We spent the first part of our trip in northern Queensland in a town called Port Douglas. It's about an hour drive north of Cairns via a spectacular coastal road, surrounded by the rainforest and the sea. This region is apparently very unique - as it's the only place in the world where you can see two World Heritage sites: the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest.
Rex Smeal Park in Port Douglas, located on the point of the peninsula. It was very peaceful. Port Douglas has a Sunday market each week near here, so we were able to buy fresh fruit and AUS honey. We read that Port Douglas only has about 3500 people living there - so it definitely had a small-town feeling. Reminded me a lot of South Haven - with one main street going through town with a variety of restaurants, cafes, pubs, and lots of shopping.
One of our favorite parts of the trip was going to Hartley's Crocodile Adventure. [http://www.crocodileadventures.com/]. We were able to take a boat cruise and see crocodiles in their natural environment. There were also numerous presentations, where we were able to learn about the crocodiles, and even feed them ourselves. This park is also a crocodile farm, so in addition to seeing crocs in their natural environment, we were also able to see how they breed the crocs and prepare them to be sold. We ate crocodile a couple times on our trip, and loved it!
Hartley's had more than just crocs, there were also numerous species of birds, snakes, kangaroos, wallaby, quolls, ad koalas. Very fun!
One of the restaurants in Port Douglas does cane toad races a couple of times a week. We went to the show and watched the famous cand toads named Jerry Springer, Fat Bastard, Gay Freddo, Skippy's Love Child, Camel Toad, and Aussie Aussie Aussie compete. After the competition, you could hold the toads - here's Joe holding Fat Bastard.
Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest, the world's oldest rainforest. We spent a morning walking on a trail through part of the rainforest. It was very scenic, which made for a beautiful walk. The trees were HUGE, and we were amazed how their roots grow and travel around other trees. There was a freshwater pool that we were able to swim in, with small waterfalls and big boulders, which was very refreshing. The downfall to this experience was: 1) it was sooooo hot and humid, and 2) the mosquitoes were awful. I left the rainforest with over 25 bites, and was miserable the next couple of days.
We were surprised how empty the beaches were on the coast of Queensland. You could drive down the coastal road anytime of day, stop anywhere you want, and have miles and miles of beach completely to yourself. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, marine stingers occupy the waters during the summer months, so we were not able to swim in the ocean unless in a roped off area to swim safely.
Cape Tribulation is located in the Daintree National Park, and is known as the area where the reef meets the rainforest. To get here, you have to travel north about an hour and half and cross over the Daintree River by ferry. It was a beautiful beach, and we were able to see the mangroves up close.
Mangroves. Very swampy! It was interesting to see how the white sandy beach turns quickly into mud. Joe even started to sink, and got his Birkenstock's covered in mud.
While in the Daintree National Park, we went to an exotic fruit farm for fruit tasting. The owners only allow about 20 people a day to come in and taste their fruit during a presentation where they show you how to cut and prepare the fruit. We tried 10 fruits: tahitian lime, jakfruit, sapodilla, abiu, black sapote, yellow sapote, davidson plum, mamey sapote, salah, & guanabana. The jakfruit was our favorite!
Joe really wanted to go Marlin fishing, but because we were there late in the season and it was very expensive, he settled for Sport Fishing instead. Unfortunately, the day we went out was rough - so we had to spend most of our day cruising the bay and the rivers. We caught about 3 fish and a crab. Wasn't the best fishing, but we got a nice boat ride and Joe even spotted a wild croc!
For my birthday, we went to a nice restaurant right on the water called On The Inlet. I had read about the famous Queensland Mud Crab, and was dying to try it. It is a delicacy, and contains plenty of sweet, juicy meet. It had a very distinct sweet flavor. It was prepared with Singapore Chili, which complimented the meat perfectly. I know chili and crab sounds kind of odd together, but that's the way the staff recommend to eat it... and now I completely agree with them - it was perfect!
Rex Smeal Park in Port Douglas, located on the point of the peninsula. It was very peaceful. Port Douglas has a Sunday market each week near here, so we were able to buy fresh fruit and AUS honey. We read that Port Douglas only has about 3500 people living there - so it definitely had a small-town feeling. Reminded me a lot of South Haven - with one main street going through town with a variety of restaurants, cafes, pubs, and lots of shopping.
One of our favorite parts of the trip was going to Hartley's Crocodile Adventure. [http://www.crocodileadventures.com/]. We were able to take a boat cruise and see crocodiles in their natural environment. There were also numerous presentations, where we were able to learn about the crocodiles, and even feed them ourselves. This park is also a crocodile farm, so in addition to seeing crocs in their natural environment, we were also able to see how they breed the crocs and prepare them to be sold. We ate crocodile a couple times on our trip, and loved it!
Hartley's had more than just crocs, there were also numerous species of birds, snakes, kangaroos, wallaby, quolls, ad koalas. Very fun!
One of the restaurants in Port Douglas does cane toad races a couple of times a week. We went to the show and watched the famous cand toads named Jerry Springer, Fat Bastard, Gay Freddo, Skippy's Love Child, Camel Toad, and Aussie Aussie Aussie compete. After the competition, you could hold the toads - here's Joe holding Fat Bastard.
Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest, the world's oldest rainforest. We spent a morning walking on a trail through part of the rainforest. It was very scenic, which made for a beautiful walk. The trees were HUGE, and we were amazed how their roots grow and travel around other trees. There was a freshwater pool that we were able to swim in, with small waterfalls and big boulders, which was very refreshing. The downfall to this experience was: 1) it was sooooo hot and humid, and 2) the mosquitoes were awful. I left the rainforest with over 25 bites, and was miserable the next couple of days.
We were surprised how empty the beaches were on the coast of Queensland. You could drive down the coastal road anytime of day, stop anywhere you want, and have miles and miles of beach completely to yourself. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, marine stingers occupy the waters during the summer months, so we were not able to swim in the ocean unless in a roped off area to swim safely.
Cape Tribulation is located in the Daintree National Park, and is known as the area where the reef meets the rainforest. To get here, you have to travel north about an hour and half and cross over the Daintree River by ferry. It was a beautiful beach, and we were able to see the mangroves up close.
Mangroves. Very swampy! It was interesting to see how the white sandy beach turns quickly into mud. Joe even started to sink, and got his Birkenstock's covered in mud.
While in the Daintree National Park, we went to an exotic fruit farm for fruit tasting. The owners only allow about 20 people a day to come in and taste their fruit during a presentation where they show you how to cut and prepare the fruit. We tried 10 fruits: tahitian lime, jakfruit, sapodilla, abiu, black sapote, yellow sapote, davidson plum, mamey sapote, salah, & guanabana. The jakfruit was our favorite!
Joe really wanted to go Marlin fishing, but because we were there late in the season and it was very expensive, he settled for Sport Fishing instead. Unfortunately, the day we went out was rough - so we had to spend most of our day cruising the bay and the rivers. We caught about 3 fish and a crab. Wasn't the best fishing, but we got a nice boat ride and Joe even spotted a wild croc!
For my birthday, we went to a nice restaurant right on the water called On The Inlet. I had read about the famous Queensland Mud Crab, and was dying to try it. It is a delicacy, and contains plenty of sweet, juicy meet. It had a very distinct sweet flavor. It was prepared with Singapore Chili, which complimented the meat perfectly. I know chili and crab sounds kind of odd together, but that's the way the staff recommend to eat it... and now I completely agree with them - it was perfect!
