Port Douglas, Qld July 26, 2024

 Port Douglas, Qld July 26, 2024

Easy 130km down the mountain to Glengarry, which is as close to Port Douglas as you’d like for a caravan park. This year, as the Cook Highway is a bit of a mess between here and Cairns, we though we might slide down there tonight, stay in a hotel and I can do my Parkrun at 7am Saturday, rather than leaving at 6 am and hoping to make it on time.

We stayed in a grandly name hotel, The Palm Royale, out at a suburb called Manunda. The hotel is conveniently situated not far from several shopping centres and a 10 minute drive to Paloma, which is where I’ll do the parkrun. Found the hotel easily enough, the traffic on a Friday arvo is manic, the shops all look half empty and to be honest, the whole area looked a bit seedy. Our room had a nice little balcony overlooking the pool and we decided to drink bubbles and get a pizza for dinner. All the pizza shops, and there are  a lot, just around our area, all seemed to be flat-out. I finally drove to one, ordered a pizza and was told that it was 30 minutes wait. which is OK. I wandered into the nearby IGA, which again, looked half empty and 3 parts dead. They had one (1) can of Coke in the fridge... It seems to me that the whole area is over-serviced by an astounding number of shopping centre, large and small, and that none of them are doing very well. There are lots of closed shops everywhere.

After my Parkrun, we left the hotel and went right back up to the northern end of Cairns, Palm Cove to be exact. Always nice up here, with huge palms and giant melaleuca trees covering the waterfront, the hotels, cafes, bars and shops. It might be my imagination, but those trees seem to have doubled in size since last year. If it were in Sydney you have to wear a suit and tie to be allowed in. Parking is always a drama, but we lucked into one straight away and went off to find some breakfast. Suitably fed and watered, we did the obligatory perambulatory lap of the promenade and headed back to Port Douglas.

Giant melaleuca tree. Palm Cove, Cairns Qld

The Cook Highway was totally closed early in the year following heavy rains and multiple landslides onto the road. There are now four traffic-light controlled stop-go zones, and even with the heavy traffic, it wasn’t too much of a delay. Some of those rock falls look pretty huge though and it’s a wonder the road is open at all. At the northern end it looks more like the ocean side land had been eroded from under the road. They certainly have some work to do to fix this lot up!

Ah, Port Douglas. It is obligatory that one has to take luncheon at the Court House Hotel and indulge in a bucket of prawns. We have done this a number of times over the years, rough times to know that you need to take you our 1000 Island sauce if you want to get just the right taste from your gambini!

Judy in 7th heaven. Court House Hotel, Port Douglas Qld

About the only thing a poor old pensioner can afford to do in Port Douglas, apart from eating prawns, is the Lady Douglas cruise up the creek. Prices for cruises to the outer reef, or even the closer Low Isles, are extraordinary! Anyhow, despite having done the cruise any number of time, we elected to go on the Sunset Cruise, so called because its the last one of the day, nothing to do with the sun-setting. We were greeted by the skipper telling us that the 'head', boatie term for a toilet, was blocked, and if we went on the cruise we couldn't go, so we'd better had go at the marina before we left. Interesting start to an hour and a half with 30 bods or so on board. The charm of this cruise is totally dependant on the skipper. Today we had a really chatty one, who regaled us with all the gossip and news and history of the town of Port Douglas.

Being quite a high tide we didn't expect to see any crocodiles but eventual someone called out "Croc ahoy" and pointed to a bump in the water further up the creek. Probably a logodile, but newbie croc-spotters were happy.  Apart from the serenity of floating up the creek, you get a plastic cup of champagne and some raw carrots with humus dip as a snack. I'm still amazed at how many boats, yachts mainly, get brought up here and basically abandoned. Eventually they sink and every few years Council lets out a contract to salvagers to clean them out. 

Obviously didn't float the owner's boat. Left to sink and die in the mangrove swamps.
Packers Creek, Port Douglas Qld

Nestled among the super yachts, is John Farnham's boat, Phantom, bought by him back in the 1980s when he was a very big deal. Port Douglas, Qld

Speaking of John Farnham, the story is that when Christopher Skase, who invented Port Douglas, its marina, resorts and golf courses, gave the grand opening party, his special entertainer was John Farnham, high on the charts with his resurrection comeback as Whispering Jack. Mr Skase was so pleased he gave Mr Farnham not one, but two, luxury units in the newly completed Sheraton Hotel. Mr Farnham reputedly still owns both. Good on him!

One of the driving forces for our return visit to the area is to get up to Mossman, where, according to Judy, they make the best vanilla slices in Australia, way better even than the original Beechworth Bakery ones. We managed to nab one last year, but when we went back the next day they were closed! Outrageous.

Anyhow this year they were open and had a whole trayfull of the things so coffee and vanilla slice it was for morning tea. The smell coming out of the bakery into the alfresco dining area (fancy term for footpath) was too much. We went back in for pies for lunch and a pair of vanilla slices for 'ron'.

There seems to be a recurring theme here...
Judy at the Mossman Bakery enjoying a much anticipated Vanilla Slice.
Mossman, Qld

Apart from Mossman Gorge, and close proximity to Port Douglas and a short hop from the Daintree which brings loads of tourists in, the only other work in town is cane. Growing it, cutting it, carting it and crushing it. But wait. The 123 year old mill has just closed forever. According top Dr DuckDuckGo, It was reused several times from closure, the last by a cooperative formed by the farmers, but now having struggled for years, they just can't produce enough cane to keep it running economically, and so it is closed. It will be interesting to see what effect that has on Mossman and the surrounding area over the next few years. For a start, all the cane will now have to be taken by truck down to at least Cairns and beyond. Apart from the costs, the very thought of those huge can trucks rumbling up and down the Cook Highway, already congested and backed with 4 landslides, will be a nightmare. 

Cane Train. Probably the last one to ever come to Glengarry, July 2023

End of the line for cane trains, 2023. Mossman, Qld

And as everyone knows, just south of Glengarry is a bridge over the Mowbray river, which has become a huge tourist drawcard. Its even had a prop[er bridge and carpark put in for all the Croc-spotters.

Look! a croc! Mowbray River, Glengarry Qld

And there it is. 

Oh and look, there's lunch..... Thrill seeker.
Mowbray River, Glengarry Qld

Port Douglas Qld July 30th 2023

 Port Douglas Qld July 30th 2023

A photo shoot kind of blog today....

The original Parkrun on the Esplanade in Cairns. My fourth attendance. Tried for  a PB but fell 2 minutes short. The course is different from the first visits and is quite a good track. Cairns Qld

Palms at Palm Cove, northernmost part of Cairns. One of Judy's favourite places. 

We saw this string of empty carriages being shunted in as we were pulling into our caravan park. The line used to run right through the park and service the fields further down Mowbray Road. I just loved the early morning sunlight painting highlights on these rusty battered but still very much in used carriages. Glengarry Qld

Kookaburra sitting on the proverbial wire. This is when you wish you had a proper camera with a long lens. Oh well, at least the phone fits in my pocket! Glengarry Qld

Port Douglas Markets. Every Sunday whether they need them or not. Port Douglas Qld

Unusual rear view of the Sugar Shed. Built in 1905 to house the sugar coming in from the Mossman Central sugar mill, the cane train ran right out onto the wharf. Closed in 1958 when Cairns took over as a deep sea port. Ben Cropp had a museum there for some time, but now it is the most popular wedding reception venue in Far North Queensland. I took the shot while I was at the markets. Just something about the light and the symmetry. It just appealed to me

Wonga Beach, north of Mossman. Probably the pick of the beaches up this way.

You could hear the rust eating away you drove by. It's a Ford Customline ute, would be worth something if there were anything left of it. Daintree Qld

Distant waterfall, no idea what it's called. Mossman Qld

Cairns Qld Monday 15 August 2022

 Cairns Qld Monday 15 August 2022

Up early, fed and ready to hit the tour at 7am, we all trooped don to the wharf to wait for the big ferry to take us to Horn Island. Horn Island was offering a guided tour of WWII gun emplacements and slit trenches and a museum. All the handiwork of Vanessa over a 27 year period. Horn Island is also where the airport is and a big bird to take us to Cairns, which as the day wore on, beckoned ever so strongly.

And so we waited and waited. Word finally came that the big ferry hadn’t even left and didn’t look like it was ever going to anytime soon. This is Monday and a pile of people need to get to and from TI and Horn island, but hey, who cares? Fortunately the Outback Spirit credit card ruled the day and that Yellow School bus was hired to take us and anyone else who could cram on.

At Horn, Vanessa and her bus finally turned up and took us to a hotel, which also houses her museum. After she fiddled about a bit we were off on our tour. We saw a small beach, we walked around the gun emplacements which she and her husband were restoring (including a huge anti-aircraft gun that was donated), oohed and aahed at the wooden replica of a shell, and then back on the bus to a ... Slit Trench. The excitement never stopped. From there to a site where an aeroplane had crashed with no survivors, and precious little of the plane left either. And so in less than 40 minutes we are back to the hotel at 10 am for morning tea and a visit to the museum. But first a video. And then the museum, and then, you can all just wait here for 2 hours until they take us to lunch at some other hotel, because this one currently doesn’t have a chef due to staff shortages.

Welcome to Horn Island Qld

WWII Antiaircraft pit. Horn Island Qld

WWII Antiaircraft pit. Horn Island Qld

WWII Antiaircraft pit. Horn Island Qld

Aeroplane Bis. Horn Island Qld

WWII Slit Trench. Horn Island Qld

WWII Slit Trench. Horn Island Qld

Squeezing us into her busy tour schedule, Vanessa finally appears and took us to lunch at the other hotel. Lunch was just fine, again pre-ordered at some distant time in the past. But then, wait, you have to watch another film to fill in the two hours until you can be taken to the airport. The film which went for almost that long featured a snippet of Vanessa about 27 years ago, and the funny little fellow from the pearl farm. Talk about 15 seconds of fame. I fell asleep sitting bolt upright in the hard straight backed chair. When it finally finished and Vanessa and Bus turned up again, we were at last taken to the airport. Frankly, the time in the Torres Strait was so much of an anticlimax I was near ready to scream. Fortunately the Qantas plane was on time and before you know it we have been ferried to civilisation and our last night stay at the ShangriLa hotel.

Marina. Cairns Qld

We got our key and walked and walked and walked. The place must have 10,000 rooms. Finally we burst into our room and our jaws dropped. Where’s the bedroom? Where’s the bathroom? And what’s that view out the front from the full width balcony? We had lucked into a luxury suite and it was perfect. As was dinner downstairs later that night, which is where we said our farewells.

Sunset. Cairns Qld

Cairns, Qld 2August2022 90km

 Cairns, Qld 2August2022 90km

Made our wet way up into Cairns proper and set-up in the Coconut Caravan Park. It is huge. There are 10,000 families here. The pools are seething, but the water feels so good after the heat of the day. One pool even has a half decent water-slide that we had to elbow young persons out of the way to use. We went and found all the shops we needed to complete our various ensembles for the forthcoming trip to Cape York. The one singular thing that strikes you about Cairns is that its so busy: traffic, people, noise. everything in a rush and bustle, just like a really city. Give me Charters Topwers or maybe Kununurra any day. First night in we bought a pizza from the in-park shop / cafe and I am pleased to say it was pretty good. The bottle of local plonk may have helped....

Today we were going to do nothing, except pack the bags and make sure all was in readiness. However a ‘thing’ on my neck had other ideas and as it was getting bigger and angrier we thought the best thing to do was go and see a quack. Which of course is nigh on impossible (see reference to big city) as they are either all fully booked or not taking new patients. It is useless trying to explain that I will only bother them the once and as they have an appointment open in the next hour it may as well be me as anyone or more likely, no one. No dice. No way. It’s on the same plateau as the cafes that won’t cook bacon and eggs after 11am because that’s what it says on their menu, even though the grills are on and the cook is standing there doing nothing.  We finally found one (doctor, not cafe!) that agreed to see me, which was a relief. Filled in the ubiquitous form and finally got the call to go in and see... the nurse. Which was great because she knew exactly what to do and how to do it and her and Judy had a lovely time sticking sharp things into the swollen area and squeezing puss and blood and other oozy stuff out of it. I then saw the doctor who took a look, concurred with the nurses thoughts and gave me a script for some antibiotics.

Before we went to the quack, we had an hour or so to kill so we drove up to Trinity Beach, where we once spent some lovely time at the Coral Coast appartments. It was such a lovely laid back totally unspoilt place. But now, wow. The big money has arrived and transformed the place into Double Bay-By-The-Sea. Its really nice and all but now well out of ordinary folks’ reach.

Trinity Beach Qld. Not sure why they need lifeguards. Its a s flat as a tack and has 23 things in the water that can kill you in sub-two second time...

We had lunch at a cafe (there’s always a cafe somewhere) and wandered back to the park.

Judy fussed over the bags and what to take and what to leave out until she had had quite enough fun and declared its as being “all good”.

Tomorrow we move the van to the holding pen and catch a cab into town to start our adventure.

Port Douglas Qld July 25-29 2018

Its only a short run from Atherton to Port Douglas via the mountain pass down to Mossman and we made it down to the bottom safely. It's probably a better way down than going via Kuranda and Cairns. Actually the van park is the Big 4 at Craiglie, which is about 4km south of the turn-off to Port Douglas proper. It makes for a quieter park and a nice little drive into the shops / beach / marina / markets.

What possessed us I don't know, but we went up to 'the Daintree' for the day. First of all you go into the Daintree village, and then wonder why you are there, because there is nothing there except a couple of cafe places and outlets for crocodile cruises. Not a problem, we'll go back to the turn-off and take the ferry across into the Daintree itself. Or not. We waited over an hour for the ferry, but finally, for the small sum of $28 for a return ticket (just how many one-way tickets do they sell?) we were under way.

Vehicular ferry. Daintree River, Daintree Qld

We headed straight for the Daintree experience looking for lunch and, well, an experience. It is one of those places where you walk around a raised path through the treetops and it is the first 'thing' you come to on the road, some 10km from the ferry. Sadly the moment we walked in we remembered that the cafe is perfectly neat and clean, but useless. They make coffee and have a handful of pre-made sandwiches, a dodgy looking frittata and a few cakes. We made the best of what they had because it was now 2pm and we were starving. However, we had second thoughts about taking 'the experience' and instead jumped back in the car and went looking for the Daintree Ice-cream Factory and Fresh Fruit farm.

We were looking forward to an ice ice-cream each from this establishment, only to find that they only dish up one style of ice cream, made up of 4 different flavours, one supposes from the fruit that they have at hand. Today was Black Sapote (chocolate pudding flavour), mango, wattle seed, and coconut. After one finishes ones ice-cream confection, one can follow the marked path around the farm and play spotto with the various fruit trees that they have, none of which are actually in fruit at this time. OK, so it was a pleasant enough way to pass a half an hour, but not something you'd go back to in a hurry.

Daintree Qld

We ended up driving the rest of the 40km up to Tribulation point, took an obligatory walk along the beach and headland lookout, sadly, no cassowaries, before doing the only thing to do, drive back again!

Kulkie Beach. Tribulation Point. Daintree Qld

On the way back, we stopped for a quick look at the Alexander Lookout and then back to the ferry. Our luck was in, straight on the first ferry.

Daintree River. Alexander Lookout. Daintree Qld

Fern. Alexander Lookout. Daintree Qld

Another day we revisited Mossman Gorge, which is still very beautiful and still only costs less than $10, and that's for the bus ride up to the walking track. You could give the bus a miss and walk (2.5km uphill) but why would you? We spent a pleasant hour and half wandering around taking too many snaps and watching the fearless young persons swim in the freezing waters of the river and dicing with the dangers of strong currents and unforgiving rocks. We even stayed for lunch at the delightful cafe.

Mossman Gorge Qld

It is peak tourist season as the log-jam on the suspension bridge shows
Mossman Gorge Qld

Rocks, water etc. Mossman Gorge Qld

Moss at Moss-man Gorge Qld

J Black. Ace Photographer. Mossman Gorge Qld

A few trips into 'town', to see the beach, the Flagstaff lookout, the markets, the boats, the shops etc, not to mention the odd lunch and coffee along the way, filled up a few more days. One night the sound of live music reached our caravan and upon investigation turned out to be two old fellows playing guitars and doing rock and roll classics in a blues style. Quite an entertaining evening, maybe the wine helped?

Four mile beach from Flagstaff Hill. Port Douglas Qld

Random view from Flagstaff Hill. Port Douglas Qld

Random boat activity. Port Douglas Qld

Today, after the Port Douglas Markets, we wandered down to Cairns to have a swim at Palm Cove beach, and then wandered back again. Tomorrow we are off down to South Mission Beach for a few days, which signals the start of our return journey.

Jacana on lily pad. Cattana Wetlands Cairns Qld

Port Douglas Qld 10 August 2017

Another beautiful day in Far North Qld, so we chose to head back to Port Douglas for lunch and a cruise on the Lady Douglas, which travels up Dixon Inlet which is behind the town.

We have been hearing all about how the winter months are the best for the wildlife, especially birds, which come done south from Cape York as the wetlands dry up.

Sadly, our tally so far, apart from the Jocana on the wetlands in Cairns itself, we have seen: 3x crocodiles, family of Ospreys and Greater Egret. Here's a few shots from todays tour:

Quite a few of these once glorious and idiotically expensive craft left abandoned in the mud. The Skipper was suggesting it's because you can't get full insurance for private craft and when it all goes pear-shaped, it's easier to just cut and run. Port Douglas Qld

Alpha croc - 4m. Resting up after making a meal of a lesser croc - 2.5m the previous day. Port Douglas Qld

Top end of Dixon inlet. Look closely, there's our lone Greater Egret who appears to have the place to himself. Port Douglas Qld

Coming into Port Douglas Qld

We stopped to snap this osprey nest which appeared to have chicks in  residence, when  Mummy Osprey turns up with dinner, a nice big fish. The Daddy Osprey was right behind her, and one of them stayed to tear the fish apart and feed the babies.  Port Douglas Qld

Just north of Cairns, these hundreds of rock piles have appeared. We've seen places with 4 or 5, but this is just crazy! Someone obviously had some time on their hands. Cairns Qld

Kuranda Qld 8 August 2017

What is a stay in Cairns without the obligatory 'tour' to Kuranda?

This is our 4th time (at least) up the hill and even though nothing seems to have changed in either the travel or the markets, it's still a nice day out.

The only thing that seemed different was the Butterfly Sanctuary, currently undergoing some renovations, where the butterfly numbers and varieties seemed to be down on past years. The only Ulysses butterfly to be seen was flying free outside.

Anyhow, you know the drill: train ride up to the top along the railway line build by hand 120 years ago, the rubbish 'markets', the butterfly house, lunch and the trip back down the hill on the Skyrail

Here's a few snaps covering the events:

Kuranda Historic Railway. Freshwater to Kuranda, on the famous 4 chain radius bend. Cairns Qld

Obligatory stop at Barron Falls Station, I snap her, she snaps me, you know how it goes. Kuranda Qld

Out we all get for the 10 minute photo opportunity at Baron Falls Station.  Kuranda Qld

Ha, this is what happens when you take a dog-n-bone instead of a real camera.  Kuranda Qld 

The lovely couple that live here on the Kuranda Station like it so much they've kept coming back for at least 4 years. Mr & Mrs Australian Native Sunbird in residence.  Kuranda Qld

Kuranda Station, main claim to fame is that it's an original pre-cast concrete edifice.

Inside the Butterfly Sanctuary, Kuranda Qld

Inhabitant of said Butterfly Sanctuary, Kuranda Qld

Final descent into Cairns on the Skyrail, Cairns Qld