Beach Terraces Holiday Apartments Port Douglas

... some kangaroos at a nearby kangaroo sanctuary. Colin really enjoyed playing with the 'roos.

After lunch, we were driven along the 4WD Bloomfield Track, just north of Cape Tribulation. We arrived at Emmagen Creek where we went swimming. The water was very cool and refreshing - it provided much needed relief from the hot summer day. It was here where we caught a glimpse of a cassowary and a baby cassowary. After our swim ...

... of rainforests (and sadly about 80% of Australian rainforest has been destroyed in the period since European settlement began).
We were really interested in seeing how the mangrove swamps give a protective environment for numerous fish, including many that will later inhabit the reefs that we love to dive. In addition, though, they build up new soil and allow the rainforest to extend itself and maintain the environment for many endangered species such as cassowaries ...

... We considered staying in the street but Port Douglas itself was not that great either. Its clean and pretty but pretty much the same as Noosa (with no surrounding suburbs that have no pretentious residents for you to stay). It has massive hotels and a lot of them, and the main street has lovely shops, but looks exactly the same as Noosa (minus the surf). Once again the water looked awful but it would ...

... big catamaran and we docked at a platoon so there was lots of room to move around. Also got a ride on a semisubmersivable - saw a bit (glass windows in wall) and also glass bottom boat too - not so great. I thought there was a fair bit to see but Jeremy was a bit disappointed. There was a huge range of fish and coral although not quite as bright as I thought it would be. The visibility ...

... at three different areas to snorkle. The boys did great, loved it and at one point said it was "better than video games." Of course, that's all changed now. - A shark sighting--by Sam! I believe him as others on the boat said they saw sharks. Okay Grandmas...don't worry. These are reef sharks and we were told that they are more afraid of us than we are of them. Still, I don't feel like I missed out on ...

... day and today was sunny, so i was looking forward to seeing the rainforest in the sunshine. we did spot a good sized croc, a rusty kite, and lots of tree snakes so it was well-worth it. lastly we went to a private property just north of the Daintree Village and hiked through what could possibly be my favorite part of the rainforest yet. it was magical! beautiful sunshine rays coming through the canopy...a peaceful river meandering through ...

... regnskog finns kvar i ursprungligt skick, men Daintree River National Park tillhör den kategorin. Färden upp till Cape Tribulation är en fantastisk naturupplevelse. Bitvis bildar regnskogen ett tak över vägen och vi åker som genom en tunnel av lummig grönska. Vägen anlades så sent som 1962 och före dess gick alla transporter sjövägen. Vi vandrar på Four mile beach och i jungeln innan vi vänder tillbaka till Cairns.

... all provide bedding hehehe, glad i didnt pack my sleeping bag!!). It was air conditioned (finally!!) and had a plug socket which was a blessing,and an en suite bathroom. Bunk itself is huge and really very cool, with everything you could want, bar, chill area, internet, 24 hour reception, swimming pool. I quickly dumped off my stuff and got changed then headed straight out and had a celebration whisky at the attached bar called Birdee ...

... to push yourself off and to trust that your harness is going to hold you. I've started to realise now how freaked out of heights I am. The next one we do is in pairs so one person must slide off and hang there while the other gets strapped in, your just hanging 20m over the rainforest. Of course Tommy wants me to go first so he can take a picture, so I just hang out there while he laughs at me and waits to get harnessed it and then we zip line over to the next platform. The next one ...

... keeping the bugs out as well, so it's really good. Tonight when we were in the can we heard some rustling outside and when we turned to look out the back door, there were four kangaroo's there just going about their eating & playing. We couldn't believe they were so close to the van with us inside and the door open. Then we realised they couldn't see us through the mozzie net, no matter how much we moved about. We lay there for about an ...