Into the Rain Forest - Make sure there's plenty of beer!!

Another shrimp off the barbie !!

After our day in the water snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef ... the next day would be spent on land. But it was so humid, you would have thought we were back UNDER water. I've been in cooler, less muggy hotel steam-baths! Now we would be heading into uncharted territory...and - admittedly - the one part of our journey that I had not researched at all - so there were truly no real expectations on what the day would hold. Again - it was a shared-van excursion.... our guide-slash-driver picked us up in a Range Rover in the morning. We stopped at another small hotel in Port Douglas and picked up a family of four....mom, dad, brother and sister. I think they were from England if my memory is correct. Nice folks...again - the non-private touring we were doing in Australia was paying off.

Today we would be heading into the Daintree Rainforest... across the bay from Port Douglas.

The Daintree Rainforest is a tropical rainforest on the north east coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Mossman and Cairns. At around 1,200 km² (460 sq mi) the Daintree is the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest on the Australian continent. Along the coastline north of the Daintree River, tropical rainforest grows right down to the edge of the sea.

Our guide for the day could have walked right out of central-casting for Crocodile Dundee...a real "True Blue Fair Dinkum Aussie Bloke" is what he called himself...and what a character. He told some interesting stories about the area and seemed to love his job. That always makes a difference... if your guide is having a good time, the tour is better. But then again, everybody in Australia seems to be out to pass a good time...so there you have it. 

The Daintree is hot and humid... but because of that... it is very, very green. And thick. Rainforest is the modern-day term for this kind of place... but as a kid I would have called it "a jungle"...and as I mentioned earlier... the forest grows right to the sandy shoreline. Definitely a unique place. We made several stops along the way... on the beach, at a little out of the way pub (again, right out of the scenery-storage-locker for Crocodile Dundee). We tried our hand at trying to get some proper sounds out of a didgeridoo (without much success). We took a pretty long hike in the forest...and that was pretty intense. The humidity was really up there - - and I felt like a wet dishrag most of the time we were walking (see photo below)

Help me! I'm melting!! 

Our stop for a late lunch was a touristy place with decent food, good wine and a petting-zoo full of kangaroos and wallabies... always fun to visit with the 'roos. A few more stops along the way....and then to the highlight of the day...a boat cruise on the river to look for crocodiles. It wasn't too hard to spot them... they were all over in the shallow water along the banks of the river.... the boat guide was a pretty funny guy and the time went pretty quickly. But we had had a long day and we were getting pretty tired. It was good news to hear that we would be making the hour-and-a-half drive back to our hotel in Port Douglas. That was it for us...

After a nice hot shower, we went out to dinner at a place that was a few miles walk down the main-drag in town. Again....we walked. We sat at a table next to the sidewalk and there were no windows.... the sound of the cicadas in the tree outside was really loud... The meal was decent.... we saw the producer guy from New York and he was going to some club after. But we had it in our mind to go to the "world famous" (or so they say!) Iron Bar to see the Cane Toad Races. Yes...cane toads are these huge toads that have few natural enemies and are really a problem in Australia... the buggers are everywhere. Here is a link with a short video about the cane toad racing at the Iron Bar ... as you can see.... the "toad jockeys" use party-favor blowers to get their toads to jump...and the lucky few have to kiss their toads for good luck!! And that was the end of our very, very, very long day.

The next day was "at our leisure" - - actually three little words that you hope to see a lot of on your travel itinerary. The day before took a lot more out of me than I had thought. My sciatica was bothering me from all the walking....and we didn't have a driver for the day....so - we ended up walking some more.  We decided to walk up to the harbor where our boat was docked....to do a little shopping along the main street...and have a late lunch at a place we had seen on our snorkeling day that looked pretty interesting and fun. Along the way... we stopped at a book store where we picked up our "mascot" for the rest of the trip... a book and little stuffed dog that came as a package-deal... a local favorite -- Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy.  He was to be our constant companion for the rest of the trip!

The mall was fun...Amy bought her "stinger suit" and some shoes...and we had an amazing lunch of cold Victoria Bitters beer and these giant shrimp (see the photo above!)  We walked back to the hotel and napped....then ventured out one last time for some good food and beer. We had had our eye on this little place that served Mexican food... but they had a sign that said that they were closed and they never opened. We got back to the hotel one last time...did some laundry for the last time... and got re-packed for our next stop... beautiful Sydney for the New Year's Eve celebration.

All in all...Port Douglas far exceeded all expectations... just writing this has brought back some terrific memories...and I am glad I had the chance to share them with all of you...

Stay tuned... next... on to Sydney!!

Here is an album of photos from my Facebook page that contains over 100 snapshots of our final two days in Port Douglas, Australia:

Daintree Rain Forest and Port Douglas 

How "Great" is the "Great Barrier Reef", Anyway??

Our boat - the "Calypso"

So December 26th was the day... we had a light breakfast and come coffee out by the pool, and sat in the small lobby of our hotel and waited until a van pulled up to take us to the harbor and our boar for a full day of snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. This was something I had been looking forward to since we first planned this vacation and I saw the original itinerary. The itinerary had undergone some changes and minor tweaking, but this snorkeling trip was always going to be the highlight of the trip, for sure! I think there is always some worry when you are traveling to places that you have seen 1,000-times in your mind's-eye - "Is this going to live up to our expectations? Is it going to be a letdown? What if, what if, what if...?"

I think the secret to our traveling success on "this side of the world" has been to try our best to NOT have any expectations. A wise man once told me that expectations are merely disappointments waiting to hatch.  Sure, we look forward to our trips with great anticipation, and hope to have a good time... but if you start to think of only the "destinations" on your itinerary, you are missing the point of the journey.

So I was a little worried about the possibility of a big letdown as we set off to the harbor. Our hotel is actually walking-distance from the harbor (it's a good hike) - but in the tropical heat of North Queensland - the last think you want to do is go for a long walk if you don't have to. We had to stop and make a few other pick-ups on the way.... but we arrived in plenty of time to get down to the boat. The harbor area itself has a cute little "mall" of shops (mostly diving and souvenir shops...imagine that!) and a few places to eat (more about that later!)...and a long set of docks where all of the assorted dive-boats were tied-up.

Our boat was the Calypso (see photo, above left) and it was big. And it was nice. Kind of a split-hull catamaran design. It had a number of places to sit...outside on the main deck (both the bow and stern were open), inside (where most of the seating was located...also where the coffee and food were served) - the bridge-deck and catwalk...and an upper-deck in case you wanted to catch some of the intense summertime Australia sun. We pretty much went up and down the stairs a lot... getting some sun and coming back into the cool...

The trip out to the reef was a long one.... maybe two-hours? I really don't remember because the people-watching opportunities were so incredible !! That's the thing about going to places where everybody wants to go... everybody is there! You hear as many different languages as you might during a tour of the floor at the United Nations building! Very few Americans (on other couple from New Jersey on their honeymoon who were new to scuba-diving).... but there were Germans and Swedes and Japanese and Koreans and Canadians and French and Spanish people... people from all over the world. There was a very large Italian family....maybe six kids and the parents. And we started doing the math about how much their trip must be costing them. I have mentioned before in this blog that Australia is not the cheapest place we have ever traveled.... but - it almost broke-the-bank for the two of us to come for two-weeks...I could not imagine four-times the expense!!

About 45-minutes from the Great Barrier Reef...they start handing out the gear. Obviously those who were going scuba diving had much more gear to collect and assorted preparations to make.... we just needed to get our mask, snorkel and fins...and a new addition for us... the "stinger suit". We did not need one of these tight-fitting black-spandex getup's when we went snorkeling in the Maldives... but here in the waters off Queensland... it was required to protect everybody from the dreaded "stingers" that float with the sea currents. See this link all about the deadly stingers.

You see, Australia’s marine and estuarine environment is home to many interesting animals, including some harmful jellyfish collectively known as marine "stingers'. These marine stingers are easy to avoid but can cause discomfort if you are stung, and some of the tropical species, such as the Irukandji and Chironex fleckeri (the Box Jellyfish) can be lethal. So, to ensure you enjoy your day in the water, always remember be on the lookout....and wear your stinger suit!! They are...so flattering!!! Amy actually liked hers so much, that she actually bought one to take home from the harbor mall dive shop!!

We arrived at the site and got into the water. Here I will let the photos tell the story...with one addendum. Amy was the first one in the water and the last one out on all three dives!!! It was so cool to see her having such a good time. She really deserves it.... she is the reason we are able to do all that we do... With so many people in the water - all dressed in matching black stinger suits, it was hard to tell where whe was a t all times.... the only distinct part of her outfit was the color of her bright neon-yellow snorkel.  We dove together and separately for a total of over three-hours on our various stops to anchor the Calypso and swim off to the best spots. We could see scuba divers below us as we scooted along the surface and took and occasional trip down to the bottom...as long as one deep breath could take us.

Just a very small sample of the amazing colors we saw!

So.... was the Great Barrier Reef all that Great? You look at the photos and decide for yourself. Here are links to our assorted Facebook Photo Albums:

Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef

Scott and Amy Suzanne Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef and The Calypso 

Stay tuned for more! Next: The Daintree Rain forest and on to Sydney!!

Port Douglas, Queensland

The Peninsula Boutique Hotel Pool

If ever there was a "bucket list" portion of the trip... we were now embarking on it. Our early morning flight out of Adelaide and on to the little airport in Cairns was a long one... but it was oh, so worth the wait. Flying from the coast of South Australia to almost the Northeast tip of Queensland would take us about half-the-day...and land us in the quaint little town of Fort Douglas and onto our dream of snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef.

Now, even months after we got back home to Hyderabad...it is difficult to imagine that here we were...traveling on Christmas Day...and it's HOT! Man, I gotta tell you, it's tropical hot! Northern Queensland in the summertime is really sticky and warm... not exactly the "Jack Frost nipping at your chestnuts roasting by an open fire in a one-horse open sleigh" type of weather we might be expecting back in the U.S. It's quite strange.

From the small airport in Cairns, it was supposed to be about a one-hour drive up the coast. I'm pretty sure it was much longer, but the scenery was nice. We rode in a van with an interesting fellow who it turned out was the long-time and Emmy-winning producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He had really been roughing it during his stay in Oz...and he amazed us with tales of staying on a sheep ranch out in the outback where you needed a small plane to get in-and-out. We figured that we might end up hanging out with him during our Fort Douglas stay, but we really only saw him again one time at a local restaurant on our last night. It seems that we met a lot of fine people on this trip... but people we will probably never see again in our lives. That's what makes traveling fun.... new people...new adventures every day! 

Port Douglas is a town in Far North Queensland, Australia, approximately 70 km (40 mi) north of Cairns. Its permanent population was 4,772 at the time of the 2011 census.The town's population can often double, however, with the influx of tourists during the peak tourism season May–September. The town is named in honour of former Premier of Queensland, John Douglas. Port Douglas developed quickly based on the mining industry. Other parts of the area were established with timber cutting occurring in the area surrounding the Daintree River and with settlement starting to occur on lots around the Mossman River by 1880.

Previous names for the town included Terrigal, Island Point, Port Owen and Salisbury. The town is situated adjacent to two World Heritageareas, the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest.

Port Douglas was No. 3 on Australian Traveller magazine's list of 100 Best Towns In Australia.

If we ever decided to cash it all in and move away to Australia... Port Douglas could be a very, very good choice. But we did grab a few real estate brochures...and - the beachfront prices are quite ridiculous!

While in this quaint little town, we stayed at the PORT DOUGLAS PENINSULA BOUTIQUE HOTEL – and...once again thanks to our wonderful travel agent Eve Wertsch at Fugazi Travel in San Francisco, we got upgraded to a pool view suite! It's Christmas Day...and we were hot and tired from a full day of travel. We really liked the little hotel...but most of all we loved the incredible one-on-one service we got from the moment we arrived. If there is perhaps one thing I have not stressed enough in the prior six blog-posts about our Australian Holiday...it's that the people are just amazing!! The friendliest people I think I have ever met! Just add in a few pints of the favorite national beverage (cold beer) and you've got a great time on your hands!

What we did next was something we had been waiting to do since we started this journey: nothing. We sat by the pool (see photo above-left and below) and drank cold drinks. For a couple of hours! Just what the doctor ordered! The only thing of pressing need was to make dinner reservations (necessary because it was their special Christmas Dinner and it sounded pretty good!)  

Our upgraded room was really quite nice and we could see both the pool below and the beach beyond. And the best part... the little boutique hotel had free washers and driers and - man - were we ever in need of those. We had to keep a tight assembly-line going so we could beat the other guests and not get our stuff taken out of the drier and left on the counter....but we got virtually everything washed (some of which was still carrying dust and dirt from Kangaroo Island and wine stains from the Barossa Valley!!

The Christmas Dinner was all that we could have asked for... we drank champagne and got good and full and retired to our room for the night. Tomorrow we would board the Calypso (no...not Jacques Cousteau's boat...another "Calypso") for our full day of snorkeling on the Great Barrier reef. - - Stay tuned!!

Here are a few of our Fort Douglas photos from the first day:

I think I need one

Probably too sweet!

Ho Ho Ho !!

I think that's a daiquiri 

Australia's national beverage

Amy enjoying the pool

And that is a "Candy Cane"