2013-11-04 Day 3 - Trip to Port Douglas Cairns

Day 3 was about just doing anything for the remaining day... Thought that a trip to Kurranda via skyrail maybe good... but not sure if we need to pre-book... tried a few websites early morning but they don't do automatic online booking if it's on the same day, so just left early and tried our luck. 

We drove to Skyrail Station and managed to buy tickets there... bought a roundtrip cable car from sky rail to kurranda, then train from kurranda to freshwater station, and bus service from the station back to Skyrail carpark.

9:15 am - 10:30  - Skyrail to Kurranda.

First stop - Red Peak station.  We got off and finished our drinks and biscuit on the boardwalk built on top of rainforests.   Nothing much to do here... and had enough of walking from yesterday, so back to the cable car right after we ate.  Food/drinks are not allowed to be consumed on the cable car

Second stop - Barron Falls station.  Uhmm.. The same falls we saw yesterday. But not too bad, getting here via skyrail gave us a good, closer view of the falls.  There were 2 lookouts and both were only a short distance from the station.

Third stop - Kurranda Village.  Meant to take a 45-min cruise along Barron river but too bad... forgot all about it when we reached the village.  

We didn't do much during our stay... I thought waiting for almost 4 hours for the train was quite long.  At Kurranda was the Birdworld which none of us has interest in going.

Butterfly park, which me & Mon ended up going just to kill the time. 

In the village was a bazaar where you can find art crafts, bling-bling, bathers, wines, jewelries, etc. And the remaining hours were basically eat, window shop, eat and shop...

2:00 - 4:00 pm Kurranda Scenic train & back to Skyrail carpark.

At last!  The train finally arrived.  We were initially at Car 4 ... then was asked to transfer at Car 3 where there were more space.   

Train stopped for 10 mins at a station with the view of Barron falls from the opposite side of Skyrail Barron Falls lookouts.  So it's really looking at the falls from different angle.

And more falls as the train travelled... Bridal Veil falls which is too far for us to capture and Stony Creek Falls... a few tunnels and never ending mountains.

At the end of the day, our assessment was... if we would do it again, we will probably skip the train... As half of the time, trees closed to the train track were blocking the scenery.  Cable car is still much better.  It may be OK for those who have young kids who are still fascinated in a train ride and tumnels or for those who intend to visit all attractions at Kurranda, so they may not mind waiting for the train departure time.  

We arrived at Freshwater Station. Skyrail coach were  already full, hence, we were transferred to a tour bus that took us to Skyrail carpark.

Spider web below were taken from Skyrail carpark... and ant's nest on lower right from another carpark at crocodile park from previous day.... dangerous stuff.

4:00 - 6:00 pm The sun was still up... We drove through a long and winding road to Lake Morris & Copperlode Dam.  

The dam is a fresh water reservoir servicing the city of CairnsQueensland, Australia. The lake's name is after the name of the engineer who discovered the site and the dam was named after the waterfalls used to be in there.

More lookout overlooking Cairns City... 

Back to Cairns around 6pm to check in at Holiday Inn before returning our rental car at Hertz-Cairns airport.

Had a good walk along Cairns Esplanade... treat ourselves with a seafood dinner, then headed to Cairns Night Market to shop and pampered ourselves with  foot spa and body massage - value for money $15 for foot spa and head/body/foot massage:-)

Day 4 - Had a good night sleep, woke up early, packed our things :-( and had a buffet breakfast at the hotel.

For the last time, went out to enjoy the ambience of walking along the  Cairns Esplanade in the morning.

We had a smooth flight back to Melbourne and 10 mins earlier than ETA... Not too bad, we wouldn't mind taking Tiger airlines again in the future.

2013-11-03 Day 2 - Trip to Port Douglas/Cairns

As per original plan, had early swim at the resort... It was lovely morning!

... then walked down to Four Mile beach through the resort's access before coming back to our room.. the wave was a bit rough then, so we asked Justin to give it a miss.

Day 2 was ticking another item in our bucket list... 

We were picked up at half past 9 by Quicksilver service bus from the lobby of the hotel to Port Marina where we boarded the Quicksilver cruises heading to the pontoon at Agincourt Reef.

It was raining heavily when we left Port Douglas... We're hoping for a weather change.  Anyway, I trusted the lady's word from the info centre in Cairns. She said that weather is generally good at the Great Barrier Reef and she was indeed right!

Mon asked for motion sickness tablets but no good for him.  After awhile in the cruise, he started feeling sick and just preferred to sleep :-(.  poor guy! he's relieved to the max when we reached the pontoon.

A few hours in the pontoon gave us a fair bit of time to experience the great barrier reef...  

11:00-11:30am - Semi Submersible coral viewing... suits those who want to stay dry.  

We hopped on the small vessel then walked down to the sub, where expectators seat in pairs.  Definitely recommended though if you have a motion sickness, you may not find it as enjoyable as the others... Mon was excited at first, then started to feel sick halfway of our 25 minute ride... the quicksilver sub took us slowly through the colourful coral gardens... it's really a good great barrier reef experience.  It was fantastic seeing humongous,  mountainous corals of different colours and shapes... there we saw a giant tortoise, but the sharks were hiding:D

12:00-12:40pm Had buffet lunch... salads, prawns, chicken, beef, sausages, etc... but tried not to eat too much as we're headin' to the water afterwards for more snorkelling.

12:40-12:50pm Underwater Observatory.  After experiencing the sub, i'd say nothing much to see here at the time when we came aside from seeing those who were trying to do the diving.

12:50-1:50pm -  got the lycra suits then off to snorkelling. I'd say it's not really something that Mon would enjoy doing... After a few attempts, he left me & Justin in the water...

I had a bit of leg cramp after a while but Justin insisted, "you have to see this Mum!!!" Told him I had a leg cramp but he's very persistent and led me swim further and promised that he would stay with me.. Well, he's right... there were the giant corals... really cool!!! But the moment we reached there, he forgot that I was having a leg cramp and left me.. grrrrr!!! I realised we went too far and even with the fins, i couldn't swim strong enough to go back to the poontoon 'coz of the strong winds/waves/current... Even worse, one of the fins almost dropped off my feet but l managed to fit it back... I'm not nervous or anything, feelin' safe having the life vests on... just find it tiring to swim against the waves... I was in that state for about 5 mins before I found Justin.  He was obviously sorry for leaving me but he made it up by pulling me and helping me swim back to the pontoon... Good to have a very good swimmer in the family! He was trying to pull me up as he swam as if I was drowning:D. LOL!  Told him, 'Hey, i'm not drowned, just felt tired, just hold my hand and lets swim together to the pontoon." 

By the time we reached there, it was time to go... we quickly get changed and gather all our things... 

2:15 - 3:00 pm - We booked for a 10-minute heliflight to see the great barrier reef from above and guess what... we were upgraded for free for more or less half an hour flight around the great barrier reef  and flew us back to Port Douglas!  It was AWESOME! We reached the hotel quite early... and for Mon, it meant no more sea-sickness.  This made our holiday complete -- riding a heli & overlooking the great barrier reef,  two ticks in the bucket list... 

We rested for an hour in the hotel... then out again by 4pm... We drove north and it was basically just free & easy for us.  No itinerary, just killing the time and stopped whenever/ wherever.

There was a sign pointing to Barron Gorge.  We drove up and reached the Barron Gorge Hydro Power Station, where we saw the Barron falls from afar and Barron River.

Next : We saw a sign going to Crystal Cascades.  Without knowing what's in crystal cascade, we drove towards and began our walk.  It's actually a park, where people can do picnic or bbqs.  There were access to the 'holes' where people can swim... At the end of park was the Crystal Cascades Falls.

It was already dark when we reached the car and surprisingly, no mossie bites.

We had dinner at Japanese/Korean Resto at Cairns before going back to Port Douglas.

P.S.  On our way to PD, a black jeep overtook us on the road then suddenly slowed to 60kph on the highway... thought they may have engine problem or something...   The driver waved his hands, telling us to overtake.  When our car was already closed on the right side of the jeep, the driver started speeding up.  

I asked Mon to backout and slow down... And then the jeep driver was testing our patience... the driver slowed again... and Mon said, "They must be drunk and inviting us to a race".  A bit nervous, have asked Mon to slow down and keep a distance... They lose their patience after awhile, sped off and disappeared. Sighhh of relief!

2013-11-02 Day 1 Trip to Port Douglas/Cairns

Left home at 4:45 am for a flight from Melbourne to Cairns.  First time in Tigerair, so better be early... hoping for a problem-free flight.

Parking at long-term car park and finding the way to Terminal 4 (T4)  took us 20 to 25 minutes, yet we're still early.

Had a smooth flight and arrived Cairns at 10ish.  Took some maps from the nearby info centre then drove further north along Captain Cooks Hway.

Daintree is regarded as the only place on earth where two World Heritage Sites (Great Barrier reef and wet tropics of Queensland) are situated side by side.

Driving along Captain Cooks Hway, Mon pulled over to take some photos at Rex Lookout.

Then continue driving - heading to Mossman.  Our 'Day 1' is exploring a part of  the wet tropics of Queensland. Gee... heaps of mango trees along the hway, and mangoes were just literally falling on the ground.  Some motorists were stopping over to pick some mangoes.  We're one of them:-)... though we're just stopping over to take some photos.

We headed to Mossman Gorge, where there's a shuttle service departing every 5 or 10 minutes going to the entrance of the forest.  Recommended for those who  are in a hurry.  Only for small amount, it will save you some time walking to reach the entrance... we have sighted colourful butterflies, cassowarie (bird), giant spider, 'strange fruit' bearing trees. Also had a walk to Rex hanging bridge... 

The main attraction was the Mossman River lookout where tourists were also permitted to swim.  

Justin did it for 20 mins or so...

We continued our driving to complete our itinerary for the day.  It's basically driving from Mossman Gorge to Cape Tribulation where we have to board the ferry with our rental car. 

11 kms from the ferry terminal to Cape Tribulation was the Alexander Range lookout... nice view overlooking Low Isle and other small islands...

0ne of the items in the bucket lists- TICKED.

There are few activities in Cape Tribulation (kayaking, night safari, aerial walk, etc) but we had decided to give it a miss as it was getting late.

Went to Port Douglas and straight to Sheraton Mirage Resort where we would spend the next 2 nights.   The huge pool around Sheraton units with access to Four Mile beach was inviting... Have to wake up EARLY tomorrow to enjoy it!

A long amazing day ended after a truly filling dinner at the 'Star of Siam' here at Port Douglas.

2013-09-29 Exploring Tarra-Bulga National Park

Got up earlier than our normal Sunday morning, took a shower then went to St Benedicts Church at Burwood to hear the mass. 

We had been busy the last few weekends with house work. Today is sunny Sunday, 21deg.  And since it's school holiday, we thought it would be perfect to go for a short trip.

Spring is in the air at the Glen where we had a quick lunch before driving south.

Our first stop was at Loy Yang Miners View lookout overlooking Loy Yang Power Station and coal mines.

Then followed by 30 mins to an hour scenic drive from Loy Yang to Tarra-National Park.

Bushwalking from visitor centre to  Corrigan's suspension bridge & back.  The bridge stretches through the rainforest canopy overlooking the fern gully on the forest floor.

Another 5 mins drive, then more fern gully nature walk for us, exploring the rainforest at Tarra Valley going to Cyathea Falls...

Just a short drive going south from Tarra Valley was Tarra falls.  We didn't need a long walk for this one.  It's very close to the road.

We were looking forward to have a cuppa at Yarram before going back to Melbourne but unfortunately... It was obvious that we couldn't go any further.  The road is blocked with erosion and fallen trees... must be from the strong winds a few days ago:-(

... bought a meat pie, sausage roll and a muffin  from the gas station on our way back to Melbourne to fill our hungry tummy.

Thought of going to Hogs Breath Cafe to have dinner then we realised that we had our entertainment book with us.

Hence, we drove to a Thai restaurant at Glen Iris --- guess what... it's under renovation.

Drove to another Thai restaurant at Mount Waverley...and guess what again... they're closing earlier than normal and had started turning off the lights when we arrived... must be our lucky night!

I said, the next one would be the last..if still no good then we would go home and would just prepare dinner at home.. we drove to Vietnamese Restaurant somewhere at Syndal...and thanks!!! we're lucky this time :-) It was still open, good food... So the 3 of us went home satisfied at the end!