Queensland treks

We're trying to organize our Queensland tour to include a few days on an
island not far from our base in Cairns with some good snorkeling and hiking
and, after seeing most of the islands are either far off or offer
high-priced resorts, have narrowed our choices to Hinchinbrook Island or
Magnetic Island. Any other suggestions?

On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 16:21:38 GMT, Rafael Hermoso
wrote:

We're trying to organize our Queensland tour to include a few days on an
island not far from our base in Cairns with some good snorkeling and hiking
and, after seeing most of the islands are either far off or offer
high-priced resorts, have narrowed our choices to Hinchinbrook Island or
Magnetic Island. Any other suggestions?

Do Hinchinbrook rather than Magnetic Island. But don't stay in the
resort on the mainland from Hinchinbrook. There were some very
underhanded dealings involving midnight bulldozings of protected
mangrove forests involved in its construction.

Geodyne

Hi Rafael,

Are you determined to stay overnight, or would a daytrip suffice? I
can recommend Dunk Island as a relaxing daytrip, and far less crowded
compared to others (eg: Green Island).

Nice rainforest walks, water sports and places to swim. Also, when I
was there, visitors had free access to the resort's amenities such as
swimming pool.

Here is a list of non-smoking restaurants in Queensland
http://www.smokefreeworld.com/australia.shtml#other

Rafael Hermoso wrote in message ...
We're trying to organize our Queensland tour to include a few days on an
island not far from our base in Cairns with some good snorkeling and hiking
and, after seeing most of the islands are either far off or offer
high-priced resorts, have narrowed our choices to Hinchinbrook Island or
Magnetic Island. Any other suggestions?

I've always wanted to go out to Hinchinbrook Island - seen it from the
coast three times and, from what I've read about it and the pictures
I've seen, the bushwalking is awesome. Be warned you will have to
camp unless you stay at the resort, which is quite pricey. Lonely
Planet Australia mentions that there are restrictions on the number of
bushwalkers that are allowed on the island at one time and booking in
advance is recommended. Also, keep in mind that Hinchinbrook is one of
the largest islands off the Queensland coast - not an island you can
walk around in a few hours, let alone in a few days.

Went out to Magnetic Island years ago. It was just a day trip and
memories are a bit faded now. There should be many accommodation
possibilities as the east side of the island is quite heavily
developed. Nonetheless, most of the island remains undeveloped as
National Park and the bushwalking is reportedly very good.

Dunk Island was a good suggestion, though, like Hinchinbrook, camping
is the only alternative to staying at the resort. We visited Dunk on a
day trip from Mission Beach - walked through the rainforest to a
lookout with spectacular views over to Mission Beach and down the
coast to Hinchinbrook. Also rented a sailboat and layed on the beach
for a while.

Ralph R, CT USA

Ok, so now we're focused on Hook Island and here's the current plan. Using
miles, we would fly from Cairns to Hamilton Island, somehow get to Hook,
stay a few days and then fly out from Hamilton to head south to Hobart.
Anyone have info on what boats run from Hamilton to Hook, specifically the
campsites on the north side of the island, Maureens Cove and Crayfish Beach,
and how to reserve them and the return? We're leaning against the Hook
Island Resort because we're mainly going to snorkel and heard there were
some good reefs to the north, but in case we want some R&R from camping,
does anyone know how far these campsites are from the resort?


On 3/17/04 11:21 AM, in article ,
"Rafael Hermoso" wrote:

We're trying to organize our Queensland tour to include a few days on an
island not far from our base in Cairns with some good snorkeling and hiking
and, after seeing most of the islands are either far off or offer
high-priced resorts, have narrowed our choices to Hinchinbrook Island or
Magnetic Island. Any other suggestions?