Daintree Forest

Thursday, 14 August 2014

 

Daintree River

Yum, orange and poppy seed

View from behind

Jungle floor

Baby barra

Waiting for a barra

Yes, he was dresssed like this - and had a man bag!

At the top of the tower

At the bottom of the tower

Best avoided

McLean's Creek Lookout

Might need to reroute the walkway soon

Just checking that it is only a model

Man standing underneath a tree fern

McLean's Creek

Thank goodness it is only a 5.5 metre python skin

Spot the spider in the orchid?

Relaxing

Daintree River

Yesterday, with the sun shining for the third day in a row, we decided on a trip to the Daintree World Heritage Area.  Along with many other tourists, we travelled north along the beautiful tropical coastline towards Port Douglas and then onwards to Mossman and the surrounding cane fields.  We gave the Daintree Village a miss this year and instead headed to the Daintree River and the ferry crossing.  After paying our return fare, we were given some information on the region as far north as Cape Tribulation, as well as a very forceful crocodile warning.  Having both seen a crocodile (not just one of us being accused of seeing “crocodile logs”) in one of the waterways near the Cairns Airport only the day before, we weren’t about to go swimming in the Daintree River!

Our first stop was at the Daintree Discovery Centre, somewhere we haven’t visited before.  We enjoyed a muffin and coffee in the coffee shop before paying our entrance fee and heading into the rainforest.  We spent a couple of very enjoyable hours here, climbing to the top of the tower, walking through the tree tops and along the forest floor.  Cat even conned a cuddle out of a visiting English two year old!

Our next stop was at the Daintree Ice Cream Factory (or some name like that!), where we had a choice of 26 flavours, the majority of which were non-traditional.  The ice cream was very nice (but definitely not in Movenpick’s league) and we enjoyed time sitting in the peaceful garden surroundings.

With the afternoon disappearing fast and a nearly two hour drive back to Cairns, we opted to give Cape Tribulation beach a miss and return to the ferry, with a stop at Alexandra Lookout for the view over the mouth of the Daintree River and the Low Isles in the distance.

Thursday: the sun didn’t shine.  Thursday: it RAINED!!!

Palm Cove

Tuesday, 12 August 2014

 

Kellie and us

Bird watching - a bush stone curlew

Doves beside the caravan

Friar bird

I think I saw a bird!

Windy Palm Cove Beach

Still windy

Beautiful melaleuca trees at Palm Cove

Waiting for a face plant!

Last Saturday afternoon, we had the pleasure of spending and hour or so with Kellie, the daughter of some friends back home.  As Kellie has lived in Brisbane for many years, it has been some time since we last saw her.

Sunday – the rain returned with a vengeance!  There really wasn’t a lot to do, except relax and watch the water.

Monday – and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky!  Needless to say, obtaining a free washing machine was worse they finding a bargain at the Boxing Day Sales; definitely a free for all!!!  With the washing safely on the line, we headed for Smithfield to sort out a Telstra problems (why does one only have problems with Telstra?) and spent nearly an hour on the phone there explaining the same problem many times to many different people.  I had received an account for $0.97 for an account I don't have (don’t ask!).  The third person I spoke to eventually offered to credit the amount and would send an email confirmation.  All done, email received which said the amount would be credited off NEXT month's account and I would have to pay the amount owing or be charged $15 late payment fee!  I now have to pay $0.97 for an account that no longer exists, which will then be credited next month so we have no way then of recovering the $0.97.  I should have just paid the $0.97 …

So stressed after this, a chocky was definitely needed.

Tuesday – and another clear sky.  We had decided that if the morning was clear, I was to wake Himself early so that we could participate in the weekly (Tuesday only) bird watching activity at the Botanical Gardens.  We arrived ten minutes before the due time and waited with about fifteen other people for the guide to turn up.  Eventually, after 9.00 am, a staff member arrived to tell us the bird watching had been cancelled for today.  At least we did get to see some sunbirds, friar birds and golden oriels, and it was also a good opportunity to take some photos of plants in the immediate vicinity.  One can imagine the mutterings about having to get out of bed early – and all for nothing!

With the weather being so nice, we decided then to go to Palm Cove for a walk along the beach, have lunch and browse the shops.  There was a bit of a sea breeze churning up the water, and while the school group undertaking swimming lessons in the sea didn’t seem worried about the crocodiles, they were dressed in their stinger suits.  There weren’t many people about and with a number of empty shops, we felt that Palm Cove would probably benefit with a bit of a spruce up.  It was a Tuesday though, so perhaps people were busy doing something else.

Our vehicle seems to have a mind of its own at times, and on the return to Cairns, it just drove straight to the Esplanade and parked right outside Movenpick!  We felt it would have been very rude not to say hello to Steve and buy an ice cream.  While we were enjoying the treat, we notice a family playing in the mud while their mother (presumably) photographed them.  She obviously wasn’t concerned about the amount of rubbish in the mud – broken glass and other things.  We didn’t wait for the face plant!

Cairns Cup Carnival

Saturday, 9 August 2014

 

Juvenile butcher bird

Lily heard that we are a soft touch for some chicken

Fashion on the Field contenders

Sartorial elegance



The prize

Our hostess

The "horses"

Interference at the starting line!

Come on, Chook!!!

The winners

 

It has been a very miserable week, weatherwise, with rain every day; the temperature remains about the 25 degrees though.

Last Tuesday, we travelled to Kuranda to meet Jenny and Brian, who had just arrived at Yungaburra for a couple of weeks.  As it has been nearly 12 months since we last met, we decided to meet half way, rather than wait until Jenny and Brian arrived in Cairns.  We had a lovely day catching up (ie talking) while we wandered among the tourist shops and then spent a couple of hours over lunch.  A juvenile butcher bird came to visit while we were eating, before a parent bird arrived and made him leave.  Fortunately, the rain held off while we were at Kuranda, but had settled in again by the time we returned to Redlynch.

Wednesday was another day to watch and talk about the rain, have a little bit of pampering and window shopping.  Thursday, wasn’t any better, weatherwise, with the washing being transferred straight from the washing machine to the dryer.  Maureen and I decided to have a girls’ day out, with a visit to the DFO for some retail therapy, followed by a nice lunch.

Friday, and it was still raining!  We had a very quiet day, with one of us having a fragile tummy, until dinner time and the caravan park’s Cairns Cup Dinner.  (The Cairns Cup Carnival is run this weekend.)  The dinner was organised by the park owners and instead of the usual sausage sizzle, people were asked to bring a savoury dish to share – plenty of food and plenty of variety!  Race attire was the required dress code.  Following dinner, we ran a Cairns Cup Carnival, with some very dodgy looking horses available for “purchase.”  Six individual races then culminated in the running of the Cup, with three Tasmanians taking out the places.  It was very good fun (even if the chook was a bit slow) and we provided some very different entertainment to a couple of European tourists, who probably wondered what was happening!  Of course, it rained the entire time.

Wet Monday

Monday, 4 August 2014

 

Last Friday, we planned on visiting the DFO to check out the new shop, Trade Secrets, which had opened the day before – Himself needed some new T-shirts – and then have lunch at Cazaleys.  Our plans started out well, a T-shirt was purchased at Ralph Lauren but before we even reached the new shop, he developed a migraine and had to retire home for a sleep.  We didn’t do anything else on Friday.

Saturday, with Himself feeling better after a good sleep, and after having morning coffee with another couple at their caravan, we actually made it to Cazaleys for lunch (some very nice snapper and Tasmanian Atlantic salmon) and even managed to purchase another T-shirt before needing to return home.  The weather for the last two days had been absolutely glorious, no clouds and definitely sitting in the shade.

Sunday saw the weather start to slowly deteriorate – and the arrival of James and Maureen before lunch.  It didn’t take long for us to start catching up on news!  We spent a fairly quiet day, apart from talking, as Himself was still feeling the after-effects of his migraine.  We enjoyed a rather large Happy Hour, with not only James and Maureen coming to visit, but also Eddie and Christina (from Hobart) and Brian and Maree (friends of Denise).  When a sudden shower happened, we all became very good friends, moving closer under the awning to avoid the drips.

We had a couple of very heavy downpours overnight and this morning was very overcast – still hot and so humid.  The laundry went straight from the washing machine to the dryer today – the ulterior thinking was that if I used the dryer, it wouldn’t rain.  It didn’t either, until mid afternoon!  We took Cat for a ride this afternoon to have an ice cream – he is starting to get cabin fever and is suffering quite badly with the humidity.  Keeps mumbling that we don’t have fur coats …  It was nice to see the tide was almost in, with a large number of water birds enjoying the mud.