Review: Cairns Quad Bike Tour
Please note: Global Travel Services no longer operates this tour. You can browse the available Cairns tours here.
Any opportunity to explore the oldest tropical rainforest on Earth is one I never take for granted.
And I’m constantly ambushed by the incredible beauty and biodiversity of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics, and the ingenuity of North Queensland tourism operators in coming up with new ways to show it off. So, the opportunity to go off-road with Global Travel Services on their recently launched Cairns Quad Bike Tour was one I couldn’t pass up.
I’m picked up in Cairns by Peter from Global Travel Services in a vehicle that looks like the family Tarago on steroids. It’s actually a 4WD bus and our transport for the first part of the trip. We head up the Kuranda range and leave the highway at the Clohesy River Road turn-off into Dinden National Park. The road is sealed for the first few kilometres, but then it degenerates into a rough corrugated dirt track and the fun starts!
Watch our video of ten top things to do in Cairns:
Ten Amazing Things to Do in Cairns, QLD | City Guide – The Big Bus
Welcome to The Big Bus tour and travel guide’s YouTube Channel. Sitting pretty in Tropical North Queensland, the city of Cairns has undergone an extraordinar…
Peter navigates through creek crossings, mudslides and potholes and it’s so much fun I’m almost disappointed when we arrive at the Clohesy River fig tree boardwalk. That’s until I see the fig tree itself. It’s just a short stroll around the boardwalk under the shadow of this magnificent tree, but the interpretive signs and Peter’s impressive knowledge of the local ecology make for a very interesting botany lesson.
After a teeth-jarring ride back to the highway, it’s on to the next destination on our itinerary — Barron Falls Estate. After introducing us to Perry Marshall, the estate tour guide (and family owner since 1969), Peter bids us farewell. Of course, it’s sad to say goodbye to Peter, he was such a… Wait! What’s that you say? ATVs? Let me at ’em!
It’s at this point that you usually choose between a jaunt around the 165-acre property in a H1 military Hummer, or driving yourself on an ATV (all terrain vehicle) — but, lucky me, I get to do both. All in the name of research, you understand.
After a briefing from Perry on how to handle our bikes (fastening the helmet is actually the hardest part!) we set off, very slowly, along the rainforest trail. Within a matter of minutes we have the hang of the throttle and brakes (yep, that’s all there is to it) and the pace picks up. The ATVs are extremely safe and the accelerator is limited so there’s no chance of anyone getting too cocky and coming a cropper.
Barron Falls Estate is absolutely magic, set right on the edge of the spectacular Barron Gorge. Nestled within the rainforest are acres of exotic fruit orchards of lychees, rambutans, mangosteens and Queensland’s largest durian plantation. As we trundle along we pass Perry’s house, the original (relocated) Barron Falls hydro scheme village post office (bit of a collector, is Perry), and Skyrail’s Barron Falls station — where we stop to enjoy mind-blowing views over the gorge.
It’s not all sedate sightseeing on the quad bikes though — we get to navigate some creek crossings and try some gentle off-roading. For me, the highlights are meeting a resident baby cassowary, and seeing the incredible sculptural roots of a crows foot ash (tree).
We’ve barely removed our helmets before Brad from Global Travel Services rumbles into the rainforest clearing in the star of the show — a massive H1 Hummer. I could rattle off its specs (designed to help it get through, up, over and around virtually anything in its way), but suffice to say it’s big, powerful, and very sexy. Brad shows us over the engine (and yes, it is interesting!), before we climb aboard to start our next adventure.
Seated high up in the Hummer with plenty to hold on to (luckily), Brad takes us on a bumpy, fun-filled tour along the estate’s trails. It’s a ride to remember (although perhaps I did miss a few sights laughing a little too much) and a unique way of exploring the rainforest.
I can’t believe it’s only been 4.5 hours since we left Cairns. It feels like I’ve experienced a week’s worth of fun during my bumpy time with Peter, Perry, and Brad, and their fleet of off-road vehicles. This experience has shown me a different side of our wonderful Wet Tropics. Mission accomplished Brad — now back to base!
The writer travelled as a guest of Global Travel Services.
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Additional images: Bigstock
About the writer
Julietta Henderson is a Melbourne-based travel writer and author. Originally planning to visit London for six months, she ended up staying for ten years and now divides her time between her home in Australia and several months of the year in the UK, Italy, and France. Julietta has travelled extensively through Europe, North America, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, and Russia, and believes the keys to a great travel experience are an open heart, an open mind, and an open-ended ticket. Her first two novels — The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman and Sincerely, Me — are now available in bookstores.
