Soldato
- Joined
- 23 May 2005
- Posts
- 2,964
- Location
- Auckland, New Zealand
I took 3 months to hitch hike up the coast of queensland from brisbane to just past cairns.
Sounds like quite a budget you have and nothing like what i had! Although i did do a day trip to the reef. I took it at port douglas (Port douglas is both closer to the reef and cheaper to do, not to mention it being a nicer place than cairns). I went with a company called wavelength who take small groups of people at a time so you have a really personal experience with them. Some of the tours take giant boats crammed with tourists and i cant imagine it being an enjoyable day with them. I was also lucky enough to see hump back whales diving around on the way out there! it was absolutely spectacular. The tour guide said it was the best display he'd ever seen. We managed to get within about 50m of them diving (SPLASHES!) and they even swam under and around our boat! we were actually a few meters from them at some points. It was a small family (mum, dad and baby). they travel up to the east coast of queensland to breed in the Australian winter (our summer) so keep your eyes peeled. The other tour boats tried to get in on the experience but their boats were too large and couldn't risk manouvering that close to them.
On the same day i got to snorkel with giant turtles and reef sharks and of course the coral but it couldn't have been a better day. It was so wonderful. I'd highly recomend Wavelengths (they actually do pick ups from cairns).
As for the rest of the trip, i could tell you a million things! But from south to north, here are a few places that are definetly worth seeing (look them up):
Noosa heads
Rainbow beach
Fraser island (walk to lake mckenzie. It is actually paradise
)
1770 and agnes waters
Eungella national park (platypus!)
Cape hillsborough
Townsville is rubbish
Mount Bartlefrere
The atherton tablelands
Port douglas
Mossman gorge
Theres a million other places but I'm sure they're pretty much inaccessible unless you have a 4x4 or are hitching
Sounds like quite a budget you have and nothing like what i had! Although i did do a day trip to the reef. I took it at port douglas (Port douglas is both closer to the reef and cheaper to do, not to mention it being a nicer place than cairns). I went with a company called wavelength who take small groups of people at a time so you have a really personal experience with them. Some of the tours take giant boats crammed with tourists and i cant imagine it being an enjoyable day with them. I was also lucky enough to see hump back whales diving around on the way out there! it was absolutely spectacular. The tour guide said it was the best display he'd ever seen. We managed to get within about 50m of them diving (SPLASHES!) and they even swam under and around our boat! we were actually a few meters from them at some points. It was a small family (mum, dad and baby). they travel up to the east coast of queensland to breed in the Australian winter (our summer) so keep your eyes peeled. The other tour boats tried to get in on the experience but their boats were too large and couldn't risk manouvering that close to them.
On the same day i got to snorkel with giant turtles and reef sharks and of course the coral but it couldn't have been a better day. It was so wonderful. I'd highly recomend Wavelengths (they actually do pick ups from cairns).
As for the rest of the trip, i could tell you a million things! But from south to north, here are a few places that are definetly worth seeing (look them up):
Noosa heads
Rainbow beach
Fraser island (walk to lake mckenzie. It is actually paradise
)1770 and agnes waters
Eungella national park (platypus!)
Cape hillsborough
Townsville is rubbish
Mount Bartlefrere
The atherton tablelands
Port douglas
Mossman gorge
Theres a million other places but I'm sure they're pretty much inaccessible unless you have a 4x4 or are hitching
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