Road trip questions for Brisbane to Cairns in Jan

[sparksy]

Have planned a simple holiday for january next year. Not taking 4WD or camper but just going to fly from Perth to Brisbane and then over 10 days drive up then 9 days in Cairns. Have hired a Falcon sedan so can't really get off the black stuff.
Have checked out various site Re: what to see and do but most are commercially based.
What I am asking for is sugestions of what to see along the way, decent accommadation suggestions ( bearing in mind no camper ) and decent places to eat.
First time have travelled this route so I thought who better to ask than those that live or travel along  that way.

Thanks
Wayne

[McGirr]

Wayne

You should not have any problems with accommodation in Cairns as it is our low season. Be mindful it will be very humid.

Depending on how long you are in Cairns there are a large number of sights and day trips.

Mark

[Crazy Dog]

Come on Mark...What about a bit of a Cairns welcome for Wayne and his if he is bringing his that is - the weary traveller will be dry as a dead dogs donga so we need to greet him at one of our superlative inns here in Cairns and give the lad an FNQ welcome eh but!!

Anyway it would be nice to meet a WA member even if it is stinking hot and humid with bloody cyclones blowing our shacks away.. Ah !!! The far north - Perfect one day missing the next....

Also what about a small home get together with a bit of camp oven tucker. My place is available in Edmonton. Just my thoughts..

Grrr!!!

[Kit_e_kat9]

Ah !!! The far north - Perfect one day missing the next....
Grrr!!!

Sounds like a great place to reside!  Thanks for the laugh!  Used to be up on the Tablelands myself many moons ago. 

As for places to visit up north ... Kuranda markets used to be a good thing, Kuranda Railway Station is a great place to see. 
Port Douglas did a great pie back then. 
Loved the Malanda and Milaa Milaa Falls - remember seeing Man From Snowy River in an old style picture theatre with the hessian deck chairs up that way. 

Don't forget to see all the Big Things on the way up there. 

A must see is the Bundy Rum Distillery at Bundy (go figure). 
After Brisbane, take a right along the D'Agular Highway (at Caboolture) to Kilcoy for the best bakery food. 
Malany & Mapleton (range road) up from Landsborough is a great drive which brings you back out at Nambour if you want to see the Sunshine Coast from there (but you can see it all along that range road). 
If you like history, there's the Gympie Gold Museum.

Kit_e

[Straitened Out]

Take one day out on your way up and have a guided day trip to Fraser Island - just to whet your appetite!
Cheers
S.O.

[jclures]

Just remember to check the road condition, wet season the road south is often closed for days if it rains, doesn’t say much for our number one highway though, does it.

[sparksy]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
Just checked out Fraser island day trip from Noosa so thats a goer.
The humidity shouldnt be a worry, we've done Broome at xmas a few times over the last 4 years and had to dodge a couple of cyclones to get there .
Been told we have to do the markets so will start off at Eumundi
Mainly used to travelling up west coast and nullabor so lots of distance with nothing inbetween. What would be a average distance to expect to travel in a day  for example would Hervey Bay to Gladstone be too far to drive in a day. Looking at 7 days to get from Noosa to Cairns now.

[JethroT]

Noosa to Cairns is maybe a 16 hour drive so 7 days will be fine, Hervey Bay to Gladstone would be maybe 4 hours.  Have a look at the RACQ website and check the Trip Planner it will give you accurate results much better than my recollections from previous trips.

I love Cairns as a holiday destination, and recommend the following spots, Heading South, Paronella Park, then the Atherton Tablelands (Crater Lakes, Fig Tree, Tinaroo), West is the Kuranda markets, via the sky rail and the normal rail,  heading North there's Palm Cove, Port Douglas, Cow Bay,  Cape Tribulation.     

Enjoy your trip.

[Straitened Out]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
Just checked out Fraser island day trip from Noosa so thats a goer.

Check out the day trips from Hervey Bay as well - more time "on the island".
Cheers
S.O.

[McGirr]

Mackay to Cairns is 8 hours.

There are so many places to see along the way let alone Cairns that you will have to allow some time to have a break.

Mark

[ozynorts]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
Just checked out Fraser island day trip from Noosa so thats a goer.
The humidity shouldnt be a worry, we've done Broome at xmas a few times over the last 4 years and had to dodge a couple of cyclones to get there .
Been told we have to do the markets so will start off at Eumundi
Mainly used to travelling up west coast and nullabor so lots of distance with nothing inbetween. What would be a average distance to expect to travel in a day  for example would Hervey Bay to Gladstone be too far to drive in a day. Looking at 7 days to get from Noosa to Cairns now.

hey sparksie if you are going to stay around gladstone you will need to get onto to accom prior to leaving. don't expect to arrive and find somewhere as the mines etc take all the accom. just a heads up

[watto11]

I can offer u a bed for the night in Gladstone possibly if u want to pm me

[Matto]

Hey sparksy,

As JC has said, it'll potentially be quite wet in Jan. last year we had a late wet season, so you might be right, but I'd count on there being a bit of water around. As JC has said, just be flexible in your travelling.

7 days for the trip up is plenty, you'll be able to get a good feel for the costal towns by doing that. Bris to Mackey is about 12-14 hrs, and as McGirr has said, another 8 to Cairns, so you should be quite relaxed. Maybe stay for 2 nights at somewhere like hervey bay/Agnes waters/etc, and have an explore. Or a night on Fraser would be nice as well.

As for accommodation in Gladstone/Rockhampton/Mackay , we've never actually had a problem rolling into town late and getting a hotel room, camp site or cabin. I'm not sure if it's as bad as everyone makes out? Maybe we've just been lucky, but we've always had our pick of spots.

As for cairns, there's heaps of stuff to do here. What sort of things are you hoping to see? Ie, reef trips, rainforest, self-drive or tours, etc? Skyrail is a definite must, but even things like the rainforest dome at the casino are great.

Good luck - feel free to msg any of us cairns locals, and we'll help you out - we don't bite!
Matto

[Kit_e_kat9]

Oh,  and there are islands!  Don't forget a day or two on the islands ... Whitsundays, Dunk (if it's still there after last year), some off Cairns ...

Kit_e

[9775Andrew]

Not sure how tou're travelling,
ie are ya gonna take a small tent to camp on a beach etc... if so theres sooo many places to pull up

mackay can be a probelm fore motels during the week due to all fly in fly out work .............. been caught a few times for short notice work.

keep eye on raods south of townsville (guru) and Tully to north for road closures

[FNQ_DOC]

Mackay to Cairns is 8 hours.

There are so many places to see along the way let alone Cairns that you will have to allow some time to have a break.

Mark

8 hours Mackay to Cairns!  I've never experienced the Bruce Highway that clear & speedy! 

Don't forget Mission Beach on the way up but there's nothing on Dunk Island since Yasi blew through.  Don't forget to pack an umbrella though for the North and keep your eye on the RACQ website for road conditions http://www.racq.com.au/travel/Maps_and_Directions/road_conditions

Drive safe & enjoy the drive!

[sparksy]

Thanks for the offers and heads up Re: short notice accom. We are realy going to play it by ear as to how far we get each day as like you guys have mentioned we have left plenty of time to get there.
Our two "kids" 21 and 19 are coming with us so probably best option for us will be caravan park cabins. Real pain not having camper for trip but work commitments dictated how long we could be away for, so this will be trial run for big trip later on.

Booked last night a day trip from Noosa to Fraser Isl. Worked out well as we had booked 3 nights initially for noosa just so we had somewhere to start trip from. Did Noosa a few years back so one day out of 3  wont matter and gives  us more time to look around hervy bay area as possibly first stop on way up.
Road closures hopefully wont be a problem just may mean we may see parts of QLD that we hadn't planned.
Road closures over here in west are a problem as usually only one road. We just made it into Broome a few years back for Xmas before a cyclone close the hwy.

Wayne

[duggie]

I have travled up and down that bloody road quite a few times, In general travling from Cairns south I break it up in four hour blocks. Cairns to Townsville. Townsville to Mackay. Mackay to Rockhampton. Rockhampton to Gympie.Gympie to Brissy- time varies depending on the traffic flow.

[sparksy]

Thanks to all who gave me a heads up for our Qld trip.
Just got back after a great 21 days away. really jealous of you guys that live in Qld, what a great place and unfortunately with only a short time i think we may have missed seeing a lot of it.
As I mentione in a earlier post we have a habit of breaking droughts whenever we go on holidays and this time was no different.
The rain seemed to follow us up the coast but it didnt stop us from doing anything. The day we arrived in Townsville saw the first rain they had seen in 4 months according to the wifes cousin who lives there, then we brought the rain to Cairns.
Did the usual things like snorkling on the reef  etc, and checking out the tourist spots but a hi-light was a trip up to the back of Daintree to visit a friend of a friend who lives in a shed next to  a beautiful spot on a river. Spent the afternoon swimming in, what he assured us was croc free, crystal clear water.

Now all that left to do is work out how to get back with the 4wd and camper to see more of it.

Wayne