The Pavilions Port Douglas

... Port Douglas. Later that evening, we enjoyed dinner there with friends in town for Debra and Steve's wedding.

Life in Port Douglas is very quiet and tranquil. Apparently, this place attracts its fair share of movie stars and other famous people. After a day of just hanging out in Port Douglas, I can certainly see why. It is the perfect place to de-stress without having anyone bothering you. And that is exactly what we did today.

... up in the branches of trees growing out of the sand; these are obviously covered by sea water periodically although they were high and dry when we found them.
On the way from Cape Tribulation on our return trip to Cairns we made our promised stop at the Daintree Ice Cream Company. This is a trip that we would recommend to everyone passing this way. The company make their ice cream from fresh local produce and offer no choices. You have the range that they are currently ...

... whale on the journey out, breaching. Possum, one of the Quicksilver crew reckoned the whale was 13m long. We arrived at Agincourt Reef and went onto the semi submersible boat for our first view of the reef. Loads of brightly coloured fish, clams, and coral (although a lot of the coral was bleached, which isn’t a good sign). Also saw a blue starfish and a jellyfish. Then had lunch, although I wasn’t in the mood for a mountain of prawns (need to ...

... sich vor mir auf dem Weg ein Haeufchen abzulegen und dann wieder zu verschwinden. Den rest des Tages verbrachten wir mit dem Erkunden der vielen Straende rund um Cape Tribulation. Bei Cape Tribulation gibts die schoensten Sandstraende der Welt.
Abends dann entschloss ich mich voller Mut eine Nachtwanderung durch den Dschungel mitzumachen. Wobei sich hier die Busfahrt zum Wandertrack als mehr toedlicher erwiess als die Wanderung durchs Reich der Spinnen und Schlangen ...

... on today and head to the medical centre. It is a welcome break from the heat outside. In fact it seems like paradise. Balloons Now the medical centre resembles a hospital A&E waiting room. It has people in plaster casts, miserable faces and a healthy does of screaming children. One is two seats down from me and is giving it loads along with his little sisters. So three of them going mental. I'm not far behind them. Wonder if I start screaming like the ...

... there is said to be no other type, shows us a Taipan, the worlds most venomous snake. It is all very exciting, but just shows us how dangerous this part of Australia is. We drive to Port Douglas, a beautiful old town that despite the number of tourists has retained that air of being unchanged. It sits on crystal clear waters giving views of thick green rain forests. If you ever get the chance then visit here! We stay for a couple of nights, even ...

... as well, with vines and plants hanging down from a canopy. After a great drive, we reached Port Douglas, which is a really nice town. My friend Doug had stayed there as did some of the exchange students we are here with and they all recommended it, and I can see why after visiting the town. It's a really nice little touristy town, is right on the coast, and has lots of nice resorts. But, there isn't much nightlife here. One interesting thing we saw ...

... by either fast patrol boast or spotter plane. He also monitors smaller traffic watching for drug smugglers and modern day smugglers. He went on to explain that we were going to take the old sea route between the Queensland coast and the reef itself, only certain ships with the most up-to-date equipment and who are certified to rigid standards are allowed to take this course, as the smallest deviation from the allowed course could / would cause devastation ...

... along the Bloomfield Trek which crosses the Bloomfield river and takes you up into the mountains enroute to Cooks Town and ends at a local Aborignal community known as Wajul Wajul (which means waterfalls in aboriginal language). There two local aboriginal woman took us on a walk along the river to a magnificent waterfall which was flush with the recent rains. Along the way they told us about their local uses of plants for medicinal and spiritual ...

Friday 28th HERE BEGINS THE EARLY RISING!!!!!! The sun is up by 6am and therefore so are we, our little sweat box is roasting and then we go for our early morning swim in the campsite pool. It is very refreshing because we slept very little. Then the rain starts it's pouring down and we just about have time to pack everything up before its 10am and time to check out. We are not sure what our plans are, all we know is that we are heading north. As we get closer to Port Doughlas we decide ...