Port Douglas

We arrived in Cairns to heat and humidity and had a very simple gathering of our bags and vehicle. We headed to Port Douglas, which was about an hours drive north along Captain Cook Highway, a beautiful drive. We got situated in our accommodations and walked to explore 4 Miles Beach and have dinner nearby. At the restaurant there was a playground and the yard was scattered with coconuts that the boys enjoyed cracking open, investigating, and sampling.

G shaking the coconut water out

One of his favorite snacks!

We woke up on Friday morning and set out to explore The Great Barrier Reef on a day cruise we’d booked the night before. We had beautiful weather and our small boat stopped at 3 different reefs. The first reef we visited was Opal Reef and we all enjoyed our initiation to snorkeling in this amazing place and were thrilled that the water temperature was in the high 70’s. They even had a crew member that helped our youngest adjust and snorkel around so that the rest of us had some freedom to go out further exploring.

When we arrived on the boat we learned that they had some available spaces for Mom, Dad, and the oldest two to do an initial scuba experience. Mom and our second oldest hoped to scuba at our second stop, but couldn’t quite get the hang of the breathing and opted out. However, this SNO Reef was by far the most colorful and vibrant of our reef stops, so everyone enjoyed snorkeling around and seeing the amazing sea life.

Over lunch they offered a reef talk to educate us on the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately the speaker was more concerned with the life of fish than of humans, and while enthusiastic in his presentation, was a bit overbearing in his opinions. However, we were refreshed in our knowledge of how water filters the sunlight and makes the reef seem not as colorful as most people expect after having seen Nemo and other touched up photos.

Our third stop provided Dad and our oldest an opportunity to scuba, and they had a wonderful experience; meanwhile Mom and the other kids snorkeled around and enjoyed sunning themselves.

Getting trained in to scuba dive!

Dad & our oldest - down they go!

Saturday we enjoyed a quiet day getting some school done (although we didn’t have WIFI at this location) and swimming a bit in the afternoon at the local pool. It is Box-jellyfish season here and so the beaches are not swimmable except in the sections that are roped off, but we’ve heard even in those areas there is risk. We walked to dinner and enjoyed watching the Rainbow Lorikeets flying from tree to tree and we also entertained ourselves by trying to catch fresh mangoes falling from trees. We wrapped up our last night in Port Douglas with amazing seafood at a restaurant on the pier.

Rainbow Lorikeet

Dad & G trying to catch mangos

Look at this fried red snapper we shared - eyeballs and all!

On Sunday morning our oldest woke up with an upset stomach and was a trooper to set out exploring in the heat with us as we worked our way north into the Daintree Rainforest. We got in our car and had some strange lady speaking to us. We couldn’t figure out where in the world this was coming from and as we listened we realized she was telling us about Captain Cook and it was one of the curriculum CDs mom had put on her phone before leaving home (wish she could say she planned this). We thought this all incredibly bizarre and enjoyed continuing to learn about Captain Hook as we drove the highway named after him. As we have often learned on this trip, sometimes the best education is one that finds you.

Our first stop was Mossman Gorge where we went on a “Dreamtime” walk in the rainforest led by a local indigenous guide who explained some of the culture and traditions of the Kuku Yalanji as well as pointed out interesting aspects of the rainforest. He showed us the "Stinging Tree" which is a small pioneer plant that grows in the rainforest. Pioneer means it is one of the first things that grows after a clearing. The Stinging Tree is supposedly more than ten times worse than poison ivy and has been known to drive people insane with the pain. It has also been blamed for causing heart attacks. It was a real problem for military and original settlers who had no idea what they were touching when they were clearing forests 100 years ago. Washing it with water only makes it worse and intensifies the pain. The best way to achieve relief is to grind up some of the root into a paste and rub it on the wound, which is extremely counter-intuitive. Needless to say, this leaf is not a very good choice for toilet paper!

Someone 'fell' in the water trying to fill up a water bottle!

SJ having her face painted

Young Stinging Tree

After the tour we walked a short ways to the gorge and enjoyed an afternoon of relaxing, swimming in the refreshing water, and working our way across the boulders, and shooting down canyons. Mom was SO excited to spot several blue butterflies, a favorite of our oldest son and something that we were disappointed we didn’t observe while we were in the Amazon Rainforest. This was a great afternoon of fun and thankfully the tree canopy provided some shade so our oldest was able to find a sleep-able rock and left feeling a bit better.