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Message: <blockquote data-quote="podargus" data-source="post: 2938721" data-attributes="member: 109359">09/12/11–25/12/11 - Far North QueenslandThe Cairns area was top of my list of places to visit during my time in Oz. North Queensland is Australia’s hotspot for species richness, and in my 16 day visit I saw 203 species of bird without use of my own vehicle. There are some local specialities that, realistically, can’t be found using public transport alone, but it’s surprising how much can be done. For the whole trip it was pretty hot and humid, but fortunately I didn’t get rained on too many times.Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher was number one on my wish list of birds to see in Australia, and this was basically the single reason I chose to visit the area at this time of year. The trip also had two other main targets: Platypus and Southern Cassowary. The main locations visited were as follows:Cairns – hostels are relatively cheap here compared to many of the southern cities, and all of the key sites are within walking distance.Kuranda – you have the option of travelling here by bus, skyrail, or train. I stayed at a campsite south of the Barron River and then walked over to bird in the rainforest north of the river each day. This area has some of the Atherton endemics, but lacks the high altitude specialists.Yungaburra – it’s possible to get a lift up here with some of the tour buses. These buses also visit Lake Eacham, Lake Barrine and Lake Hypipamee, so there is the possibility of visiting other spots in the tablelands. I camped at the hostel in town which was well set up and very cheap. Mareeba – there are buses from Cairns. On this visit I took an early morning bus to Biboohra, at the entrance to Mareeba Wetlands, and then caught the same bus back later in the day. This didn’t give a lot of time and on a return visit to the area in April I tried a different option which worked out a lot better.I’ll give more detail about all of these areas in the daily reports.</blockquote>

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