Rainforest walk

Monday 17th November: Daintree Rainforest

This part of Queensland has two World Heritage Sites, virtually touching (in places separated literally by the width of a road and a beach). One is the Great Barrier Reef, the other is the world’s oldest rainforest.
Having visited one, we had a rainforest day today. It stated with a guided walk through Mossman Gorge, led by an aboriginal expert in survival skills and rainforest medicine, which was really interesting.
The group we were part of had lunch at the swanky Silky Oaks Hotel. We then moved on to the River Daintree for a crocodile-spotting cruise. We spotted several, including a small one year-old and a larger one dining itself on the back. We also saw the beautiful Azure Kingfisher.
All-in-all, a great day.

Port Douglas views…

Sunday 16th November: Port Douglas

We’re treating Port Douglas as a bit of a ‘holiday within the holiday’, so today was another pretty laid back day.
This morning, we took a stroll down to the marina (passing a huge colony of snoozing fruit bats on the way), had a drink overlooking the estuary and then wandered round the market in Anzac Park before moving back and having a writer afternoon by the pool.

Great views for morning drinks

Tod River in Alice Springs… Its a bit dry here

Oh this picture seems to have appeared in the wrong place…ooops

Rob snorkelling.

The colours of the corals and the different fish was fantastic, I swam right out to a bit of the reef in shallow water which meant the fish were really close…it was way better than seeing them at SeaWorld.

Views from the semi-submersible.

The trip to the Barrier Reef.

Saturday 15th November: the Great Barrier Reef

Wow. What an incredible day.
We were taken on a hydrofoil to the outer Barrier Reef (about an hour and a half).
Once there, there was an underwater observatory to see the fish, we rode on a semi-submersible to explore some of the coral reef (and saw turtles, giant clans and all sorts of fish) and Rob got to snorkel in the reef, swimming with the fish.
We also got to see the fish being fed.
All in all, a magical day.

Neil