Koalas, Kangaroos, and Turtles
We just returned home from a great holiday in Port Douglas along the coast of Far North Queensland. We flew into Cairns (say “cans”, go figure) and drove north for about thirty minutes along the gorgeous ocean road, Captain Cook Highway. Port Douglas is a quiet beach town with one main drag, a couple of grocery stores, and about two dozen restaurants and cafes.
The best part of the week was playing with Pete in the surf. He already loves the water but the sand and waves were almost too much excitement for him. He was a little timid at first but it wore off quickly. Prying him away from the beach at the end of the day was not a pretty sight.
We spent the better part of a day driving through the Daintree rainforest which is just a short jaunt north of Port Douglas. The drive and the scenery were great but even the short hikes were a challenge for an 18 month-old who loves to sprint and a pregnant woman who would prefer not to walk.The primary reason for coming this far north though, besides escaping the chill and damp of Melbourne, is the Great Barrier Reef. We sailed on a large chartered catamaran and anchored just off the coast of a small corral cay in the reef’s low isles. I went off to prep for my scuba diving adventure while Twyla and Pete took the shuttle boat over to the island.
My first scuba experience was incredible! I touched cartoonish clams big enough to stick an arm in (which I did), swam with sea turtles that glided through the water without a care in the world, and saw the most brilliantly colored fish and coral you can imagine. Only after returning to the boat did I learn about the the two and half meter lemon shark the ship’s photographer saw lurking nearby. And, yes, he did come back with photographic evidence.
On our last full day there we had breakfast with the birds at the Rainforest Habitat, literally. One of these guys was bold enough to help himself to my breakfast sausage and barely budged when I smacked him on his fat, white belly. But the highlight of the sanctuary was, of course, the koalas…
More pictures here…
