when to go to Townsville / Cairns and Tablelands

Depends on how much you like/dislike the heat.

We lived in Townsville for eight years and it is a Tropical climate ie hot and humid, particularly bad November to March. May through to September would be my pick, but then I'm not a fan of the heat. Also this is the dry season.

The Atherton Table Lands area will be wet in the summer. We spent a week in Innisfail one summer and it rained four or five times a day, every day.

Cheers,

Jim.

We are in the Cairns region at the moment and the weather is great this time of the year. I t will be another 3 - 4 weeks before we head south.

Before then we are of to Lake Tinaroo for a week, the Cooktown til the end of the month. From then on it statts to get warm and sticky.

Have lived in Cairns in the past, now just visit family. But still like to travel the region.

We were up in that region for a few weeks in August 07 as I recall and the weather was fine overal, but there seems to be a tendency always there for a shower at short notice. For instance, at Babinda (Australia's wettest town) it rained on the hour, most of the day :-o) and the locals thought this normal - in the dry season :-o).

kcandco

Have a read of this ....

a wiki on Townsville

Townsville area is called the 'dry' tropics. Not as humid as Darwin or Cairns in the wet season - but can still be unbearable to any newcomers. The threat of Cyclones also keeps the Mexicans at bay between November and May. June-July is the best time to visit (weather wise).

The Tablelands is similar to Victorian countryside and weather is much cooler. West to Charters Towers (Gold City) is also worth a visit (turn clocks back 100 years I used to say to the tourists) LOL.

Malcolm (NOT yet a local - only been here since 1981)

Mate I live here and May -June - July - August are definitely the best times.

Grrr!!!

HI
August to October are great times.
The tablelands can get cold even in September we found temps in the eve of about 5 degrees! chilly indeed.

Dry season is until about Nov and then it starts to get much more humid and just plain hot expecially further inland .

Paluma just out of Townsville is lovely for bushwalking and stay at Paluma Dam.
South Mission Beach and Wongaling is fantastic and some nice boat hire and walks in the rainforest

Rollingstone on coast just north of Tville is a great camp ground as well

Milla Milla in the tablelands is absolutely picturesque- try the cheese place-YUMMM. I think it is Mungali Dairy. The yoghurt is also delicious.

We were up there in May/June this year. Weather was perfect all the time, dry, 28 C , and no humidity even though Brissie and further south copped a pounding from storms. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you leave it to later than this you will have to book ahead for parks. They will be full of Victorians escaping the cold. Even at Ellis beach (highly recommended) caravan park north of Cairns we got in with just a phone call the day before we arrived, and stayed several days beyond our booking. Two weeks later and we would not have got in anywhere.

Ian

Hi there,

I have to agree with everyone else, June, July & August are the best months.
We spent June & July up there (first time in Cairns) and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Wanting to go back for xmas but Im having a hard time convincing the handbrake as she hates the heat.

Cheers

Anytime is good for me.....I like the reef fishing in the jun-jul-aug timeframe and the rivers in the wet. Fortunately a family member has a "hut" on the south arm of the Daintree River and apart from the coupla 3 resident crocs the fishing here is great. My only bug bear are the bloody sandflies :-(

Thanks Everyone for your suggestions. Any more tips on must see places much appreciated.

regards Kc