The Heavi's Go Walkabout: We hit the mainland

PORT DOUGLAS – 23^rdAPRIL-2^nd MAY

After just short of a week on the wonderful Hamilton Island, it was time for us to head off to the Australian mainland and Port Douglas for the next 9 days. Our plane from Hamilton to Cairns was a small propeller plane and took about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Because it was a small plane, it didn’t go at such a high altitude and because it was so clear we were able to see the Great Barrier Reef from the plane which was absolutely amazing!

After arriving in Cairns, we picked up our hire car. Then followed a bit of a krypton factor puzzle trying to fit all the luggage into the boot! The drive up to Port Douglas was about an hour following the Captain Cook Highway part of which was a coastal road and the views from the car were stunning. Lovely beaches and sea with rainforests beyond.

We were staying in an apartment at Rendevouz, , we had breaky included which was a nice bonus! The apartment was really big, having 3 bedrooms which was great so Oliver could have his own and the girls shared.

Daisy didn’t like this apartment because there were some ants on her bed and there are a few bugs hanging around! We also have some ‘pet’ golden orb spiders outside that we have to pass that we have named Charlie and Harry!

Charlie, Daddy Prince Harry’s smaller cousin

(Emily’s choice of name!)

DAY 2 – EASTER SUNDAY

Had a little easter egg hunt around the apartment (didn’t want to include outside as part of the hunt in case any snakes or red backs lurking about!)

EASTER MONDAY – MOSSMAN GORGE

We had a drive to Mossman Gorge which is like a larger scale Padley Gorge but with deeper water and more currents! You are able to swim in this water (no crocs). In the guidebook it was described as ‘the water literally takes your breath away’ - it was very cold but once you were in it was lovely to cool down in given the 30 odd degree temperatures outside!

After cooling down, we went for a ‘bush walk’ which involved walking over a bridge not dissimilar to the swinging one on ‘Im a Celebrity’

The 2K walk felt a bit like 5K and was completely on smallish paths, not boardwalks as in some of the walks you get in the rainforest. Em was a bit worried. We were completely in the middle of the rainforest, completely on our own and there were lots of rustles in the bushes, and not to mention the mozzies!

TUESDAY 26^THAPRIL

Had a more chill out day so just walked round the shops at the marina. We went to The Iron Bar in the evening. This bar is famous for cane toad racing. (Cane toads are not very popular in Oz because they were introduced for good reason in 1935 in an attempt to control the native cane beetle which destroyed the sugar cane. The toads ignored the beetle, reproduced and killed lots of the native creatures. The original 101 toads that were introduced are now in the region of 2 million. We ate at this place, (steak, not toad) which was a mistake, the food was naff and we came to the conclusion that the place is famous just for this gimic and not for its food, if we had thought ahead we would have just had a drink there instead!

What happens is, you buy a ticket for $5 each and then if yours get picked out, you get to choose a toad, kiss its head and its put on the table with about 5 others, complete with ‘jockeys’ and blow a party blower at its rear end to make it jump along the table. First one off (by catching off the end of the table) wins.

So one of our tickets got picked out and Emily has to kiss its head and try to win the race. Her toad was called ‘Skippy’s love child’ and came 2^nd to last!! It was fun though and we all had a great time!

27^th April - Tjapukai Aboriginal Reserve

We set off towards Cairns, planning to go on the Skyrail to Kuranda and then to visit the Tjaukai Aboriginal Reserve. As we approached the Skyrail it was really cloudy and started spitting with rain (although it was still 26 degrees!) We decided that as we might not get the best views over the rainforest and beyond we would visit the aboriginal centre first. We weren’t disappointed. We had made a good choice leaving these visits until after Easter when the Aussie kids had gone back to school. We crossed the bridge over a river which looked as if a croc would rise above the water any minute. Then we spotted some quite large turtles in there, they were so sweet!

We were just in time for a traditional dance show and story telling of the ‘Dreamtime’ (the kind of tribe law). There were only a handful of people there and we had our faces painted in the traditional tribes symbols, learned how to throw a traditional spear, listened to a talk on how a didgeridoo is made and played and learned about traditional bush food and medicines!

We all had a turn at throwing a boomerang. That was great, we learned that traditionally they were used for killing birds for food for the tribe.

Ol was brill, he threw it quite a way and…..yes it did come back!

might try this make up for a night down Eccy Road!

28^TH APRIL - Cape Tribulation

Set off early for our trip up to Cape Tribulation. Cape Trib. is described as ‘where tropical rainforest meets the sea’ and its really picture postcard stuff! It’s accessed via cable ferry over our first taste of crocodile infested water (although we didn’t see any!) Driving through the Daintree Forest is beautiful. There’s one road through thick forest, little creeks and sometimes glimpses of beach and sea.

Cape Trib is at the end of the sealed road and then it changes into an unsealed road only accessible by 4WD. We spent about an hour on the beach. It is really picturesque and the girls played in the sand, Oliver looked in the rock pools with Rich, hoping that a croc wouldn’t jump out! Crocs have been known to swim in the sea and walk along the beach here!

We had a walk to the end of the peninsula, the sea was so warm here, it’s a shame that swimming here is off limits – sharks, stinging jelly fish, stone fish, crocs – take your pick!

We then drove to a picnic site and had lunch, trying to find a bit of shade!

After, we drove along to Jindalba board walk, which is a walk in the rainforest, trying to spot ‘dragons’ – a kind of lizard (saw none), maybe a cassowary large, colourful, flightless bird, which is endangered – (saw none), all we saw is a bush turkey – we getting a bit sick of seeing these!

We stopped off at Thornton Beach - another picturesque setting, then stopped at Daintree Ice Cream, which is a small business that makes ice cream from the fruit that is in season and grown in the grounds (which you pass on your way in). You get a bowl of 4 of the in-season flavours which were passion fruit, wattle seed, raspberry and macademia nut - delicious!

29^TH APRIL - Barrier Reef (Take 2!)

Today was our 2^nd Barrier Reef trip. This trip was different to our first in that they didn’t have a pontoon so you had to swim from the boat and they visited 3 reefs during the day which provided different sea life in each.

The sea was extremely rough on the way out and you were advised to take travel sickness medication. This was for over 8’s so Daisy couldn’t have any. She was sick! Bless her.

But little Daisy has been such a star in the water. Despite the sea being really choppy she was like a little fish, she didn’t want you to hold her and just wanted to be independent!

It doesnt do it justice though this is some of the underwater life we saw – taken on Ol’s underwater camera!

The corals were much more colourful here and we saw more fish and a reef shark!