Is it Friday?

Ed. note: Dad and I wrote our own versions of the past two days in Port Douglas, Queensland. Below is his version, the previous post is mine. 

One of the real advantages of taking a long vacation in a foreign country is that I do not have a watch, my cell phone doesn't function as a phone or a clock (just a camera), my tablet is good only for reading pre downloaded books, not surfing the internet and best of all, I have Michelle to take care of knowing anything that might be necessary like time, directions and date.  If you do not need to be anywhere then you can never be late.  I have become so laid back that earlier today I asked Michelle, “Is it Friday?”

Sometime earlier this week we flew to Cairns (pronounced “cans” as in the tin variety).  We rented a car and proceeded to drive on the wrong side of the road for 60 KM to the town of Port Douglas.  Driving on the left side of the road is an interesting experience, however with Michelle acting as co-pilot, navigator and reminder of which side of the road to drive on, we made it to our hotel without incident.  We checked into the little 19 room hotel and the owner/receptionist/host/former dutch soccer player introduced himself to us.  I must say I have never been greeted at a hotel by, “Hi I’m Fred and who might you be?”  He showed us to our room and then proceeded to tell us everything we could possibly need to know about the hotel, the town, the restaurants, the beaches, tours, snorkelling, etc.

After dropping our bags in the room, Michelle and I set out for the beach which we were informed was only 70 meters from the entrance.  The beach was wide and sandy with only one teeny problem.  Since it is stinger season, you cannot actually swim in the open ocean.  Instead they drop netting in the ocean to keep the stingers (and Crocodiles) out and you swim inside the netting in an area maybe the size of a basketball court.  The other alternative is to swim in stinger suits which are like nylon body suits, although I am not sure how much the nylon protects against the Crocs.  The ocean water was downright warm.  I think I saw somewhere that the water temperature was 24C which equates to 76F if I remember my high school chemistry right.  Trust me it was warm water.

The following morning we decided to head off to the end of the earth.  The road from Port Douglas runs north about 40km.  There is a ferry to carry the car across the fast rushing Daintree River.  The bridge kept getting washed out in big rains so they built a ferry instead.  (I guess that is why they call it a rain forest.)  The road runs another 30km and just dead ends.  The dead end is in a town (I use the term town loosely) named Cape Tribulation (So named by Captain Cook when he landed or should I say crashed there a couple of centuries ago.)   We parked the car, got out and ventured to the ocean.  It was a beautiful stretch of beach surrounded by lush vegetation with green mountains in the distance. Rain clouds covered part of the mountains.  We wandered the beach for a while and then drove back south stopping now and again to gaze at the views.  At some point the map we had, which could have been the scribbles of a 4 year old, said a trail led into the Rainforest.  We pulled over, found what looked like a trail and headed in.  Trail is also a misnomer. Path is more like it.  After about 5 minutes I felt totally removed from civilization.  Tall trees created a canopy above lush green vegetation.  Birds chirped, insects buzzed, random unidentified animals crossed in front of us.  The path turned randomly, dipping down to rushing streams and rivers, climbing to rocky peaks and taking us to spectacular views.  Think Jurassic Park.  Eventually we found our way back to the car and headed off in search of food.  I am not sure what time it was so I am not calling it lunch.  We ended up at Mason’s Café, one of 2 eating establishments in the area.  Michelle and I shared an Aussie sampler.  What is an Aussie sampler you might ask.  It consists of 6 sliders, however in true Australian manner, these are not beef sliders.  We got one burger each of buffalo, wild boar, camel, emu, crocodile and kangaroo.  I guess you need to develop a taste for some of the local meats, especially crocodile which tasted like fishy chicken or maybe chickeny fish.  At least it was nourishing. 

Elsewhere in our wanderings we came upon an Ice Cream Factory.  By factory they mean a small orchard with a variety of local fruits that get turned into ice cream every day: mango, banana, coconut, lime, passion fruit, something called wattlefruit and on and on.  I suppose that I should tell you where we ended up for dinner or how we saw a lady in the rainforest with an umbrella, but I am getting hungry.  I guess that means it’s time for dinner.  Michelle, is it dinner time?  Is it Friday?