Last day of the trip and I think we are all ready to go home.
We drive from Port Douglas back to Cairns and went back to the lagoon and playground downtown. Mel and Julia helped to look after the kids until 12 and then had to leave me with the kids while they went off for their big sky dive adventure. A pretty cool way to end the trip in my opinion. They had tried to do it in Mission Beach but the weather didn't co-operate.
I spent the afternoon with the kids at the lagoon swimming and walking and napping. Mel and Julia returned at around 4 PM and we stuck it out at the lagoon until around 5:30 pm. Then we had a quick dinner at a Red Rooster and headed to the airport.
Our flight left at 8:15 PM and we were back in Melbourne around 11:45 PM. The departure lounge at Cairns was great with lots of shops and restaurants. If we had known it was that nice we would have had dinner there. One of the best we have seen on this trip.
So thats the end of the trip. I will leave it to Mel to comment on the sky diving and to add her take on the trip.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Mel's Highlights from Brisbane to Port Douglas
So here goes the synopsis of my highlights of our trip (for those of you with shorter attention spans and a penchant for less exclamation marks and more …)
Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort
Dolphins-cool. Long-winded instructions about how to hold a fish for a dolphin to take out of your hand at dinner time– decidedly uncool for toddlers and adults alike.
4WD Quad driving – supercool! I was meant for speed. Japanese females that do not understand English are generally not meant for speed. Thank goodness we were immediately put in the advanced group and whisked away to the sand desert for some serious off-roading.
Villas opening up to the beach – cool. Islands with overpriced restaurants and a cheap take-away Place where you too can wait 75 minutes for fish and chips – uncool.
Noosa
As Jeff says, if you had scads of money and a huge boat to show off, this is your destination of choice! If you have kids and it is raining, this is NOT your destination of choice. At least the zoo is only a short drive away.
Australia Zoo – worth the drive and the entry fee.
Wyatt was trying very hard to have a conversation with a kangaroo and fully expected the kangaroo to respond – the conversation went something like “Kangaroo, this is your park, where is your playground? See this map kangaroo. This is your part. Do you know where the playground is? Kangaroo? Kangaroo?”. We of course were egging him on since everyone within earshot was highly amused.
Hervey Bay/Fraser Island (I spent the day with all 3 kids so not much worth noting.)
Things have changed since I went there, the tours don’t seem to cover the northern tip of the island where the cool champagne whirlpools are and the sharks and rays can be spotted from the Indian Heads cliff lookout. Minding 3 kids on your own in a penthouse apt. is not the easiest thing to do. However, the 15 minute walk up the stairs to your apt. does eat up a lot of time in your day, leaving less time to fill with exciting activities
Rockhampton
Jeff and Julia thought of this as a highlight because of the cool park and the buffet style dinner at Sizzler…(heartbreaking to the woman that spent weeks organising super scenic locations where said individuals could partake in stupendous tours only to be outdone by an all-you can-eat meal! with a self-serve sundae bar)
Airlie Beach (not Arlie beach)
I am sad to announce that our family is best suited to caravan parks. You heard me dad, not the luxury 5-star accommodations you taught me to enjoy regardless of my financial situation, but the “Do you not have enough money” type camping/caravan accommodations I enjoyed in my youth. Luckily for me, the Aussies do caravan parks in style. They have serviced “luxury condos” for people like me with kids like mine! Whitehaven Beach was beautifully scenic although the aerial view is much more compelling than the land view. Wyatt loved the bikes as Jeff said and he also enjoyed the near-drowning experience of going down the covered slide into the pool – repeatedly!
Magnetic Island
Lovely, a good day trip. Very low key, great beaches.
Wyatt was desperate to drive a purple Mini-Moke (or the topless one), but as we had the van, we hadn’t budgeted for a second vehicle just for him. (If I win Dad, can I get a Mini-Moke?)
The Koala Sanctuary was very cool. The lorrikeet feeding was awesome as we had NO idea what we were in for and it was totally unexpected that the birds would clench onto our scalps in the hopes of being fed (check out Julia’s face as she was their first victim). The kids were fans until they got too got scalped. These are not gentle birds, nor are they quiet. Deafening in fact.
They are everywhere in Horseshoe Bay and you learn very quickly not to feed them unless you enjoy a good after breakfast swarming and scalping! Luckily they seem to have good “elimination control” and despite their large population, none of us were dumped on. Then came the guided tour where we got to touch all the creepy animals. Highlights : Maddy staring down a croc saying “Snap Snap” and trying to give it a good grab or staring down the snake and hissing…maybe the rubber snake as a baby toy wasn’t such a good idea.
Mission Beach (not Missing beach), although with the rain, time at the beach was definitely missing.
No skydiving – which by the way was my sister’s only request for the trip – everyone that knows us assumed I was the one to con her into doing it... Having bungy-jumped and the like, I thought this part of my life was over but since she wanted a companion and I didn’t fear the activity I said I would go with her. Fate saw to it that we would die another day because the weather was too poor to skydive so we cancelled our booking. The Cassawong cottages were incredible and very rainforesty.
The stick bug in the pool was awe someonly because I managed to inadvertently avoid crushing it while reaching for a diving disc that Wyatt threw at me – that would have FREAKED ME OUT!!!
Anyways, once the weather cleared and we made some friends, we enjoyed our last morning in Mission beach on the the expansive beach and had a tribute-to-Simba morning throwing sticks for the resort dog Archie
(much like Simba in his eagerness to receive but NOT retrieve). Then we got back in the car and then made our way north for our final stop. Wyatt saw a black and white dog in the back of a yute and wanted to buy one like that and name it ABBA???
Port Douglas
To break up the trip we decided to stop at the lagoon in Cairns. Upon doing this I think everyone was wondering why we weren’t staying in Cairns…as the lagoon was quite the sight…beautiful 20-somethings as far as the eye could see, play fountains for the kids, a park close by, nice warm water, beautiful weather. But we had heard good things about Port Douglas so we continued on.
“Dougie” or “the Port” seemed cursed from the get-go. A GIANT spider on the van upon arriving. A crappy “resort” that was under construction, had no real tour desk, really had no services to speak of, ran out of food at lunch – HUH? and had a villa that seemed incredibly small after our other stays. I kept gashing myself on furniture, stubbing my toes, etc… The kids didn’t sleep well but we were too lazy and cheap to find alternate accommodations. We had a long day as we tried to explore the Daintree Discovery Centre – Wyatt’s shoe episode was pretty funny as people must have thought it was some amazing blue bird streaking down to the ground through the trees. The drive was not for the faint of stomach but the kids kept down their lunches and all was good. The next day Jeff and I enjoyed some AMAZING snorkelling and I did a refresher intro dive to remind myself why I got certified so very long ago. The coral was extremely colourful, the assortment of fish rivalled the Melbourne Aquarium and Reef HQ but the highlight was swimming with a GIGANTIC sea turtle (sorry - we didn't take any underwater cameras, preferring to live in the moment!). We were the only ones on the tour to speak of seeing the turtle so we think that we may have been the only ones to see it – lucky break. No sharks or rays but the turtle kept us both happy. Jeff and I enjoyed this day and were glad that it came at the end of the trip as it would have been hard to top.
Our last day saw us tired and ready to go home but Julia and I had some unfinished business. We were going skydiving. Jeff would take the kids to the Cairns lagoon while we attached ourselves to some strangers and asked them to push us out of an airplane – sounded good at the time. Julia was very nervous and I tried not to enjoy this too much. Before they would take my money they told me there was a good chance that I might dislocate my shoulder again, unless I kept my arms in during the free fall. So you will notice in the picks my arms are tight to my body during free fall to minimize my risk. Her tandem flyer Mike was a crazy Kiwi and my tandem diver Ronnie was my age and a tandem skydiver – need I say more? The two of them teased her mercilessly when they clued in to how nervous she was. Mike kept pretending he didn’t know how many straps there were supposed to be and he kept asking Ronnie for advice, etc… all the while Julia became more and more worried. When we were in the bus on the way to the airport, one of their colleagues was driving by on his scooter. They were desperate to hit him with an elastic, but the only ones they had were attached to our gear (their purpose was and is still unknown). Of course, Mike came over and took the elastics off of Julia’s gear…she looked panicked. He then explained that they were “Skydiving elastics” that could carry tonnes…She was so nervous she couldn’t tell when they were teasing her and as she tells it “I (Julia) thought I would cry the whole way but my sister(Mel) did because she was laughing at me the whole time”.
The experience was a lot less scary and a lot cooler than I expected and I am glad that Julia gave me an opportunity to relive my youth for a few short minutes. The pics are very cool and a wonderful momento.
Unfortunately our next and last flight of the day was not nearly as entertaining – 3 overtired and underfed squirmy toddlers and their exhausted parents did not make any friends on the flight home from Cairns.
The trip is done. Things to note:
1. As Jeff mentioned, 200 km on the coast is NOT equivalent to 200 km on the 401. The driving was slow and as a result we bit off a bit more than we could manage thinking that we could drive over 2000 km in 17 days with 3 kids being happy and parents feeling like they were on holidays.
2. Holidays with kids are NOT relaxing. They are simply a change of scenery and often involve more work than a normal day.
3. Kids do not need toys to play at the beach. A ziplock bag and some shells and rocks will suffice.
4. High chairs are an amazing invention and are well worth their weight in gold.
5. Kids are very photogenic but not necessarily very obedient when on holidays.
6. As my wise sister pointed out, the skydiving and the snorkelling should NOT be the moments in my life that I cherish, the highlights should be enjoying my beautiful family, good health and good fortune! Thanks Jule!
AH, THE MANY LESSONS I HAVE YET TO LEARN!!!!!!!!!
Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort
Dolphins-cool. Long-winded instructions about how to hold a fish for a dolphin to take out of your hand at dinner time– decidedly uncool for toddlers and adults alike.4WD Quad driving – supercool! I was meant for speed. Japanese females that do not understand English are generally not meant for speed. Thank goodness we were immediately put in the advanced group and whisked away to the sand desert for some serious off-roading.
Villas opening up to the beach – cool. Islands with overpriced restaurants and a cheap take-away Place where you too can wait 75 minutes for fish and chips – uncool.
Noosa
As Jeff says, if you had scads of money and a huge boat to show off, this is your destination of choice! If you have kids and it is raining, this is NOT your destination of choice. At least the zoo is only a short drive away.
Australia Zoo – worth the drive and the entry fee.
Wyatt was trying very hard to have a conversation with a kangaroo and fully expected the kangaroo to respond – the conversation went something like “Kangaroo, this is your park, where is your playground? See this map kangaroo. This is your part. Do you know where the playground is? Kangaroo? Kangaroo?”. We of course were egging him on since everyone within earshot was highly amused.
Hervey Bay/Fraser Island (I spent the day with all 3 kids so not much worth noting.)
Things have changed since I went there, the tours don’t seem to cover the northern tip of the island where the cool champagne whirlpools are and the sharks and rays can be spotted from the Indian Heads cliff lookout. Minding 3 kids on your own in a penthouse apt. is not the easiest thing to do. However, the 15 minute walk up the stairs to your apt. does eat up a lot of time in your day, leaving less time to fill with exciting activities
Rockhampton
Jeff and Julia thought of this as a highlight because of the cool park and the buffet style dinner at Sizzler…(heartbreaking to the woman that spent weeks organising super scenic locations where said individuals could partake in stupendous tours only to be outdone by an all-you can-eat meal! with a self-serve sundae bar)
Airlie Beach (not Arlie beach)
I am sad to announce that our family is best suited to caravan parks. You heard me dad, not the luxury 5-star accommodations you taught me to enjoy regardless of my financial situation, but the “Do you not have enough money” type camping/caravan accommodations I enjoyed in my youth. Luckily for me, the Aussies do caravan parks in style. They have serviced “luxury condos” for people like me with kids like mine! Whitehaven Beach was beautifully scenic although the aerial view is much more compelling than the land view. Wyatt loved the bikes as Jeff said and he also enjoyed the near-drowning experience of going down the covered slide into the pool – repeatedly!
Magnetic Island
Lovely, a good day trip. Very low key, great beaches.
Wyatt was desperate to drive a purple Mini-Moke (or the topless one), but as we had the van, we hadn’t budgeted for a second vehicle just for him. (If I win Dad, can I get a Mini-Moke?)
The Koala Sanctuary was very cool. The lorrikeet feeding was awesome as we had NO idea what we were in for and it was totally unexpected that the birds would clench onto our scalps in the hopes of being fed (check out Julia’s face as she was their first victim). The kids were fans until they got too got scalped. These are not gentle birds, nor are they quiet. Deafening in fact.
They are everywhere in Horseshoe Bay and you learn very quickly not to feed them unless you enjoy a good after breakfast swarming and scalping! Luckily they seem to have good “elimination control” and despite their large population, none of us were dumped on. Then came the guided tour where we got to touch all the creepy animals. Highlights : Maddy staring down a croc saying “Snap Snap” and trying to give it a good grab or staring down the snake and hissing…maybe the rubber snake as a baby toy wasn’t such a good idea.
Mission Beach (not Missing beach), although with the rain, time at the beach was definitely missing.
No skydiving – which by the way was my sister’s only request for the trip – everyone that knows us assumed I was the one to con her into doing it... Having bungy-jumped and the like, I thought this part of my life was over but since she wanted a companion and I didn’t fear the activity I said I would go with her. Fate saw to it that we would die another day because the weather was too poor to skydive so we cancelled our booking. The Cassawong cottages were incredible and very rainforesty.
The stick bug in the pool was awe someonly because I managed to inadvertently avoid crushing it while reaching for a diving disc that Wyatt threw at me – that would have FREAKED ME OUT!!!Anyways, once the weather cleared and we made some friends, we enjoyed our last morning in Mission beach on the the expansive beach and had a tribute-to-Simba morning throwing sticks for the resort dog Archie
(much like Simba in his eagerness to receive but NOT retrieve). Then we got back in the car and then made our way north for our final stop. Wyatt saw a black and white dog in the back of a yute and wanted to buy one like that and name it ABBA???
Port Douglas
To break up the trip we decided to stop at the lagoon in Cairns. Upon doing this I think everyone was wondering why we weren’t staying in Cairns…as the lagoon was quite the sight…beautiful 20-somethings as far as the eye could see, play fountains for the kids, a park close by, nice warm water, beautiful weather. But we had heard good things about Port Douglas so we continued on.
“Dougie” or “the Port” seemed cursed from the get-go. A GIANT spider on the van upon arriving. A crappy “resort” that was under construction, had no real tour desk, really had no services to speak of, ran out of food at lunch – HUH? and had a villa that seemed incredibly small after our other stays. I kept gashing myself on furniture, stubbing my toes, etc… The kids didn’t sleep well but we were too lazy and cheap to find alternate accommodations. We had a long day as we tried to explore the Daintree Discovery Centre – Wyatt’s shoe episode was pretty funny as people must have thought it was some amazing blue bird streaking down to the ground through the trees. The drive was not for the faint of stomach but the kids kept down their lunches and all was good. The next day Jeff and I enjoyed some AMAZING snorkelling and I did a refresher intro dive to remind myself why I got certified so very long ago. The coral was extremely colourful, the assortment of fish rivalled the Melbourne Aquarium and Reef HQ but the highlight was swimming with a GIGANTIC sea turtle (sorry - we didn't take any underwater cameras, preferring to live in the moment!). We were the only ones on the tour to speak of seeing the turtle so we think that we may have been the only ones to see it – lucky break. No sharks or rays but the turtle kept us both happy. Jeff and I enjoyed this day and were glad that it came at the end of the trip as it would have been hard to top.
Our last day saw us tired and ready to go home but Julia and I had some unfinished business. We were going skydiving. Jeff would take the kids to the Cairns lagoon while we attached ourselves to some strangers and asked them to push us out of an airplane – sounded good at the time. Julia was very nervous and I tried not to enjoy this too much. Before they would take my money they told me there was a good chance that I might dislocate my shoulder again, unless I kept my arms in during the free fall. So you will notice in the picks my arms are tight to my body during free fall to minimize my risk. Her tandem flyer Mike was a crazy Kiwi and my tandem diver Ronnie was my age and a tandem skydiver – need I say more? The two of them teased her mercilessly when they clued in to how nervous she was. Mike kept pretending he didn’t know how many straps there were supposed to be and he kept asking Ronnie for advice, etc… all the while Julia became more and more worried. When we were in the bus on the way to the airport, one of their colleagues was driving by on his scooter. They were desperate to hit him with an elastic, but the only ones they had were attached to our gear (their purpose was and is still unknown). Of course, Mike came over and took the elastics off of Julia’s gear…she looked panicked. He then explained that they were “Skydiving elastics” that could carry tonnes…She was so nervous she couldn’t tell when they were teasing her and as she tells it “I (Julia) thought I would cry the whole way but my sister(Mel) did because she was laughing at me the whole time”.
The experience was a lot less scary and a lot cooler than I expected and I am glad that Julia gave me an opportunity to relive my youth for a few short minutes. The pics are very cool and a wonderful momento.
Unfortunately our next and last flight of the day was not nearly as entertaining – 3 overtired and underfed squirmy toddlers and their exhausted parents did not make any friends on the flight home from Cairns.
The trip is done. Things to note:
1. As Jeff mentioned, 200 km on the coast is NOT equivalent to 200 km on the 401. The driving was slow and as a result we bit off a bit more than we could manage thinking that we could drive over 2000 km in 17 days with 3 kids being happy and parents feeling like they were on holidays.
2. Holidays with kids are NOT relaxing. They are simply a change of scenery and often involve more work than a normal day.
3. Kids do not need toys to play at the beach. A ziplock bag and some shells and rocks will suffice.
4. High chairs are an amazing invention and are well worth their weight in gold.
5. Kids are very photogenic but not necessarily very obedient when on holidays.
6. As my wise sister pointed out, the skydiving and the snorkelling should NOT be the moments in my life that I cherish, the highlights should be enjoying my beautiful family, good health and good fortune! Thanks Jule!
AH, THE MANY LESSONS I HAVE YET TO LEARN!!!!!!!!!
Day 17 - Port Douglas
Todays big trip was to head out to the reef and explore. We chose a boat that stopped at 3 different spots and gave you about 3 hours in the water. Mel chose to do a dive at one location while I opted for snorkeling at all three.
I have snorkeled at a few different places in the Caribbean and I always came away thinking that it just wasn't as colorful as it appears on TV or in photos. Now I know that I was just i the wrong places ! The reef here was as colorful as you imagine it to be. The shapes, sizes, and colours of the coral was amazing ! I'd love to show you some pictures but we didn't get a disposable underwater camera as we wanted to enjoy our time instead of worrying about taking pictures.
Jsut so you know, this is the location where the reef is closest to the mainland but it's still a one hour fast catamaran ride from shore. So you are out in the ocean pretty far. You can't really see the land from here.
The first sight was fairly shallow, I'd say about 10 - 12 meters deep. The depth was fairly constant and the coral most the most diverse here. There were tons of fish , clams, sea cucumbers, star fish, but nothing too big or scary.
Second sight was a much deeper, probably 20 meters and the coral here has formed a huge wall or cliff. At the top of the coral there was only about a meter of water and the coral is exposed to the sun at low tide. The sea life here was much the same but with the water being so much deeper there was the ever present threat of something huge showing up...but it didn't happen.
Last sight was a combination of the above two. Big wall opening up into the ocean and then varied landscapes when you went over the wall. We sal lots of cuddle fish here. Mel was keeping one eye on the open water searching for something big and when she grabbed my arm and pointed I almost didn't want to look ! Judging by her excitement it figured it was a great white ! Turned out to be a HUGE sea turtle. It was about 10 meters below us and was easliy as long as me. It just swam along the wall lazily while we smaw above it . We followed it for about 10 minutes or so until is swam back out to sea. It was the highlight of the day.
The ride back in was much rougher than the ride out and there were lots of people at the back of the boat losing thier lunch. Mel and I missed lunch as we snorkelled for the whole second stop so were not at risk of losing much.
I have snorkeled at a few different places in the Caribbean and I always came away thinking that it just wasn't as colorful as it appears on TV or in photos. Now I know that I was just i the wrong places ! The reef here was as colorful as you imagine it to be. The shapes, sizes, and colours of the coral was amazing ! I'd love to show you some pictures but we didn't get a disposable underwater camera as we wanted to enjoy our time instead of worrying about taking pictures.
Jsut so you know, this is the location where the reef is closest to the mainland but it's still a one hour fast catamaran ride from shore. So you are out in the ocean pretty far. You can't really see the land from here.
The first sight was fairly shallow, I'd say about 10 - 12 meters deep. The depth was fairly constant and the coral most the most diverse here. There were tons of fish , clams, sea cucumbers, star fish, but nothing too big or scary.
Second sight was a much deeper, probably 20 meters and the coral here has formed a huge wall or cliff. At the top of the coral there was only about a meter of water and the coral is exposed to the sun at low tide. The sea life here was much the same but with the water being so much deeper there was the ever present threat of something huge showing up...but it didn't happen.
Last sight was a combination of the above two. Big wall opening up into the ocean and then varied landscapes when you went over the wall. We sal lots of cuddle fish here. Mel was keeping one eye on the open water searching for something big and when she grabbed my arm and pointed I almost didn't want to look ! Judging by her excitement it figured it was a great white ! Turned out to be a HUGE sea turtle. It was about 10 meters below us and was easliy as long as me. It just swam along the wall lazily while we smaw above it . We followed it for about 10 minutes or so until is swam back out to sea. It was the highlight of the day.
The ride back in was much rougher than the ride out and there were lots of people at the back of the boat losing thier lunch. Mel and I missed lunch as we snorkelled for the whole second stop so were not at risk of losing much.
Day 16 - Port Douglas
Todays plan was to visit the rainforest. So after breakfast we piled into the van and drove for about an hour up to the Daintree National park. To get there you need to cross the Daintree river on a cable driven ferry. No small feat considering the river is infested with Crocodiles !
Once across its like driving into Jurassic Park ! Huge cliffs, vegetation so thick you can't see into it, weird animals ! The road is super twisty and steep and the trees are so thick they create a tunnel over the road.
There are multiple ways to explore the forest including Jeep safaris, helicopter rides, cable car rides, river cruises, and hikes. We chose instead to go to the Discovery center which is a large complex of suspended walkways and towers where you walk through the forest . We were hoping the kids would enjoy walking around more than they did but it was still pretty cool.
The highlight was Wyatt sticking his leg through the railing at the top of the 100 foot tall observation tower and promptly kicking off his sandle !
The other people on the tower found this hilarious...as did Wyatt , until I told him he was going to have to wear one shoe now for the rest of his life. He didn't seem to like that idea so we went down to look for it....luckily it landed on one of the suspended walkways we didn't need to go walking through the forest and risk getting kicked out of the place.
We spent the afternoon at the resort pool and Mel and I signed up for an all day snorkelling/diving trip to the Reef.
Once across its like driving into Jurassic Park ! Huge cliffs, vegetation so thick you can't see into it, weird animals ! The road is super twisty and steep and the trees are so thick they create a tunnel over the road.
There are multiple ways to explore the forest including Jeep safaris, helicopter rides, cable car rides, river cruises, and hikes. We chose instead to go to the Discovery center which is a large complex of suspended walkways and towers where you walk through the forest . We were hoping the kids would enjoy walking around more than they did but it was still pretty cool.
The highlight was Wyatt sticking his leg through the railing at the top of the 100 foot tall observation tower and promptly kicking off his sandle !
The other people on the tower found this hilarious...as did Wyatt , until I told him he was going to have to wear one shoe now for the rest of his life. He didn't seem to like that idea so we went down to look for it....luckily it landed on one of the suspended walkways we didn't need to go walking through the forest and risk getting kicked out of the place.
We spent the afternoon at the resort pool and Mel and I signed up for an all day snorkelling/diving trip to the Reef.
Day 15 - Mission Beach to Port Douglas
First off a little update on day 14. At the pool in the afternoon we met another couple with two young girls . As our kids swam in the rain Mel got the conversation going. Then we invited them over to play after dinner. The kids all got along great and it turned a pretty grim day into an interesting one.
Today started out sunny and warm for a change and we decided that instead of just hitting the road we would head across the street to the beach and spend some time here first.
The beach is a long as you can see and quite nice with palm trees lining the edge. Very tropical feeling. our neighbours had the same idea and the kids got to all play together again.
The owners of the resort have a brown lab named Archie and he follows anyone to the beach. We had some fun throwing sticks into the surf for him and Wyatt grew quite attached to him.
After the beach we hit the road for the drive to Cairns where we hoped to have lunch and visit thier sea side lagoon. The highway is a twisty little two lane road lined with Sugar cane and Banana trees the whole way. The sugar cane fields are all linked together with tiny little railroads that they use for hauling the harvested cane to the processing plants. The gauge of the trackes can't be more than 2 feet.
We arrived in Cairns and headed to the lagoon. Cairns seems much more built up, lots more brand name shops and restaurants. Big hotels. The lagoon was massive and very nice. Although littered with backpackers and tourists ! We stayed here and let the kids play until afternoon nap and then made the last push to Port douglas.
This road is a mini great ocean road and luckily no one got sick ! Port Douglas is just a tiny little town on a peninsula that is a good jumping off point for both the Great Barrier reef and the Daintree Rainforest.
We checked into our room and then headed out for a nice dinner at a Hog's Breath Cafe on the pier.
Today started out sunny and warm for a change and we decided that instead of just hitting the road we would head across the street to the beach and spend some time here first.
The beach is a long as you can see and quite nice with palm trees lining the edge. Very tropical feeling. our neighbours had the same idea and the kids got to all play together again.
The owners of the resort have a brown lab named Archie and he follows anyone to the beach. We had some fun throwing sticks into the surf for him and Wyatt grew quite attached to him.
After the beach we hit the road for the drive to Cairns where we hoped to have lunch and visit thier sea side lagoon. The highway is a twisty little two lane road lined with Sugar cane and Banana trees the whole way. The sugar cane fields are all linked together with tiny little railroads that they use for hauling the harvested cane to the processing plants. The gauge of the trackes can't be more than 2 feet.
We arrived in Cairns and headed to the lagoon. Cairns seems much more built up, lots more brand name shops and restaurants. Big hotels. The lagoon was massive and very nice. Although littered with backpackers and tourists ! We stayed here and let the kids play until afternoon nap and then made the last push to Port douglas.
This road is a mini great ocean road and luckily no one got sick ! Port Douglas is just a tiny little town on a peninsula that is a good jumping off point for both the Great Barrier reef and the Daintree Rainforest.
We checked into our room and then headed out for a nice dinner at a Hog's Breath Cafe on the pier.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Day 14 - Mission Beach
Well, it's still raining. And sadly there is not much to do here in the rain. I guess it just never rains like this here so poeple don't really have any advice for us.
We spent the morning wandering around the shops in Mission Beach and having a snack at a Cafe. We went back and had a quick swim in the rainforest before lunch and nap time. The pool has a rock waterfall and a large boulder in the middle. Mel was retrieving a toy from under the boulder when she let out a small shriek ! There was a walking stick bug that has to be at least 12" long on the boulder. The coolest bug I have ever seen !! The sort of thing you only ever see in a museum !
I came back into town to do some updating at an internet cafe while Mel and Julia had naps with the kids.
Sadly the weather didn't work out for the skydiving plans ! Raining and overcast. The whole point of skydiving here seems to be that you can see the great barrier reef and beaches and admire it the whole way down....only thing you would see on a day like today is great skies and rain on your googles. It's supposed to clear up tomorrow so maybe they can try it again in the morning as we dont have to catch any ferries or anything tomorrow...Just drive to Port Douglas ( our last stop on this trip ).
I hope the weather gets better too cause I want to do a trip out to the outer reef and do a full day of snorkelling out there !
I'll try and get more pics up in the next day or two. I have lots of pics of the birds and the bush walk !
We spent the morning wandering around the shops in Mission Beach and having a snack at a Cafe. We went back and had a quick swim in the rainforest before lunch and nap time. The pool has a rock waterfall and a large boulder in the middle. Mel was retrieving a toy from under the boulder when she let out a small shriek ! There was a walking stick bug that has to be at least 12" long on the boulder. The coolest bug I have ever seen !! The sort of thing you only ever see in a museum !
I came back into town to do some updating at an internet cafe while Mel and Julia had naps with the kids.
Sadly the weather didn't work out for the skydiving plans ! Raining and overcast. The whole point of skydiving here seems to be that you can see the great barrier reef and beaches and admire it the whole way down....only thing you would see on a day like today is great skies and rain on your googles. It's supposed to clear up tomorrow so maybe they can try it again in the morning as we dont have to catch any ferries or anything tomorrow...Just drive to Port Douglas ( our last stop on this trip ).
I hope the weather gets better too cause I want to do a trip out to the outer reef and do a full day of snorkelling out there !
I'll try and get more pics up in the next day or two. I have lots of pics of the birds and the bush walk !
Day 13 - Magnetic Island to Mission Beach
We got up early in order to be packed and back at Nelly Bay for the 9:30 AM ferry to Townsville. Again it was rainy and overcast so our plan was to go to the Reef HQ aquarium in Townsville in the morning and then drive in the afternoon.
The Aquarium is run by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority and is really devoted to the Coral Reef only. No great white sharks or whales here !
There is one main giant tank in the center of the place that houses a huge living coral reef and all the organisms that go with it.
You then walk around the tank with various other smaller tanks on the outside walls. The do have a few small sharks and other predators in a seperate large tank, but there are none in the giant tank.
It was great to see the fish and be able to find out what they all were so we know what we have seen snorkelling. I was even able to find the Morray Eel that I had seen earlier on the trip.
The kids liked it more than I expected after the disaster we had at the Melbourne Aquarium. Wyatt enjoyed trying to find new fish and Maddie and Cooper just kept saying "Nemo, Nemo !".
We did lunch at the cafe so we could watch the fish while eating and then hit the road for Mission beach at around 2 pm. The drive was non eventful and we arrived at around 5 pm or so. Driving distances are decieving here as the highway is two lanes only with speed limits from 60 to 100 km per hour. A lot like highway 7 back in Ontario excepts skinnier and more twisty. So going 250 km can take 3 or 4 hours sometimes.
Our accomodations here in Missing beach are across the road from the beach in a place called Cassowong Cottages. We are in the sunbird cottage. It is full on rain forest here. SAdly that also means it has rained the whole time we have been here !!
There are several other families staying here and the pool is somewhat kid friendly so that is good. The place has so much vegetation that it is like a maze walking around between the cottage, parking lot, and pool.
This is one of the few places that has had two cots, two high chairs, toys, and books for the kids. Well done ! Mel found out that the owners have 2 kids under 2 so they must feel our pain.
Mel and Julia hope to go skydiving tomorrow while I get my day to watch the kids by myself.
The Aquarium is run by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority and is really devoted to the Coral Reef only. No great white sharks or whales here !
There is one main giant tank in the center of the place that houses a huge living coral reef and all the organisms that go with it.
You then walk around the tank with various other smaller tanks on the outside walls. The do have a few small sharks and other predators in a seperate large tank, but there are none in the giant tank.
It was great to see the fish and be able to find out what they all were so we know what we have seen snorkelling. I was even able to find the Morray Eel that I had seen earlier on the trip.
The kids liked it more than I expected after the disaster we had at the Melbourne Aquarium. Wyatt enjoyed trying to find new fish and Maddie and Cooper just kept saying "Nemo, Nemo !".
We did lunch at the cafe so we could watch the fish while eating and then hit the road for Mission beach at around 2 pm. The drive was non eventful and we arrived at around 5 pm or so. Driving distances are decieving here as the highway is two lanes only with speed limits from 60 to 100 km per hour. A lot like highway 7 back in Ontario excepts skinnier and more twisty. So going 250 km can take 3 or 4 hours sometimes.
Our accomodations here in Missing beach are across the road from the beach in a place called Cassowong Cottages. We are in the sunbird cottage. It is full on rain forest here. SAdly that also means it has rained the whole time we have been here !!
There are several other families staying here and the pool is somewhat kid friendly so that is good. The place has so much vegetation that it is like a maze walking around between the cottage, parking lot, and pool.
This is one of the few places that has had two cots, two high chairs, toys, and books for the kids. Well done ! Mel found out that the owners have 2 kids under 2 so they must feel our pain.
Mel and Julia hope to go skydiving tomorrow while I get my day to watch the kids by myself.
Day 12 - Magnetic Island
Our place here is a nice three bedroom apartment on the top floor ( 3rd ) at Horseshoe bay. We have a view of the bay from our balcony. The weather here was still overcast today when we woke up so our hopes of jet skiing or snorkelling were foiled again.
We had booked the 2 hour guided "bush walk" at the koala sanctuary where we had seen to lorikeets. We figured that might be something we could do in the rain so through we would catch the 10 AM tour. However, when we walked over there we were told that the 10 am walk was cancelled. Great, now what do we do ?!?
The kids have gotten into the habbit of napping during the morning so we figured we would pile into the van and explore the island that way. Back towards Nelly Bay we came across Aracadia bay which has a spectacular little bay with a small playground. We made note of it and drove all the way to the end of the only road on the island then back to Arcadia bay. The road is only 10 km long so it didn't take that long !
This island seems to made up of lots and lots of huge boulders. This bay was about 100 meteres arcoss with boulders coming up out of the sea on both sides turning into huge cliffs on both sides.
I'll get the pictures up soon I hope. Despite the rain the kids were eager to play amongst the boulders so we let them get wet and dirty. It also started to clear up at this point so I decided to go for a swim as well. The water was quite warm and the waves here were a little bigger then we had seen before. All in all a great spot ! It would have been nice to stay here all day but it was getting close to lunch time.
We headed back to horseshoe bay and got some takeaway food and sat on a picnic table just off the beach to eat it. We were trying to keep the kids awake so that they would sleep during the 2:30 pm bush walk. Again, Wyatt was more than happy to play on the beach and in the water. I'm not sure what we are going to do with him when we get back to Canada !
So we made our way back to the koala sanctuary for 2:30 pm with the kids in the strollers ready to sleep. The walk turned out to be more of a stand around and listen to the guide speak while we showed us animals thing then an actual walk. However, that was fine with us as the kids fell asleep at the beginning and slept for almost the whole time.
He started off showing us a baby croc and a carpet python. They were handed around and everyone got to hold them and take pictures. Maddy and Cooper were all smiles when they got to touch the crocodile. Snap, snap ! Snap, snap ! said maddy as she and cooper tried to grad it away from me ! She also liked the python but preffered to keep her distance from it. They fell asleep at about this point.
We also got to touch some lizards and an echidna. However the big thing here is that you get to hold a Koala and have your picture taken. Mel and Julia held the Koala while I took the pictures. Very cool. Pictures to come soon ! We also got to feed some large cockatoos. It worked out great with the kids sleeping when they did and we were all feeling pretty good about magnetic island despite the overcast weather.
For capped it off with a nice dinner at the backpacker hostel connected to the Koala sanctuary. The atmosphere there was great and you really felt like you were in the rainforest surrouned by nothing by forest even though you were just off the highway. This place was voted the best backpacker accomodation in Australia ! We can see why ! If they had villas or cottages we would surely have stayed here instead.
We had booked the 2 hour guided "bush walk" at the koala sanctuary where we had seen to lorikeets. We figured that might be something we could do in the rain so through we would catch the 10 AM tour. However, when we walked over there we were told that the 10 am walk was cancelled. Great, now what do we do ?!?
The kids have gotten into the habbit of napping during the morning so we figured we would pile into the van and explore the island that way. Back towards Nelly Bay we came across Aracadia bay which has a spectacular little bay with a small playground. We made note of it and drove all the way to the end of the only road on the island then back to Arcadia bay. The road is only 10 km long so it didn't take that long !
This island seems to made up of lots and lots of huge boulders. This bay was about 100 meteres arcoss with boulders coming up out of the sea on both sides turning into huge cliffs on both sides.
I'll get the pictures up soon I hope. Despite the rain the kids were eager to play amongst the boulders so we let them get wet and dirty. It also started to clear up at this point so I decided to go for a swim as well. The water was quite warm and the waves here were a little bigger then we had seen before. All in all a great spot ! It would have been nice to stay here all day but it was getting close to lunch time.
We headed back to horseshoe bay and got some takeaway food and sat on a picnic table just off the beach to eat it. We were trying to keep the kids awake so that they would sleep during the 2:30 pm bush walk. Again, Wyatt was more than happy to play on the beach and in the water. I'm not sure what we are going to do with him when we get back to Canada !
So we made our way back to the koala sanctuary for 2:30 pm with the kids in the strollers ready to sleep. The walk turned out to be more of a stand around and listen to the guide speak while we showed us animals thing then an actual walk. However, that was fine with us as the kids fell asleep at the beginning and slept for almost the whole time.
He started off showing us a baby croc and a carpet python. They were handed around and everyone got to hold them and take pictures. Maddy and Cooper were all smiles when they got to touch the crocodile. Snap, snap ! Snap, snap ! said maddy as she and cooper tried to grad it away from me ! She also liked the python but preffered to keep her distance from it. They fell asleep at about this point.
We also got to touch some lizards and an echidna. However the big thing here is that you get to hold a Koala and have your picture taken. Mel and Julia held the Koala while I took the pictures. Very cool. Pictures to come soon ! We also got to feed some large cockatoos. It worked out great with the kids sleeping when they did and we were all feeling pretty good about magnetic island despite the overcast weather.
For capped it off with a nice dinner at the backpacker hostel connected to the Koala sanctuary. The atmosphere there was great and you really felt like you were in the rainforest surrouned by nothing by forest even though you were just off the highway. This place was voted the best backpacker accomodation in Australia ! We can see why ! If they had villas or cottages we would surely have stayed here instead.
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