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Published: December 7th 2022
1. Red Peak Rainforest Walk
Stop one on the SkyRail was Red Peak Rainforest walkWe’d booked a trip on the Skyrail today, our outward gondola journey was booked for 9:30am so we were up and out by 9am to travel the 15mins from last nights accommodation to the Smithfield station.
It’s a hot one today! Already 34 degrees by 9am! Unfortunately, there were no parking spaces in the shade at the terminal, so we had to leave the car and all our belongings in full sun. Just as we pulled up a coach arrived, so we rushed over and managed to get scanned in before the rush. There was no queue at all so we went straight through and jumped aboard our first gondola.
The first stop is Red Peak station where you have to change as there are actually two different gondola cable runs. At this stop there was a rainforest walk which ended back at the station where you could read lots of interesting facts. For example, cloud scraping, apparently the rainforest gets 40% of it’s rain water directly from the cloud without it raining. This is crucial during the dry season – which worryingly for us and our time here, has ended and we’re now going into the wet season!
2. Smithfield & Coast
The view of Smithfield and the Coast from the SkyRail Once we’d read all the bits at the station, we got straight back onto the next available gondola and moved onto the 2
nd stop, which was Barron Falls. No surprise here, as the name suggests, this was a waterfall and they’ve built a fantastic glass fronted platform to view it from, along with a section where there’s a glass floor (I wasn’t so sure about that bit!). As mentioned a minute ago, we’re coming out of the dry season so it was more of a water-dribble. We saw pictures of it in full flow, it must be an impressive sight! At this stop you could also see the scenic railway train which had stopped on it’s equivalent stop on the other side of the waterfall.
After jumping back onto another gondola, we got to our final destination, Kuranda. This is a little town with a few bars and restaurants and quite a few shops. We had a wander round and bought a few souveniers to bring back home, then had enough time for a couple of iced drinks before heading back on our return journey.
As we’d covered all the stops on the way there, we headed
3. Barron Falls & Karunga Train
Barron Falls, fairly dry, and the Kuranda Train in the background straight back along the 7.5km of cable back to Smithfield. The car was like an oven when we got back, we had to air it out a bit before getting in, not that it cooled that much given it was about 35 degrees outside!
As we made our way to Port Douglas, we passed Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures, which one of our cave tour guides in Adelaide had recommended, so we stopped to take a look. It’s a wildlife park which focuses a lot on crocodiles, it wasn’t cheap (around $43 each!) but there was quite a bit to see and some shows, so we decided to give it a go.
First off they had a tour of the farm side of the park, where they basically grow crocodiles to be made into handbags and crocodile burgers. It was interesting to hear about the process and why they do it, even if you don’t agree with what they’re doing, which I’m sure a lot of people don’t, it was a good talk.
We had to rush off just before the end of this bit as we’d been given tickets to the 1:30pm boat trip around a lake where
4. Feeding Crocs at Hartleys
Feed ing Crocs form the boat at Hartleys Crocodile Adventures they had 30 crocodiles. This bit was amazing! We had a Chinese guy piloting our boat and after initially worrying that he’d be hard to understand as he had a very strong accent, he turned out to be one of the highlights! He was very funny and made the trip even more memorable.
After a fairly slow start where we all wondered if we were going to see anything at all, we spotted one in the shallows, but it seemed quite happy there so didn’t move as we passed by. Then all of a sudden two others popped up right next to where Roy was sitting! The boat guy fed them to get them to jump out of the water and it was an unforgettable experience to see them so close up.
Further round we also saw a nest with a female guarding it as she’d laid eggs there recently. As was explained by the farm talk and the boat trip, they have to collect any eggs laid anywhere in the park as the government enforce this. The reason being the babies, when they hatch, are small enough to escape through the holes in the fences and could
5. Two hungry Crocodiles
Two very expectant crocs get out and grow into full size dangerous predators in places they aren’t wanted.
After the boat trip, we went to the snake talk, passing a desk where they had a snake on display which you could touch or even hold for a photo opportunity (for a cost obviously!). Down in the Amphitheatre, another very funny guy was showing a few different snakes, from a relatively harmless Boa, to a not so harmless Death Viper and then a very dangerous Inland Taipan. Although, as he explained, they don’t attack for no reason so they’re not something to be scared of like a crocodile, just need to respect their space and not provoke them. He was great, very entertaining and amusing to watch.
Once the snake show was done, in the same place about 15mins later they had a Croc Attack show so as we had some shade, we stayed in there and waited for it to start. The next show was also another great one, the guy again had a great sense of humour and it was a pleasure to watch. You did find yourself worrying about his safety when he was walking around in the edge of
6. Rather him than me
I wouldn't want to be that close to Hagrid! the water with bare feet knowing a pretty large crocodile was lurking in the murky depths waiting for some food!
The show included giving out a lot of information on crocodiles as well as some warnings about not swimming in places they are known to live (including the sea!) especially at certain times. He demonstrated the power of their jaws and even got Hagrid (the croc) to do a death roll (and got very wet in the process!).
After this show was over, we left the park for the day as we wanted to get to our next accomodation and check in and get settled. The crocodile park stamp your ticket which allows you 3 days of visits for the single entry fee so we’ll head back in the next couple of days to see the rest. The car said it was 39 degrees when we got in! It went down to 36 after we’d driven down the road a bit, but suffice to say, it was very hot and humid!
Before we checked in, we decided to head to the marina and try to get booked onto a Barrier Reef cruise tomorrow. Checking the weather, tomorrow
7. Sleepy Koalas
A couple of sleepy Koala's at the croc place is supposed to be clear and sunny, but there’s a chance of cloud and thunderstorms on Friday so we wanted to make sure we do this trip on a nice sunny day. Good job we didn’t waste any more time getting this sorted, we got 2 of the last 6 places on tomorrows trip!
Once that was done, we headed to the Mantra Heritage Resort to check in for our stay. This is a lovely place, we’d treated ourselves to a swim up room here so we have direct access to the swimming pool! After a quick trip to the supermarket for supplies, we came back and got straight into the pool, it was heaven!!
Our room is lovely, we have a washing machine and tumble dryer, a kitchenette, a lounge, bedroom and bathroom with walk in shower. Outside there’s a terrace with a hot tub and table and chairs, which lead out through a gate, onto a private decking area with sunbeds and another table and chair set. This place makes this part of our trip feel like a relaxing holiday!
To continue the holiday feel, we went out for a walk down Macrossan Street to
8. Room and Pool
A view of the pool and our room with private deck in Port Douglas grab a bite to eat and a drink alfresco. A lovely end to a lovely day.
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