Ally’s Winter Holiday – Part 3

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Today is my last full day in Cairns, tomorrow morning I head back to Brisbane on the 24 hour train trip.

Hi there I hope you having been following my short winter holiday and enjoying my adventures.

My Itinerary for today with Down Under Tours :

Hotel pick-up at 7am ….ouch that’s dam early for me

Professional driver/guide

Morning tea at Mossman George Centre

Driver guided walk in Mossman Gorge

Lunch at Noah Valley in a rainforest setting

Ice-cream at Daintree Ice Cream Company

Cape Tribulation Beach and Board Walk

Alexandra Lookout

Return to hotel. Its a 12 hour day out.

The bus arrived to pick me up, then three more passengers needed to be pickup at Port Douglas.

The drive from Cairns to Port Douglas takes about one hour – 70km. It really is a scenic drive, plenty to see with a stunning coast view.

The road was Cairns to Port Douglas.

After all passengers were on board we headed to Mossman.

A stunning view of Port Douglas. In 1999 and 2000 I was fortunate enough to enjoy a camping holiday at the Four Mile Beach Camping Ground.

After arriving at Mossman Gorge Centre we had morning tea which was damper with jam and cream, coffee or tea. Damper is a traditional Australian soda bread, historically prepared by early settlers, swagmen, drovers, stockmen and other travellers – Wikipedia . Real damper that I am used too is cooked in a camp oven over hot coals. The damper we had for morning were scones.

Enjoyable morning tea.

After morning tea we boarded a schuttle bus that took us on a short journey to the Mossman Gorge. Daniel our driver/guide then took us on a walk at the gorge. I have to say I struggled to keep up because I was suffering the consequences of my excessive binge walking from yesterday. My back was aching (normal for me) , sore feet and a nasty blister on my little toe…poor me. There was another lady that struggled along with her walking stick. We decided to persevere and not let it ruin our day.
I will run off a few photos that I managed to take. I will admit that the first photo is from Mr Google.
Anyone for a paddle.

I enjoyed my visit to the Mossman Gorge, a paddle in the river would have been a bonus .

We then made our way back to the schuttle bus and then onto the tour bus. The next place we visited was the Daintree. We needed to go across the Daintree river on a barge.

After arriving at the Daintree we travelled along narrow windy roads through the rainforest of the Alexandra Range. We were then were able to enjoy a spectacular lookout over the Daintree River Estuary, Snapper Island and beyond to the Coral Sea.
We boarded the bus again and headed to Noah Valley for lunch
Tropical Lunch with a choice of steak, fish or vegetarian meal with fresh salads and fruit platter, followed by Coffee or Daintree Tea. We also had special access to a private rainforest property.
Daniel explained about the dangerous vegetation in the rainforest which are often lethal, poisonous and could kill you.
One of the passengers picked up one those cassowary plums. Daniel said she would be ok as long as she washed her hands asap.
We enjoyed a walk on the world-renowned rainforest beach and were able to admire the coastline and fringing coral reef from the Kulki Lookout.
Daniel explained how these wormlike creations are made and who makes them. I didn’t have a notebook and now can’t recall what Daniel said.

Did I say that this is a 12 hour tour ?

Before going on a river cruise we went to a Daintree Ice cream shop. The ice creams are made from all naturally produced products and fruits such as coconut, mango, wattleseed, lemon, and many other delicious. We waited in the bus while Daniel collected our ice creams which we ate in the bus while travelling back to the river to meet the boat. I got the following photo from the ice cream company website…truly refreshing and delicious.

Daintree River Cruise . Reach an understanding of this wildlife environment for one hour, habitat of birds, tree snakes, unique plants and of course the estuarine crocodile.
Waiting with anticipation to see a crocodile
This is a female crocodile known as Dusty.
Because mangroves are rooted in spongy surfaces instead of hard, their roots have adapted to be able to support them and keep them upright. One such adaptation is their high arch. A mangroves roots are arched above the water , which provides additional support and stability.
The crocs must have been having an afternoon nap. I found this grand one on the net for you to view.
Sadly the end of the Daintree River Cruise . I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My computer is playing up, giving me grief. This lengthy post was done via my mobile. If photos don’t load on properly I will try again later….mustn’t stress about these technical issues that are sent to try us.

8 thoughts on “Ally’s Winter Holiday – Part 3”

      1. I have a friend who lives in the Whitsundays and she keeps telling me if I get to Cairns she will pick me up…I do hope I can go someday soon,,,So far we have only travelled around WA which we loved it is so beautiful when we lived in Phuket we could go direct Phuket to Perth which was ideal…:)

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      2. The Whitsundays is another stunning area especially Whitehaven Beach, I do hope you get there soon. I spent two days in Perth back 2016, I would like to get back there. Travel plans for everyone are on hold over here. My son lives 3.5 hours from me , the border is closed between QLD and most of NSW. Lockdown for me now for 3 days, might even be longer.

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