Judy & Brian Tour Oz

  Port Douglas Qld July 28th 2023 Turned out rather a nice day, no rain and lots of sunshine between cloudy bits. We went on the now rather lame Lady Douglas cruise up the Dickson Inlet. We’ve done this maybe four times before and I guess we’re just a bit over it.  They managed to find two small crocodiles, so they got a tick-in-the-box, but we probably won't bother again. Apart from anything else, the skipper kept banging on about how crocodiles only eat once or twice a year, which I'm sure is just plain wrong. Research shows that a crocodile can last for up to three years without a feed, they normally feed on ‘snacks’ every few days. Baby saltwater crocodile, maybe 60cm long. Dickson Inlet Port Douglas Qld The marina is looking tired an unloved. Today we hear that it was bought a few years back by some billionaire who wanted to pull it down and build two, yes two, huge hotels on the site. So, all the tenants closed their businesses and left and the builders started pulli...

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 ...

Port Douglas, Qld First thing to do today was to replace the left hand low beam light, which blew out a few days ago, producing a ‘check low beam light’ warning message, which made a change from the ‘check park light’ error we have had since before getting into Broome. The park light may have gone away a few days ago, but having put a new headlamp in we definitely don’t have it any more. And as a bonus, the ‘angel’ eyes (a ring of soft light around the edge of each headlamp – who knows what they are for) are all working again as well. Decided to go the long way round to get to Port Douglas, up through Mareeba and Mt Molloy then down the mountain, through the windy twist road, all in 2nd gear, and popping out on the coast just south of Mossman. We were a bit disappointed by the van park, it’s out of Port Douglas about 5km further down the road toward Cairns, and compared to Atherton, it’s a dessert. It’s not really, just a little less greener and lush than up on the tablelands. ...