whitsundays because there’s less people visiting).  You can do extended reef trips that focus on diving.  You can do trips out to the SS Yongala wreck to go scuba diving (which incidentally was the site of my most scary diving experience…being circled by half a dozen sharks like I was dinner on a dark shipwreck).  You can do driving trips an hour up the road to Crystal Creek/Paluma.  Which is awesome in summer after its rained and all the waterfalls are running.

And there’s Magnetic Island (Maggie).  It used to be purely residential there, but they got their shit together and it’s now a pretty good tourist destination.  There’s resorts of all types from the luxury to the backpackers.  Getting there, you can either catch the passenger ferry (runs frequently, 20 minute ride), or you can put your car on the barge and take your car over.  If you choose not to take a car, the most common way to get around the island is to hire an open topped Moke.  They’re a riot.  Or there is a public bus.  Or you can hire bicycles and stuff as well.  You can go bushwalking (and if you’re lucky you might see koalas up in the trees).  You can lounge around on the beaches.  You can hire jetskis and go on a trip around the island.  You can go for a horse ride along the beach Horseshoe Bay.  It’s all pretty fun really.

Townsville city itself is a bit dull.  But like I said, it was never designed as a tourist destination.  It’s slowly trying to transform itself, but it’s taking time.  The nicest place to stay in town is the Jupiters Hotel and Casino which is on the breakwater just outside of the CBD (10 minutes walk).  It’s got pretty amazing views over the Coral Sea and Magnetic Island.  The casino itself basically takes up the first floor, it’s a bit small, but hey, it’s still a casino right?

A note of caution from someone who lived there though.  Be careful going out at night.  Don’t go out on your own in the city.  While the situation there has improved exponentially, there are still racial tensions which are very much bubbling away at the surface.  I have seen people physically attacked for telling one of the natives they didn’t have a cigarette to give them when they tried to bum one.  Or white people being called white trash for no particular reason.  Don’t make that put you off going out or visiting the city.  Just be aware of it.

Another thing.  North Queensland gets inundated with irukanji and box jellyfish every summer.  These things can and will kill you.  In summer, if you want to swim in the ocean, you either need to wear a full body stinger suit or you need to swim only in the stinger net enclosures.  The locals joke constantly to visitors that “if it’s cuddly and cute it can probably kill you.  if it’s ugly it can probably kill you too“.  It’s a joke to scare the tourists.  But I have to be honest and say it’s probably not far off the truth.  There are snakes and spiders that can kill you.  There is marine life that can kill you.  There are crocodiles around that can kill you.  Just be careful.

And if you’re really energetic, go for a run up the goat track on Castle Hill

The Whitsunday Coast

Well what can I say?  Probably one of the most stunning places I’ve ever been.

Getting there?  There’s an airport in Proserpine that Jetstar/Virgin flies to.  You can get transfers from Proserpine to Airlie Beach.  Or there’s an airport on Hamilton Island that the major domestic airlines fly to.

I’ll start at the coast and head out from there.

Airlie Beach?  I lived there for 6 months at one point for work.  Great place!  Backpacker central really.  It’s a reasonably cheap party town.  That being said, there are 5 star resorts in the area as well.  It caters to pretty much both ends of the market.  Airlie Beach (+Shute Harbour) is sort of the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands.  You can catch the big cat out to the reef for the day from the Marina.  You can catch ferries out to South Molle Island or Hamilton Island.  You can hire a yacht (+crew if you don’t know what you’re doing) and go island hopping on your own boat.  Though that does require you to have some boating proficiency if you go without hiring crew.  Generally if you have a boat licence they’ll let you hire one.

I’ve been to many of the islands, but I’ll just list the major ones that I can remember the most about.

Just a couple of notes…Many of the Whitsunday Islands come under serious national park classifications.  The marine park authorities enforce rules about being allowed on certain islands.  And there are very serious rules about fishing in the region.  If you’re going to visit and make it a “do it yourself” type holiday, then make sure you get the relevant information from the authorities so you know where you can and can’t go and where you can and can’t fish and what you can and can’t catch.  The fines for breaking the rules can run well in to the tens of thousands of dollars.

Hayman Island – known for its luxury 5 star resort.  Pure relaxation and luxury here, with prices accordingly.  Not cheap, but if you’re on your honeymoon or money is no object, definitely worth the experience.  It’s stunning.  Much of the island is untouched paradise.  Lagoons, empty beaches, forest walks, lazy days by the pool with the cabana boy bringing you drinks!  The resort will organise transfers from the mainland for you.

Hamilton Island – More family oriented.  Big high rise hotels, its own airport…It’s a little like the Gold Coast of the Whitsundays.  Glitz and glamour I suppose.  Personally I think the island used to be stunning.  However with all the development and massive tourist numbers over the last couple of decades, the place has become a worn out hole.  The reef surrounding the island has been wrecked through run-off from the resorts and massive tourist numbers.  Which means that at low tide all you see are mudflats and broken dead coral reefs.  However you can still catch a ferry out to the Great Barrier Reef direct from Hamilton Island to see some less damaged coral and see all the amazing reef fish and stuff.  The resorts are nice, but still your typical island/beach resorts.  It’s not cheap, but it’s certainly not as expensive as other islands in the region.  Getting around the island you can hire a golf buggy.  Seriously, that is how you get around the island!  There’s lots to do: from sitting on the beach, to lounging by the pool, to shopping, to day trips to other islands or the GBR, to going bushwalking, to playing a round of golf.  It’s not my preferred island to visit, but it’s a great family holiday destination!

Whitsunday Island – Nothing.  Which is why I love it.  Whole thing is national park, so nobody is allowed to develop on the island.  There’s no resorts, no hotels, no shops, no nothing.  Pure pristine tropical island!  Only way to get there is by private boat or by charter boat.  You can go picnic on Whitehaven Beach with nary another person in sight.  Possibly my most favorite island purely for the fact that there’s nothing there.

South Molle Island – Sort of a budget family holiday island.  The last time I was there I think I was about 14 or so, so what I have to say is from the point of view of a kid!  They had mini golf.  They had this awesome resort with tons of stuff for kids to do, a pool with a waterslide and everything!  I don’t recall the hotel being all that spectacular, but like I said, it’s a budget type resort.  You can hire out paddleskis and stuff.  You can go hiking around the island.  You can bum around on the beach.  As a kid, I loved it.  But then I always was more into the nature and sightseeing than I was in to “I want to go to the amusement parks”.

Hook Island – Home of Manta Ray Bay.  Truly one of the most awesome experiences of my life.  Going diving with huge manta ray’s in Manta Ray Bay.  They’re these huge gentle giants and are in massive numbers in the area, mainly in winter.  And you can go diving with them!  Or if you can’t dive, you can always just go snorkelling, which is almost as awesome!  There’s these huge Maori Wrasse to go swimming with.  There’s underwater caves.  Probably one of the most amazing dive sites anywhere in the world.  There is a hotel on the island.  Budget accommodation (though it’s not crap either), but really, who cares?  The scenery and the diving make up for it!  And now I’m all depressed thinking about it and want to go back for a holiday!

Daydream Island – Another family island, but probably a little more upmarket than some of the others.  And it also caters to the “resort and spa” crowd.  Again, plenty of stuff to do.  Watersports like jetskiing and paddleskiing, snorkelling around the fringing reefs, lounging on the beach, lounging by the pool, hiking through the rainforest, mini golf…Probably not where I’d choose for a nice relaxing getaway, but it’s a fun island.

Really, the Whitsundays cater to almost every budget and every tropical island experience.  From the relaxing 5 star resorts to the camping out on the beach in your own tent.  From hiring your own yacht for a week or two, to taking a day trip out to the Great Barrier Reef on one of the big cats.

I love the Whitsundays.  I wouldn’t live there again, it’s too far from everything for my liking (though that is generally why people do want to live there in the first place).  But as a holiday destination, probably has to rank in my top 5 places on earth (so far).