2 Weeks Exploring Tropical North Queensland

For the first time on this blog, I have decided to share my most recent journey via a travel diary written in real time. I’ve made time to write every single day of my trip to make sure I’d remember every detail of it. I’m hoping you’ll like this format as I intend to do it more often :)

Tropical North Queensland

2-Week Road Trip

25-04-21

Day 1: Port Douglas

Gosh, the last 24 hours have been rough. My friend Marie and I had been preparing this dreamy road trip through Western Australia for two months, and one case of covid later… gone. Lockdown, state border restrictions, the whole thing, a nightmare. Our trip got cancelled.

A few hours on the phone with Qantas later… we landed in Cairns for a 13-day road trip through TNQ. Not exactly what we had in mind, but still one of those bucket list destinations. Sadly, the weather doesn’t look so good for the next few days, therefore we’ve decided to spend our first day exploring the rainforest. Guess what? It rained.

From Cairns, we drove up to Port Douglas (it’s about 1 hour north). We were starving so we headed to Barbados for some food and drinks upon arrival. It looked like it is THE place to be in Port Douglas! Our lovely hostess told us we were lucky to get a table without a booking (I liked that - we need luck). Afterwards, we decided to go visit Mossman Gorge for the rest of the afternoon. Usually, it is a peaceful swimming spot, but it has rained so much that the current was strong and we couldn’t put a toe in the water!

26-04-21

Day 2: Barron Falls

We kicked off the day with a nice brekkie & coffee at Grant Street Kitchen, a cute spot in the heart of Port Douglas. We then drove south to go check out the magnificent Barron Falls.

The waterfall was so full, really impressive! We then got caught in some heavy rain, so we headed to the Koala Sanctuary in Karunda. It’s a really cute spot to visit if you’re into that type of thing.

27-04-21

Day 3: Cape Tribulation

This morning, we woke up early and made our way to Cape Tribulation (aka Cape Trib). Our first stop was in the middle of the jungle at the Daintree Ecolodge where we had a delicious breakfast.

Shortly after breakfast, we continued our drive up the coast. Note that there’s a car ferry that takes you across the river ($31 return ticket). Once we reached Cape Trib, we did the Marrjda Boardwalk and then stopped at Whet Café for another coffee before heading to the starting point of our tour. We booked a half day excursion to Mackay Reef with Ocean Safari to go explore the Great Barrier Reef.

Despite having really poor weather conditions, we reached the magical sandbar after a 45-min bumpy ride and then snorkled amongst the fish and turtles. Absolutely stunning!

When we got back to Port Douglas, we were starving and decided to go to Chilly’s for a good wood fire pizza.

28-04-21

Day 4: Palm Cove & Atherton Tablelands

For our last day in Port Douglas, we decided to wake up early and go for a walk around town. I highly recommend checking out the beautiful church, Rex Smeal park and the coastal walk to Trinity Bay lookout.

We quickly grabbed a coffee from Sparrow before we went back to our hotel to pack. Next thing we knew, we were on our way to Cairns. We made a quick stop at Thala Beach Reserve to check out their beautiful palm tree plantation, then another stop in Palm Cove where we had a delicious breakfast at Nu Nu Restaurant. Highly recommend their cassava hash brown. Seriously this restaurant’s setting is simply gorgeous.

We then hit the road again to start our wonderful waterfall tour, but first we did a quick pit stop in Lake Eacham; such a beautiful calming place.

The rest of the day was all about these falls. We headed to Millaa Millaa, Zillie and Ellinjaa, which are all located about 10 minutes appart. My favourite was by far the latter, Ellinjaa.

Then we debated whether we still had enough energy to go do the hike at Windin Falls… which we did! We had read that the hike takes 1.5 hour return however that’s not accurate; please ensure you plan 1.5 hour one way. Although it is a relatively easy hike, after the rain season the track gets really muddy and it is full of leeches. We had to run to make it on time for sunset. The views were simply breathtaking: really worth it! The only down side for us was hiking back in the dark. Thankfully we survived!

29-04-21

Day 5: Cairns

Thursday started off the wrong way. Not only was it raining again this morning, but when we headed to the car we realised we had a flat tyre…

Fast forward a couple of hours later, we went to Wharf One café for breakfast before making our way to Behana Gorge and Clamshell Falls.

The walk to the falls is relatively uphill and quite boring to be honest. It’s a simple concrete path, BUT, once you reach the end of the trail you definitely get rewarded with one of those million dollar views. Rainbows and everything! We climbed down the rocks and ventured in the water for a swim (watch out for strong currents during the rainy season!) Total hiking time was 1.5 hour return.

30-04-21

Day 6: Cairns & Fitzroy Island

We dropped off our rental car at Beaurepaires Tyres this morning. While waiting for them to fix the car, we walked to Rusty’s Market to kill time. I must say I didn’t expect to like it so much, but I did. Tons of local fresh produce. We got a delicious bowl from the Grateful Coconut and a Vietnamese iced coffee from Annee’s Caphe Sua Da. Yum!

We then walked along the water by the marina and went for a quick dip at the Esplanade Lagoon. By that time, the sun was back (yay!)

When we got the call that our car was ready, we decided to quickly venture out of the city to visit Fairy Falls. Those are a short 10-15 min walk from the left side of the car part at Crystal Cascades. Really worth it! Just beware of the giant stinging trees and slippery rocks.

Afterwards, we drove back to Cairns to catch our ferry to Fitzroy Island where we spent the afternoon. Fitzroy Island is quite small and the key things to do there are the short walk to Nudey Beach, go for a snorkel, and grab a drink at Foxy’s cafe.

We went there on the Fitzroy Flyer. These guys offer the option to go for a full day trip or a half day trip. Had we not had to deal with our car problems, we would have spent the day there for sure. A half day is not enough to enjoy the beauty of this place. We felt like we had to rush everything and wished we could have stayed longer!

Back to Cairns, we headed to Rocco for some sunset drinks to end the day well!

01-05-21

Day 7: Cardwell

This morning we had to leave Cairns to venture further south. Marie and I really wanted to go see Crawford’s lookout so that’s where we went first. Once we got there, we decided to hike down to North Johnstone lookout to admire the horseshoe formation of the river: truly beautiful!

The return trip took us about 1.5 hour and was, once again, very muddy and slippery. Shortly after, we drove back to the coast where we stopped in Mission beach for a short picturesque walk by the ocean.

We then headed to our final destination for the day: Cardwell. We got there just before sunset and managed to check out the natural spa. Also, a friendly wallaby came around to say hello!

02-05-21

Day 8: Wallaman Falls & Hinchinbrook

This morning we woke up at 4am to go hike Wallaman Falls. Not sure how we managed to find the motivation to get out of bed to be honest, but about 1.5 hour later, we were (almost) there. I say ‘almost’ because we had unexpected visitors waiting for us in the middle of the road. And by ‘visitors’ I mean cows and their calves, everywhere, blocking the road. After patiently waiting for them to move and driving over a hundred piles of poop, we were ready to start the challenging 2-hour (return) hike to the bottom of Australia’s tallest single drop waterfall.

During the rainy season, this hike isn’t for the faint of heart. I slipped numerous times and got covered in mud (again!), but the view at the bottom was so rewarding. After the hike (and after saying goodbye to our friends), we took the road to Lucinda where John was patiently waiting for us at the dock.

John is the owner of Absolute North Charters, the only company that will take you to the marvellous island of Hinchinbrook. This was by far one of the main highlights of our trip!

We decided to take a day trip to go visit Zoe Falls. John’s friend took us on his small fishing boat and dropped us on the beach at Zoe Bay. A short 30-min walk later, we were on top of the world, enjoying this little slice of paradise to ourselves.

Hinchinbrook can only be visited by a maximum of 40 people at once. If you go there, you will truly feel disconnected from the rest of the world. Highly recommend!

When John picked us up mid-afternoon, he took us through the mangrove on his boat and even offered to help us find some crocs after the tour.

03-05-21

Day 9: Magnetic Island

When the alarm went off this morning, we were both supra tired and felt like staying in bed, but after a mental kick in the butt, we drove to Townsville’s marina to catch a ferry to Magnetic Island, also known as Maggie.

Tip: we got an Early Riser discount because we were there before 7am and only paid for one ticket :)

There are plenty of things to do on Maggie Island, but the main one is certainly: walking around to try and spot some animals in their natural habitat.

We started our little day trip with a delicious brekkie at Scallywags, near the ferry terminal. Then, after purchasing a day pass to our bus driver, we went to Horseshoe Bay where we started a (very) long walk. We stopped in Radical Bay, Arthur Bay and the Forts. After that, we hopped on the bus again to go see the rock Wallabies near Geoffrey Bay.

We ended this beautiful day watching sunset on the beach at Horseshoe Bay before catching the ferry back to Townsville.

04-05-21

Day 10: Airlie Beach

I woke up quite late, but feeling really excited about today. No wonder why though, we were literally about to go to one of the most sought after locations in the world: the beautiful Whitsundays.

We found a place to stay in Airlie Beach, which is probably the most convenient place to stay when visiting this area.

We got there mid-afternoon, and immediately went to the Rocks to enjoy a few cocktails by the pool. We also took the time to finally start to unwind!

05-05-21

Day 11: Whitsundays

This morning when we woke up, the sky was blue and we were really excited to go on a full day adventure aboard the Providence sailboat ($165pp). What a treat not having to plan anything, and simply being able to enjoy the beautiful ocean views. We sailed for about 3 hours before we anchored the boat along the coast of Whitsunday Island.

A short 15-20 min walk later, Marie and I discovered the magical views at Hill Inlet lookout. I don’t think I have seen something that beautiful in my life. This place is unreal, and you really need to see for yourself!

When we were done contemplating the view, we walked all the way down to the beach and went for what was probably one of the best swims I’ve ever had. Turquoise everywhere, and the water was so warm! I would go back there in a heartbeat!

We headed back to the boat where we started sailing again and were served a fresh lunch. A couple of hours later, we anchored the boat near Hook Island where we went for a snorkel. Sadly the visibility wasn’t amazing so I didn’t see much, but it was still great to go for a swim.

We arrived back in Airlie Beach just before 5pm, and went straight to Sorrento for some sunset drinks. We ended the day at the Pub, which is probably one of the most popular places around.

06-05-21

Day 12: Hamilton Island

We thought we’d find inspiration on what to do today over a good brunch, so we headed to Treehouse where I had a delicious corn fritter.

After breakfast, we made our way to the Port of Airlie to catch a ferry to Hamilton Island (aka Hamo). I must say it is an expensive day trip to get there ($120pp), but well worth it in my opinion. The one hour ferry ride goes fast, and offers really beautiful views.

We got to Hamo around mid-day and immediately went to Catseye Bay for a sunbathing session. There’s usually of lot of fishies and manta rays around so it’s a good spot for snorkeling. There are also a few hotels with free-access pools in the area if you prefer hanging out by the pool rather than the beach.

After our relaxing afternoon at the beach, we decided to take a free shuttle to One Tree Hill where we had some sunset drinks, before making our way back to Airlie Beach. That night, we had a great dinner at Paradiso, and went straight to bed to make sure we were feeling our best the next morning!

07-05-21

Day 13: Great Barrier Reef

Today was the last day of this road trip! We woke up super early and I was craving an açai bowl, so I went and got one from Cafe One 3!

Then, we went straight to the Coral Sea Resort to enjoy their pool all morning. It costs $40 for a day pass which you can redeem on bar food/drinks. Around mid-day, we went back to our Airbnb to pack our stuff, and headed straight to GSL aviation’s office for what was probably one of the most beautiful experiences of our lives.

We had booked at 1.25-hour scenic helicopter flight over the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef. Our pilot Cameron took us on this exhilarating journey and even helped us spot turtles and dolphins. I honestly have no words for what I’ve seen (see pictures below).

What an amazing way to end our trip!