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Mackay to Cairns

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:52 pm
by igstar
Hi,

I am looking to tour from Mackay to Cairns in July or August (for about 2 weeks) with a slick tyre tourer. I would travel along Bruce Hwy with side trips along the way. I would appreciate comments on the route and if there are any good places to check out, avoid and stay at along the way (I'm not taking a tent). Are SE winds predominating along the coast at this time of the year?
Also, if there are better touring routes in Queensland which can be done in <2 weeks, I'd like to hear about them as well.

Looking forward to you responses.

Re: Mackay to Cairns

Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 6:27 am
by elantra
Hi Igstar.
Mackay to Cairns is a long way, if you were to try to do that in 2 weeks there would be no time for any side-trips

Importantly, the most appealing places involve significant side-trips

If you have just 2 weeks a more feasible plan would be to just go to Cairns and do a "Cook's tour"
Quitre literally, heading up the Cook HWY to Port Douglas and Mosman Gorge,
Then the Rex HWY to Mareeba and then on to the Atherton Tableland, then south a bit to Ravenshoe and then down the Palmerston HWY to Innisfail, and on to Mission beach, before returning to Cairns.
Witth obligatory diversions this would take 2 weeks.
From Mission Beach, try to find time to take a day trip across to Dunk Island.
CAirns itself is a pretty ordinary place, but the train/skyrail trip up to Kuranda and back is nice, if you want to go to Kuranda don't cycle the train would be much nicer than the very busy road
Magnetic Island and Chillagoe Caves are also really nice places but they are way too far away if you only have 2 week
As a general warning though, road conditions are really scarry, especially on the more busy highways.Danger +++++