Day 52: Port Douglas
Went for breakfast in the hostel and met the Swedish girl from the surf school in Byron Bay which was pretty crazy. And she still had in her hair the bright pink hair band she borrowed from me when I taught her to French plait hair and her hair was in a French plait so obviously my instructing worked! :)
I chilled out in the hostel after checking out and then heard this short song on repeat that I really recognised. It was my ringtone and the Port Douglas pick up was trying to get hold of me! I'm so slow sometimes.
Had a really nice coastal drive up with the road following the beach. The driver was nice a chatty and he stopped at this great lookout point so I could get a photo.
Checked in a Dougies (my hostel) and the room was so messy! I didn't mind but Lesley (on reception) made all the long termers come and tidy it up! I felt so bad about that.
I made myself some lunch and then spent 2 hours just sitting in a hammock in the shade (I got enough sun yesterday) reading, writing my diary and drinking an iced coffee with ice cream in.
Wandered down to the Port Douglas yatch club for some sailing. Met 2 Swedish girls from my hostel as we walked in so sat with then. It was so good... On Wednesday's members of the yatch club take people out on their boats for free! You sign up at 4 and then they walk around and ask you to come on their boat. 'Captain' Douglas took us out on his boat, Shazam.
8 of us, Douglas and Jacko sailed (no engine) out for about 45 minutes and then back to the marina. I got to drive which was really cool but I had to stand up on the seat to see and I was to small to see over the hull of the ship otherwise.
We went back to the yatch club and had dinner there with our 'crew'. Had an amazing mixed seafood plate with sala and chips... Yep back to the food! After dinner there was a raffle (I won a bottle of wine).
When we got back to the hostel we were all pretty tired so after sitting chatting outside with the girls for a bit we had an early night.
Day 53: Port Douglas
Began the day laying on a hammock by the pool reading. Not a bad start to the morning. Once the girls were up we walked down to the beach and then along the shore to the life guard area with the stinger net. You don't swim in this part of Australia unless its got a stinger net and a life saver crew too.
Spent the rest of the morning into the early afternoon alternating between swimming to cool down and reading in the shade of a palm tree. It was far too hot to lie in the sun.
We then went for an explore into the town part of Port Douglas; it feels like a nice little holiday town. Stopped at a cafe for a muffin and a vanilla milkshake.
Yummy!
We got the shuttle bus back to hostel for a swim and then I cooked dinner. I got a delicious stick of salami sausage for 90c in the supermarket in town so added that to my favourite (read:easy so make it all the time) one pot tomato and veg pasta.
We were sleepy again tonight (body clock is definitely now in tune with the sun) so as the girls had a private room and a TV we sat relaxing and eating mango. I don't know why anyone here would buy mango, you can pick delicious mango from the trees in the hostel!
I bought a chocolate bar as I wanted something sweet to eat still but I only managed to eat half the bar! That's 3 pieces! What is wrong with me? I'm losing my ability to eat my entire weight in chocolate in one go!
Day 54: Cape Tribulation trip
The girls booked onto the tour with me yesterday which was nice so they came up to Cape Trib with me. It would have been a pretty boring tour without them as no one was social at all! After the uncle Brian's tour where everyone had to join in it was strange being on a tour where when the driver said something only me and the girls responded.
We drove up Captain Cook highway and saw Thortons peak with no cloud. Apparently thats a very rare sight.
Thortons peak
We were given Daintree tea but i didnt realise until id finished it what it was so i just poured milk in it and dunked my biscuits in it as we stepped on our crocodile tour down the Daintree River. Lousie and her hawk eyes managed to spot a 'little' one in between the foliage. It was only 1.5m long! So basically my height!
We were dropped on the northern side of the river and drove further in the daintree rainforest. We drove past plants that were believed to be extinct and scientists had only see fossilised records of until they started exploring the daintree.
We stopped for a jungle walk through jungle (obviously) and then in through the mangroves. The tide was high so all the roots system were underwater and there were fish swimming between the trees which was cool.
We stopped at Cape Tribulation for lunch which is an amazing place. It's where one Hertitage site meets another. On the beach there you have the Great Barrier Reef in front of you and the Daintree forest (oldest continually living rainforest in the world) behind you.
After lunch we stopped for an ice cream and then went to Alexander lookout to see the estuary of the daintree.
We got the car ferry across the river and then visited the Mossman gorge and cultural centre. We had a chat with an aboriginal about the history of the area and then went into the gorge for a swim and a slide down the natural rock slide. I stupidly wore my sunglasses so nearly lost them and had to grab them on my way down before they floated away.
Mossman gorge
The day finished off with a driven tour around Port Douglas, turns out what is walked with the girls was it! Had to say goodbye to the girls as they were staying another night at Dougies whilst I was getting dropped back in cairns.
The drive back was so beautiful. It was lovely on the way to Port Douglas but the sun was much lower on the way back and so the colours were stunning.
When I got back to the hostel I checked in, did some washing, ate dinner and spoke to Catherine :) Felix and Alex who I met on Fraser Island had arrived at my hostel today so we had a crazy party ja!
After we shared the wine I had won we braved giligans. After having to do a quick outfit change (Felix was refused entry in a best style top) we met the Swedish girl from Byron and her friends. There was live music and a 2 for 1 happy hour so we were all pretty happy! Even though when the dj started he kept changing songs after about 30 seconds of each. It was like he was on a mission to play every song he had! We stayed there partying until about 2. Don't know how people stay there as a hostel, but as a club it's okay.
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