Wednesday, June 27 I met Jacques in town had some lunch, then we caught the bus to the airport and boarded our plane to Cairns. The flight was close to 6 hours so we didn't arrive until after 10pm. We caught a taxi to our backpackers where Alex and Jane let us in. We went across the street the Gilligan's for a couple drinks and that was basically all of our time in Cairns. In the morning we had some breakfast and got the bus to Port Douglas. We checked in at our backpackers right on the main street and did a bit of exploring. It's definitely a holiday beach town, everyone there to relax and enjoy the reef and rainforest. We spent a couple of days on the beach and did 2 day tours.
Our first tour was to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation. We were picked up from our backpackers at 7:45am and not returned until about 5:30. Our tour only had 8 people on it (that was the maximum) so it was very personal and informative. The first stop was Mossaman Gorge and then a boat trip down the river for some croc-spotting, where we saw some males, females and some babies! We had morning tea and coffee and some muffins at a sort of hidden beach along the side of the rainforest. They even catered to my vegan eating. I got a nice fruit box for morning tea instead of cookies and muffins. We carried on to Cape Tribulation where we got about 30 min to explore the views an beach. We drove back into the rainforest for lunch and sat at a picnic table in the middle of the trees. Lunch was a feast of steak, fish, sausages and about 4 different salads and damper (Australian bread). I had 2 vegan patties consisting of some grains and veggies perhaps. They were tasty even though I'm not too sure what they were made of. After lunch we had the option to swim in a chilly mountain stream, which the 4 of us did. The water was about 64 degrees. Very refreshing but a nice little spot. Next we went for a guided walk though the forest. We all piled back in the van and stopped off at a little ice cream place before heading back to Port Douglas. They only served a sampler of the 6 flavors of the day which were all named after foreign Australian fruits and things. I just sampled little bits of Jacques', but most were pretty tasty. Instead, I had a dairy-free fudgesicle of my own.
We had some nice beach-weather days and did a bit of poking in the shops around Port Douglas, mostly relaxing days. One day when Jacques and Alex went to do a workout in the evening, I decided to go for a run along the beach. It was the perfect temperature and since the beach faced east, the sun wasn't beating down on me, but nicely hidden behind the trees, just a nice warm breeze to keep the climate comfortable. There were so many others out running and walking along the beach as well, definitely a popular evening activity for vacationers and locals alike.
Our other big day trip was a snorkel tour out to the Agincourt Reefs in the Great Barrier Reef. All three spots were beautiful and we saw some amazing colors and sea life (including 6 white-tipped reef sharks!). Although a couple of the sharks were decent sized, the guides telling us they were harmless was enough convincing to swim up close to get some photos. They were pretty hard to keep up to though! Once again, we were fed very well throughout the day and my vegan needs were catered to.
All in all, we had a fabulous trip and lovely weather! It was nice to have a week of summertime after going from one winter into the next.
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| White-tipped reef shark |
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