Sunday April 27
We got up early on Sunday, skipped brekkie and headed to Sydney airport by taxi. We were all checked-in and in the Virgin Lounge (compliments of our AmEx Platinum card) in lots of time for a light breakfast. Our 8:40am flight was uneventful and we arrived in Cairns just before noon. We collected our hire car - a small SUV and drove to Port Douglas, stopping at Dan Murphy's in Smithfield on the way. We checked into our holiday apartment on Murphy St overlooking the entrance to the port then headed into town for a late lunch at El Cibo.
After lunch, we did some grocery shopping at the Coles in the center of town and headed home to unpack and try out our private plunge pool.
We stayed home for a light dinner of cold cuts and cheese.
Monday April 28
We had a bit of a rest day - doing the full grocery shopping, re-exploring the village and walking the 4 Mile Beach. We stayed home for dinner again.
Tuesday April 29
We drove to Mosmann Gorge for a rain forest walk and cooling plunge in the gorge which was rushing with water due to recent heavy rains. We were surprised that you can no longer drive all the way to the gorge; you now need to stop at a visitor center a few K's away and catch a shuttle, paying $8.50 for the privilege. From the gorge we went to one of our favourite places, Silky Oaks, for lunch. We stayed home for dinner again - using the BBQ - very pleasant sitting on our balcony in balmy weather.
Wednesday April 30
Today we drove the Cape Tribulation and did a couple of rain forest walks - one of which was more of a tough bush bash where we got totally lost when we were almost at the finish. We had just resigned ourselves to backtracking to the start (not a pleasant thought) when we came across a couple from Belgium - we decided to give it another try and this time found the right trail - so all's well that ends well. We ate our packed lunch at the Cape then made our way home, stopping at the Ice Cream Factory to sample their wears.
We had dinner at Nautilus - another favourite and had an excellent evening.
Thursday May 1
We drove to Cairns for a look around and had lunch at the Hilton waterfront pub. One the way back to Port Douglas we stopped at Palm Cove for a walk around - finding it more developed that ever and seemingly thriving.
We had another BBQ at home.
Friday May 2
We went to the outer reef - an all day trip on a different boat (The Poseidon) - it was a long day as these trips usually are - 8:30am - 4:30am - we had 3 stops at different places on the reef where we snorkelled.
We had dinner at Sassi - the food was good but over-priced with a bit of a service hiccup while waiting for the dessert menu that never appeared so we left and I had an ice cream at the ice cream parlour down the road - much cheaper.
Saturday May 3
On our last full day - we drove to Daintree village and took a river cruise - spotting a couple of crocodiles including old Scarface, pictured above.
Sunday May 4
So it was up and at 'im - packed up and on the road to Cairns airport at 10:00am for our 12:30pm flight to Sydney. We probably should have left earlier as today the annual Australian Harley motorcycle rally was making its way from Cairns to Port Douglass and return - more than 1000 bikes took part. Nevertheless we made our flight with time enough for refreshments in the lounge prior to boarding. We were back at home by 5:30pm - did a bit of unpacking then had the "Pizza Birra" special at Ventuno's - off to bed very early.
