Aussie Roos: November 2011

After our trip down south we had only a few days at home before the kids and I jetted off with Grandpa for far-north Queensland. Our destinations - the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. These are both World Heritage Sites and people refer to this area as 'where the reef meets the rainforest'.

Where the reef meets the rainforest.

Jumping on the bouncy pillows at the resort.

We arrived in the evening and enjoyed an outdoor dinner at our resort. The resort had a great kids' area, including jumping pillows, mini-golf and a couple of pools. It was extremely hot and humid on arrival and for our first day which was spent between the resort and Hartley's Crocodile Park. At Hartley's, we took a boat cruise and the crocs were plentiful, coming up to the boat, jumping and snapping their powerful jaws for food. We saw some shows featuring snakes (including the taipan which is the world's most venomous snake), monitors (lizard-like creatures), and crocs and the kids were able to feed the wallabies and cassowaries.

Meaghan cruised to victory in the breaststroke race.

Swimming in the rain.

Mini-golf at the resort - I won!!!

The cassowary - an endangered species only found in this area.

Unfortunately, Cairns and the surrounding area received record-breaking rainfall (for October) over the next few days, with 214 mm falling in a 24 hr period. This affected our travels a bit although the kids and Grandpa still went for a swim and a competitive breaststroke race ensued in the pool. Meaghan was tops and Liam and Grandpa fought it out for silver. Mom won mini-golf which we managed to fit in before the next deluge. We travelled to a village called Kuranda which we had hoped to get to via the Skyrail (gondala) but the visibility was near zero so we drove there instead. It is a 'hippy-influenced' place with many market stalls. We also went to a butterfly sanctuary there but there weren't as many butterflies as usual flying around as they don't like the cold (I think it was only 24*C that day!).
That night we planned on going to dinner and an illusionist show but when we arrived in Cairns to pick up our tickets they told us the show had been cancelled due to technical difficulties. We still went out for a great dinner at 'Dundees' on the Esplanade and Grandpa had the best dessert ever . . . sticky date pudding with ice cream and lots of caramel sauce. Meaghan (despite having already eaten her own small dessert) dug right in and now has a new favourite dessert. She is researching online recipes and will try to re-create it.

We then went further north to a resort town called Port Douglas. We booked our 'jungle surfing' which is ziplining through the rainforest. It was in Cape Tribulation which is the furthest north you can go in Queensland without a 4WD. When we arrived they gave each of us a helmet with a different character on it. Liam was Dennis the Menace, Meaghan was Supergirl and I was Catwoman - all very appropriate for us! Grandpa decided to sit this one out and went birdwatching instead. He didn't see any wild cassowaries (a disappointment) but had a nice walk nonetheless. After a full day we took the ferry back across the Daintree River and met up with Dan who was our guide for an evening boatride. We saw some new species of birds and were treated to a site where there were thousands of egrets. We also saw many large fruit bats hanging around in trees - they were quite eerie looking!

Our time was coming to an end and we still hadn't taken our reef trip. Our hosts said the weather was 'fining up' and that Saturday was looking good. We booked with Quiksilver and it was raining when we got on board but quickly cleared up on the 90 minute cruise to the reef. The boat moored at a big pontoon and we had several hours to snorkel and explore the reef. Meg, Liam, and I wore stinger suits to help protect against the jellyfish (even though they weren't quite in season) but brave Grandpa took his chances. The reef was amazing. There were many types of coral and the fish were brilliant in colour and plentiful. Liam only took a few minutes for lunch and then was right back in for more. We explored the furthest reef that we were permitted to snorkel to and it was basically just us among the marine life. Meaghan came out with us for a while but was a bit apprehensive due to the many media reports of recent shark attacks. She preferred to stay closer to the pontoon with more people in the water. The kids were thrilled that Grandpa got in the water but Grandpa was not so thrilled with the seawater entering his snorkel. He reckons he inhaled a substantial amount and didn't last long. After his snorkelling attempt he took a semi-submersible submarine ride to view the glory of the reef.

Our last day was spent at the Sunday market in Port Douglas and then in Cairns prior to our flight leaving. They have an amazing lagoon pool which goes right to the edge of the Esplanade, overlooking the ocean. The kids spent hours playing/swimming here and enjoying the sunshine while Grandpa did some final birding on the boardwalk.

The trip was a very memorable one and it was great to spend so much time with Grandpa!