Port Douglas - May 2015
Saturday 2/05/2015
Left home at about 6:30 to drive to the airport. We were going to get a cab or bus until Anna found a deal at the long term carpark - for the price of a one-way taxi fare, we could park the car for 10 days. Arrived at the airport in plenty of time to catch our five to 9 Virgin flight to Cairns. Left on time and arrived at Cairns half an hour early. Must have been a heck of a tail wind! We rang the Apex Car Hire depot and found our way to the courtesy bus pick-up point. Picked up our 2014 Hyundai Elantra and had a look around the Marina area in Cairns and stayed for lunch. Then headed north towards Port Douglas - stopping to look at Palm Cove on the way. Lots of money around this area. Arrived in Port Douglas at about 4pm and checked in to our accommodation at Palm Villas, Warner Street, Port Douglas. Nice, clean and comfortable if not all that luxurious. Wandered around town to get our bearings and found the Life Saving Club. Had tea there. Will come back I think - reminiscent of the life saving club at North Burleigh.
Fine, sunny day - 28 degrees.
Sunday 3/05/2015
Slept in a bit this morning. Very tired from the long day yesterday and the big week prior to leaving. Went to the Sunday market which was very well patronised and quite a good array of interesting merchandise compared to your average craft market. Quite a warm morning in the sun. Bought some fruit and vegetables before heading home for an early lunch. After lunch we went for a ride on the Ballyhoo Steam Railway before spending a lazy afternoon by the pool. For tea we went to the Iron Bar - which turned out quite entertaining as they held a cane toad race afterwards.
Fine, sunny day - 28 degrees.
Monday 4/05/2015
Woke to another beautiful sunny morning. Off to the shops to do some shopping. Brad took the opportunity to get a haircut. We have found the local retailers to be very friendly and helpful - much better than say in the Gold Coast. Later in the morning headed off to the beach which has an enclosed area to keep the stingers out. The water was very warm. Back to our room for lunch, then took a drive in a big loop up the mountains to Mareeba in the Atherton Tablelands - which is quite a large town. Continued to Karanda which appeared to be shut. Checked out the rail station and Skytrain office - which was closing down for the day at 4pm. Headed back down the mountain towards Cairns before turning north again to go back to Port Douglas. BBQ dinner tonight.
Fine, sunny day - 28 degrees.
Tuesday 5/05/2015
Set the alarm last night to get up at 7am today. Our apartment manager advised us to get to the wharf early to have a coffee while people watching before boarding our boat at 8am. That way we would be able to pick the best seat next to the skipper. So that's what we did. Another perfect morning. We left the dock right on time at 8:40 and headed out to sea past the Low Islands towards the outer reef - 45 nautical miles out. We finally arrived at our first spot on Opal Reef. An onboard briefing to cover safety issues and basic tips for snorkelling before we hit the water. Wow! Breathtaking. We saw lots of parrot fish, little black wrasse and lots of smaller colourful varieties. The hour there went in 15 minutes - or so it seemed at the time. Back on board for a short 15 minute jaunt to the next spot. This had even better coral than the last spot - lots of colour and interesting shapes. That was another quick hour then back on the boat for lunch. Our next spot was about 20 minutes away. On the way, one of the crew gave a great talk on the reef, the coral life cycle and the interesting sex lives of various fish. A lot of them change sex depending on the social circumstances. When we jumped in the water this time, we saw a small shark skulking around the bottom and a very big wrasse called Angus hanging around just under the boat. It was low tide so we swam around the edge of the "bom" watching the fish "cleaning stations", big clams and spotted a couple of clown fish hiding in an anemone. Another hour went very quickly and before we knew it, it was time to climb out back onto the boat and get someone to help us get out of our lycra suits. A fairly smooth ride back to Port Douglas spot on 4pm. A great day. Had dinner in our room and spent another evening on the balcony.
Fine, sunny - 30 degrees.
Wednesday 6/05/2015
Got up about 7:30 to go for a walk before breakfast. Headed up Flagstaff Hill which higher and steeper than it looks from below. A lot of very expensive houses here with fantastic views. Eventually returned to Macrossan Street area and had breakfast in street cafe. The rest of the morning was spent relaxing by the pool. Late in the afternoon we drove the back streets of Port Douglas exploring the neighbourhood. Changed for tea and walked to the Combined Service Club which backs on to Dixon's Inlet. What a fantastic outlook across the water towards the mountains to the west and Cape Tribulation to the north. Meals were reasonably priced and surprisingly good.
Fine, sunny - 30 degress.
Thursday 7/05/2015
Today we ticked another item off our bucket list. We went to Mossman Gorge and Cape Tribulation. Got up about 7:30 and organised ourselves and headed off to Mossman Village at about 8:30, then to Mossman Gorge. Bought our bus tickets and rode the 4 km to the gorge itself. Did the full circuit. Wonderful rainforest but dry at the moment. The river was flowing well - probably due to cloud stripping by trees higher up the mountain. After our one hour walk, we headed off towards Daintree Village. Had a quick look around there then conintued on to the Daintree River ferry. The scenery got better as we travelled north. Had lunch at the cafe at Thornton Beach. It's the only cafe on the beach front on the cape. The view was superb - reminiscent of Vietnam. Kept heading north (and nearly ran over a cassowary and its chicks) and finally reached Cape Tribulation and it is superb. Lush green tropical vegetation that goes all the way to the beach. The sand was fine and white. The water is a particular turquoise shade and very clear. Did a couple of walks to the lookout and Myall Beach around the other side of the cape and just soaked in the beautiful surroundings. All too soon it was time to turn around and head home. Stopped at Cape Tribulation village for a coffee and a snack. Also had a look at Mossman township and the sugar mill (the northernmost sugar mill in Australia). Fish and chips (barramundi) for dinner in our room. About 200 km for the day.
Fine, sunny 30 degrees.
Friday 8/05/2015
Slept well again last night and woke a little later than the last few mornings. There were a couple of passing showers as we got out of bed. Had breakfast on the balcony then spent most of the morning reading our books until about 11am. Anna then went on a browsing expedition in the local shops while Brad rented a bike ($16 for 4 hours) and did a tour of the Port Douglas area. Met for a late lunch at a cafe near the beach just opposite the life saving club. Brad did a little more riding to get his money's worth before returning the bike and then inviting Anna to another cafe at the rear of our apartment to have a coffee and coke. Returned to our apartment to swim in the pool before dinner (which was a mish mash of food in the fridge). After tea we were entertained by a couple of gechos racing each other up and down the wall on the balcony.
Overcast and humid - 28 degrees.
Saturday 8/05/2015
Today is our last day. Started with a walk along 4 mile beach. Did about 2.5 km each way then had breakfast at the cafe opposite the lifesaving club. We decided that we had to have one more swim at the beach so returned to our room to get our bathers and towels. Back to the beach and spent a couple of hours there - swimming, reading and people watching. We went back to our apartment for a quick dip in the pool before heading of to Mocka's Bakery to try their award winning pies for lunch. Another lazy afternoon reading on our balcony then to the pool for our last swim at Port Douglas. Off to the Combined Services Club for drinks and to watch the sunset. A bit cloudy today but we have decided there is no better place to be in this town at sunset. For dinner we went to Bucci's Italian Restaurant. Both of us had too much to eat. Back to our room packing for the return to Melbourne tomorrow.
Fine with a few clouds - 26 degrees.