Port Douglas

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We were up nice an early to hop on our little bus to Port Douglas. We had a really scenic drive up the coast on the short trip to Port Douglas with commentary the whole way (Something that happens on pretty much every bus in OZ) from our driver. We checked into our hostel which had a beautiful pool (7 and a half months and the first hostel we had seen with a pool). After a bite to eat we explored the picturesque town which while small has a really nice atmosphere about it.

After that we cooked ourselves up some pasta and booked ourselves a day of diving on the Great Barrier Reef. We headed for the hostel bar to cool down as the temperatures in Port Douglas are as high as anywhere in Asia. The hostel staff was great fun and soon had us involved in a competition involving Trivial Pursuit and pool. While we are bad at pool it's safe to say we are dreadful at Trivial Pursuit especially the Australian version.

We also met the man behind the next craze to hit the world of sport - Thong Tossing. Now before anyone gets the wrong idea Australians call flip flops - thongs. Basically he lined the whole bar up and we fired a flip flops down the pub (Only in OZ) with the winner determined by very stringent rules based on angles and the side that landed up. After a highly entertaining night we hit the sack.

The next day we were up early to head for our dives. We were on the luxurious boat "Aristocat" and headed out to the Ribbon reef on the Great Barrier Reef. For those of ye that don't know the Great Barrier Reef is the worlds largest coral reef system and a must do even for beginner divers like ourselves. We did three dives over the course of the day and saw all sorts of wonderful fish and plants as well as coral, our second dive probably being our most spectacular.

We met a Swedish girl from our dive party called Anika and she invited us to a house party that evening. After a great day under the sea (See Pictures) we headed back to the hostel for a shower and some grub. We headed to the Courthouse pub where we met Anika's housemates. From there we headed to the house which was situated overlooking the bay. Bizarrely we even knew someone at the party in the form of our Dive Master from earlier in the day. The party like all good Australian party’s was a pool party and we managed a quick dip before the neighbours made themselves known. After that things winded down. We did meet a hilarious lad from Bolton who was perhaps the closest thing we have come to meeting Peter Kay. On route home we stopped at the local bakery and got a fresh baked pizza before hopping into a bed after a very long day.

The following day was a scorcher and we hit the beach in Port Douglas. The beach was fantastic but as a result of the jellyfish you can only swim in an enclosed netted area. After being pummelled by the massive waves for most of the day we made our way back to the hostel where we engaged in more thong tossing and killer pool Trivial Pursuit. We also booked ourselves a trip further north into Queensland for the following day.

Next Stop Cape Tribulation...

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Photos

Seanies Woz Ere
Seems This Place Had Some Trouble With A Couple Of Sligo Girls A Few Years Back

Comments

[Ann]

Trivial Pursuits
Hi Ronan and Ciaran W ell you are certainly seeing the world! The countdown of days seems to be speeding up now. There is an Irish version of Trivial Pursuits now so mayb you both would be good at that. Great Liverpool have done so well. Looking forward to the final. Ronan you look fantastic scuba diving. Love Ann