Cairns Travel Forum

We plan on catching several tours into the rainforest and doing some snorkeling. But where are the best places in Cairns area to see wildlife like lizards and snakes? We don't want to see the Aussie wildlife only in Zoos while there. Are there any lodging places away from civilization that have wildlife right outside your door?

Try anywhere in the Daintree Forest North over the Daintree river toward Cape Tribulation or you could go West over the ranges to Mareeba and beyond into the outback--or anywhere on the Tablelands /Cairns Highlands. Lots of B&B's & backpackers.We have so many different types of creatures in these areas that you do not need to go to a zoo.

Dorrise

Hello from Cairns,
I tried hard not too see snakes:) There are a number of places between the Daintree River crossing and Cape Tribulation where you can stay in the rainforest, here you may see some snakes. There are also some lovely places you can stay up in the Atherton Tableland area that you can see wild life from the balconies.
I have stayed at a place called Fur and Feathers, this was fantastic, you could feed the possums by hand of a night, plus we saw bush turkeys, a tree kangaroo, also there were platypus in the river there, they gave you food to feed these.
Plus birds of many varieties came down to the bird feeder each day, we loved it here. check out there web page, google for *Fur and Feathers Tree houses Atherton, Australia* We saw a huge snake on the road when we drove there, I am sure the owners would know where to look for snakes. I highly recommend this place for a nights stay. You would probably have to hire a car or the owners may even have a service to pick you up in Cairns.
At Cap Tribulation there is also a couple of Cassowaries,but it's not every day they come out and play with the tourist:) But you could see one.They are a fantastic bird to see.
Also some of the accommodation places up in rainforest may organise night walks, this is where you also would see wildlife out of a cage.

Hope this has helped.

http://www.canopytreehouses.com.au/ This is now what fur and Feathers is known as, I just found the link for you. I didn't realise that they haad changed their name:)

Hello from Cairns,
I tried hard not too see snakes:) There are a number of places between the Daintree River crossing and Cape Tribulation where you can stay in the rainforest, here you may see some snakes. There are also some lovely places you can stay up in the Atherton Tableland area that you can see wild life from the balconies.
I have stayed at a place called Fur and Feathers, this was fantastic, you could feed the possums by hand of a night, plus we saw bush turkeys, a tree kangaroo, also there were platypus in the river there, they gave you food to feed these.
Plus birds of many varieties came down to the bird feeder each day, we loved it here. check out there web page, google for *Fur and Feathers Tree houses Atherton, Australia* We saw a huge snake on the road when we drove there, I am sure the owners would know where to look for snakes. I highly recommend this place for a nights stay. You would probably have to hire a car or the owners may even have a service to pick you up in Cairns.
At Cap Tribulation there is also a couple of Cassowaries,but it's not every day they come out and play with the tourist:) But you could see one.They are a fantastic bird to see.
Also some of the accommodation places up in rainforest may organise night walks, this is where you also would see wildlife out of a cage.

Hope this has helped.

http://www.canopytreehouses.com.au/ This is now what fur and Feathers is known as, I just found the link for you. I didn't realise that they haad changed their name:)

Hi Dorrise, we were busy typing at the same time:)

I reckon the Atherton tablelands were a good option. Heap of feathered friends and I saw a snake in the carpark at Milaa Milaa falls. We had also had an infestation of green tree frogs in our villa at port douglas so I was very happy, being the amateur herpatologist. At night we saw plenty of possums as well. Port Douglas is an hour drive north of Cairns and the Tablelands are inland drive for a couple of hours.

Hi Ann,
just goes to show us Cairns locals like to help out as much as we can.

You can also see plenty of wallabies at Trinity Beach--a suburban beach north of Cairns--or South of Cairns at White rock--near the golf course--these places are only 15mins out of the city.

The cathedral fig tree is a wonderful place to visit at dusk or dawn to see a miriad of rain forest creatures.If you are travelling by car turn right at Gordonvale which is south from Cairns to take you to the Gillies Range highway.
When you get to the top look out for the sign on the right side of the highway that says cathedral fig tree.If you reach Lake Barrine then you have gone to far.
Lake Barrine & lake Eacham have lots of creatures as well--both on the same road. Once again so many B&B,s in the area to choose from. Yungaburra area is within reach and you can rent a cottage at a reasonable price.Type in Yungaburra QLD Australia and you will get all the options.

Hope this helps.

Dorrise

i stayed at Annes apartment and saw a huge snake!!!! remember mate..those silly males banging the fence!
We drove up the bloomsfield track on our first trip, and saw a croc..
loads of wildlife up there..and a beautiful spot

Oh Deb, I had forgotten that experience, NOW was it huge, or was it the wine we had consumed????lol

hehehehe...it was MASSIVE