Port Douglas

We have arrived at our last outbound location, Port Douglas.

Ellis Beach looking East to the Islands

Our final coffee break during the drive from Townsville to Port Douglas was at a delightful spot called Ellis Beach which was about 30 kilometers South of Port Douglas.

Warning to swimmers!

If ever I had reason not to set foot in the Ocean then take a look at this notice - I rest my case!!

Coffee break location - Ellis Beach

The drive in this area was like the Ocean road in Victoria as the road hugged the Side of the Ocean weaving from side to side and up and down. It was a road that required concentration.







The scenery beside the Bruce Highway changed such that the fields seemed to be allocated evenly to Sugar cane fields and Banana plantations. We stopped at one plantation and bought a few bananas which were great.

Weather wise we left Townsville with 27 degrees and that was the same temperature when we arrived in Port Douglas.

After settling in and doing all the things we always do to get the caravan sorted out, we took a short walk along the beach and picked up a pile of catalogs of things to do. Tomorrow we will look through them and plan a few outings - They look exciting!

Saturday:

Port Douglas shopping area

We started the morning with a walk along the Port Douglas main street looking for a fresh fish shop but found out later on that it no longer existed so we will be dining out tonight.






Afterwards we spent an hour or so going through the tourist information pamphlets before deciding on what we wanted to do.

I chose a day tour which would cover the Mossman Gorge, Daintree river cruise, Alexandra lookout, Cape Tribulation, Lunch, Cross country 4wd trip and Cassowary Falls. That will be on Monday and I am hopeful of getting a look at crocodiles in the wild. As for Cassowaries, they are an extremely rare bird so little hope of seeing one, but fingers crossed. I am really looking forward to this tour as, apart from any other reason, it was why we decided on Port Douglas rather than terminating our outbound journey at Cairns.



Liz chose the half day Mossman Gorge and Daintree outing covering an informative drive, Daintree river cruise Afternoon tea and Mossman Gorge. To cut a long story short, the only booking left was for this afternoon - and that is where Liz is at the moment (hope to post her photographs later). So I get the Buddy duty for this afternoon.

For her day out Liz has booked a cruise to Low Island where she will be able to snorkel amongst the coral reef (Hopefully photographs from that outing later)

Scar-face the male dominant crocodile

Liz got a few pictures of 'Scare-face' the local dominant crocodile! and his lady friend "Elithabeth", both of which you would not want to share the water with!








We will still have a couple of days up our sleeves, one of which will no doubt be allocated to the beach.

Whilst looking through the brochures we noticed some excellent tours etc from Cairns (our next location) including the Gondolas which travel across the rainforest tree tops - looks like a must!

The weather is quite hot and just a tad humid - Anyone could call this summer!

Sunday -

We set off on a leisurely walk to the Marina for Liz to board "Wavedancer" which would head off to the Low Isles at 9:30 am.

"Wavedancer" moored off the Low Isles

During the cruise Liz got to see the local coral and marine life, much of which was explained by a marine biologist on board.

Low Isle beach

A trip from the main boat in a glass bottom boat added the edge as the marine life swam by.











Monday

Today Liz was on 'Buddy  duty' as I took a day tour through the Daintrees.

The tour operator arrived on time outside the caravan park in a Mercedes Van having already picked up the other 7 travellers (2 from Brisbane and a family of 5 from Switzerland) all very nice people.

The Daintree rain forest

First stop was Mossman to pick up rations for the day, then off to Mossman Gorge. It was here that I found to my dismay that my camera battery was flat! although as luck would have it, I also took my video camera and was able to take snap shots from the next location onwards, so no pictures of the gorge.

Scarface - 49 year old 3.5 metre crocodile

We then picked up a flat bottom, solar powered punt for a cruise along the daintree river looking for and finding the odd crocodile semi submerged at the sides of the river banks. We also got to see quite a bit of wild life, mostly the bird variety. We never got to see a Cassowary although some of the other travellers we spoke to had seen them.

Lollies and fruit were handed out throughout the trip!







Next was Alexandra lookout which gave a fantastic panoramic view of the Daintree area.

Onwards we drove! (we had a schedule to keep) until arriving at Cape Tribulation. We walked along the beach while our guide provided us with a version of the history of the area - very informative.

Our 'Hideaway' lunch venue

We now headed to a place called the 'Hideaway' where we had a salad lunch and a variety of hot and cold drinks followed by a look around the area (The area was private property however our tour operator was allowed to use it).

After a short journey we arrived at the Daintree Ice Cream Company for a four flavours in one bowl of ice cream - Yummy!

Cassowary Waterfall

When then drove to a spot where we changed vehicles for a 4 wheel drive. The trip was breath taking as we shot over the terrain, through several water holes, finally arriving at the Cassowary waterfall for a dip for those that had forgot that crocodiles had been seen in rivers. (This place was quite safe).

The Daintree group

Finally a group photograph. This was our last port of call before heading back to our various venues.








Tomorrow we leave Port Douglas and head off in a round about route via the Atherton tableland to Cairns.

More on Cairns later