Dream Vacation

[Wobbegong wannabe]

Interesting that you mention Lucinda Dive; I also got a recommendation for them from a local diver on a recent Cairns trip. They sound like they're worth checking out!

 

[swimmer_spe]

Just thought I would add to this thread. I live in North Queensland 130km north of Townsville and have just driven down to Brisbane in the last month. There is a heap of road works going on at the moment from south of Townsville through to south of Gin Gin, which has added a lot of driving hours. it could change on when you are planing on your trip.

I would also watch out from the wet season.... The government has said they are fixing it up, however the highway has heaps of spots that gets cut off in both Central and northern Queensland and can be cut off for days at a time.

I love Queensland, but my partner and I just returned from a road trip down to Tasmania and I agree with others that the roads are crap in Queensland. I would fly to Cairns and then road trip it to Ayr to dive the Yongala with Yongala Dive their have accommodation above the shop and is a lot closer than Townsville. I would then drive back up to Townsville and fly to Brisbane and do some diving around the area.

I have dived out of Port Douglas, but only on day trips. I am lucky enough to be able to dive where I live the Palm Island Group (not shore dives due to crocodiles). If you decide to drive from Cairns down to Brisbane look up Lucinda Dive. The fella that runs the dive business is a local and knows the good diving sites. Lucinda is 330km south of Cairns and is a good break from diving.

The drive to Sydney is pretty good and there is plenty of shore dives and diving stores along the way.
It depends on how long you are planing on staying in Australia.

I do not plan to do this trip for at least 2 years. I plan to do it for a month. When is the wet season?

 

[Wobbegong wannabe]

November to April, though the actual dates vary from year to year.

 

[swimmer_spe]

November to April, though the actual dates vary from year to year.

And when is the hotter times?
For that matter, what is the cold temps you would see?

 

[TinaMackenzie]

Cairns and North Queensland have two seasons wet and dry. The wet season is summer and temps can get to we'll over 35 degrees celsius and the dry season is winter the days are around 24 and the nights can get about 16. However, this year we did get down to about 13.

If you go anytime of the year to Cairns you probably won't need a jumper.

We had only one flood this year, which was in January that blocked off the highway for a couple of days. Floods happen, however not really a major problem just may put a dent in your plans bait.

Most of the major rains fall around December and January, but there is still a change of floods and cyclones right up to March/April.

If you plan on driving from Cairns down there is plenty of free camp sites along the way off the highway.

Have fun planning your holiday it's hard to try and fit everything in.

 

[swimmer_spe]

If you go anytime of the year to Cairns you probably won't need a jumper.

Have fun planning your holiday it's hard to try and fit everything in.

What is a jumper?

 

[Wingy]

A sweater.

 

[swimmer_spe]

A sweater.

I am a Canadian boy. I am in a tshirt till it dips below zero. I did my OWC in April, whent eh ocean water was -1C.

I will make sure the rental has A/C

 

[mscherzer]

solid advice from wobegong and the others. Driving from cairns to brisbane sucks, its slow, boring, not much change and the motels are expensive ****holes along the road. I can wholeheartedly aggree. Do the mike ball trip or spirit of freedom trip out of cairns. Then drive cairns to ayr to get a taste of the driving then dive the yongala. Drive back to townsville get on the plane and thank us that we saved you the drive from ayr to brisbane.

 

[Wingy]

Totally agree, you dont want to be up in the top end when the wet season and cyclone season are making life awkward..and you really dont want to be there in summer when its hot heavy wet 44c temperatures driving the coastline unless you have aircon 24/7. I think the plane idea is your best option.