Port Douglas - 05.10.2012 to 07.10.2012

Port Douglas used to be a rustic little seaside town back when I visited in 1996, but boy has it changed. It now is quite a yuppy orientated holiday destination, with restaurants a plenty, good swimming beaches and of course the sunday markets. The caravan park we stayed in was right only about 300 metres from the beach so very convenient as the weather was quite warm with a touch of humidity.

We took a day trip from Port Douglas to the Daintree and enjoyed the scenic drive up and around the windey roads. Our first stop was Mossman Gorge, quite a lot of money has gone into the information centre with a cafe, gallery and gift shop and run by the Kuku Yalanji people in the area. A bus runs you out to the gorge for $4.80 return. Amongst the lush rainforest was the enormous and gorgeous fig trees, little fresh water creeks and a beautiful walk in the Daintree forest.

Fig Tree

The drive in the Daintree is very beautiful even though it rained that day, it was quite nice to see and smell the forest with fresh rainfall. We were also lucky enough to see a Cassowary with chick, so all those road signs saying beware of Cassowaries was definately there for a purpose. The locals are very protective of these native wild birds and it is so good to see a community taking responsibility for their wildlife.

Yes Crowey we will look out for Cassowaries

A male Cassowary (they look after the chicks) and his young one

Back to Port Douglas that night,  we decided to head for the Atherton Tablelands the next day.