Fai Tira blog Friday 9th September

 Port Douglas 16:29.08S 145:27.36E

 

We left Cairns and had to motor to Port Douglas and was pleased to be contacted on the VHF from Wavedancer a 100ft tourist catamaran,  my mate Geoff skippers out to the Low Islands for a company called Quicksilver.  We rendezvoused just off the Port Douglas estuary  and we followed him in.  What a welcome. We moored up in the marina and I packed my bags and left John and Jeremy on Fai Tira and I headed off to Geoff and Linnea’s home in the rain forest.

 

Pictures of Pete’s adventures in Port Douglas.

 

 

Geoff standing on the back of the Quicksilver boat that goes out to the reef most days.

 

 

Geoff and Linnea’s house in the rain forest surrounded by very noisy birds especially in the mornings.

 

 

 

Linnea by the pool.

 

Monday morning we headed into Port Douglas and then to the local clinic.  I wanted to get my knee looked at, John wanted a general health check, Jeremy needed some info about inoculations and Geoff wanted to have his broken toe looked at.  He said I broke it but is a complete lie.  He broke it while working on Wavedancer.

 

 

Geoff had taken some annual leave for my visit so that we could do some flying.  So that’s what we did.

 

 

 

This is Geoff’s Airborne Redback Trike which has a Rotax 503 engine and massive wheels for landing on beaches and the desert.

 

 

 

Port Douglas estuary

 

 

The Marina with Fai Tira on the second row back.

 

 

Me flying Geoff’s plane.  He does look a bit scared at the back but then again I hadn’t flown for over a year.

 

 

I then went for a flight in Sammy’s (the airfield owner) Xair.  We flew up to the Daintree river.

 

 

 

Sammy who is 76 years old and flies nearly every day.

 

We had previously dropped John off at the hotel where he had arranged to meet Dee who had just arrived from England.  John went back to the Medical centre the next day and after some tests was rushed into hospital at Mossman.  His heart rate was erratic and fast.  They later decided to transfer him to Cairns hospital so that he could be monitored overnight.  We picked Dee up and took her back to her hotel.  Then next day John was discharged as being OKish.  We later took Jeremy to the airport as he was off to Sydney to meet an old friend.  John and Dee have spent some time together chilling out at the POSH Treetops resort.

 

 

Geoff Linnea and myself went on a trip to Mareeba on the Atherton Table lands to get some coffee beans.  On the way we saw a few road train trucks heading north.

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately we saw one that had crashed and left its load of  household waste all over the road. It was very smelly, I opened my window.

 

 

We saw lots of termite mounds but no Kangaroos.

 

 

Geoff and Linnea at the canon at the Mareeba war memorial.   

 

 

 

  

 

We went Karting and had a brilliant time.  Geoff was excellent at this and showed me the racing line which improved my time considerably.  I even caught Geoff up but only after he had to take evasive action to avoid a stray Kangaroo that tried to join him in his Kart.  

 

 

 

 

Then we saw loads of the things.

 

 

This is Linnea working hard whilst Geoff and I went flying.

 

 

Yesterday we went flying up north over the mighty Daintree river and rainforest. I was encouraged by Geoff to do some low flying, so guess what we did. 

 

 

Low flying over miles of deserted beach.

 

 

We stopped for a SOFT drink and a bite to eat at a beach side cafe on Thorntons beach.

 

 

I said you wouldn’t get me there for toffee.   “Thorntons beach” 

 

 

Can you spot the Crocodile. We did and it was my first sighting.

 

More to come.

 

Pete.