Holidaying in Cairns?

[Guest GeorgeD]

My 77 year old father is visiting us next month. He wants to go to Cairns for a few days (we are in Brisbane) We'll probably go with him, so 3 or 4 adults.

 

Any advice on where to stay (cheap but not nasty!) and any suggestions on things to do. He is fairly mobile, but gets tired after long walks. He is into wildlife, particularly birdwatching. He probably won't want to sit by a pool or beach all day long, he'll want to go see things as long as they dodn't need too much energy.

 

Any suggestions of where to stay and places to visit? Places to avoid would also be useful. Who should we hire a car from so we can get out and about?

 

Also, he'll be able to go for 3-4 days from about mid-Sept to mid-Oct...are there any school holidays or peak times to avoid from an accomodation cost perspective?

 

Thanks in advance!

[shellsparkles]

I dont normally subscribe to all the tourist stuff but he should definitely take a trip over to Green Island. I screamed by head off when I could look into the crystal clear blue water and see hundreds off fish swimming about seconds after setting foot off the boat! We went snorkling but I guess that a glass bottom boat may be better for him?

 

I cant really help with cost of a room as it was Jason's treat!

we stayed here and another hotel (I'll post when I remember name)

 

The best place to try is Late rooms or a site like that to get a good deal

 

If you look on google maps Here you can see where all the hotels are. Some of them are a short walk from the harbour area- not sure if this would be a problem for him though.

 

Good luck- I hope he has a good time. I cant wait to go back

[shellsparkles]

Oh i should have said too there are a few holiday apartments along the elspanade that looked nice

 

And dont forget sunscreen - even in September!!

[Guest The Pom Queen]

School holidays are the 21st September until the 8th October.

Its a shame you are only looking at 3-4 days as I would have highly recommended him staying at the Canopy Treehouse, every morning there and birds on your balcony, parrots, catbirds etc and at night you have possums and wallabies, not forgetting there is a cassowary who lives in the area. http://www.canopytreehouses.com.au/index.html

As to Cairns, it's whether you want to stay near the Esplanade or go up to the Northern Beaches. There is lots of cheap accommodation elsewhere but a lot of it is well out of town or in undesirable areas. Are you wanting a 2 bed apartment or hotel room?

Car rental there are plenty, most want a hold on your credit card, I think Avis don't bother with this but it will cost you a little more. I'm lending my car to Tony otherwise you would have been welcome to borrow it.

Places to go, I would do the Cable car and train up to Kuranda it's lovely up there and they have a few little zoos, one where he could hold a koala.

[Guest GeorgeD]

Thanks!

 

He has done the whole Koala thing in Brisbane. We're only 2km away from Daisy Hill Koala reserve where they have a few in a visitor centre. We also went to Lone Pine so he's held them there and fed kangaroos too...it's birdwatching he's really into. They had a Cassowary at Lone Pine and it took us about 10 mins to spot it in its enclosure, so good luck to us spotting one in the bush! Magnificent birds they are. He had a great time at Currumbin down on the Gold Coast last year too, they let him behind the scenes when he showed one of the handlers his membership cards for various bird societies. He's a member of a few birdwatching organisations in the Uk and for a number of years has wandered off into forests and wetlands with his camera and binoculars. He has loads of books and can tell you all about just about everything he sees. I got him a book on native Aussie brids and within a day or two he's telling me about the behaviour of the young male honeyeaters first thing in the morning out our back door and how the adults are different, etc. It's not my thing really, but it's his and it seems to keep him happy!

 

He's Ok with walking, last year he pretty much wore us out. He would walk for hours on end. Not that fast, but he was constant. He says he can't go as far now, old age is catching up, but he doesn't need any assistance. He's not great with lots of stairs, he has a problem with his balance which affects him now and again, so he tries to avoid them. An up and downstairs house is fine...stairs up and down a cliff face or forest hill are out.

 

The 3-4 days is more for me and my wife so we don't need to take too much time off work. We wouldn't leave him there on his own though, he doesn't drive any more so he'd be a bit isolated. The costs also go up if we are taking our teenager (assuming she wants to go with us old fogeys), that would mean 3 bedrooms. We've already had a big holiday a few months back and hadn't really budgeted for much more this year.

 

We don't really mind if it's 2 hotel rooms or a 2 bed apartment. If the teenager comes then it's 3 rooms...I thought about me and my Dad in one and my wife and her daughter in the other, but frankly my Dad snores like a train so that's just not going to happen!

 

The Canopy Tree House looks amazing. A bit out the way for my wife I would imagine. She hates creepy crawlies too, so I don't know if she'd fancy living so close to nature!