Why we Love a Cairns Outback Day Tour

Billy Tea Safaris offer the only outback experience from Cairns, and Port Douglas.

Experience outback wildlife, coffee plantations and the cave systems of Chicago right in the Australian outback.

Your cave tour is led by a National Park Ranger where you will find fossilised coral from millennia old oceans.

There is even an Aboriginal Rock Art site and the chance to see Australian wildlife.

The whole day is led by experienced guides in the comfort of a luxury custom built four-wheel-drive vehicle and a maximum of 16 passengers.

Your day will include the following highlights;

• Skybury Coffee Plantation
• Famous Chillagoe NP Caves
• NP Ranger Guided Cave Tour
• Chillagoe Smelters
• 100 year old Australian Pub for lunch
• Aboriginal Rock Art
• Rock Wallabies at Granitte Gorge

Departs/Returns:

Tours commence on Monday, Wednesday & Friday

Departures from Cairns city Accommodations;

• from 6.50am
• Returns at approximately 6.30pm

Departures from Northern Beaches Accommodations;

• from 7.20am
• Returns at approximately 6pm

Departures from *Port Douglas Accommodations;

• from 6.20am
• Returns at approximately 7:00pm

*Pick up in Port Douglas at extra cost. This is a private transfer to the bottom of the Kuranda Range.
This is $87.00 per person return, paid on board to your driver direct.

What is included:

• Naturalist guide
• Courtesy pick-up and return
• Air-conditioned 4WD vehicles
• Morning Tea at Skybury Coffee
• NP Ranger Guided Chillagoe Caves
• Outback Aussie Lunch at 100 year old pub
• Balancing Rock
• Historical Chillagoe Smelter Ruins
• Aboriginal Rock Art
• Tropical Fruit Tasting
• Wild Rock Wallabies at Granite Gorge
• National Park Fees
• maximum 16 passengers

What you need:

• Hat and Sunglasses
• Please consider a Re-useable/Sustainable Water Bottle
• Please use Reef/Coral Safe Sunscreen
• Camera/Phone
• Cash for souvenirs, snacks

Tour itinerary:

(This is an example itinerary of a typical day)

Board the custom built 4WD vehicle and travel through the back blocks of this wetland area with chances of viewing Wallabies, Emus and other wildlife. 

We carry on through agricultural paddocks containing Paw Paw, Lychee, Longen and Mango to name just to a few eventually crossing over the Great Divide and into the Western watershed – the Australian Outback.

We stop at Skybury Coffee Plantation for a delicious morning tea.

We carry on through rolling hills rich in mineral eventually giving way to towering limestone karsts scattered around Chillagoe Township.

Here we delve into the history of the Chillagoe copper smelters, whose old chimneys dominate the western horizon.

Lunch is at a true Australian Outback Pub built back at the turn of the century, before setting off to have a look at this historical town on route to our National Parks guided Chillagoe Cave tour.

The caves will take you back in time as your guide explains about the fossilized remains of the ancient coral reefs some 400 – 420 million years old and the limestone formations that are nothing short of spectacular. 

We learn about aboriginal culture in the area as we visit an Aboriginal Rock Art site and the Balancing Rock.

Our final stop is at Granite gorge where there are unique Rock Wallabies. Your guide will also lay out tropical fruits of the region for a welcome fruit tasting.

Eco-Certification Awards

The following Eco-Accreditation from Eco Tourism Australia had been achieved.

• Eco Certified Advanced Ecotourism

Australia’s leading and most innovative ecotourism products, providing an opportunity to learn about the environment with an operator who is committed to achieving best practice when using resources wisely, contributing to the conservation of the environment and helping local communities.

• Climate Action Business

Businesses have undertaken a set of adaption and emissions reduction actions but are not necessarily measuring their carbon footprint.

• ROC – Respect Our Culture

ROC Certified businesses are committed to protecting cultural authenticity and integrity, developing sound business practices, environmental protection and acknowledges Indigenous peoples spiritual connection to the land and water.

The Respecting Our Culture program also encourages the tourism industry to operate in ways that respect and reinforce the living cultural heritage and living cultures of Indigenous Communities.