Fai Tira blog Sunday 19th September

On the way to Cooktown 15:27.73S 145:14.93E

Almost as soon as we arrived in Port Douglas, we were greeted by Pete’s long term, and now resident Australian mate Geoff. I remembered him vaguely from a brief meeting way back in Dartmouth, in what now seems almost another life time.  And it wasn’t long after the mooring up and hellos, that Pete disappeared in the direction of Geoff’s delightfully located, tasteful and individual home that was to be his new temporary accommodation for the week, and then to embark on their mutual list of adventure activities.

So early on the pattern for the next week was quickly set. I was looking forward to seeing Dee for the first time since our Antiguian Christmas and spending three nights in the luxurious Tree Tops Resort (yes I know, “what’s he doing staying there”. At least it wasn’t a beach one, so I was able to leave with just a few of my principles still intact!)

And Jeremy was off on walkabout, to places further inland visiting mates, one a well known artist and the other a dentist (long way to go just to see some paintings and get a tooth fixed)...Good old Jeremy!

Pete’s familiarity with Port Douglas was based on memories from a touring trip to the area seven years before with Judy. However, as far as both Jeremy and I were concerned, our knowledge was restricted to a set of briefing notes and information gleaned from a variety of on board books, and all that we’d heard, from whatever source, had the cumulative effect of raising our already heightened expectations. In the event, I don’t think any of us were disappointed. It had class, a delightful cafe culture, a relaxed uncluttered atmosphere, historic rain forests, a huge range of both adventurous  and scenic guided tours, really big Sunday craft market, great and not so great ice cream, the largest big sports screen I’ve seen (the all blacks won yet again) a hospital (more about that later!!) brilliant wild life, but above all it felt comfortably civilised. Our marina was all shut up and quiet not long after 9pm on a Saturday!.....Sounds pretty civilised to me!,,,. although I suppose I have to acknowledge that there is the chance that those might just be the rumblings of a grumpy old sod?!

The day was Sunday, it was the 5^th of September and the afternoon was drifting towards early evening as we arrived in the approaches to the harbour. Geoff works for the huge leisure company Quicksilver and was bringing in, their giant reef tour catamaran, Wave Dancer, from one of its daily excursions, and the VHF communication between him and Pete resulted in us latching on to its rear and tripping along behind like an admiring young sibling!

Preconceptions are sometimes dodgy things, but on this occasion the first impact quickly confirmed the accuracy of those long formed good impressions. The rustic wharf dotted with relaxed waving fishermen, elegant timber buildings and houseboats dripping with greenery sprouting from colourful pots, all made it feel good to be here.

With Pete and Geoff gone, promising to return to provide transport tomorrow, Jeremy and I had our first taste of laid back Port Douglas. It was still before 8pm; and only just in time we crept into the only open restaurant, in this extensive marina “Village” and only just managed to order our meals before they shut up shop for the night,,, quite enjoyed that.....I know,,  grumpy old sod!!

The next morning our transport arrived early and before long we were walking down the tasteful picturesque cafe and tree lined main road, all of us with broadly different agendas. Pete and Geoff planning their action man activities, Jeremy looking for value/cheap travel shops and me searching for opportunities to view the local culture and art, whilst assessing and making a mental note of the good watering holes in between, that Dee would also enjoy once she arrived.

However, the thing we all felt we needed to do was visit the local health centre, either for advice, patching up or just top-up jabs, in my case a big mistake...or perhaps not!.

What we hadn’t reckoned on was the price, so all decisions were deferred for later consideration.

 Early afternoon had me sitting in the reception of the extremely plush Treetops Resort Hotel, waiting for the Cairns airport transfer coach and Dee to arrive.

This was nice. It was tastefully luxurious, blissfully peaceful and looked, for all the world, as though each building had been meticulously planned and constructed, then dropped, precisely and naturally, into the middle of a sultry rain forest without so much as disturbing a single tree

There was so much to look forward to. See Dee for the first time in eight months and catch up on all that’s been going on. Spend three nights of luxury sleeping in a bed that doesn’t move and also to wake up in one that isn’t soaked in sweat with bedding leaking an aroma that says it would be better off in a laundry!,, such anticipation!.

Our room was superb. The food great and to wake up, feeling refreshed, to the exotic sounds of tropical bird song,,,,  just brilliant.

So all was looking good and our first day was to be spent wandering this delightful town. However, although the others had decided to forego the doctor’s visit, I thought that the bunch of drugs I’m on needed a bit of a review.

Presenting myself to a new doctor, with my heart history, is always a bit dodgy and we’d often joked on the boat about how if a new clinician should look at it, especially if combined with the results of an ECG, I’d probably end up flat on my back in hospital under lock and key..... Guess what, two emergency ambulance rides and 5 hours later, that’s exactly where I was(not the lock and key bit though!) with our luxurious hotel bed now 45 miles away in the opposite direction!

The trouble is, that what’s now normal for me is far from normal for most people and Annie, the first doctors reaction to my resting pulse of 140 (that’s not even normal for me) provoked a chain reaction of events that once started were difficult to stop. It was probably due to my own silly fault for presenting myself to her soon after the consumption of both strong black coffee and alcohol whilst in the middle of a course of potent pills for my hearing.

What a start to Dee’s visit. Anyhow, the doc’s (that’s a bit of Australian I’ve learnt and just thought I’d throw in) were both fantastically attentive and realistic, soon calming everything down. Then after 24 hours of monitoring and the signing of a few papers, I was out.

Pete and Geoff were now also in Cairns having provided transportation for Jeremy’s airport departure, and we all met up along with Geoff’s delightful wife Linnea.........I had lemonade!!

Not the best of starts for our stay, but it did provide the chance to view the scenic route back along the coast to Port Douglas passing a field full of grazing kangaroos on the way, the first we’d seen. This area is a traditional feeding ground and although the owner had been approached on many occasions by developers, he’d decided that the animal’s interests came first...... What a great sight and high principle!

Soon we’d all properly dispersed and Dee and I spent the next day picking up the bits and relaxing round the resort, visiting the local deli restaurant, strolling along the beach and reading books alongside the pool... Well why not?

Our stay in the resort over, it was back to the boat and marina, and also to decide about what tour to choose to make the most of the time left. A day was spent strolling, (walked straight past the doctor’s door this time though)

Just ambling was great, I even managed a hair cut with the barber turning out to be a good source of information. It resulted in us eventually acting on his advice and opting for the Cape Tribulation tour the following day.

Our collection from the marina car park was early and we were greeted by Ross our very knowledgeable and friendly guide. He quickly made us feel comfortable and our 4WD people carrier collected just two more people before setting off North on a 120km round trip that would take in ancient rain forest walks, a Daintree River trip searching for crocodiles, a visit to Mossman Gorge, a swim in a fast flowing mountain stream, a visit to Cape Tribulation and a walk on what, this time, was a really beautiful beach and finally a visit to Daintree Ice cream, where we tasted ice cream made from fruit they’d grown, resulting in the production of some pretty bizarre flavours.

The day was brilliant, made even better by the constant flow of sometimes obscure and in depth information from the affable Ross.

Our time in Port Douglas seemed short as we prepared to depart on Monday, but there was still time to visit the colourful and hugely popular Sunday Market and visit Geoff and Linea in their lovely house for a unique Geoff style B.B.Q.

Much thanks to you both for the welcoming hospitality and help.

The trip to our next destination, Low Island was short, about 8 miles, but the sail was brilliant and it felt like we flew there.

With the boat secured to a visitors buoy, it wasn’t long before we were in the water. We’d spotted sharks earlier, but they’d disappeared by the time we were in. However the beautiful big and colourful close up fish that we did see, more than made up for it.

As soon as the tour and charter boats had left, we launched the dinghy headed for the island and snorkelled off the beautiful reef with its breathtaking variety of hard and soft coral and were instantly treated to the sight of beautifully coloured turtles. Back on the beach there was still time and light enough for some exploring before returning to the boat.

Our next main destination was Cook Town, but the distance seemed too far to cover in daylight hours. So we planned an overnight stop on Hope Island about 50 miles away. Once more the sail was brilliant with 15-20 knots of South Easterly trades pushing us all the time, knocking almost 3 hours off our estimated journey time and we arrived at this tiny coral protected isolated island too far out of reach to be troubled by tourists and had it all to ourselves. No swimming this time though. A quick scan with the binoculars confirmed the crocodile warning sign. It didn’t stop us exploring though. The bird life was superb with the highlight being the sighting of an Osprey and for me the beautifully sculpture distressed and bleached driftwood that had been washed up on these silky shores. Back on the boat, the light had almost disappeared and about 30 miles of Australian coastline was on view and in all that distance not one domestic light to be seen.....  Now beginning to realise just how big this place is .

Relatively speaking, Cook Town was just around the corner now, and with the wind giving about the same assistance the travelling time was short with us ending up in this sleepy almost archaic town early in the afternoon. Everything seemed straightforward, just find the right spot close into the shore and drop the anchor. However it wouldn’t be Fai Tira without some sort of drama, and after two attempts a spot was finally selected in just under 2 metres of water, although a bit further out than we’d have liked. And we went for a drink. Not long after our return, we noticed that our inherent slight starboard list seemed to be suddenly exaggerated.... We were on the bottom and stuck fast with the tide still a long way to travel and the next high one, 12 hours later, was lower than the current low one. So there was nothing to do except wait .while at the same time trying to do our fly imitations by almost walking around on the walls of a boat that was leaning over at something like 40 degrees, not easy or dignified and with other BWR boats turning up,,,,, fairly embarrassing!!. And Pete’s, fairly implausible,  excuse of trying to emulate Cook’s exploits hardly held water,,,, scuse the pun!!

Cook Town was a good place to be, and significant for playing an important part in both Australian and British history. It had undergone many cultural and economic changes since Cooks arrival, in about 1770, and all of it meticulously and interestingly recorded in the beautifully restored convent now acting as a museum. We also had a chance (before leaving to see if our boat was now vertical) to visit the brilliant botanical gardens and walk through the forest to Finch Bay

That, for us then, was Cook Town. Next stop Lizard Island

Should be good!!

Photos later.