It is one of the most
beautiful coastal roads in Australia - our
own "Great
Ocean Road"
up here in north
Queensland, and it is easily just as good as the
Victorian
one!
The best part of it,
where you are driving right on the ocean front is between
Ellis Beach and Craiglie (if only it's a sunny day, the colours will be
magnificient).
There is a good place to stop and enjoy it - the Rex Lookout.
The road
is only 60km long but
takes you a while to drive because it's very curvy in places
and you have to slow down a lot.
Cairns
Cairns is a
beautiful tropical city and the gateway to the Cape York
peninsula.
There is a lot to see and do in and around the
city, so if you are not coming back to the area, it's a good idea to
stay a few days at least and enjoy Cairns as well as its day
trips and other actitivies.
Cairns
Northern Beaches
Just north of Cairns are the Northern Beaches.
Some, like Machans, are
quiet local communities, others, such as Trinity Beach and
Palm Cove
are popular with tourists and heavily commercialised.
All have
nice sandy beaches great for a walk or jog.
Ellis
Beach
The Northern Beaches are Machans,
Holloways,
Yorkeys Knob,
Trinity, Kewarra, Clifton and Palm
Cove,
but north of
Palm Cove, the beaches actually continue.
The next one
north is Ellis
Beach,
which has a popular roadside Bar and Grill, as well as a
nice beachfront
caravan park.
Wangetti
The next one on Cairns Port Douglas road is Wangetti, also home for the
famous Hartleys
Crocodile Adventures.
The community
itself is separate from
the beach - which you can reach from the Wangetti Beach Road in the
northern end of the community.
Oak
Beach
The next one on the Cairns Port Douglas road is Oak Beach - another
small community with a nice sandy
beach.
In the
northern end of the beach is a river mouth that is good
for fishing.
There are also some places to
stay: Oak
Beach Boathouse, Coral
Sea Retreat and Thala
Beach Lodge.
Craiglie
The
next community on Cairns Port Douglas road is Craiglie, which is
actually a southern suburb
of Port Douglas.
There is some
accommodation here that can be better
value
than in the expensive Port Douglas, and
it's only ten minutes drive in. One place I know is the Plantation
Resort.
Port
Douglas
Port Douglas is a touristy town
with colourful
shops
and excellent
bars, restaurants
and
accommodation.
It's a bit
like Noosa or Byron
Bay - one of those places where it's
always tempting to stay for a while and spoil yourself. Very easy
to spend money but not cheap.
Ellis
Beach
Ellis
Beach is a beautiful beach to stay.
It is
north
of Palm Cove
and
south of Wangetti,
along the beautiful coastal drive between Cairns and Port Douglas. It is a lovely long beach,
great for a walk or a jog, and there is
also a section that is watched by life savers.
And there is a great
place to stay -
the Oceanfront
Bungalows Holiday Park.
Even if
you
don't want to stay, it is a great place to stop for a lunch - right on
the highway there is the Pub,
... and
the Bar & Grill.
And on
the
beachfront are barbeques and picnic tables.
Wangetti
Beach
Wangetti
Beach is on the road from Cairns to Port Douglas.
To be
correct, the beach and
the community are actually separate, even though not by far.
The community is right next to the highway, but there are no beach
views there.
The beach is behind the vegetation, and as far as I know,
the only beach access is from the Beach
Road that turns east
from the main highway just north of the community.
The beach
is beautiful - good waves and palm trees, and it is long
enough for a good walk or jog. And there are picnic tables too.
Just
north of
the beach and the community are Hartley's
Crocodile Adventures (a great place!), and the beautiful Rex Lookout.
The whole
drive between Cairns
and Port Douglas
is one of the most beautiful coastal drives in Australia.
Oak
Beach
Oak Beach
is a coastal community north of Cairns.
It is
north
of Cairns Northern Beaches
along
the beautiful road between Cairns
and Port Douglas. It is a
sleepy little community with only a few streets and nothing
much happening, but the beach is beautiful.
And there
are a
few nice places to
stay.
Thala
Beach Lodge
This
five star lodge is right on the beach front in Oak Beach.
It is a
wonderful luxury retreat on 145 acres of land and the
only beach
lodge of its kind between Cairns and Port Douglas.
There are 83
bungalows with all
modern amenities, a spa, a swimming pool, a bar and a restaurant.
Coral
Sea Retreat B&B
This bed and breakfast Oak Beach accommodation is a nice a quiet place
to stay.
There is a swimming pool, a gazebo, non smoking rooms with TVs, air
conditioning and high speed internet.
And a great thing is the brekky
menu that changes daily - you have to stay seven days if you want to
try it all.
Oak
Beach Villa
This Oak Beach accommodation is an open plan beach house on the
absolute beach front that has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fully
equipped kitchen, dining and lounge area, laundry, BBQ, and a large
swimming pool.
Massage and catering available if requested.
Oak
Beach on the
Sand
This
is a modern beach house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, fully self
contained gourmet kitchen, three TVs, CD and DVD players, and a fully
equipped laundry.
Outside is a private swimming pool, BBQ and outdoors
dining area. Child minding and catering can be arranged.
Oak
Beach Cottage
This is a luxury beach house on the absolute beach front that has three
bedrooms that accommodate up to six people. Luxury and fully equipped
kitchen, two bathrooms, dining and lounge room, two TVs, games and
DVDs, laundry with washer, drier and ironing facilities, landscaped
gardens, outdoor dining tables, lounges, hammock and daybeds, outdoor
shower, private saltwater swimming pool, BBQ and beach-side fire pit.
Massage, babysitting and catering available.
Get
this 50 pages
guide totally for FREE.
It
contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip.
You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you
should take, how to get
there and get
around, where
to stay (general info), what
will it cost..
and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.
This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact
detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
gear by my vehicle-recovery-guy partner).
Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)
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This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.