Wednesday 29th February

Evening update; As we were enjoying dinner we watched lots of fruit bats flying across the trees in the hotel grounds.



Wednesday 29th February

We headed off to Mossman Gorge this morning but, as there was low cloud, we did expect some rain

We saw several bush turkeys at the start of the river walk.

It had been raining most of the night and the river flowing through the gorge was in full spate. Half way round this walk the heavens opened and, despite having umbrellas, we got so wet that we had to return to the hotel to change our clothes.

We set out again, this time heading towards Daintree, and we could see the effect of the rain this morning and the previous night's storm.



Tuesday 28th February

Today we enjoyed a superb day on the Great Barrier Reef.

We began the day with a flight in this helicopter where we were the only passengers.

First we flew up the coast, over the Daintree River system, where we could see the meandering of the river quite clearly.

We continued our flight over one of the highest areas of the Daintree Rainforest, viewing from above the places we had visited by road.

We then headed out to sea, viewing the beautiful beaches that line this coast where the rainforest meets the sea.

We continued the flight over the Great Barrier Reef, circling certain areas to look for marine life down below.

After about thirty five minutes we approached the Quicksilver reef platform that we were heading for. It is situated on Agincourt Reef where the continental shelf drops steeply to the deep ocean floor.

We circled the platform before landing on a pontoon about a hundred metres from it.

As soon as we had been ferried to the platform we took a trip in one of the semi-submersible craft that allowed us to view the reef from underwater.

We were amazed by the different types and colours of coral and by the many different species of multi-coloured fish. These photographs do not reflect the colours that we saw. We had two trips on the submersible and on the second one we saw a green sea turtle.

The Quicksilver pontoon also  provided areas for snorkelling, scuba diving, an underwater observatory and viewing decks. On this small pontoon in the middle of the Coral Sea we met another ex-teacher whom we knew from Leeds - amazing.
http://www.quicksilver-cruises.com/

At the end of a very full day we relaxed and waited for the ninety minute return cruise to Port Douglas in a fast catamaran.

Monday 27th February

Today's route took us south to the Atherton Tableland. Our first stop was  Lyons Lookout which gave us a distant view of Cape Tribulation, which we visited yesterday.

Further along there appeared to be many large boulders by the side of the road but these turned out to be giant ant hills. We did not go any closer to investigate them.

We drove into Mount Hypipamee National Park to see The Crater, a flooded volcanic pipe with a drop of 58 metres to the surface of the water.

Further along the same path we came to Dinner Falls, a series of four falls, this one being the most impressive.

We took a side road to some more falls. This one is Millaa Millaa Falls and soon after we took this photo a group of about fifteen young people arrived and swam underneath it.

By this time it was raining very heavily and we didn't stay long at The Zillie Falls, just enough time to take this photo.

We stopped at the Mungalli Rapids but it was raining too heavily to contemplate walking the thirty five minute route to the falls.

We are looking forward to flying out to the Barrier Reef tomorrow - weather permitting.



Sunday 26th February

We drove up north to the end of the road at Cape Tribulation.

For much of the way the road ran by the edge of the Coral Sea.

We had to cross the Daintree River by this chain ferry which took only a couple of minutes.

We entered the Daintree National Park, a World Heritage site, and stopped at Mount Alexandra lookout with a view across the rainforest to the mouth of the Daintree River.

We made a detour to the Daintree Discovery Centre which has an aerial walkway and an elevated boardwalk through the rainforest.
http://www.daintree-rec.com.au/

We heard many birds and saw lots of insects, including some huge iridescent butterflies. We climbed up the canopy tower which provides great views of the rainforest from the floor to the treetops.

Flowing through this section of the rainforest is McLean's Creek which was fairly low for the time of year.

We finally arrived at Cape Tribulation where the rainforest meets the sea. At the edge of the beach there are mangroves inhabited by many different marine creatures.

We walked up to the lookout and enjoyed the panaromic view of Kulki Beach.

http://www.daintreecoast.com/

Saturday 25th February

We spent the morning exploring the grounds of the resort where we will be based for the next week. At the moment it is hot, humid and very wet.

We collected a hire car and drove into the Port Douglas town centre to have a look round and to stock up on drinks, washing powder and insect repellent.

We walked down to 4 mile beach and were greeted by this sign so we didn't go too near the sea!

We climbed part way up the path to the headland but turned round when we heard the thunder. We were a bit wary of being too near these trees when the wind got up as some branches and fruits looked ready to fall.

We went back into town to make enquiries about trips to the Great Barrier Reef and to the Daintree Rain Forest. Finally we returned to make use of the pool even though it was raining.

Thursday 23rd & Friday 24th February

The two-day train journey from Brisbane to Cairns.

This is the view from our room in Brisbane on Thursday morning where we could watch the renovations nearing completition on City Hall.

After checking in our luggage, we explored the gardens around Roma Street Station.

The locomotive pulling our train was powerful as it had to pull about fifteen carriages. We left in a downpour which didn't stop for three or four hours into the journey.

In the Queenslander class we were entertained for much of the journey by a musician, who is a Beatles fan.

There was a huge variety of landscapes, including farmland, forests, hills, lakes and general marshland.

Running alongside the tracks for most of the journey was the Bruce Highway, the road from Brisbane to Cairns.

We saw vast areas of sugar cane with narrow guage railway tracks running by the side of the fields and irrigation pipes all over.

We passed the largest sugar cane processing plant in Queensland.

One of the lunch choices is the iconic Queensland Seafood platter which includes Morton Bay bugs - very tasty.

In the banana plantations the bunches of bananas are covered in plastic to protect them from bats.

We arrived on time in Cairns and were met and brought to Rendevous Reef Resort on a very hot and humid night.

http://www.rendezvoushotels.com/default.asp?action=article&ID=21662