We haven’t planned any of our trip, we made the conscious decision to just drive – we had the general direction we were going and whatever took our fancy we would stop. This has worked well for us, and time is not an issue. What I have found really useful is stopping in at the Information centres and gleaning all the places to see, this way I felt we didn’t miss out on local attractions, because we hadn’t researched. I had researched going to Cape York and found out that taking a caravan (van) would be difficult especially if it was not an off-road van and ours wasn’t – also its best to travel with other people – so I gave this idea away, however, I had hoped that we might just drive to Cape York.

Queensland is huge, I didn’t really appreciate this fact and there is just so much to see. One of Mr C’s bucket list was to see the Daintree Rainforest and mine was to go to Cape York and snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef. People gave us ideas of where to go as a must see….. but at the end of the day, you can only see so much. Staying in Cairns allowed us to have a base to come back to and see as much as we could by doing day trips and having a couple of overnight stays up in the Daintree Cape Tribulation – just fabulous.

Fitzroy Island – Great Barrier Reef:

We decided to do a day trip to Fitzroy Island, the Great Barrier Reef – it would cater for my desire to snorkel, and Mr C could ride the glass bottom boat and also see some of the reef. The boat trip was approximately 45mins, it was a turbulent ride, the waves were pretty big, I’ve never been seasick, but this trip did make me a little squeezy: there were many people suffering from sea sickness, looking very green around the gills. As we approached the Island, you could see the ocean change colours – from a green/blue to a vibrant blue. The Island, the ocean was crystal clear and a vibrant blue – our glass bottom boat was booked for 12:30pm – so I had time to snorkel of the beach. I was mesmerized by the coral and the schools of fish – just wonderful, I spent just over an hour in the water – now for the glass bottom boat ride – the water was a little cloudy, this was because it was a bit windy and therefore effects visibility.

I decided to go for a walk through the rainforest to Nudey Beach, it was 40mins return – a little difficult, as it was natural rock steps, and some were a bit harder than others to climb. The walk was well worth the sight, the beach was pristine some sand and the rest crushed coral – the water was crystal clear, perfect for snorkelling – again just mesmerising. On my return Mr C and I had a late lunch of fish and chips – by the way the fish was delicious – then we sat watching from the bar until it was time to return to Cairns, this time it was a smooth ride back and everyone was tired.

Ellis Beach – Palm Cove – Yorkies Nob – Machan – Trinity Beach

We have visited most of the beaches of this area around Cairns – all the beaches give a crocodile and stinger warnings, and the water is not cold – however some beaches have surf lifesavers and stinger nets, the nets are in place for summer. Our favourite beach is Ellis as the first time we went there if was beautiful and clear blue, life savers were insitu and people were swimming, a good sign for me – however, we went back on several occasions and the water was murky, so I didn’t venture in, just went for my walk and Mr C sat in the pub with his beer. The locals seem to swim in the water regardless of the colour or whether lifeguards were present or not.

Palm Cove was lovely, has a jetty and several small islands to view – it’s a bit of a yuppie village with some trendy shops if that’s what you’re looking for – we stopped and had a lovely ice-cream from Numi Ice Creamery.

Crystal Cascades

Now this was a great place for a freshwater swim, it’s a beautiful secluded freshwater swimming hole, hidden amongst the rainforest – it’s just divine. The Crystal Cascades is a cascade waterfall on the freshwater creek. We found this delightful place because a friend told us about it – thanks goodness for friends. It’s a nice 3km walk, and once you are there, you can cool down by having a swim – again some rocks to climb over but generally ok – if you have a mobility scooter, I recommend using it for people who are not able to walk the distance, there are also lots of bench seats to rest along the way. We had a few rain showers when we were there, but with the tree coverage you don’t get wet.

Kuranda village and markets were about 17km from where we stayed. The markets were a great place hidden within the rainforest – there were many different stalls and eateries, we were spoiled for choice, and I had the most amazing jam doughnut! yum. Mr C wrestled with the idea of buying a very expensive crocodile belt, needless to say it was left in the shop. Instead, I managed to talk him into have a reflexology treatment for his neuralgic feet, alas it did not really make any difference. Kuranda offers a skyrail, cableway and scenic rail, we opted not to do any of these but to do our own self tour of the Kuranda rainforest – which suited us; however, the roads are so winding, narrow and at times steep, we both got nervous at times driving – but you know you can just go more slowly, I would just pull over if someone behind me was trying to push me along, and by more slowly by about 5-10 kms.

Port Douglas

I loved Port Douglas, where the rainforest meets the reef – we went twice and stayed overnight once – it’s a beautiful place. I would liken it to Margret River but bigger. The first trip was to have a look around, have lunch and walk around the town – I especially loved St Mary’s by the sea, now a non-denominational church that has been restored and used only for weddings, christenings and other special occasions…. not sure what they might be. The church was first built in 1881 and destroyed in 1911 by a cyclone. It was reconstructed with its original timbers on the same site on Flagstaff Hill – however after the sale of the land by the Catholic Church it was acquired and relocated by the sea front in 1988.

We also went on the Lady Douglas 1.1/2hr cruise. The weather was perfect – the cruise takes you along the river and through some of the estuaries looking for crocodiles, birds and wildlife – Mr C had a few complementary beers, I stuck to orange juice and there were some nibbles – we met some lovely people and learnt a lot about the history of Port Douglas, saw some wildlife and crocodiles swimming in the river – no swimming for me.

Our second visit was twofold, one so I could go snorkelling on Low Island, and second, we were heading to Cape Tribulation. The snorkelling was an early start 0800 on a speed boat – exciting… Mr C got his free time. The snorkelling was the best to date – I swam with green turtles, saw schools of fish, 150yr old clams which were so big I was worried it might suck me in …. they looked like giant vagina’s.

Cape Tribulation – World Heritage Rainforest and Reef

Cape Tribulation is a remote headland and a coastal area within the Daintree National Park – it’s a combination of rainforest and beaches. The drive was about 1.1/2 hours from Port Douglas, again a narrow, winding steep roads, at least we were prepared and have had lots of practice, it was a good decision to leave the van in Cairns. It was a cloudy day; I was worried it was just going to rain – although it was still humid. As you enter the Rainforest you cross the river on a large cable driven ferry, a first for me. Driving through the forest was just breath taking. We stayed at the Ferntree Rainforest Hotel – it was a small cabin within a rainforest – it was beautiful. We went as far up as Cape Tribulation Beach and the lookout – I did the Dubji night Boardwalk and it was amazing, although I was tired by the end of the night, it finished at nearly 11pm – and I have been snorkelling from 0830 for a couple of hours, no wonder my legs ached. I saw sleeping birds, bright green tree frogs, loads of insects, fireflies and frogs – the sounds at night were just amazing, sadly no Cassowaries.

The next morning, I took Mr C on the Dubji boardwalk, and he used the scooter, we made our way to Myall Beach, it’s really interesting walking out of the rainforest and to the ocean, it was a concept I could not get used to, every time I did it, it blew my mind. The same signs were present: stingers and crocodiles – therefore no swimming.

I did all the walks there were to do, except for the 9hr extremely hard walk lol, I’ve taken thousands of photos. We had brunch at the Turtle Rock Cafe, best coffee I’ve had to date, except for my own I make. At one rainforest walk, Mr C parked the car and I said I want to see this beach – he waited and I walked – I did not pay particular attention to where I entered the beach and just walked, however, on my return I could not find the entrance as the trees all looked the same – to cut the story short I called Mr C and asked him to walk to the entrance to see where I needed to go, when I reached him, he did say “I wondered where you got to” – I thought gosh it’s that easy to get lost – thankfully there was phone reception. Lesson for me – pay attention!

On my Bucket list was to see a Cassowary, but all the driving and walking the Cassowary has been elusive – We had to resort to going to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures to see one, it was well worth going – Hartley’s was a well-run adventure place with an interesting dining menu (they did serve crocodile), however it was expensive.

We had an amazing time in Cape Trib, (this needs a blog on its own, so many stories) it was also good to spend a few nights in hotels with ensuites lol it’s well worth the drive and the adventure, we just loved it.

I have so many photos, I’ll have to do a blog on my favourite photos at some point – There is so much to see that I feel I’m on exposure overload. We are leaving Cairns tomorrow and heading down the coast towards Townsville – see you at the next adventure – I’m still looking for my Cassowary in the wild, there are still some places they can be found further down the coast.