Time For A Holiday

[longboard_ric]

Overjoyed at having finished our new house we decided to take a short break and headed to Cairns in Far North Queensland for a week, and enjoy some 26C weather instead of the 10C in Melbourne.

A few pics to show you what is there.

View of the Coral Sea from the SkyRail on the way to Kuranda

The SkyRail travels through the Rainforest and stops at two points along the way. This tree is about 600 years old and very lucky given our deternination over the years to turn the forest into woodchips.

Crossing over the Barron River near the town of Kuranda.

[longboard_ric]

One of the prettiest Railway Stations you are likely to see.

You can travel back down the mountain to Cairns by train. There are (I think) 15 tunnels and 32 bridges. The construction of the line in the 1880's was quite an engineering feat.

Bridal Veil Falls....... but not a lot of water at present.

[longboard_ric]

We took a trip further north to Port Douglas and the Daintree River.

View south over Four Mile Beach from the lookout at Port Douglas, home and playground of the rich, very rich and obscenely wealthy.

St Marys Church on the foreshore at Port Douglas

View to the north, pity its a bit cloudy.

[longboard_ric]

We then went to Mossman Gorge which is located in the oldest continually living Rainforest on the planet. It is estimated that this rainforest has been in existance for 150 to 200 million years.

Mossman Gorge

Rockpool at Mossman Gorge

Swing bridge across the river. It has a safe load of 20 people, but there must must have been at least 35 on it just after i took the photo.

[longboard_ric]

Next stop the Daintree River.

Boat trip on the Daintree River, lined with Mangroves which provide cover for the locals.

This one of the locals. His name is Scarface and he is about 90 years old and over 4 meters in length . Not a tooth in his head apparently, but he could still gum you to death. Scarface thought all his Christmas's had come at once when when about 20 Spanish passengers ignored instructions and all walked to one side of the boat for a closer view, making one side of the boat a lot lower than the other !!! The guide was not happy !!!

This is Lizzie, Scarface's little sister.

[longboard_ric]

Next stop Cape Tribulation.

One of the more amusing Road Signs you will see

One of the resorts near the beach.

Don't forget the vinegar. Untreated stings are generally fatal.

Rainforest all the way to the beach.

[longboard_ric]

Cape Tribulation.......Rainforest all the way to the water

Looking north from Cape Tribulation.

Another view north from CT. Captain James Cook beached his vessel the Endeavour in 1770 just behind the rocky outcrop for running repairs after striking a nearby coral reef. Talk about trouble, 12000 miles from home in the middle of nowhere, with a large hole in your boat and no easy way to fix it. A master mariner if there ever was one, Cook made it back home.

[longboard_ric]

Walk through the Rainforest canopy at the Discovery Centre.

Yours Truly and a Cassowary. They are an endangered species, only about 1500 are estimated to live in the Rainforest. Like many other creatures here, thry can kill you if they get angry. The middle claw on each foot is about 30 cm long, razor sharp and can easily disembowell you. Fortunately for me, this life size model, is apparently harmless.

Crossing the Daintree River by barge is the only way. There are no bridges here.

[longboard_ric]

Another hectic day at the beach in Port Douglas.

One for all you train freaks out there. The Port Douglas Tourist Railway. It was used for hauling sugar cane but there is more money in tourists apparently.

Looking north from Port Douglas marina entrance.

If you ever have the opportunity you should get to this part of the world, it is certainly worth the time and effort to walk through the oldest rainforest on Earth.

When we got back to Melbourne it was still cold.!!!!

Thanks for looking.

[scotty]

looks great Shane! but being disemboweled by a Cassowary!!!

[wints]

Great photo's there Shane.

Truly beautiful. That area and the GBR are on the must do list....

[jimk]

Ah late winter, early spring in Oz. One of the things on my Bucket List is to spend Christmas in Oz; summertime on the beach, a few shrimps on the barbie...

Thanks for the photo tour.
JimK

[goofyfoot]

Wow, makes me wanna book passage on QANTAS.....tomorrow.
No Rics to check in.....just my surfboard.
Thanks for sharing those sublime pics, longboard_ric. Keep on keepin' on.....Goofyfoot.

[longboard_ric]

Hi Scott

Disembowelled sounds fairly drastic, but you know what these tour guides are like !!!!

Andrew

We didn't get to the GBR unfourtunately. The winds were at least 25 knots and the sea guite choppy. We were waiting for a relatively calm day to go out, but ran out of time. I didn't want to spend the day hanging over the side !!!

Jim,

save you pennies we are waiting for you

David,

bring your board and wetsuit, plenty of surf here to choose from. We could even go for a surf at Bells !!!