16.29.130S 145.27.606  Saturday 6^th September   Port Douglas is such a delight.  It has a permanent population of over 4000 and is predominantly a tourist area.  In the past it had a history of gold mining with over 12,000 inhabitants but by the 1880s the gold rush was over and when in 1911 a severe cyclone razed the town the business centre moved to Mosman where the region’s sugar mill was situated.  By 1960 Port Douglas had become a sleepy fishing village of around 100 people.  It wasn’t until the 1980’s that Christopher Skase, a visionary character, played a key role in the development of Marina Mirage and Resort, planting 1000 mature oil palms along the main thoroughfare of the town and successfully promoting the town as an international destination.  Skase built his 1.5 billion Qintex media and Tourism Empire from scratch in less than 10 years.  I understand he is now deceased, but after the total collapse of the business and allegations that he had squandered 98 percent of his investors’ funds – he settled in Majorca as a fugitive exile and refused to return to Australia.  His legacy lives on and certainly this is architecturally and visually one of the most appealing places we have visited.

 

 

Anahi with the navy blue mainsail nestled into berth B14

 

Yesterday we accomplished an oil change on the engine

(replacing the synthetic oil we had been using), a gas bottle refill and new regulator, a second gas bottle (as the one we had is not recognised here), a replacement electric kettle and an electric saucepan in case we get a repeat gas problem, clean laundry, an iridium top up……..and a curry to finish off the day.  The whole feeling here is fashionable; the climate wonderfully tropical, the restaurants eclectic and there is a positive holiday atmosphere in the town…..full of art galleries and local craft shops.  The beautifully maintained, but reasonably priced, Marina has an exceptional buzz about it with cruisers welcomed.

 

 

Marina shopping 

 

If we weren’t on the Rally we could certainly consider staying longer.

 

We were meant to be leaving today,  but we hired a car instead (I’m sorry they only had a red one)

 

 

 

Good old Aussie _expression_  ‘flasher than a rat with a gold tooth’ and drove down the coast to do a bit of crocodile spotting, visiting Yorkeys Knob (full of one arm bandits) and Cairns Marina (modern, spread out and soulless) on route.  And guess who we found there – Penelope III, Miss Styx, Neva, Kaimin, Cayuko and Pele V!  We thought we were alone in bringing up the rear but we’re in good company!

 

The crocodiles were the highlight of the day – have a look!

 

 

My my what big teeth you have

 

 

Kiss and make up

 

 

Two’s company….

 

 

 

Sleepy head

 

 

Heh, heh, heh….

 

 

My my my!

 

We learnt a lot from the rangers:  there are 23 types of crocodile with 3 sub species. These ‘Estuarine Crocodiles’ (crocodylus porosus) (mistakenly called salt water crocodiles because though they are able to live in salt water and can even cross oceans, they prefer fresh brackish water) have been around for 240 million years.  From fossil records we can tell that at least 10,000 species have become extinct during that time but the remaining cousins have outlived the dinosaurs – their sense of sight, hearing, smell, touch and vibration is tuned to a state of perfection.  During their lifetime they never stop growing and can reach 8.5 meters.

 

Today, having been hunted near to extinction by man, crocodiles are ‘protected’ – commercial farming ensures their survival and the rewards for their skins is highly lucrative to attract the investors – fee paying tourists and meat products are a mere bonus.  The eggs are gathered carefully because the yolk is not suspended as it is in a chicken’s egg  and sinks to the bottom; the embryo floats to the top, where it must remain to survive.  Temperature governs whether a male or female hatches – between 21 and 23 degrees guarantees a boy – a degree either way will produce a female.  The eggs are kept at a constant 22 degrees!  The babies are nurtured for six years before culling.

 

We also saw fresh water crocs – they are smaller with a sharper nose and keep their distance from their larger brethren.

 

 

Freshwater crocodile with pointy nose

 

 

Skeleton of an Estuarine

 

 

Freshwater

 

 

And sub species alligator

 

What a day!  And tomorrow we are going snorkelling on the reef on a Lagoon 500…….then we will start the trip to Darwin.