Thursday 10 November
We were actually in Port Douglas rather than Cairns itself - about an hour away. The driver who took us there was quite dismissive of Cairns and said that we are staying in the best place.
Arrived late and in the dark so we had no idea of what it was like.
Travel: 1800m
Friday 11 November
Day 2 Port Douglas
Went in search of breakfast and found the beach. Just beautiful!
Noone swimming in the sea though due to jelly fish, sharks and the occasional crocodile. Lots of warning signs.
Tin Shed - recommended by the driver bringing us out here last night. Looks like a fab place for a meal.
By the harbour so a great place to watch the boats.
Sugar cane harbour.
Couldn't look in the tiny church as there was a wedding.
Lazy afternoon by the pool.
Then off to Chilly's - another driver recommendation.
Food was lovely - cane toad racing was.. strange. Only done in this area - where cane toads are regarded as pests.
They are put in a bucket 'arena' which is then lifted to start the race.
Each frog had a selected person (picked by ticket number, luckily not us!) who 'encouraged' it to jump by blowing a paper streamer at it.
Once it had jumped off the table it could be scooped up and put into another bucket. First in was the winner.
Money made from this (tickets were A$5 each and you had to pay even if you were just eating there - so well over 100 sold) went to various animal and marine charities. There didn't seem to be any actual betting on the frogs and there were just two races. Still odd though.
Belated 'happy birthday' glass of rosé for Carol.
Saturday 12 November
Day 3 Port Douglas
Picked up for the Outer Barrier Reef cruise going to The Agincourt ribbon reefs.
Hour and a half to get there.
The water in the coral reefs was quite murky. Apparently the coral had spawned the previous night - a once a year event when the corals reproduce by simultaneously releasing millions of tiny egg and sperm bundles into the water - each bundle must find another bundle of the same species to fertilise - the en masse release increases their odds.
Homeward bound.
Sunday 13 November
Day 4 Port Douglas
Sun rise at Four Mile beach.
Market
Too hot to walk far!
Same walk evening
Mike's lion fish
Monday 14 November
Day 5 Port Douglas
Trip to Cape Tribulation and Daintree Rain forest.
First stop was for tea and a type of scone with local jam at the Mossman Gorge. Very nice.
Cruise on the Daintree river
Four o'clock flowers. Can't remember the proper name but every day these flowers drop off into the water at about 4pm and make a lovely spectacle as they float down the river. The following day new ones bloom and the cycle repeats itself
Lunch in the Daintree NP
Cape Tribulation views and beach. The cape got its name from Captain Cook who ran aground there and said it was all trials and tribulations in that area 😁
Delicious ice cream and some of the trees in the orchard
Mango, coconut, black sapote (slight chocolate taste) and wattle seed (bit nutty/coffee) flavours.
Some insects and bugs - Mike was happy 😁
Alexandra lookout over Low isles and mouth of the Daintree river.
Back across on the ferry. Only ferry across the river - 300km road trip if not used 😁
Lazy evening sorting out flights etc.
Tuesday 15 November
Day 6 Port Douglas
Last full day - thought we'd be ok having a lazy day but we decided we'd like to do something if we could. After a quick Google search we found a trip leaving at 11am and the lady in our reception quickly booked it for us.
As it was still just after 8am we decided that we had time for a quick walk whilst it was coolish.
Off we went up to Flagstaff hill. A lovely walk - but definitely not cool 🥵
We had time for a quick shower before the puck up for our trip.
First stop was the Skyrail cable car to take us up to the rain forest village of Kuranda. Not something I was looking forward to - but my back up plan was to travel with the tour driver in the bus up to the village.
The cars were small, only 6 seats and Mike and I were in on our own. They didn't sway so I just kept my eyes shut.
We had to get out part way up to change cars - and we had chance to take a board walk tour amongst the rain forest trees.
Then it was time to get into the second cable car to go to Kuranda.
I even opened my eyes a bit on this leg. Just a quick squint at the tops of the trees. That was enough.
As we stopped they took a photo - we were on terra firma at this stage so I managed a half smile.
Our tour guide (who had driven up in the tour bus to meet us) was happy I'd managed it and gave me a 'well done' hug 😁
Couple of hours free for a meal and a wander then it was time to take the bus back down to the railway station.
We went gold star service - posh seats, drinks and nibbles. Very nice.
Lovely way to spend a couple of hours - and the food and drink were delicious 😋
Off the train at Freshwater then a stop for a cocktail en route to home.
A great way to end our time in Australia!
Wednesday 16 November
Morning in Port Douglas then transfer back to Cairns for flight to Singapore.
Finished the packing, checked out of the room, dumped the bags then went in search of breakfast.
Went for a walk past Sugar Wharf.
More beautiful mangroves and trees in the water.
Beer for breakfast.
Last swim in the pool then off to the airport.
