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Published: June 11th 2006
So, Port Douglas has been treating us well, despite the less than perfect weather conditions. We spent our first day here getting to know the hotel itself and town and were happy to just relax and stay still for a few days. The next day, Thursday, we were picked up at 8:00 am by Tony's Tours in a white SUV for a day of fun in the rainforest. We were only 2 of 6 people in the car, plus Tony our guide, and it was a very interesting and informative day. Our first stop was at the Mossman Gorge, where we walked a bit through the rainforest to the Mossman River and saw a beautiful body of water, with lots of rocks and waterfalls. There were tons of bats too that caught our attention. Back in the car, and off to the Daintree river, where we jumped in a boat with Bruce, the owner, for an hour ride in search of crocodiles and other river creatures. We saw plenty of crocs, big and tiny, as well as a few snakes and some interesting birds. Then it was back in the car to cross the cable ferry. We drove and saw the view from Alexandra out over the water and even though it was cloudy, the vistas were fantastic. We had morning tea on the woods at a small picnic spot and learned about the bread fruits (look like pineapples and are quite poisonous so must be cooked in the oven using a long, intricate process created by the Aborigines). We also sampled the abdomens of green ants, that leave the taste of lemon sherbert on your tongue. We then drove to a spot where two World Heritage locations meet. Basically, we drove to a beach where the rainforest bordered on the reef. We wondered around for awhile, the water in front of us and the rainforest behind us, chasing crabs and dodging bits of reef that had wandered ashore. We drove to a small private spot at Cape Tribulation where Tony prepared our lunch while we deliberated going for a swim in the freezing cold stream. Everyone opted to pass, as it was FREEEEEZING and opted instead to enjoy our yummy lunch of meats and salads. We learned about the cassowary, an endangered bird that is big and black with large, intimdating feet and a colorful patch on the back of their neck. We did spot a large cassowary with it's child, but spent more time chasing it around than getting a good look at it. We drove to another private spot for our rainforest walk and as we were gathered around Tony, learning about different plants and seeds, we received a surprise visit from a cassowary. Tony had found a cassowary plum tree and explained how the bird eats the seed, absorbing the skin, and then passes the inside of the seed in another location, allowing for regermination. And sure enough, the bird had smelled the half rotten seed we had found and came to have some lunch. Once we had recovered from our scare, we walked through the vine jungle and the rainforest, learning all about different plants and trees and vines. We were told not to worry, that nothing we came into contact with would cause any harm (mind you, we were nervous about the feral pigs, cassowaries, and abundance of poisonous plants). It was awesome! On the way back, we stopped at the famous Daintree Ice Cream Factory, where for A$4.50, you got a cup with 4 scoops of the ice creams of the day (we had coconut, mango, whittleseed, and black sapote). It was a perfect ending to a perfect day. The people on our trip were friendly, despite being the age of our parents.
Friday we spent the day around Port Douglas, taking a long walk up and down Four Mile Beach. The tide was really low and the water seemed to be hitting the shore about half a kilometer away. There were bits of broken reef floating around the beach and on the sand, proving how close we really are to the Great Barrier Reef. The beach was also lined with kite surfer dudes who tried to rope us in to a lesson. We stayed strong 😊 We walked around town and relaxed a bit the rest of the day, preparing for our next day's adventure. Oh yeah, we also celebrated the beginning of the World Cup by watching Bend it Like Beckham on TV 😊
The next morning we were picked up at 7:30 am and taken to the marina in Port Douglas, where we boarded our luxurious boat for a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef for a day of snorkeling and diving with a company called HABA. Having just been on Spank Me, this boat was like a pleasure cruise, however the weather wasn't as nice and I felt seasick after 10 minutes riding over some pretty bumpy waves. The boat only was 25% full, with only 25 passengers, meaning the personal attention was fantastic. Even though I had a bad experience the previous time, I did decide to try diving again, as you're only at the GBR once, right? (well, actually, this was our second time, hehe). The safety and information briefing was incredibly thorough and I felt more comfortable this time knowing that I had someone holding my hand the whole time, both literally and sometimes figuratively. Ben was the only certified diver on board, meaning that he was lucky enough to get to go on 3 personal dives with the dive master, just the two of them. He saw amazing aquatic creatures such as eels, sharks, fish and corals. I successfully completed my dive as well at the first spot so was quite happy. Even though the sky was overcast, the colors of the corals and fish were breathtaking. We had a "tropical buffet" lunch on the boat and then set off to our next dive spot. The second spot was much better than the first, with lots more colors, fish, and aquatic life. I opted to snorkel this time around and took an underwater camera with me, however when we get our pictures back in a few minutes I doubt that there's anything good on there. It was an awesome day and we definitely enjoyed being out at the reef again. Even though it was the same Great Barrier Reef as where we had been out on the Whitsunday Island sailing trip, there are always new things to see. The staff was awesome, the equipment fantastic and all in all, a great day. We finished off the day with a walk on the beach, noticing how much closer the water came on the shore during high tide. That night we walked through town, eating our gelato and taking in the night life (or lack of).
Sunday is market day in Port Douglas so there are double the amount of people around. We made a few purchases and now are about to go play tennis. The people are all buzzing with World Cup excitement and even though the games are on at inopportune times for watching (10:30 pm, 1:30 am, 4:30 am), we satisfy our soccer cravings by catching highlights and blips throughout the day on the news. We are both elated by the news of the death of Al-Zarqawi and have both agreed that we like how the news is portrayed here. They just deliver the facts and move on to the next topic, without the cushioning or superfluous banter. We fly to Sydney on Tuesday, stopping in Cairns on the way and then we head out to London on the 15th. Weird to think that our trip is almost over! Please keep sending us messages as they give us something to look forward to. We miss you and will see you soon.
Ben and Erica
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Brutus
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I'm so jealous
Hey you guys, how's things? I just thought I must e-mail you seeing as you've just spent some time in an area I spent nearly 6months of my travels in. I was blown away by Cape Tribulation and ended up staying there, working in a hostel and out on the dive boats. You have to admit the reef is just beautiful up there and the scenery amazing. I'm not sure you will have seen it at its best right now with how you have described the weather but it does sound like you enjoyed yourselves. When I was there on the boats I had to chop fruit and do snorkel tours. on one of the boats - one day the divers came up incredibly white as they had seen some tiger sharks by one of the coral walls - we didin't tell the passengers about that one! THe rest of my stay was spent cleaning and working behind a bar at PK's Jungle Village. I even went to a reunion of some of the people I worked with in Cape Trib last night. We hired out a hostel in the middle of noweher and friends and friends of friends all joined - about 50 of us so it was a good night of drinking and fighting off the mozzies! Anyways, I can't believe I won't be around for your trip to London. I'm on a hen weekend next week so will be in York at the races. It's a big shame but I know the girls will look after you. Right - keep on trucking, catch you soon, lots of love - the Brute x