Probably
Wednesday 12th March
Lazy day. Lunch at Costi’s in
Thursday 13th March
Day of trip preparation, doing some washing, unloading stuff on Ira and Anne that we weren’t taking up north with us. I went to the
Friday 14th March
Arrived in
Quicksilver do the most highly rated trip to the reef from Port Douglas. A luxury coach takes you to Port Douglas from
takes you out into the ocean (the strange boxy shaped floating thing is a semi-submersible)
to the
Lunch is a very good buffet with something for everybody and you can scuba, learn to scuba, get snorkel tours with a marine biologist, view the sea-life under the platform and take a trip in a semi-submersible around the reef. This is a picture of the inside
But it’s a poor substitute for snorkeling (or diving).
and is not to be missed if you visit Oz. Although the weather started rather badly, once out on the reef the sun came out and there was lots of sun between rain showers.
We didn’t book the Skyrail in advance of the trip up north but are very happy we didn’t miss it.
Not far outside Cairns they built a 7.5 km gondola ride that takes you high above the rainforest canopy to a place they call the ‘village in the rainforest’ – Kuranda.
There are two stops along the way, the first stop at Red Rock peak offers a complimentary short guided nature walk, the second offers spectacular views of the Barron Falls which, owing the huge amount of recent rainfall were quite something to behold.
We were supposed to go in one direction by train and then back by the Skyrail but, again owing to the massive rainfall, the train track was deemed potentially unsafe that day and we ended up going both directions via the Skyrail.
We did the tourist thing in Kuranda, had lunch and bought a couple tee-shirts. Then, with a little time to kill before heading back, we visited bird world which claims to be
The cassowary is
We headed back to be picked up by the bus and enjoyed another spectacular ride above the forest.
Monday 17th March
The trip to Daintree we had booked in advance. Downunder tours picked us up from the hotel in this strange vehicle
which can only be described an SUV on steroids – an Isuzu Warrior. The Daintree rainforest is a couple of hours north of
Then a stop by the Daintree Discovery centre where we had our first encounter with golden orb spiders while they fed us coffee and Anzacbiscuits for our morning smoko.
They look pretty fearsome but are only lethal to their mates. We climbed a high tower with a view over the forest canopy.
Back in the Warrior and over to
Back on the bus and off to Downundertours’ location in the forest somewhere where they fed us barbequed fish, steak and sausage and plied us with free wine (we, of course, not partaking of the steak and sausage!).
Although we actually did see two crocodiles, photos were not an option because either they were two small and far away (a baby two-year-old) or hard to see (a mother sitting on her nest). We also saw a python way up in a tree.
Tuesday 18th March
Our time in
After checking in at the Dunk Island Resort and grabbing a bite of lunch we went on the island walk which circumnavigates as much of the island as it is possible to walk around, starting with a climb up
During WWII the island had a radar station perched on top of the mountain (hill).
The meal was absolutely top notch, imaginative and delicious. Very nouvelle cuisine, i.e. not a huge amount, but very very good and for 40 odd bucks for three courses along with a cheap bottle of fizzy plonk it was quite reasonable.
Wednesday 19th March
Up fairly early for a top notch brekky with grilled mushrooms, hash browns, scrambled egg, grilled tomatoes, baked beans and freshly squeezed tropical juices (you do it yourself). There was bacon and sausage of course - if you like that sort of thing.
Then off for an informative butterfly and bird walk. The Ulysses butterfly is the Dunk Island Resort mascot, as said butterfly was first spotted on
I didn’t go very far – sitting upright with your legs out in front and bent with no back support is not easy for an old guy.
There is some strange plant life in rainforests such as this
Another excellent supper rounded out the day nicely.
Back by catamaran and bus to
First thing in Brisbane was to meet up with the Ewan, the son of longtime friends Ian and Sandra Martin.
He’s now married to an Aussie and working on getting his helicopter pilot’s license. We took a walk round nighttime
Picked up a rental car and headed for the Gold Coast which is a major destination of Australian holidaymakers to meet up with those Forrests again from Christchurch New
James and I did go on that ride you see behind us
And if you want to know what it was like, this shot just about sums it up for me. In my defense the Superman ride does pull 4.2 g’s positive gravity and 1 g negative.
After a day in the theme park we all drove back to Surfers Paradise where they were staying and went to the beach to get some fish and chips. The place was somewhat crowded.
Saturday 22nd
Returned the rental car and some excellent breakfast from The Pig and Whistle on the Queen Street Mall in Brisbane then waited for the shuttle to take us to the airport and then back to Sydney and our room in the Elite.
Current progress.