RFI: Sydney to Cairns

Dear Birding Aus,

My wife and I are planning a long trip from Sydney to the tip of Cape York
and back. We have most of a month (approximately Dec 27 to Jan 17) to do
the trip. We are planning to drive our SUV and camp most nights. We know
this is a trip which a lot of birders have done or will do, or at least
some part of it. Could we have your suggestions about how to alter the
above route to make the most of the birding, natural history, photography
and camping opportunities? If each of you have one or more suggestions it
will immeasurably increase the quality of our trip.

To say thanks, *I will annotate and keep a custom Google map available for
all to use/save for their own uses as they wish after I compile my own
research and any given suggestions.* We can all benefit from the exercise. Here
is the link
:

drive.google.com/open?id=1yBP1xG7F7B_EHhwg7vFfB3F7ja0&usp=sharing

A couple of specific questions:

1. Is Cape York 4WD accessible from Cairns during this period? If so, is it
wise to try it if we are a lone vehicle (or should it only be done in 4WD
convoy during the ‘wet’ for safety reasons)?
2. Is this just too long of a trip for the time given (I think it may be).
Perhaps, due to travel difficulties, we should cut out the Cape York leg
and do that on dedicated trip, if possible?
3. Does anyone living along these routes have a desire to go out birding
with us as we pass through? Love to spend some time with you all in your
‘local patch’!

*We’d really appreciate any tips that we definitely will not find in a
travel guide or other common resources, especially related to birding,
other natural history highlights, photography and amazing camping spots.*

Send notes directly to me or to the BirdingAus list as you see fit. Also,
if you are interested enough, you can just make changes directly to the map
by adding markers to it and adding a note to the marker. I have layers on
the map for “birding spots”, “natural history spots”, “photography spots”,
“camping spots” and “driving route”. This is especially helpful for places
which might not be well marked, but you know exactly where they are.

Many thanks, and feel free to use my mobile number below as well,

Kai and Sonja
Berowra, NSW
+61 04 9999 1240