Geez Gil, at those prices you may need a second job when you get back mate.

So happy you are enjoying yourself there, apart from the pricing, hope you meet some of the Goeys as well.

Last year Mareeba Rodeo grounds were power site $12 a night I think unpower was about $8.

Arrived a few days ago to the Mareeba Rodeo Grounds .. enjoyed it last year and hence my return ..

I pay (as a single) for the m/h and trailer on a powered site $91.00 p/w and expect to be here for 2 - 3 months.

.. can't complain about that ..

Jon

What is all this fascination about Cairns, the place is a bloody dump, no beaches and a grotty city, sure there are some great rainforests and diving but that all costs money.

OH yes I am a Queenslander

gillyb wrote:

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Oh goingsoon I'm a bit sad that you call Cairns a dump,    I have lived and worked there on two occasions 20yrs apart and yes its grown quite a bit in that time and it has bad area's but what city doesn't, I lived out at Holloways Beach and found it a very quiet and friendly place to live and most of the beaches all the way up to Port Douglas are excellent.   I want to stay in Cairns because I have friends there but also like to have my independence therefore the search for a park :)

Jonathan Mareeba sounds great but I do want to be close to my friends in Cairns for a week or two.

cruisin granny the first city caravella is probably where I will stay if I can get in ok they're currently charging $238 pw according to their web site but don't seem to reply to email enquiries so will have to phone.

Mikemin I'm in the Tropical Beach Caravan Park at Bowen which is really a nice spot but after having visited the Horseshoe bay park that is definatelly where I will stay my next visit, I must say I'm absolutely loving the beaches here, was out at Rose Bay thismorning and its just amazing.

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 Sorru gilly, but I have to call it as I see it, I visited regularly as a rep and holidayed there last year and I am sorry I can't fall in love with the place. overpriced and overrated

Thanks Marj I'm not at the Horshoe bay park but its certainly where I'll stay next time its in an absolutely beautiful spot.  I'm heading off again in the morning and spending 2 nights in Townsville before heading for a couple of days at Mission Beach then on to Cairns then Port Douglas for a couple of weeks after that I'll be looking for something a bit cheaper to stay for a bit longer, will decide while in Port Douglas. 

Is there anyone that has passed through Mission Beach lately I was wondering where is a nice place to stay and if all the parks have reopened after Yasi ?

Thanks folks

 

Friends and travelling companions of mine contacted Chris at Mission Beach Hideaway (Top Tourist) over a month ago and reported that they were "well and truly back in business". As MikeMin noted above they are not cheap but do a good rate for 10 weeks or more. This park is a very well run family owned business, located in a magic position just across the road from the beach and right in the centre of Mission Beach village and the price is commensurate with this. Amenities are modern and always spotlessly clean and the grounds immaculate. Note however these comments relate to the park pre-cyclone Yasi and for that reason I haven't posted it in the recommendations section of the forum.

Mission Beach is my favourite FNQ place and I hope the village is well on the way to recovery when I get there, probably late July/August.

I too have stayed at the First City Caravilla in Cairns (where I've had the pleasure of meeting Cruising Granny) and find it very conveniently located and I don't think overpriced for its standard and location. It's also a Top Tourist.

I also like Cairns as a city. Keep in mind that it is a major regional city with a population of around (I think) 120,000 so like any city that size it will "carry some baggage" but that shouldn't put one off as there is much to see and do in the area.

PS: I was composing my post as MikeMin put theirs up.  I agree with the comments re South Mission Beach.  There are a couple of parks at Wongaling Beach (that's between MB and South MB), one almost on the beach, another back near the pub and Woolworths but I know little about them.

There is (was?) a cheaper council park at Mission Beach, right on the beach but I have no idea how it fared in the Cyclone.  It's not listed in the caravan park guides.  The Cassawary Regional Council would be able to give you more info.

-- Edited by jimricho on Thursday 2nd of June 2011 06:36:22 PM

Agree with you there Gilly , about the prices .

Thats the main reason we look for free/cheap camps . There are plenty out there if you have a look and are'nt too cheeky .

jimbo, did you really write that or is someone playing with your computer??

No goinsoon, I was looking at jimbo's post at 6.39pm. Never known him to make so many spelling mistakes. Haha!!

I agree Cairns is not my favorite place and my family came from there, going further north the area is more appealing, the beaches are wasted as for the best part of the year your can't swim or paddle owing to the stinger threat . One rain forest is the same as the next , Actually there are better rain forests in Nth NSW. The Sky Train is well worth a trip one way and return by the train. Great photograph when the train pulls up and if there's water running over the falls .

Every place has it's good and bad.
I prefer the west coast, but I did enjoy my time in Cairns. I made some great friends and I miss them.
The terrain is very different and the mould is worse in Cairns than it was in Broome. It rains more in Cairns, the humidity is higher then Broome, but it's hotter in the west.
To each his/her own, to be politically, or sexually correct.
Even the desert has it's beauty and it's isolation. Great to visit and live for a while.
Cairns is actually a very interesting city. From the marina and foreshore to the botanic gardens, the zoo, the skyrail and Kuranda train. Even the Savannahlander motor rail if you want to venture further. Copperlode Dam/Lake Morrison, Crystal Cascades, Lake Placid, the Bungy Jumping, the cruises to the reef.
Or just lazing around the van in the sun, reading a good book and doing nothing much in the sun.
Note I repeated "SUN". There isn't much in Adelaide at this time of the year.
Enjoy where you are. PS. If you decided to stay long term at the Caravilla you could try asking for a long-term rate for you. Long term is usually more than 6 weeks.

-- Edited by Cruising Granny on Thursday 2nd of June 2011 11:29:16 PM

I lived in Cairns when I was a kid, for about a year - boy has the place changed since then - at that time the airport was a tin shed in the middle of the tarmac - we wore no shoes to school (the only Catholic school in town) - we lived in Aeroglen and West Cairns - Aeroglen is just near the airport, we got off the plane, walked across the tarmac, through a cane field, across the railway line then across the highway to my aunties house - totally unrecognisable now.
We stayed at the Lake Placid CP last time we were there - nice park, but very busy, and definitely not cheap. Rather stay in Mareeba nowadays.

Thanks Cruising Granny I have booked into the Caravilla for a week then I'm off to Port Douglas for 2 weeks after that I'll decide the best stop at the best rate for a couple of months before I have to think about heading off home :(