I found a killer two bedroom apartment right between the beach and the marina, and stumbling distance to all the cute shops, restaurants and bars. We even had a hot tub on our patio!
We ate dinner at the marina....found a "club" that allows visitors. This is a view from the patio. The cyclone was about to hit the coast of North Queensland...luckily to the south of us...but the weather was pretty tumultuous.
The next morning we woke up to improved weather...and we hit the road to Cape Tribulation....part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. (ie. Rainforest) We explored Mossman Gorge and took a Crocodile cruise on the Daintree river. Above (in the very center) is a 2 week old crocodile. It has a 1 in 10 chance of surviving. Tiny, tiny little thing.
Next up...a 25 year old female. We gave her space. Apparently there is one big daddy of a crocodile who rules the area. The rest are all females. The waters are dangerous...apparently a five year old child got snapped up only a few years back.
On the log is a one year old croc. We also saw some colorful birds and butterflies. As well as a python curled up in a tree....
View of the river...we called it the Jungle Book Ride.
The drive to Cape Trib was full of walks and lookouts. Here we are with Paula and Rick. We even stopped for homemade ice cream...wattleseed, coconut, mango banana and something I have never heard of before....hmmmm....
We encountered this sign wherever we went. This bird is endangered....and I later learned it can DISEMBOWEL you with a single toenail. Later...after we came upon the bird. Note the "do not run" are you kidding me?
AND....here is the Cassowary....a mommy no less. Kind of like a momma bear. Apparently a stream of explatives came out of my mouth when the MASSIVE bird came out of the woods right next to my side of the car. We fumbled for the camera...and managed to snap a few quick photo's. Talk about Big Bird.....yikes. It was as tall as Dean.
The baby.....cute little thing. Note Momma's massive backside. They had traffic at a standstill.....
Next day we dove the Great Barrier Reef....We did a combined snorkel/scuba trip....so that Paula and Rick could join us. Our "superhero" suits are for avoiding "stingers". I wholeheartedly agreed with them, having been stung previously. The dive was incredible...although the water was still a bit cloudy from the recent storms. We saw two turtles...got to pet a fish larger then ourselves (Marvin)....Dean and Paula saw sharks...the coral was brightly colored and we saw huge schools of fish. Great day!
The next day we RELAXED. Above is a picture of our pool...which we lazed next to....we walked the beach and we cooked up a delicious dinner of fish taco's...probably the best meal we had. After four days in Port Douglas it was time to move on. The cylone hit hard...but it hit just south of Townsville...which was our next vacation destination. Time to hit the road!!!!
those birds are awesome!
ReplyDeletelooks fantastic guys! glad you were wary of the casso, thems some mighty sharp toenails!
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