Nathan comes back for a second go in Port Douglas!
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Wed 18 Mar 2015 01:38
The town is a great seaside resort with lots of lovely boutique shops, bars and restaurants. A walk down the beach in the afternoon, no swimming here as it is both stinger season, and there are crocs in the water, showed that the after effects of the cyclone were very much in evidence as the sea was a mucky brown colour and still quite rough. This area is famous for being the only place in the world where two world heritage sites meet, the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. While we were here we decided to do a rainforest tour and leave the reef for our next stop at Airlie Beach, when the seas should have calmed down and the visibility cleared again.
Whilst deciding which tour to do, we were told that far from dissipating over the sea, Cyclone Nathan was on his way back to land and due to make landfall in Port Douglas by about Thursday or Friday - great timing! We have spent the last few days watching the weather so we could decide when to leave to avoid getting stuck here during and after the storm. It is just like sailing, keeping an eye on the weather all the time! Having to avoid the same cyclone twice in one week seems a bit much to us!
Knowing that, a reef tour from here was now definitely out of the question as our time here would be shortened. We had also debated doing the rainforest ourselves, and possibly heading a bit further north but now wouldn't have the time.
The rainforest here is the oldest in the world at 140 million years old. Of the 19 primitive species of plants in the world, 12 are only found here, which is how they have managed to age the forest.
The tour was really interesting. You do learn an awful lot more than you would if you did the trip yourself, that said the downside is that you get a quick whistle-stop tour of the whole area, rather than spending time exploring.
The best part of the day for me was seeing the salt water crocs lazing on the river bank as we cruised along. Although the they were sleeping, as they are nocturnal hunters, he was definitely keeping an eye on us to make sure we didn't get too close!
Today, Wednesday, we are having a day in town and doing some of our packing up before we leave tomorrow. It is a long drive south to Airlie Beach and it will take about 8 hours or so to get there so we need an early start, also, it could be starting to get a bit breezy by tonight so getting the gazebo down could be a challenge, it is also not good in over 20 knots of wind!
A tree lizard - a cute little fellow!
Whilst this little fellow doesn't look too dangerous....
Look what he is going to grow into! This is Scarface, the Alpha male of the Daintree River. The tour guides don't name the crocs until they get to about 6 years old, as until then survival chances are small. Even though they don't have predators as such, crocs are such nasty creatures that they will eat each other. We saw a great pic of this chap eating a two year old croc!
The picture perfect beach at Cape Tribulation.....
Hides a multitude of nasties such as the deadly box jellyfish, as well as crocs!
John realises the water is very cold and that the fish are having a nibble! (Of his feet!)
Braving the fish and turtles!
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