Wed 5 Oct - Daintree and Cape tribulation

We had another good sleep with the boys going past 8am.  We then had some brekkie and took off for the Daintree.  We decided to stop off at Port Douglas as we had not been there before.   It kind of reminded us of Margaret River in some ways.  It has a beautiful drive in with heaps of resorts and golf courses on the way in.   It has a nice shopping area where we stopped off for coffee and hot chocolate.  We then had a walk around before jumping in the car and heading up to the Diantree village.  We were lucky enough to arrive just in time for the "Crocodile Express".  This was great fun as we toured around for an hour and had a real local explaining the river and all its wild and not so wild life...

We then had a picnic lunch of mexican chicken sandwiches with some fruit that Jen made earlier and relaxed for a while.

After that we took off to Cape Tribulation, crossing the Daintree on the ferry which was fun.  We then dropped into the eco centre where we took an audio and visual tour of the rain forest via elevated board walks.  We then were lucky enough to strike the time that the snakes were fed at the reptile house with several gobbling down some "defrosted" rats!  Very entertaining!  We then went to the interactive centre and explored there for a while and then had a a walk through the "Cassowary Trail".

After leaving the centre we grabbed an ice cream and then drove to Cape Tribulation which is the furthest north you can go without a 4wd...

We then had a leisurely drive back over the ferry and back down to Trinity Beach.

We had decided to have our last meal at Blue Moon Grill.  It didn't disappoint with delicious garlic bread and calamari to start, followed by Spag Bog for Linus, Crocodile popcorn for Joey, Spanish Mackerel for Jen and Soft Shell Crab for me.  Delicious!

Tue 4 October - A day in Cairns

Given we had been flat out for a few days we decided to have a slower day.  Jen and I had a good sleep in but the boys really let rip sleeping past half past 8 - pretty good since they had been waking around 7.  So, we decided to limit the driving and spend some more time in Cairns.  We got organised and drove into the city area and had a nice breakfast in an outdoor restaurant Perotta.  Jen, Joey and I had some delicious buttermilk hotcakes with lime marscopone, maple syrup and bananas.  Linus had a ricotta fresca bruscetta with pesto oil- all washed down with some nice coffees and hot chocolates!

We then wandered down to the Cairns esplanade lagoon (Cairns beach being a mud flat).  The boys and us lolled around for an hour or so....

We then got ourselves dry and took off for the 12:20 sitting of "Red Dog".  The boys liked it and Jen and I cried our way through it!

We then went and had a late lunch at a Sushi train which we all love - particularly the boys.

We did some shopping and picked up a rashi and shorts for Linus and another pair of shorts for Joey.  We picked up some things for dinner on the way home.  After relaxing for a little while the boys and I went for another hit of beach volleyball in the pretty strong breeze which had sprung up.

We then knocked up some really nice Mexican burritos for tea.  Then planning for tomorrow...

Mon 3 October -Kuranda Sky Rail and Train...

We booked the day for Karanda.  After a casual breakfast we drove to the skyrail terminal for a 9am departure.  The sky rail (basically a chair lift in pods) is great - it stops at a few locations and you get to go out and walk through the rainforest, have a look at Barron Gorge and enjoy an interactive centre.  It takes about an hour and a half and we all really enjoyed it:

We then wandered around Kuranda, which is a quaint rainforest town, we downed a muffin and went to "Birdworld" which allows you to wander through an enclosure that has about 50 birds.  It was great.  Highlights included a Macaw attaching my cap to remove the button on top then looking to move to my glasses!  Then a cassowary took a liking to our boys and stalked them back and forward through the enclosure they were fenced off thankfully!  It was great and we spent around 45 minutes there.   We then went to the the German "wursthouse" for lunch and enjoyed some great bratwurst, sauerkraut and beer!

After wandering around and looking at shops for a little longer we caught the train back which gives a magnificent shot from Barron Gorge...

The rail line is an amazing engineering feat - with 15 tunnels and some unique bridges all dug with pick and shovel.  It was well worth doing and a great day...

After a bit of souvenir shopping we got some supplies and returned home.  I took the boys out for a hit of volleyball in a solid breeze which was fund.  Jen then conjured a delicious meal - Spaghetti with tomato and garlic with a tossed salad.   We then kicked back and watched the footy wrap.

Sunday 2 October - Lower Tablelands

After a pretty good sleep we decided to have a leisurely breakfast then head to the lower tablelands - below Cairns.  We headed off around 10am and drove down south past Cairns on the Gillies highway.  After a short stop at Lake Barrine we went on to Lake Eacham where we stopped for a swim.  This is a lovely spot - a natural volcanic crater which is filled with rainwater - beautiful clear water set up perfectly for a swim.  So we lolled around for half an hour or so then enjoyed a picnic lunch and fruit beautifully prepared by Jen.  Here is a sneak peek...

After lunch and a quick wander around we went to Lake Barrine where we had booked a lake tour and eco talk.  Sometimes you are lucky and you get a person with incredible knoweldge and passion about an area.  it is another crater lake filled with rainwater but a real treasure in that it only has the local fish and has an area around the lake which is protected rainforest.  Absolutely beautiful and a great description - seeing different bird life, eels and lizards.

We then went for a drive to peanut world (yes there is a big peanut) and then on to Granite Gorge.  We had no idea what to expect given it was a name on a map with no more information.  "unique" is an understatement.  When we got there we got an outline on a piece of paper of what to see and where to go.  it all started pretty tamely.  Nice wallabies..

We then started "clambering" around one of the most steep, rugged and isolated places that we had been in, following only "dots" painted on the ground.  Some spectacular sights - see the "turks head"

and the dinosaur prints...

 We sort of seemed to be going in the right direction... sometimes...for about 45 minutes... with no sign of other humans.. and seemed  to be finding different dead ends and debate as to whether it was a paint dot or a natural light bit on a rock!!!   I don't have the best sense of direction, the kids were running in all directions and Jennifer was slowly running out of hope.  While I began to get a bit concerned, Jen was starting to think about which child we would eat first when we stumbled back on to the road we drove into and walked back to the beginning of our adventure!!!  This was the most dangerous walk we have done - including places in Asia!!!

We then had an "interesting" experience getting pizza for tea.  Here is the review I put on trip advisor...

This restaurant is now called "Chianti's Pizzeria". It was chaos when we arrived when the cash register was not working and clearly a lot of tension in the air. We ordered 2 pizza's and a garlic bread and were told that they were quite busy so come back in 40 minutes. Which we duly did. When we requested our order the wait person looked flustered when told there were no orders waiting and went to the back to find out where the order was. She was abused in front of myself, and my 10 and 8yo boys. It was really venomous and aggressive toward a young woman from the person running the kitchen to a person who was clearly just trying to do the right thing by us. Flustered and clearly upset she apologised and said we had to take our order again. We were told to come back in 20 minutes. It was not ready. We were told to come back in 3 minutes - after another 7 minutes it arrived. While there we overheard about the other lost orders and the free chocolate cake provided to some customers. We went back to our apartment and found that one of our orders was incorrect and we got a completely wrong pizza. After remaining calm and understanding - particularly given how sorry we felt for the girls taking this abuse, I felt it was necessary to go back (we were staying next door) and informed them of our experience - ordering twice, waiting an hour and 10 minutes for food and then getting the wrong meal (funnily a Margarita - the cheapest pizza!) while listening to people who were just trying to do the right thing get abused!!!
We have had such great food and service it was probably good for the boys to see that it is not always that way!

Sat 1 Oct - Tablelands

Again, we had a very small sleep in and this time was on the beach by around 7:30am.   Jumped straight in for a swim, then a run and then more beach volleyball.  Back to the room for a big breakfast (Linus up to 5 Weetbix) and we then got organised to go to the Atherton Tablelands.  First stop was Coffee works...

http://www.coffeeworks.com.au/

Sometimes you go to these attractions and they are lame.  this was not.  Brilliant personalised attention, access to taste about 20 coffees, 4 teas, 3 liqueurs and as much chocolate as you liked.  But the really cool part was possibly the largest collection of coffee makers, grinders and associated stuff you could imagine - all with audio guides and about 5 different "theme rooms" with music, video and heaps more.  it was great.  We decided to stay for lunch which was yummy home made BBQ and salad.

We then went to a highly recommended go cart track which was sensational - best machines I have driven and also a great track.  They boys (particularly Joey) loved it!  Joey managed to run off the road a couple of times trying to go too fast trying to avoid me passing him!  We then had a hit of mini golf.

We listened to the third quarter of the footy on the way home and caught the last quarter of the GF at the apartment while enjoying a corona.  Evidence below...

After watching the presentations, Linus Joey and I had a quick hit of VB before dark then we came back in and we decided to go into Cairns and have dinner at "Hanuman" at the Hilton.

http://www.hanuman.com.au/

We had so many dishes - mixing starters and mains :

• amritsari fish battered with besan flour, ajwaiin seed & ground turmeric
• nonya pork rolls flavoured with chinese five spices & wrapped in bean curd sheet
• sweet tamarind pork marinated, barbequed & served with a sweet tamarind sauce with a hint of chilli
• kashmiri chicken tikka marinated with yoghurt, ginger, kashmiri chilli & fragrant rose petal garam masala
• hanuman prawns wok tossed in a delicate coconut, wild ginger & curry
• red lentil dahl with tomato, cumin, turmeric & garam masala
• cottage cheese & vegetable dumplings cooked in a tomato & fenugreek leaf curry
• coconut jasmine rice infused with ginger & pandan leaves

Here is a shot of the last 4 - note Jen's very attractive imported Frech dress in the background...

It was all excellent with the prawns and the fist probably the highlights.  The boys ate like men possessed!  A late night - back home around 10:15. 

Friday 30 September - Cairns or bust...

Not having a designated time to get up we slept in a little and then went to the beach at around 8am and had a swim, run along the beach (all four of us) and then a hit of volleyball.  A couple of highlights below...

 

So this is Joey with his bow and arrow technique down pat poised to crack one.  You will be pleased to know that we got him some new swimmers to try to steer him away from a life as a plumber!

and here is Linus slamming one at me.  Pretty happy with the one pack, just 5 to go!  Bit tough when the boys are inclined to call me "man boob man"!

After that we came back for a massive breakfast with Linus downing 4 wheetbix and a piece of toast. (after the ablett record!).  We then got our hire car delivered.  The boys went for a swim in the pool while Jen and I read and then we went to a shopping centre for a look around and lunch (sushi for us, subway for the boys - Joey meatball sub and Linus veggie delight!).  We picked up some more supplies and then headed into Cairns for a look around.  That was great.  Wandered around the city for a few hours.  We ended up at Salt House for a bubbly and soft drink...

Jen then knocked up a delicious Thai vege green curry and we kicked back for the rest of the evening.

Massive day!!!

Well, we had a big one today.  Up at 6:30 for a 7:20 pick up and transfer to the ferry terminal.  After a bit of queuing we were on the ship to take us to our "Great Adventure".    50 minutes later we were at Green Island - a small rain forest island unique for its wildlife and habitat.  We spend the first 45 minutes on the nature walk - scoping out the island and taking in the rain forest and information along the way.  We then came back and grabbed some snorkeling gear and headed out to the beach to see what we could see.

An experience for the boys getting their snorkeled gear on but after a few minutes we were away.  We went around for quite a while and got a good sense of the reef and saw a few interesting fish.  Boys taking off...

So after we dropped the gear back and had a quick snack we jumped back on the vessel to take us to the back of Norman Reef at the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef.  We decided to snorkel immediately so we grabbed our gear and jumped in.  Well, it was sensational.  Amazing coral and fish.  We all loved it but after floating around for nearly an hour we jumped out and had some buffet lunch (Joey's favourite!) and relaxed for a little while.  We then spend some time in the underwater observation deck looking at a heap of fish floating by.  We then went on the "Semi Submersible" which took us for a run around the reef seeing some more amazing things outside of the snorkeling area.  After that Joey and I jumped in for another 20 minutes or so snorkeling before the siren went off and it was time to come in.  A relaxing trip back punctuated by nice views, tea, cheese and bikkies and ice cream!

After getting back to the apartment, Linus and I had a 15 minute hit of volleyball in perfect (if nearly dark!) conditions before showering and going to tea.  But where to go?  Lots of choices!!

We settled on Fratelli, a contemporary Italian place.  A great choice again!  For starters we shared traditional and Garlic Bruscetta.  For mains, Linus had "Rigatoni with spicy Italian sausage", Joey "Veal Tortellini" Jen, Spaghetti Marinara (fist and other sea things) and me, Baked Barramindi with various accoutrement's.    All excellent and every skerrick cleaned up.  But given there was "Death by Chocolate" there was no surprise that the boys were up for more (forced to share, they say!) while we enjoyed "Espresso Semifreddo".  Then a really nice touch when we received a shot of espresso liqueur (digestivo).  See below...

back to the apartment and the boys quickly to bed before we kick back ourselves!


Au reviour till next time...