Wednesday 27th February 2019 - Port Douglas

Firstly an apology that there are no photos today! We have just spent the day pottering around here, sorting out some trips for here and also Melbourne and Alice Springs, and trying to stay cool!

We heard rain in the night and woke to drizzle and grey skies. Yes, we are in an area of rainforest and it is the wet season, but our experience on this trip is that we get good weather! However, it doesn’t get cold, so there was no need for anything waterproof when we set off to explore after breakfast.

Port Douglas is a small town, built now around the tourist industry. It came into being following the discovery of gold in the late 1800’s. It was in decline when a cyclone struck in 1911 demolishing all but 2 buildings, but was rejuvenated in the 1980’s when an investor financed the construction of a tourist complex and the marina. As this is not high season here some restaurants and other shops are closed, but there is plenty for us and the other tourists that are here in the wet season!!!

Our main priority today was to fix the 2 tours we wanted to do, and after a bit of unsuccessful trailing around we found what we were looking for and got them booked. Tomorrow it’s The Daintree Forest, Mossman Gorge and Cape Tribulation, then the Barrier Reef on Friday. You will here more about them on the appropriate days!

As we have an apartment here with a basic kitchen we bought some bits for lunch and went back there to eat it. By this time the sun had come out and it was too hot to sit outside and enjoy it. How crazy is that!! We will have to be really careful with sunscreen, hats, sunglasses etc when we are out on the trips as the sun is so fierce. It was 24degrees at 8a.m with cloud cover so I hate to think what it was when we got back in the early afternoon!

In typical tropical style the weather broke down in late afternoon and it poured! There was a brief respite when we went out to get a meal, but then it started up again and we were lucky not to get soaked getting back to the hotel.

And now for the snake update! Nothing to report! No more seen, but tomorrow of course we are in the forest, so I am psyched up and ready! The trouble with being slightly snake phobic is that you are always on the lookout for them and the more you look the more likely you are to see them. It’s all a bit self defeating really!