We arrived in Port Douglas just as it was getting dark so the trip from Cairns, which must be one of the best coastal drives going, was a bit on the dark side. The Peninsula Boutique Hotel is absolutely lovely. I was a bit nervous after seeing what passed for 4 star in the Red Centre, as I didn’t fancy spending 11 nights in somewhere like the Chifley at Alice Springs, but my fears were unfounded! As they were quiet we were lucky enough to get an upgrade to a spa suite so we have a huge room with 2 balconies, a little kitchen, a huge bathroom with spa bath and a bedroom which, with clever sliding of screens, becomes its own room at night. The owners are very friendly and helpful and the tiny restaurant and bar looks out over 4 mile beach and the pool area is super. We are very happy to kick back and relax, after such an eventful trip and make the most of our last few nights at a more chilled out pace, whilst still seeing plenty of Tropical North Queensland. After the flooding and the cyclone we’d been watching the weather forecast with some concern but apart from a short downpour when we first arrived it’s stayed dry, though with high humidity. You can see the clouds inland and further south but everyone in Port Douglas tells us that their weather is different to Cairns, which is all you see on the national forecast.
Port Douglas itself is a picturesque little town on a peninsula sticking out into the Coral Sea, with 4 mile beach on one side and the calmer waters leading into the creek on the other. As the ‘season’ doesn’t start till the end of April it is quite quiet and utterly charming, crammed with lovely little shops and great restaurants. If you want to swim in the sea you have to go in the special netted area as there are poisonous jelly fish, including the notorious box jelly fish in the water at this time of year. We were also told a story about a crocodile sleeping in one of the nets and calmly walking out onto the beach at the end of the day, so at present I’ve only been swimming in the pool! Last night we went on a sunset cruise up the creek on the Lady Douglas, a restored paddle steamer straight out of African Queen. We were hoping to see some crocodiles, as apparently they only come out to feed at dusk at this time of year but we didn’t see any, just lots of mangrove roots masquerading as crocs! It was a lovely trip though and we saw white headed eagles feeding, masses of fruit bats and enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine whilst hearing about the crocodiles. I went running along the beach this morning, though you can only get about a mile along it before coming to a creek, which is too deep to wade through with the tide in. There was a border collie playing in the creek pool and I was very glad when it got out as I was terrified a croc would come and get it.
On Monday we went out on a boat to the outer barrier reef. It was a lovely cruise and took about an hour and a half to reach the first stopping point. We donned our fetching Lycra anti jelly fish suits with hoods, put on fins and masks and headed in for some snorkelling. The coral is beautiful and surrounded by incredible fish. The giant clams looked like something from outer space and I was lucky enough to see one white tipped reef shark as well as the brilliantly coloured parrot fish. Even John, who is not a very keen swimmer, did all 3 snorkel stops, though he didn’t stay in long for the last one which involved crossing some very deep water to get to the reef. I enjoyed it enormously, though being used to diving I drank quite a lot of water when I forgot that I only had a snorkel and was diving down too deep to keep the tube above the water! You do have to be under the water to see how amazing the reef is as there is nothing much to see from the boat, though John did see a school of dolphins whilst I was still in the water. If I’d known they were around I’d have sung my snorkel songs to see if they went down as well with Aussie dolphins as they did with the ones in New Zealand – nobody suggested singing to the sharks! We had lunch on the boat and a beer on the cruise back and admired the photos taken by the on board photographer though the ones of the people all looked alike since we had the same suits and masks on. It was a tremendous day out with more amazing Australian creatures. If there were any box jelly fish present I didn’t see one (but then they’re only the size of your finger nail – amazing that something so small can inflict so much damage).
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