This was easily my least favorite tour of the 3-day package I booked when visiting Cairns. We spent far too long on a crammed bus, the tour guide had a bit of an attitude, and none of the stops made it worth it.

Our first stop of the day was the Rainforest Wildlife Habitat. The park was really cool, there was a lot of open area with the animals to roam free, and plenty of beautiful birds flying overhead. There are a couple different areas that you could walk through and see kangaroos, cassowaries, wallabies, etc. It was really beautifully laid out, and I did enjoy this portion of the tour.






After our flyby hike of Mosman Gorge, we were brought back down the mountain and got back into our cramped bus. I had gotten over my hangover and was hungry… it was at that exact moment that our tour guide piped up and proceeded to tell us that our next stop (aka lunch) was still at 2-hour bus ride. So there we go, setting off 2 hours further north away from Cairns. We completely skipped out on going to the Alexandra Lookout (which we were supposed to), something I had really looked forward to. Just look at this view:

Finally, we arrived at The Cape Tribulation Beach House, which turned out to be a kind of run down looking resort. I had ordered the Kangaroo Steak, per the guides suggestion, and nearly had to break out a saw to cut through it was so over done.
Unfortunately, it was a very gross and overcast day, so walking along Cape Tribulation bay wasn’t all that enjoyable. The tour company had no fault in that obviously, but it just added more to the already less than stellar day. The beach was beautiful though and made for good shell/rock looking.
On the way back to Cairns we had a planned stop at the Daintree River for a Crocodile and Wildlife Cruise. We had been warned by the guide about a hundred times to not go in the river or ocean because of the crocodiles. But sure enough, a Chinese man that didn’t speak any English started wading into the water at the river for god knows why. Our guide freaked out and started yelling at him (fair enough) and his son who was supposed to have translated everything to him. That’s where it should’ve stopped. But out guide continued to mock and call this man an idiot and cursing him to the rest of us… knowing he couldn’t speak English. It was a very uncomfortable thing to witness. Not mention EXTREMELY unprofessional of the guide.
By this point, I was so done being on this tour and just wanted to skip this cruise and be back at the hostel. But, it turned out to be really great and my probably my favorite part of the day. Our cruise captain was really knowledgeable about everything, and managed to snag us two croc sightings! The views on the river were great too.
After the cruise, we boarded the bus and headed back towards home. Again, we were supposed to stop at Rex Lookout, but our guide didn’t even mention it and I guess we just drove on past. I’m really disappointed, because this also looks beautiful and a great photo opportunity:

Overall, my 3-day package was great. I loved The Great Barrier Reef and Kuranda Village tours, I just don’t recommend the 3rd-day trip. There is plenty more to do in Cairns instead that would be better options: Fitzroy Island, Bungee Jump, Botanical Gardens, etc.
Great Blog. https://atornambe.wordpress.com/
I had a super similar experience with this trip! I wish I had rented a car and done it on my own!
Ah that’s such a bummer to here! I wish I had done the same!