darwin and cairns - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!



Go Back   TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards! > Backpacker College Student Travel Message Boards > Where ya going? & Specific country info! > Australia/NZ/S Pac.

Australia/NZ/S Pac. Backpack´n Kangaroo jack´n down-under...What is Vegemite?

Raileurope.com: See Europe by train
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-13-2004, 12:03 AM   #1
Glo Bug
Members
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: NYC USA
Posts: 34
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

to see all the fun and exciting bits?
i plan on 2-3 days... would this be enough?

on another note how long would i need to see cairns and port douglass?

i'll be leaving cairns on the 22nd to get to brisbane, and i arrive in darwin on the 11th of july. How should i budget my time?
Also whats a very cheap way of getting from darwin to cairns? Planes are a bit too much and greyhound is around 400. ouchie.
__________________
Personally, I don't think there's intelligent life on other planets. Why should other planets be any different from this one?

You can't spill a drop of American blood without spilling the blood of the whole world.
Glo Bug is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2004, 04:47 AM   #2
zylah
TPunk Recognized
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 452
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

by bus u would loose a good 2 days from darwin to Cairns, and its flying (vigin blue) $800 and 10 hours, (via brisbane)

Qantas is much better with the cheapest fair of $287 darwin cairns (2 1/2 hours www.qantas.com.au)


Not sure exactly what types of stuff u want to do up there, theres lots of rainforests and natural stuff.
check out http://www.northernexposure.com.au/travel.html for darwin things to do
and http://www.pddt.com.au/ for port douglas
hope that helps
__________________

zylah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2004, 06:39 PM   #3
james_syd
Members
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 28
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Hmmm 2-3 days..It appears that your are having the same problem in Australia that I am having for europe.. Lack of Time !!!
I am not a local to either of those places but I have spent a lot of time at each..

Cairns will depend on what you are after. If you are planning a trip out to the barrier reef - well there is one day gone... Then I could tell you about fantastic natural waterholes and waterslides out in mountains behind cairns. And then there are things like the Skyway(most expensive option) to the top of the mountains behind Cairns - or you can get up their via the ZigZag railway which winds its way up the mountain side past some magnificant waterfalls. Especially after rain. Once you are up on the Atherton Tablelands there are some great markets, and a massive butterfly house.

Here is my suggestion for a two - three day stay.
Day one: Barrier Reef take the best tour you can afford out to one of the outer reefs (they are all fun), Day Two: tablelands (zig Zag railway would be my option) Day Three: tour to Cape Tribulation(fantastic place for new years eve - i have done it for the past two years) that covers Port Douglas as well.

As for Darwin: Town is all you are going to get to in one or two days. As everything is so far away - Kakadu National Park is approx 3hr drive. It has to be an overnight trip. Lichfield National park is closer and has some great things to see. This one is a possible day trip with some great waterfalls and swiming holes. And then there are the crocodille tours - just go to the local info booth when you get there - you wont have a problem finding one that suits your budget and taste.

As for getting from Cairns to Darwin - there is no easy way but if you can get
Quote:
Qantas is much better with the cheapest fair of $287 darwin cairns (2 1/2 hours www.qantas.com.au)
My advice is take it !!
Doing it on the bus is boring as hell and takes forever. I have done it in a car before. And unless you are going to do it as a piss trip taking a week and stopping at every pub you come across... (like that is possible - not a chance in Australia - it would take you 10years)...

if you want any more info - go to my site and send me an email....

Cheers for now - and good luck
__________________
www.eurobash04.com</span>
email: eurobash04@iinet.net.au

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>A Beer (or two) a day keeps the blues away !!!!</td></tr></table><span class='signature'>
james_syd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2004, 12:21 AM   #4
Glo Bug
Members
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: NYC USA
Posts: 34
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

thanks for the advice.

i can't for the life of me find the qantas fare you quoted for 287. the cheapest one i could find was 345.

Some of you may have misunderstood me. I have 2-3 days to GET TO cairns FROM darwin.

I have 8 days to spend in cairns/ port douglass.

If someone could get me the 287 fare i'll gladly take it.
__________________
Personally, I don't think there's intelligent life on other planets. Why should other planets be any different from this one?

You can't spill a drop of American blood without spilling the blood of the whole world.
Glo Bug is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2004, 03:54 AM   #5
james_syd
Members
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 28
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

ahhh..I see.

I did a search and found a flight from Darwin to Carins on the 15th July leaving at 01:35am (not sure of your exact dates) Red Eye flights are often cheaper.

Blue Saver
Adult Web $265.00 AUD
Adult Phone $275.00 AUD

Go to: www.virginblue.com.au

Not sure of the details on that flight.

Feel free to ask if you have any further questions on either place...
Cheers
__________________
www.eurobash04.com</span>
email: eurobash04@iinet.net.au

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>A Beer (or two) a day keeps the blues away !!!!</td></tr></table><span class='signature'>
james_syd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2004, 09:31 AM   #6
LiveFreeorDie
TPunk Emeritus
 
LiveFreeorDie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Newly relocated to C-bus - USA
Posts: 2,858
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

I just got back from Oz and spent 7 days in/around Cairns. I did the following:

-Three day/2 night dive trip to the GBR
-Two day/1 night trip to Atherton tablelands/rainforest/waterfall tour
-1 day white water rafting (R&R rafting in Tully)

It was great. If you really like snorkeling and can afford it, I would recommend doing at least 1 overnight on the reef, its very cool. I used Down Under Dive - they are great and you can go out and comeback any time you want. The day trip experience is often quite crowded you do not get to see nearly as much. (I got to experience part of the day trip as the boat that took us from Cairns out to our liveaboard ship was also the daytrip boat).

Didn't make it to Port Douglas but it is supposed to be quite nice. Depends how much of an outdoorsy/active person you are as to what you want to see and do. Cairns itself, while nice, does not have much to do other than shopping and serving as the main base for Reef and Rainforest based activities.

As far as flight costs go, check back frequently - they change constantly. Spend a bit of time checking the Virgin Blue and Quantas sites over a couple of weeks.
__________________
\\Jamie\\



"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin

"The plural of anecdote is not data"
LiveFreeorDie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-17-2004, 05:33 AM   #7
coconut24
Members
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: california
Posts: 7
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via Yahoo to coconut24
Default

hey i havent been to darwin,but ive spent a week in cairns. the food is cheap,i stayed at a hostel down the street from the casino. im sorry i dont remember the name.i had my own room and bath for about 20 a night. at all the hotels you can find tours of diving in the gb reef(underwater cameras pics dont come out),skydiving,bunggi-jumpping,rainforest tours and there is a zoo you can go to on the local buss(ive never been to a zoo were you can touch and hold most of the animals). As far as the night life goes ..WOW!!! you can go all around the world without leaving a club Cairns is a small town packed with a lot of fun. the WALLSHED is a great place to meet people. have fun coconut24
coconut24 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-20-2004, 03:18 AM   #8
Kiwi
Members
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 6
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Hey there,

I just got back from cairns bout a month ago, and found it awesome. As the others have said, do not miss the reef. Even on a buget you can get out there for around $60AU. Diving is about 70 once your out there.
I bought one of those disposable outdoor cameras for about $20 and found the photos turned out really good. Just need a sunny day I guess.
Make sure you check out the woolshed seems to be the main backpacker joint in town. Anyways Enjoy it
Kiwi is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply






Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Reviewed: Cairns Central YHA - Cairns, Australia omisan Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga Hostels Recommeded 6 12-07-2005 04:00 PM
Bad hostel in Cairns elsalflf Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga Hostels Bad Review 2 08-11-2005 10:30 PM
cairns and fiji beeltee Hostel, Hotels, Budget Accomodations: Questions and tips 3 03-22-2004 12:30 AM
Cairns Girls Hostel Luna Hostel, Hotels, Budget Accomodations: Questions and tips 1 03-18-2004 04:30 PM
A good hostel in Cairns elsalflf Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga Hostels Recommeded 1 03-17-2003 09:20 AM


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 09:45 PM.



 

Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.2.0 (Unregistered)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121