Tropical North Attractions

Lizard Island is the most northerly island with facilities for tourists on the Great Barrier Reef. In the extreme north, off Cape York, are Possession Island and Thursday Island.

Cairns, beautifully situated on the Marlin Coast 1766km north of Brisbane, with a warm winter and spring, is a good base for excursions. There are boat trips to Green Island or to uninhabited islands in the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef. The highlands to the west and south of Cairns (Atherton Tableland) offer dense tropical rain forest, waterfalls and crater lakes, and magnificent views of their varied landscape. Other attractive excursions are to Kuranda with its steep scenic railroad and the historic mining village of Herberton. In a region of tropical heat the agreeable temperatures of the highlands are very welcome. The Bruce Highway ends at Cairns, but an asphalted road, the Cook Highway, continues north for another 80km by way of Port Douglas to Mossman, in the sugarcane-growing region. The Cape York peninsula extends north of Cairns for some 1000km. Trips into the almost unpopulated 'last frontier' area, with its poor tracks, should only be undertaken by travelers properly equipped for the outback and with experience of all-terrain vehicles.