Car Hire & Car Rental Australia

Just 100km north in a Brisbane hire car travellers will find Australia’s St Tropez – Noosa – Queensland playground for the rich and famous. Here you will find luxury apartments, tres chic boutiques, trendy café’s and expensive restaurants.

All this makes Noosa a holiday destination for people willing to spend top dollar.

But you will see many surfies too, attracted by the fantastic waves and the beach some call it a surfers paradise.
In Hastings Street you will find, next to exclusive boutiques, shops that sell surfing essentials.
The buzzing surfing culture works as a magnet to many a backpacker and you will find a number of hostels in Noosa.

Word has it that anyone can surf in Noosa, even if you have never seen a surfboard before.
So, when in Noosa book a surfing lesson at one of the many surfing schools, success is guaranteed!

Nature lovers will find the National Park much to their liking.

We visited the park on an early winter morning and could park our rental car in the car park at the park entrance. Be warned, this will be a lot harder to do in the school holiday.

An able bodied person can walk the trail around the headland in about 2 hours. But there is so much distraction along the way that it would probably take longer – we saw koala’s in the wild as well as a sea eagle soaring high in the sky.

There are several bays with nice little sand beaches and even one with good surf. To get there you have to carry your surfboard for about half an hour following the track. The bays are secluded and sheltered and therefore suited for families with young children.

On the higher vantage points there are wonderful views over the bay to Noosa and the hinterland.

There is always something (or nothing) to do in Noosa, but the first Sunday in November is always reserved for the world famous Noosa Triathlon.

Car Hire – There are several Noosa car rental places where you can pick up a cheap vehicle.

Ruud Stroobach

Cairns is a town largely depending on tourism.
Many travellers arrive here after driving north along the eastern seaboard or on first touch-down after flying in from overseas.

Cairns is the unofficial capital of tropical north Queensland and was in earlier days mainly a service town for the sugar plantations.

On first arrival Cairns can be disappointing because it does not have the tropical allure one is expecting.

Cairns is surrounded by mangrove swamps and by no means by tropical beaches.
The sea is shallow and becomes a mud flat at low tide.
Apart from this the town is an excellent base for exploring the surrounding region and the Great Barrier Reef. Cairns is famous for black marlin.

The adventurous will not be disappointed with the great many activities that are on offer. Cairns is a centre for scuba diving, white-water rafting, kayaking, horse riding, sky diving, bungee jumping and other activities.

There is a lot of competition and tourism operators will go through great lengths to make sure you have a great holiday.

In town -

Flecker Botanic Gardens
Established in 1886 as a recreational reserve, they are now the only wet tropical botanic gardens in Australia displaying tropical plants from around the world.

Mt Whitfield Conservation Park
2 major walking tracks through forested mountain range to summit for views of Cairns and the Coral Sea.

Royal Flying Doctor Service
Highlights the history of the service with aircraft on display.

Foreshore Lagoon
This is a landscaped area with a safe swimming lagoon.

Kuranda Scenic Railway
Offers a trip through Barron Gorge to rainforest village of Kuranda. Note: Sadly, this railway was closed in 2005.

Bulk Sugar Terminal
Offers guided tours during crushing season.

Car Hire
There are several Cairns car rental places where you can pick up a cheap vehicle.

Further -
McLeod Street Pioneer Cemetery, Tank Centre, Regional Gallery, Cairns Museum and Undersea World Aquarium. Contact the visitor centre for details.

Nearby
Great Barrier Reef & Islands
Take a tour, charter a boat or fly to see some of the spectacular sights just offshore.
Rainforest covered Fitzroy Island has impressive snorkelling sites at Welcome and Sharkfin Bays. Green Island is a reel coral cay and the surrounding reef is teeming with tropical fish. They can be seen in the underwater observatory, from a glass-bottom boat or by snorkelling. The smaller Michaelmas and Upolo cays to the north-east are important sites for ground nesting seabirds. He surrounding waters are excellent for reef swimming. Contact the visitors centre for tours.

Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park
Four theatres both live and film, illustrate the culture and the history of the rainforest people of Far North Queensland.

Skyrail
Spectacular gondola ride through rainforest to Kuranda, departs from Caravonica lakes.

Bungee tower
Bungee jump from a platform through rainforest in Smithfield, contact the visitor centre for details.

Crystal Cascades
There are nice walks by cascades, it is also a very nice spot for a swim.

Further there are Lake Morris and Copperlode Dam, Barron and Freshwater Valleys for bushwalking, hiking white-water rafting and camping. Also there is an incredible stretch of 26 km of beaches and 4WD safaris to Cape York and the Gulf country.
Contact the Cairns visitor centre for details.