Rainsland

Port Douglas aspects

Following a resounding win in the footy (go the Blues!), we headed north to Port Douglas. We were fortunate to snag a great spot in the centrally located caravan park, which sits across the road from the beach and surf club. 

The weather in the tropics is unsurprisingly mild during winter, and for this reason it attracts its fair share of affluent holidaymakers from Sydney and Melbourne. You notice this immediately with the absence of friendly faces and pleasantries. Don’t talk to me or look at me thank you very much! 

The extended holiday season also means it’s a hub for backpackers chasing work and warmth. Stay with me here. x + y = z  (Tourists + Backpackers = Drinking and Socialising). z = Profits. Competition for a share of z = Happy hour. Lots of them, and for most of each afternoon and evening. Never appreciated the value of algebra until now did you?

So we extended our stay from 3 to 6 days, enjoying afternoons in the surf club whilst the kids enjoyed the attached playground and beach. 

The tropics 

Happy hour for the kids also.

Cheers!

Speaking of the beach, you’d be aware that the Great Barrier Reef stretches a few thousand clicks up and down the coast of Queensland.  Whilst breathtaking and magnificent in its own right, it protects the mainland coast from ocean swell. So as well as being unsurfable (read- zero surf), it also means the beaches are mostly stagnant and somewhat silty in texture. You want good beaches, visit Southeast WA, the NSW South Coast or come to Bondi. You wont find them up here, no offense FNQ.

Anyways – we had a fantastic and relaxing stay, ventured into the Daintree for a day, checked the local croc park, even saw some wild Cassowaries (dinosaur feet!), before heading south to Cairns.  A continued trend of wet and rainy weather led us to the cinema for The Incredibles 2 in 3D, and I’m fairly certain this outing would feature in the kids top 10 experiences for the year! The whole ‘beautiful one day, perfect the next’ slogan has to be one of the greatest con jobs of the modern era, its been raining nearly every day since arriving here!!

Exploring the Daintree National Park

Dense canopy

 Another unusual Aussie animal to add to the list.. 

Cape Tribulation

In you go kids

I'll hang back and swim in the pool!

We stayed at the Big4 Adventure Park when we arrived in Airlie Beach. It’s a kids wonderland with all the trimmings. A low had drifted up from Tasmania leading nights to dip to near freezing which was a little unexpected and caught us quite unprepared. 

A short ferry from Airlie takes you to Hamilton Island, and we were lucky enough to spend 3 wonderful nights there.  Last years category 5 cyclone left the region shattered, wiping out whole islands and devastating the reef, so it was good to see tourists are back in force. The best thing about Hamilton is access to activities and resort equipment, and we had great fun on the Hobbie Cats sailing about on the bay. Ellie was a little startled when we flipped the thing, but we quickly recovered and got back on our way. 

Hamilton Island

Lewis posing with the Ironman Champions after his first Nipper clinic

Like a duck to water 3 min's in

Happy sailors before capsizing

Great hiking trails on Hamilton Island

Polly

Mirror, mirror on the wall... 

Returning from Hamilton we stayed another 4 nights in Airlie at another adventure themed park and chilled hardly needing to leave the comfort of the grounds and dreaming of the sun..