INSTANT BOOKING OPTIONS
Billy Tea Bush Safaris Info
BILLY TEA BUSH SAFARIS:
Billy Tea Safaris is a locally owned operator, which operates small personalised tours to Cape Tribulation. Your naturalist guides have extensive knowledge of flora, fauna, history of the area and aboriginal culture, which will ensure you day will be a memory of a life time.
Why we like it?
- Custom built air-con Safari vehicle
- Exotic fruit & Billy Tea
- Passionate knowledgeable guides
- Freshly cooked lunch
- Small Personalised tours - maximum 14 guests
- Exclusive freshwater swim at Emmagen Creek
- Exclusive tour 4WD only Bloomfield Track
Departures:
- Cairns from 7am and returns 6:30pm
- Northern Beaches from 7:20am and returns 6:00pm
- Port Douglas from 8:20am and returns 5:30pm
Your tour includes:
- Environmentalist driver / guide
- Courtesy hotel pick-up and return
- Scenic coastal drive
- 1 hour Daintree River Cruise and morning tea
- Alexandra Range Lookout
- Guided National Park elevated boardwalk tour
- Hand feed kangaroos
- Tropical BBQ lunch (please advise of any dietary requirements)
- Walk on Cape Tribulation beach or Botanical Boardwalk (swimming is allowed seasonally)
Your Day:
- Drive north along the scenic coastal route along the Captain Cook Highway learning about the history of the area and admiring spectacular views of the coast line and Coral Sea.
- Stop at the Majestic Daintree River for Morning Tea before enjoying a guided River Cruise on the Daintree River. Learn of Estuarine Crocodiles, mangrove forests and endemic wildlife.
- Ascend the Alexandra Range and pause for a panoramic view of World Heritage Rainforest merging with the azure colours of the Coral Sea. Experience the rainforest on one of the guided elevated Boardwalks.
- Travel onto Lync Haven animal refuge where you have the opportunity to hand feed a kangaroo and get up close to some of Australia?s wildlife. Enjoy a gourmet barbecue lunch with freshly prepared salads in a beautiful rainforest setting restaurant.
- Travel through spectacular Rainforest as you pass Cape Tribulation and continue along the 4WD Bloomfield Track through to Emmagen Creek. Time for a refreshing rainforest stream swim, in crystal clear freshwaters.
- Visit Cape Tribulation Beach . Stroll along the beach and boardwalk to the photographers' platform overlooking the mountains and coast where the 'Rainforest meets the Reef'
- Time permitting stop at the Daintree Ice Cream Factory. Your taste buds will be tantalized with exotic tropical fruit home-made ice cream. Sample unique flavours, such as Black Sapote, Soursop, and Coconut just to name a few. (Additional cost)
- After a short afternoon refreshment stop, cross the Daintree River by cable ferry and begin the homeward journey.
Please Note: This tour runs in reverse occasionally.
What to Bring:
- Comfortable clothing & footwear
- Water bottle
- Swimmers & towel
- Sunscreen and insect repellent
- Camera
- Money for Ice cream (Subject to time)
GOOD NEWS: All payments made to Travstar do not incur a credit card surcharge.
Travellers Tale:
Billy Tea Bush Safari
The day started at seven am with our pick up. Our driver-guide, Chris, met us and introduced himself and our vehicle, Wombat, to us. We then zipped around the city and up to Palm Cove picking up the rest of the group. Chris would introduce everyone as they hopped aboard Wombat and by the end of the first stage of the day there were eleven travelers who came from Australia, Japan, Italy, America, and Britain. What a varied group of travelers we were.
From the very beginning Chris informed us of the history of the area and the natural world that it is made up of. We learnt that Cairns was founded as a port in 1876 to transport the materials being logged and mined in the surrounding areas to their final destinations. In fact Chris was a babbling brook of information for the whole journey. At every point he was able to paint a picture of the history, both European and Indigenous, fill us in on the industrial concerns, tell us about the plant and animal life and even include up to date comments on the politics relevant to our landscape. This made the tour far more than an eleven hour scenic drive because we gained an appreciation for the area that went beyond aesthetics.
And how pretty this part of the world is. From the moment you pass Palm Cove and leave the last fragments of Cairns' creeping suburbs, nature begins to have its 'way with you'. For half an hour we wound up along the coast road towards our first stop of the day, Mossman. To our left we had hills and trees and to our right we had the ocean. We picked a good day to take part in the tour as rain could be seen before and behind us while we were untouched. And that made the views all the more interesting as we got to see the two sides of the area, the blue skies and perfect weather of the brochure and the wet that allows the tropics to survive.
In Mossman we hopped out and stretched our legs next to the magnificent Jamaican raintrees. Chris shared some information about how the trees got to be in Mossman and the church that sits underneath their branches. He also gave a nice overview of Mossman's lifeblood, the sugar cane industry. And it was when he was doing this that another advantage of choosing Billy Tea Bush Safaris to see the North came through; our other travelers began asking questions. The tour was personal and interactive because although we were going to set destinations our opportunity to learn about the area was only limited by our curiosity.
Our next stop was at the Daintree River. Here we had our first smoko, tea and biscuits, before hopping onto a boat for a river cruise. Our guide for this section was a man called Bill. Like Chris, Bill had a thorough knowledge of his surroundings. As we cruised along the banks in search of crocodiles, snakes and birds Bill informed us of the history of the area while using his keen eye to spot wildlife. We were fortunate to see crocodiles raging from nine weeks to six years in age as well as two types of snakes and a beautiful Azure Kingfisher.
Bill's humour was as keen as his eye he managed to throw in as many jokes and puns as facts adding to the enjoyment of the cruise.
After the boat ride we were ferried across the river and into the Daintree Forest. This was my fifth trip to the Daintree and the beauty of the area always humbles me. What was different about this journey was Chris' commentary as it managed to increase my sense of fascination and awe. We were informed that we were now traveling through the oldest rainforest on Earth and that within this World Heritage area the most primitive plant life on Earth can be found. We were literally within a cradle of life.
Guest Reviews
Recommend
A fantastic day would recommend
Posted By KENNETH MARK WILKINSON
Fantastic trip
Fantastic trip and the driver/guide was very very knowledgeable and made the trip so much more interesting!
Posted By Christina Vinehall
Witty and personable guide.
Hirani was a knowledgeable, witty and personable guide.
Posted By Adrian Read
Tour was fantastic, thanks Travstar
We booked this tour through travstar. We received great service from travstar and the tour was fantastic.
Posted By Helen Brent-Jones
Terrific day out!
Terrific day out! Very professional but friendly guide who gave us all the information we needed to enjoy and understand the places we visited. Tasty lunch was most appreciated. So glad I chose this small group tour.
Posted By Kaylene Burke
Definitely recommend this trip.
Had a lovely time and the driver was very helpful and friendly. I would definitely recommend this trip.
Posted By Keith Mills
Thoroughly enjoyed our tour
Thoroughly enjoyed our tour into Daintree Rain Forest.
Very well organised and fascinating and informative commentary on route.
Posted By William Taylor
Fantastic Tour
I just recently travelled with Billy Tea and had a wonderful time exploring the magnificent Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation. The guides, Matthew and Mick were fantastic and very passionate about the area. We even saw a Cassowary and a chick, Boyd's Forest Dragon, a 4 metre crocodile and lots more. The tropical fruit, damper and billy tea was a nice touch by Emmagen Creek. Will definately recommend others to do this tour if you are thinking of travelling to the Daintree and only have a day to do it!
Posted By Natalie Murray
Very informative and enjoyable experience.
Very well organised, very informative and enjoyable experience. Our driver/guide was great - he shared his extensive knowledge about the area in a very interesting narrative during the trip. Learned a lot about the Daintree trees and loved the tropical fruit and billy tea with damper at the freshwater pool. Our river trip was also interesting and our driver was most considerate and experienced. Plenty of good food at our lunch stop too.
Posted By Frances Katsaras
Enjoyed the day
We much enjoyed the day out, swimming especially. Mark and Brendan worked extremely hard to make it a success. Thanks to them.
Posted By James Davidson
Excellent!
Excellent daytrip up to Cape Tribulation via Port Douglas and Daintree. Long day but well organised with morning/afternoon tea and a tasty bbq lunch. The dip in Emmagen Creek and the ice cream stop topped off the day. Well worth it.
Posted By Nick Williams
Excellent Staffs.
Excellent Staffs.
Posted By Xiao Wang
Great experience
Great experience and worth the money to obtain the knowledge and feel the passion
Posted By Anne Vandewater
Thoroughly enjoyed the day
Thoroughly enjoyed the day, especially the swim at Emmagen Creek.
Posted By Colette
Billy Tea was a great experience
The day with Billy Tea was a great experience. We really enjoyed our driver/guide, Cathy, who was a great source of information along the way. She grew up in the area where we traveled so that was an added bonus.
Posted By Dennis Truss
Kathy was a wonderful tour guide
Kathy was a wonderful tour guide and her knowledge of the area, customs and history made the tour very interesting. Lunch was great too!
Posted By Anne Herbert
Would recommend this to anyone.
Would recommend this to anyone.
Posted By Merryn Swan
It was a great day
It was a great day thoroughly enjoyed the trip!!
Posted By Diane Donnelly
We got so close to wildlife that we will probably never expe
This was a really informative and educational trip - we got so close to wildlife that we will probably never experience again. The guides were very knowledgeable. It was great fun - great value.
Posted By Robert Titley
Guide excellent
Guide excellent, 4wd vehicle a little rough for the trip
Posted By Ian Hunter
Almost a private tour of the sights
Took care of us very well and felt that we had almost a private tour of the sights. Very good and knowlegable guide.
Posted By Erol Kilki
Full of knowledge
Our bus tour operator was full of knowledge and very friendly
Posted By Carolyn Collins
I would recommend this trip for anyone young and not so youn
A full day of activities with informative drivers excellent lunch. I would recommend this trip for anyone young and not so young.A wonderful way to see the Daintree rainforest
Posted By cath desforges
I had an awesome day
I had an awesome day and the tour guide was great!
Posted By Regina Harrer
Would recommend it all over again.
Tourguide(s) were very competent and good fun. Would recommend it all over again.
Posted By Rosina Tauschmann
We really enjoyed our trip
We really enjoyed our trip and found Mathew a wonderful guide.
Posted By June Armstrong
Thanks for a wonderful tour.
The rainbow in the rain forest tours. Thanks for a wonderful tour.
Posted By John Webster
Great trip highly recommended.
We had a wonderful host named Fin who made the experience special. Great trip highly recommended.
Posted By Rob Robertson
The tour bus & guide were brilliant
The tour bus & guide were brilliant.The guide provided lots of relevant information and local knowledge.
Posted By Catherine Grandfield
Great variety
Very good. Great variety. Finlay as a guide was excellent. Good choice by Natasha.
Posted By Ian Boyle
I love this tour!
I love this tour~
It would be better if provide spray when enter into the rain forest.
Posted By Jasmine
Very entertaining tour.
Very entertaining tour. Tour guides very friendly, educated and informative. Recommend it is a must do on a trip to Cairns.
Posted By Jeanette Stanley
It was fun and we gain knowledge about plants and animals!
It was fun and we gain knowledge about plants and animals! It was awesome to swim in the lake and try the tropical fruits and Billy tea!
Posted By Long Yin Loraine Ho
Would definatley recommend this trip!
A fantastic day with Matt our guide, on time pick up good comfortable vehicle for the day, good food at BBQ lunch and enough stops during the day. Would definatley recommend this trip, thanks Matt.
Posted By Mark Jones
Had a really great time worth the trip.
Had a really great time worth the trip. Very nice staff well looked after well worth it.
Posted By Steve Thorpe
Thouroughly enjoyed the tour.
Thouroughly enjoyed the tour. A great day out,well run, well organised, I would highly recommend to anybody.
Posted By Christine Burn
Most enjoyable day
John was an excellent guide bringing all of his skills and knowledge to bear on this most enjoyable day out (and he cooks a mean steak too!!)
Posted By Paul Feldman
Busy day with lots to see and do.
Great BBQ lunch and guide was very fun and informative. Busy day with lots to see and do.
Posted By Janice Delamare
Could not fault it....
Could not fault it....
Our guide Matt was entertaining and informative and will highly recomend the tour to friends.
Posted By Steve Wesbroom
Good day!
Good day, our guide name was Flynn and was very knowlegable about all the areas we visited. Any one wishing to get a brief understanding about the rain forest this is a good trip to take. The lunch and snacks supplied was very good.
Posted By Mike & Margaret Selkirk
guide was full of information
A very long day out but very worthwhile. Our driver and guide was full of information and did a great job all day.
Posted By Wendy
brief glimpse of a Cassowary
'Quality of Facilities' only gets a 'Good', the reason being that it was in the middle of the Tropical Rain Forest for God's Sake! The reality is that 'Everything' about this trip was 'Excellent'. John our Guide/Driver was knowledgeable without being over the top in terms of facts or figures and his laconic sense of humour was a bonus. My wife and I, both in our seventies, got so much out of the day. We saw snakes sunbaking on tree limbs overhanging the Daintree River, Kookaburra, Kingfisher and Crocodile (4), one particularly mean looking dude who, we were advised, had never been argued with in at least the last fifty years! On land we enjoyed the exotic fruits of Tropical North Queensland and Billy Tea at Cape Tribulation, hand fed Wallaby and Kangaroo and were treated to a brief glimpse of a Cassowary, truly a day to remember.
Posted By Ray Doyle
amazing scenery
Good food, friendly service and amazing scenery
Posted By Sally Chan
trip well worth doing
the tour operator was knowledgeable on all aspects of the rainforest making it a trip well worth doing.
Posted By Anne-Marie Fishburn
A thoroughly enjoyable day.
A thoroughly enjoyable day. The guide was both amusing and informative.
Posted By Barrie Ettle
cassowary in the wild
we could not have asked for a better infomed guide. Fin was fantastic. He was someone who enjoyed his job and enjoyed showing and telling everyone about the area. Very exciting to see a cassowary in the wild.
Posted By Tania Charlesworth
Very enjoyable day
Excellent - Very enjoyable day. Rained all day but still able to complete most of the activities - worked around the weather.
Posted By Debra Newman
saw a lot of beautiful scenery
Very enjoyable trip, and saw a lot of beautiful scenery. Would have preferred to have spent more time at Cape Tribulation and cut down lunch time. The air conditiner seemed to struggle in the humid conditions.
Posted By Chris Peters
we enjoyed the day
we enjoyed the day,though commentary not able to hear properly & air con not always cool enough, but seeing cassawary father & 2 chicks + 1 female as well boat across looking for crocs etc rain forest & cape tribulation overall we enjoyed our day all good & would recomend
Posted By Maria Crawford
highlights of our holiday
This adventure was one of the highlights of our holiday.
Posted By Denise Ferguson
Great experience
Great experience all round fabulous tour guide and locations
Posted By Carmel Brown
great day very imformative
great day very imformative
Posted By Lachlan Elliott
very knowledgeable
Matthew of the tour guide was very knowledgeable about the various plant life in the Daintree/Cape Tribulation area.
The fruit they prepared in the middle of Daintree area was absolutely beautiful and tasty.
Posted By Connie Battles
a lot of knowledge
Andrew had a lot of knowledge about the area and the local wild life and plants etc.
Posted By David Wastie
Fantastic Experience
Absolutely fantastic experience!
Posted By Irene Nichols
Full of information
Andrew was very good. Full of information enjoyed it very much.
Posted By Julie Jones
Great sense of humour
The tour guide,John,was fantastic. He was very informative and had a great sense of humour and it was a fantastic day.
Posted By Evelyn Barnett
Great service and guide
Great service and guide.Very interesting and enjoyable day (all 11+1/2 hours!)
Posted By Tony Baiada
Enjoyed the tropical fruit tasting
A great day from beginning to end. Enjoyed the tropical fruit tasting
Posted By Jan
Absolutely loved the whole day
Absolutely loved the whole day and our guide was knowledgeable, friendly and fun.
Posted By Natasha Gardiner
Your guide was very knowledgeable
Your guide was very knowledgeable, amusing and helpful - would certainly recommend this tour to my friends
Posted By Tracey Smith
EXCELLENT
MATTHEW THE DRIVE/GUIDE WAS EXCELLENT AND MADE THE DAY VERY ENTERTAINING
Posted By Jacqueline Fulton
Everything was perfect.
Everything was perfect. Many thanks especially to our guide Matthew.
Posted By Raija Solaste
we had a great time
we had a great time.Mat was an excellent tour guide. With really good local knowledge this is not a critism but to much food towards the end of the day.
Posted By Maralyn Gruneklee
great swim in the rain forest
A great day out - very knowledgeable staff - and a great swim in the rain forest.
Posted By David Bayliss
Kids love feeding the kangaroos
Pick up on time, beautiful seaview, informative rainforest guide, managed to see some junior crocs during the cruise. Kids love feeding the kangaroos and hugging the koalas. One shortcoming though, the BBQ steak for lunch were only meant for adults, kids were told to have only the sausages?!
Posted By Angie Leow
Wonderful personal service
Extremely happy with everything. Highly recemend your service to all. kind regards Doug Sparkes Wonderful personal service.
Posted By Doug & Val Sparkes
Great trip
Great trip and heaps of information on the day - well done!
Posted By Karen Carden
A great day out
A great day out - our guide was really well informed and interesting. We loved the whole experience.
Posted By Anne Leonard
A well run trip
A well run trip with a very good guide in Mathew. Very worthwhile and I would recommend
Posted By Eileen Harveils
defintely one of the trip highlights
Fantastic, defintely one of the trip highlights. Guide was fun and knowledgable and the pace of the tour was perfect. I would recommend this tour to anyone.
Thanks
Posted By Kerryn Richardson
Excellent day trip.
Excellent day trip. Andrew & John (the drivers) were extremely friendly and informative.
Posted By Chris Zissis
The guide was very infomative and knowledgeable
The guide was very infomative and knowledgeable
Posted By Mick Eastley
FUN DAY
ALSO ANOTHER GREAT DAY FRIENDLY GUIDE WITH LOTS OF INFO ABOUT EVERTHING FROM PLANTS TO AREAS TO SWIM SAFLEY WAS A FUN DAY
Posted By Corrine Simi
An unforgetable experience.
An outstanding tour. Andrew, our naturalist guide, shared so many bush stories and tips and seemed to have an answer to every question. The safari bus was unreal and we really enjoyed having a swim at Cape Tribulation, tasting the yummy exotic fruits and billy tea, and definately the Daintree River Cruise where we spotted three crocs and two snakes! An unforgetable experience.
Posted By Rebecca McCallum
Fabulous day.
Fabulous day. The guides were very informative. Really educational for children as well
Posted By Jenny Sage
very informative
Finn our guide was fabulous, very informative and friendly, the small group size meant everyone participated well. We saw much more than if we had driven up ourselves
Posted By Kathi Sumner
Tour guide was very good
Tour guide was very good and gave us lots of information about the area.
Posted By Y Crooks
Good mix of different experiences
Hi again - just got back from the Billy Bush Safari and it was very nice.The tour was a good mix of different experiences and the guide was quite knowledgeable.
Posted By Joanne Comparin
very knowlegable guides
very knowlegable guides - big day - make sure your ready for it - keep in mind you need to keep to a time table. Great way to see the fauna & flora of the area and other people from around the world
Posted By Melody McMeekin
A great day out
A great day out -guides extensive knowledge of the area made a real difference
Posted By Deirdra Flavin
walk through the Rainforest
I enjoyed the Billy Tea Safari. The best part was when our guide took us on the walk through the Rainforest and was able to point out plants and animals. This was exactly what I wanted: details about why this Rainforest is so special. The lunch, fruit, and ice cream were great. A very enjoyable trip.
Posted By Wendy Nassmacher
A cracking day out
A cracking day out John the tour guide was very Knowledgeable with the area
Posted By Andrew Brown
A great trip. Guides were excellent.
A great trip. Guides were excellent.
Posted By Anne Flynn
The guide is very knowledgable
The guide is very knowledgable, friendly. We learnt allow from him on the Rainforest in Australia.
Posted By Weng Thim Wong
Never a dull moment.
Loved this trip very well organised. Never a dull moment. We loved the walk thruogh the Dantree Rain Forrest. The food was good and the trip up the river. The best bit was the swim in the fresh water creak. Brilliant Day.
Posted By Allanna Redman
Great day all round.
The Tour guide was excellant great day all round. The food was excellent.
Posted By Glen Harrington
Had a wonderful time
Fabulous day out. Had a wonderful time and will remember it for many years to come.
Posted By Angela Bahler
a more personal experience
Smaller groups , so a more personal experience. Our guide was brilliant .
Thanks to carolyn for recomending this tour
Posted By Lynsey Falconer
Very professional team.
Enjoyed every minute. Very professional team.
Posted By Kathy
A great experience
A great experience from the time of pickup until being dropped off after a very informative fun day.
Posted By Ron Anderson
Good tour
Good tour with a friendly guide who gave out lots of important information on the \\\"Rainforest\\\" etc
Posted By Dennis Whisson
an experience to remember
knowledgable guide made this an experience to remember
Posted By Tracey Harper
afternoon tea by the riverside
The afternoon tea by the riverside was wonderfull.
Posted By Cecilia Lau
wonderful day
We could not have had a more wonderful day. Our guide Mathew was a pleasure to be with and an excellent knowledgeable guide. The rainforest and Cape Tribulation were more beautiful than we could have imagined. It was a full, fabulous day.
Posted By Ron Murdock
enjoyable day out
Very enjoyable day out, it was a very wet day, but we still enjoyed.
Posted By Karen
Nothing was a problem
we were looked after realy well and I would do the same one again when we come back. Nothing was a problem for them and I will be telling all my friends about it!
Posted By Brian Findlater
Hi-light of our trip!
Hi Emma,
Just letting you know we had a fantastic time on our tour with Billy Tea Bush Safaris. I would definitely recommend this tour to other tourists. Our tour guide Ron was incredibly informative (and funny) and it was a great experience, the hi-light of our trip to Port Douglas.
Thanks for your assistance,
Laurelle McConachy
Posted By Laurelle McConachy
a definate highlight
A great way to see the Daintree. A very knowledgeable guide. The swim in Emmagen Creek was a definate highlight.
Posted By Lance and Sharelle Williams
lucky enough to see a crocodile and a cassawary
We were lucky enough to see a crocodile and a cassawary which is rare. The driver was good fun.
Posted By Brian Stephens
Had a wonderful time
Had a wonderful time and will recommend you to everyone. Our tour guides were very informative and made it a very enjoyable trip for everyone. Special thanks to Ron for a great tour. Thank you for a wonderful day. Mark and Julie
Posted By Mark Stevens
We saw a crocodile
I had a great time. It was better than a trip to the zoo as we saw the critters in their natural habitats. We saw a crocodile at the beach at Cape Tribulation - He opened his mouth and hissed at us. The kids enjoyed feeding the kangaroos. It was a good trip for all ages.
Posted By Lauri Watanabe
informative day
Very enjoyable, informative day, friendly service, excellent b-b-q lunch and good company
Posted By Glenn & Ingrid
Billy Tea Cape Trib Safari
Very enjoyable however it was difficult for anyone not sitting at a window seat to see the scenery from the vehicle.
Posted By Glenn & Ingrid
day was memorable
Great driver, good commentaries. Small group numbers and sensible drive/rest periods - most impressed all round. The whole day was memorable.
Posted By Geoffrey & Patricia Evans
Well worth the money.
Fantastic day, our guide Chris was brilliant, he knew a lot about the area and life style of the people and wild life and flora of the Tropics. Well worth the money.
Posted By Guest
trip outstanding
A great big thanks to Chris who made this trip outstanding. I learnt so much fron him and he went out of his way to be helpful and to make sure that we were all enjoying ourselves
Posted By Dianne Walton
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