Today is a rest day. Well it was meant to be a rest day. As the boys enjoyed feeding the kangaroo's so much a couple of days ago, we used our free-return ticket to go back today. We had a bit of kangaroo food left, so all 3 boys got stuck in to feeding it out.
This time there were Pelican's there which were the size of Rohan and there were 2 emu out.
By the time the food had run out, I had had enough of seeing and smelling animals, so we left!
We went back to the hotel briefly before heading down Macrossan street to find an ATM/bank. Once this was complete, we stopped in for morning tea at the first bakery we saw. Steve and Rohan had lamingtons, Julian had a vanilla slice and I had a apricot pie. All were very good except the lamington which was magnificent! Julian and Rohan both had strawberry milkshakes which were super sweet. Julian drank all of his before declaring that he couldn't eat more than 2 bites of his vanilla slice. Apparently he now couldn't have sugar for the next 2 days as his sugar clock needed to reset! The coffee was good too.
We walked back to the hotel via Coles for bread, milk, vegemite :) For some reason we were all a bit tired and grumpy, so we hung around the hotel for a couple of hours trying to rest/relax.
At 1:30pm I escaped down the street to check out the shops but came home empty handed. We headed out straight away to get ice creams as it was about 25C outside. Julian and Rohan had the krazy Kolor (Rainbow) again, I had Boysenberry and Steve had cappuccino. They were just what we needed and we all felt better afterwards.
We popped into the pharmacy and bought Rohan another pair of sunglasses as his current ones really are too small. Julian happily watched the fish in the pond around the corner. Even though the ice cream had cooled us down, we thought a dip in the pool was required. This was when we discovered that behind the waterfall in cold pool there were 2 HEATED spas! I wish we had known 5 days ago, as I would have been in earlier! Oh well. It was good to find out and we all had a bit of a swim. Julian even listened to Steve and did well with his swimming lesson.
After the swim we rested up a little at the hotel before heading back to the Court House for dinner. Julian had pointed out earlier that the Ironbar smelled yucky and he didn't want to go back. We agreed with him about the smell, so we decided to skip it forever. It took forever for our meals to arrive but they were good. Steve had a mixed seafood basket (fresh and fried), I had Baked Salmon and additional vege and the boys had chicken nuggets. Everything was tasty.
We bundled the boys into a bath and then to bed. We are all very tired. I walked nearly 10,500 steps - so not really a rest day!
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Monday, July 3, 2017
Day 11: Port Douglas - Daintree and Cape Tribulation
Once again it had rained heavily overnight and the skies were gloomy. Nevermind - we were off to the Daintree!
We left about 8:30am and headed straight to the Daintree, about 50km away. The first stop was a crocodile river cruise with Belcher's crocodile cruisers. We arrived about 5 mins before the 9:30am boat and just as it started to bucket down. We bought tickets and plastic ponchos and practically ran down to the boat. The owners son, Griffith, took us out. We were out for 1h15m even though it was meant to be an hour long. We saw 6 crocodiles of varying sizes as well as a couple of kingfishers. Our boat was a lot smaller than the others on the river which meant we got very close to the croc's.
We then popped back into the car and drove into the Daintree township which consisted of 3 pubs/hotels, a tour operator and a gift shop. Steve saw that one of hotels had Devonshire teas and suggested that we give them a go. Nice work Steve as the scones, coffee and milkshakes were delicious!
We then drove to the Daintree ferry to get across the Daintree river. Unfortunately there was a very long line of cars in front of us - 1 hour wait!. None of us minded the wait and as we ended up at the front of the ferry next to a police 4x4, it was a fun ride. The road off the ferry was slow as it was very windy. We headed into the Daintree Ice Cream company where we bought their 4 flavours of the day - Coconut, Passionfruit, Soursop (like Lychee and lemon) and Wattleseed (like mocha caramel). We all LOVED the Soursop.
After the ice creams we had a look around the orchard before heading off up to the Cape. This was more windy road and when we finally got there (Myall beach) there was a bit of light misty rain. The beach was lovely and we could only imagine how spectacular it would be on a sunny day. Thankfully it wasn't as cold as Mission beach! We walked back from the beach via a boardwalk through the mangroves and rainforest. So lovely!
As we were only 1.3km from the end of the tarsealed road, we had to go there. There wasn't anything to see except potholes, so we turned back and headed to the ferry. About halfway back, we came across 4 cassowary on the side of the road - WOW! Rohan was asleep so he missed them :(
After a couple of blurry photos out of the window we kept on going as it was getting late. Thankfully there wasn't such a long queue for the ferry on this side and both Julian and Rohan slept through the whole wait, waking just before we drove onto the ferry. Then the rain came down VERY heavily whilst we were on the ferry and about half the way home. Thankfully it cleared up for our return to Port Douglas.
As it was already 5pm, we dumped the car and charged off to the Court House Hotel for dinner (Chicken Parma and Chicken Nuggets). As Steve returned to our table with our beers/juices, he said that Robbie Deans was next to him at the bar! So dinner was spent discussing what I could say to Robbie (me and Steve) and what LEGO Nexo knights Forbidden power was best (Julian and Rohan). I am sure it sounded very funny to passers by!
We left about 8:30am and headed straight to the Daintree, about 50km away. The first stop was a crocodile river cruise with Belcher's crocodile cruisers. We arrived about 5 mins before the 9:30am boat and just as it started to bucket down. We bought tickets and plastic ponchos and practically ran down to the boat. The owners son, Griffith, took us out. We were out for 1h15m even though it was meant to be an hour long. We saw 6 crocodiles of varying sizes as well as a couple of kingfishers. Our boat was a lot smaller than the others on the river which meant we got very close to the croc's.
We then popped back into the car and drove into the Daintree township which consisted of 3 pubs/hotels, a tour operator and a gift shop. Steve saw that one of hotels had Devonshire teas and suggested that we give them a go. Nice work Steve as the scones, coffee and milkshakes were delicious!
We then drove to the Daintree ferry to get across the Daintree river. Unfortunately there was a very long line of cars in front of us - 1 hour wait!. None of us minded the wait and as we ended up at the front of the ferry next to a police 4x4, it was a fun ride. The road off the ferry was slow as it was very windy. We headed into the Daintree Ice Cream company where we bought their 4 flavours of the day - Coconut, Passionfruit, Soursop (like Lychee and lemon) and Wattleseed (like mocha caramel). We all LOVED the Soursop.
After the ice creams we had a look around the orchard before heading off up to the Cape. This was more windy road and when we finally got there (Myall beach) there was a bit of light misty rain. The beach was lovely and we could only imagine how spectacular it would be on a sunny day. Thankfully it wasn't as cold as Mission beach! We walked back from the beach via a boardwalk through the mangroves and rainforest. So lovely!
As we were only 1.3km from the end of the tarsealed road, we had to go there. There wasn't anything to see except potholes, so we turned back and headed to the ferry. About halfway back, we came across 4 cassowary on the side of the road - WOW! Rohan was asleep so he missed them :(
After a couple of blurry photos out of the window we kept on going as it was getting late. Thankfully there wasn't such a long queue for the ferry on this side and both Julian and Rohan slept through the whole wait, waking just before we drove onto the ferry. Then the rain came down VERY heavily whilst we were on the ferry and about half the way home. Thankfully it cleared up for our return to Port Douglas.
As it was already 5pm, we dumped the car and charged off to the Court House Hotel for dinner (Chicken Parma and Chicken Nuggets). As Steve returned to our table with our beers/juices, he said that Robbie Deans was next to him at the bar! So dinner was spent discussing what I could say to Robbie (me and Steve) and what LEGO Nexo knights Forbidden power was best (Julian and Rohan). I am sure it sounded very funny to passers by!
Sunday, July 2, 2017
Day 10: Port Douglas
Every Sunday there is a market in Port Douglas which had crafts and some fruit/vege. This is as much as I could find out beforehand so my expectations were pretty low. It was set up right out the front of our apartment on the inlet foreshore. We were about to head down to it at 8:30 but then the heavens opened an it bucketed down with rain, so we stayed inside and people watched until it had cleared.
The market was really really big and the quality of crafts was really really good! One stall holder said that it like a crofters market where the maker was selling their wares. Steve had some fun trying on hats.
We watched a guy using a bike to crush some sugar cane into juice - for some reason we didn't try it.
I bought a glass pendant necklace from one stall and I bought some coconut oil eczema cream from another.
Julian bought a chocolate covered frozen banana which was absolutely delicious - must try that one at home.
As it was a very big market and Rohan was still struggling from walking 9km yesterday, so he could a bit grumpy near the end. We headed back to the hotel around 10:30 for morning tea. The picked both boys up, along with an extended sit down. We also cooked up some sausages for lunch and had it in the outside area.
Julian kept wanting to wear my necklace, so I suggested that we went back and got him one too. So after lunch Julian and I went back to the market and bought him one too and he was very happy. He is calling it his sacred stone (something from LEGO Nexo Knights I think).
I decided to get a snowcone on the way out. The last time I had one was at the A&P show at Addington showgrounds and I bought the same flavours that I always did - blue raspberry, watermelon and lime. We took it back to the hotel and ate it together - the boys loved it too!
We then headed to the Wildlife Habitat which is on the outskirts of Port Douglas. It has birds including a cassowary, crocodiles and what turned out to be the main attraction for the boys - kangaroos. We bought a feed pack for the kangaroos and the boys loved feeding them.
We were there for about 1.5hours and we had seen everything, however as we have some kangaroo feed left, we will use the free return entry to go back.
On the way home we stopped off at Four Mile Beach and we saw a lot of kite surfers sitting on the beach watching the waves - no idea why they weren't in the water.
We then drove up to the lookout near our hotel to look back over Four Mile beach. The view was very good however Julian was being very unpleasant, so we headed back to the hotel. Traveling with children is never easy, especially when they are tired.
Once again Steve and I sat outside whilst the kids watched TV. Tonight we cooked up a version of Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner which tasted ok. After dinner we hung out on balcony/patio and people watched. It was a good evening.
The market was really really big and the quality of crafts was really really good! One stall holder said that it like a crofters market where the maker was selling their wares. Steve had some fun trying on hats.
We watched a guy using a bike to crush some sugar cane into juice - for some reason we didn't try it.
I bought a glass pendant necklace from one stall and I bought some coconut oil eczema cream from another.
Julian bought a chocolate covered frozen banana which was absolutely delicious - must try that one at home.
As it was a very big market and Rohan was still struggling from walking 9km yesterday, so he could a bit grumpy near the end. We headed back to the hotel around 10:30 for morning tea. The picked both boys up, along with an extended sit down. We also cooked up some sausages for lunch and had it in the outside area.
Julian kept wanting to wear my necklace, so I suggested that we went back and got him one too. So after lunch Julian and I went back to the market and bought him one too and he was very happy. He is calling it his sacred stone (something from LEGO Nexo Knights I think).
I decided to get a snowcone on the way out. The last time I had one was at the A&P show at Addington showgrounds and I bought the same flavours that I always did - blue raspberry, watermelon and lime. We took it back to the hotel and ate it together - the boys loved it too!
We then headed to the Wildlife Habitat which is on the outskirts of Port Douglas. It has birds including a cassowary, crocodiles and what turned out to be the main attraction for the boys - kangaroos. We bought a feed pack for the kangaroos and the boys loved feeding them.
We were there for about 1.5hours and we had seen everything, however as we have some kangaroo feed left, we will use the free return entry to go back.
On the way home we stopped off at Four Mile Beach and we saw a lot of kite surfers sitting on the beach watching the waves - no idea why they weren't in the water.
We then drove up to the lookout near our hotel to look back over Four Mile beach. The view was very good however Julian was being very unpleasant, so we headed back to the hotel. Traveling with children is never easy, especially when they are tired.
Once again Steve and I sat outside whilst the kids watched TV. Tonight we cooked up a version of Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner which tasted ok. After dinner we hung out on balcony/patio and people watched. It was a good evening.
Saturday, July 1, 2017
Day 9: Port Douglas - Mossman Gorge
After a big breakfast, we headed out just before 9am. We were going to the Mossman Saturday market. I had no idea what type of market it was but Steve thought that as it is in Mossman, it most likely will be a bit hippie. It was a small market of only about 25 stalls and most of them were selling plants. We did find a stall selling fresh coconuts, so we had to give them a go.
The coconut water was very tasty and Rohan got stuck in to it. Julian, who had wanted to try drinking from a coconut FOREVER, only had a couple of sips. After we had "drunk it dry", we took it back to the stall and they cut it open. The flesh was surprisingly moist and had a texture kind of like chewy jelly.
After the market, Julian needed a injection of happiness, so we stopped off at the Mossman bakery which we spied when we drove into town. It was an old school bakery which had cream buns (me), vanilla slice (Julian) and finger buns (Rohan and Steve) the size of Rohan's arm. We drove up to the gorge to eat the buns which turned out to be only OK to eat. Thankfully Julian's vanilla slice worked it magic and Julian was happy to go on a bush walk.
We caught the bus from the Mossman Visitor Centre the short distance to the walking tracks. There was so much to see however there weren't very many places to stop and enjoy the scenery. This was how we got to 9,000 steps on my Fitbit before 12pm. Rohan was charging ahead and it was hard work to keep up with him. It turns out that he was busting to go to the toilet and he thought that if he walked faster it would go away!
We had lunch at the end of the walk at a lookout. It had a nice view of the raging river. It was about 25-27degC but quite pleasant below the tree canopy. It was a lovely walk of about 4km of windy, tree root covered track. We left with the boys very excited about doing more bushwalks.
On the way back to Port Douglas we were stopped on the road as a Cane Train was crossing the road. Very cool however the camera didn't allow me to get a photo of the train only the cane trucks.
Back at the hotel, we sat around and tried to give our legs a break. As it was a lovely afternoon, we decided to take a dip in the pool. Unfortunately it wasn't heated, so Rohan didn't want to get in. Julian didn't want to do anything we asked him to do. Everyone was tired from the long walk in the morning, so we pulled the pin on going for a swim and decided to get ice cream instead.
First we walked to the inlet (just across the road) and Rohan spotted a playground, so he and Julian ran off to play. There was a wedding just finishing at the chapel on the shore. Out on the inlet, grey clouds were quickly rolling in, so we thought we should make a move to get some ice cream. Rohan did not like this idea, so Steve had to carry him. We walked down the main street (Macrossan street) to the ice cream stand near Coles. Julian and Rohan had rainbow ice cream for a change, I had macadamia and Steve had a very boozy Rum and Raisin. This cheered everyone up considerably.
We popped into Coles to get supplies for dinner. Everyone was tired of eating out, so we bought ingredients for a chicken stirfry (tonight) and spaghetti bolognese (tomorrow). We slowly made our way home. The rain had not come just yet.
The boys then watched a bit more TV, and Steve and I went outside to chill with a beer. Dinner was inhaled by everyone - we all missed eating so many vegetables - and the boys were in bed by 6:45pm.
The coconut water was very tasty and Rohan got stuck in to it. Julian, who had wanted to try drinking from a coconut FOREVER, only had a couple of sips. After we had "drunk it dry", we took it back to the stall and they cut it open. The flesh was surprisingly moist and had a texture kind of like chewy jelly.
After the market, Julian needed a injection of happiness, so we stopped off at the Mossman bakery which we spied when we drove into town. It was an old school bakery which had cream buns (me), vanilla slice (Julian) and finger buns (Rohan and Steve) the size of Rohan's arm. We drove up to the gorge to eat the buns which turned out to be only OK to eat. Thankfully Julian's vanilla slice worked it magic and Julian was happy to go on a bush walk.
We caught the bus from the Mossman Visitor Centre the short distance to the walking tracks. There was so much to see however there weren't very many places to stop and enjoy the scenery. This was how we got to 9,000 steps on my Fitbit before 12pm. Rohan was charging ahead and it was hard work to keep up with him. It turns out that he was busting to go to the toilet and he thought that if he walked faster it would go away!
We had lunch at the end of the walk at a lookout. It had a nice view of the raging river. It was about 25-27degC but quite pleasant below the tree canopy. It was a lovely walk of about 4km of windy, tree root covered track. We left with the boys very excited about doing more bushwalks.
On the way back to Port Douglas we were stopped on the road as a Cane Train was crossing the road. Very cool however the camera didn't allow me to get a photo of the train only the cane trucks.
Back at the hotel, we sat around and tried to give our legs a break. As it was a lovely afternoon, we decided to take a dip in the pool. Unfortunately it wasn't heated, so Rohan didn't want to get in. Julian didn't want to do anything we asked him to do. Everyone was tired from the long walk in the morning, so we pulled the pin on going for a swim and decided to get ice cream instead.
First we walked to the inlet (just across the road) and Rohan spotted a playground, so he and Julian ran off to play. There was a wedding just finishing at the chapel on the shore. Out on the inlet, grey clouds were quickly rolling in, so we thought we should make a move to get some ice cream. Rohan did not like this idea, so Steve had to carry him. We walked down the main street (Macrossan street) to the ice cream stand near Coles. Julian and Rohan had rainbow ice cream for a change, I had macadamia and Steve had a very boozy Rum and Raisin. This cheered everyone up considerably.
We popped into Coles to get supplies for dinner. Everyone was tired of eating out, so we bought ingredients for a chicken stirfry (tonight) and spaghetti bolognese (tomorrow). We slowly made our way home. The rain had not come just yet.
The boys then watched a bit more TV, and Steve and I went outside to chill with a beer. Dinner was inhaled by everyone - we all missed eating so many vegetables - and the boys were in bed by 6:45pm.
Day 8: Port Douglas – Low Isles
This morning we all had eggs on toast – a very welcome
change to weetbix! It had rained heavily overnight but it had stopped by the
time we got up. However the skies were
still grey and gloomy which is not what you want when you are going to the
reef.
We drove to the Marina even though it is only 450m from the
apartment, as we didn’t want to carry Rohan (and all the gear) back home in the
afternoon. We were booked onto the Quicksilver
Wavedancer cruise which was a catamaran with sails – seriously cool looking.
We got on board at 9:15 and had a bit of a wait until we
left the marina. Julian and I listened
to the marine biologist give a chat about what we should expect to see on the
reef. We set off at 10am and went reasonably
quickly out to Low Isles.
It was a bit windy out on the deck when we listened to the
chat on how to fit your snorkel and what the times were for all of the
different activities. As it was already 11:30, we decided to take a ride in the
glass bottom boat to have a “dry” look at the reef. It was a lot murkier than I expected but
apparently this is due to the amount of nutrients in the water as it is
close-ish to land (a good thing). This
also meant there is a lot of soft coral and less hard coral. Apparently the outer reef is much clearer and
it is mainly hard coral. They also said
that coral bleaching is reversible if the water temperature reduces by even
1degC. This winter, it is much colder than last year 24degC instead of 28degC,
so large areas of the reef are rejuvenating right now. This was something I hadn’t heard.
After the glass bottom boat ride, we had a very tasty lunch
on board. By around 12:45 we were ready
to hit the reef. We headed out to Low Isles on another little shuttle boat and
it only took about 5 mins. On the island
we got kitted up in our stinger suits (full length body suits with gloves and
hoods) and put the boys in swim vests.
We looked hilarious!
Rohan was NOT keen on snorkelling or noodling or being
carried or anything involving floating AT ALL.
So Steve went out with Julian (without the GoPro) and they saw a
turtle. I went out with Julian and I saw
a giant clam. Steve then went out with
Julian and they saw lots and lots of fish and coral. Julian LOVED it. The water was warmer than being out in the
wind but by the end, we were all cold. The wind had really picked up and grey clouds
were blowing in. We caught the shuttle back to the boat just at about
2:15pm. Julian was still buzzing.
We all got dry and dressed.
I plugged hooked up the GoPro with my phone and we watched the
underwater movies that we had made. They
were surprisingly good – my clam showed up really well, cursing missing the
turtle. We then had something to eat and drink and just relaxed until everyone
was back on the boat. The wind had
really whipped up so when we did start heading home at 3:15, it was a little
rough. Many people found it too rough
and needed the handy white bags. Rohan
and I snuggled up and we both had a nap.
Rohan’s nap lasted the whole journey home! Julian and Steve were fine until about 4pm
when Julian thought he was going to be sick.
They popped out onto the deck and then Julian was good again (still a
perfect no-spew ever record for Julian!).
We got back at 4:30pm and we were very thankful that the car
was right there! We came home and
plopped the kids in front of the box – they were SO tired. Steve went out to buy some bread, beer and
ice-cream. He also looked for another
iphone cable/charger as our old one stopped working!
He came home and we tried to get the BBQ working with no
success. So we cooked up the sausages in
the frying pan and had hotdog (of a sorts) inside. It was a fun day but boy we were tired!
Thursday, June 29, 2017
Day 7: Cairns to Port Douglas
We woke to grey rainy skies - we were so lucky to fly yesterday in that spectacular weather! After a mad scramble we managed to vacate the hotel by 8:10am.
We then drove to Hartley's Crocodile Farm and we just made the 9am boat trip. There were 26 crocs in this lagoon and we saw quite a few of them. They did some feeding off the side of the boat which was great fun.
After the boat trip we had a drink and a snack before heading down to the crocodile farm.
The croc farm is where they grow the croc's to then be killed for handbags, belts and shoes. The farm is essential otherwise the trade would go into the black market and the crocs would be poached to met the demand. All croc eggs are male and it depends on the incubation temperature whether they become female or not.
After this we walked around to the Freshwater crocodiles, through the birds and then onto the Croc feeding area for the 11am show. The show was really good as we saw a lot of jumping crocs and some truely massive ones.
After the show we had lunch and a bit of a break at the cafe. Once we were all energized we went for another walk past more crocs and ended up in the reptile area. Lots to see!
Lastly we went to the 12:30pm Croc attack show. This was a shorter show without the cool barrel role and head shake demonstrations however it was still good to see. He was a very brave keeper!
Then it was time to go, so we trekked off to Port Douglas. Rohan feel asleep 6km out! The hotel was in a great location at the end of Macrossan street, right on the inlet. Our room was ready, so we parked the car in the underground carpark and Steve took the bags up. I stayed in the car with the a/c on to let Rohan sleep.
Eventually Steve came back and I woke Rohan and we went up to the room. The hotel/apartment was pretty nice! We all had some biscuits in the lounge area and chilled for a bit.
When we thought Rohan could handle it, we walked to Coles down the road and did the grocery shop before heading back. Steve and I went out into the outside lounge area (this apartment is seriously big) and had a beer whilst the kids were in the lounge watching Mister Maker (ABC for kids). They were SO tired after a big couple of days, so a bit of TV relaxation probably helped give them a rest.
We decided to go to the Ironbar for dinner as they had macaroni and cheese for the kids which was a nice change. Julian went for that but Rohan was adamant that he wanted Chicken nuggets. Steve had a Coral Sea fish curry and I had a Chicken burger with a side of vegetables. It was all really good. The boys finished the meal with ice-cream - 3 scoops, so they were very chilled afterwards.
The apartment has a lovely free-standing bath, so the boys had a "relaxing soak" before going to bed. Their room has no windows and a very solid door, so it is pitch black. We put the bedside clock in there to act as a nightlight (we forgot the groclock but they are coping well).
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| View from the hotel - no hills in background, Convention centre on left |
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| The living/dining area of the hotel room |
After the boat trip we had a drink and a snack before heading down to the crocodile farm.
The croc farm is where they grow the croc's to then be killed for handbags, belts and shoes. The farm is essential otherwise the trade would go into the black market and the crocs would be poached to met the demand. All croc eggs are male and it depends on the incubation temperature whether they become female or not.
After this we walked around to the Freshwater crocodiles, through the birds and then onto the Croc feeding area for the 11am show. The show was really good as we saw a lot of jumping crocs and some truely massive ones.
After the show we had lunch and a bit of a break at the cafe. Once we were all energized we went for another walk past more crocs and ended up in the reptile area. Lots to see!
Lastly we went to the 12:30pm Croc attack show. This was a shorter show without the cool barrel role and head shake demonstrations however it was still good to see. He was a very brave keeper!
Then it was time to go, so we trekked off to Port Douglas. Rohan feel asleep 6km out! The hotel was in a great location at the end of Macrossan street, right on the inlet. Our room was ready, so we parked the car in the underground carpark and Steve took the bags up. I stayed in the car with the a/c on to let Rohan sleep.
Eventually Steve came back and I woke Rohan and we went up to the room. The hotel/apartment was pretty nice! We all had some biscuits in the lounge area and chilled for a bit.
When we thought Rohan could handle it, we walked to Coles down the road and did the grocery shop before heading back. Steve and I went out into the outside lounge area (this apartment is seriously big) and had a beer whilst the kids were in the lounge watching Mister Maker (ABC for kids). They were SO tired after a big couple of days, so a bit of TV relaxation probably helped give them a rest.
We decided to go to the Ironbar for dinner as they had macaroni and cheese for the kids which was a nice change. Julian went for that but Rohan was adamant that he wanted Chicken nuggets. Steve had a Coral Sea fish curry and I had a Chicken burger with a side of vegetables. It was all really good. The boys finished the meal with ice-cream - 3 scoops, so they were very chilled afterwards.
The apartment has a lovely free-standing bath, so the boys had a "relaxing soak" before going to bed. Their room has no windows and a very solid door, so it is pitch black. We put the bedside clock in there to act as a nightlight (we forgot the groclock but they are coping well).
Day 6: Cairns - Great Barrier Reef
We woke to blue skies with on a little light cloud - perfect for our flight over the reef. We got picked up by a DainAir shuttle around 9:20am and we had a quick trip out to the airport. We got our little lifevests strapped on and were run through a safety briefing. Then we met our pilot - a young chap called Rohan!
We were in a little 4 seater, and Steve kindly let me ride shotgun, so he had Rohan on his lap.
It was only 5 minutes until we were cruising over Green Island. It looked very impressive from the air.
We couldn't believe our luck with the skies! It was beautiful over Arlington reef.
The sand islands are called Cay's and for the life of me I can't remember all of their names.
As I am hotspotting on my phone as the internet is not working, that is all for the reef.
We got back to the hotel around 11am after the flight. We cobbled together the swimming gear, including snorkels and vests, and drove down to the Lagoon. When we arrived we discovered that it is closed Wednesday mornings until 12pm for maintenance. So we had lunch but the boys were itching to get in. At 12pm, they bolted into the lagoon and we spent the next 1 hour 30mins playing in the water. By this time I was bored senseless and the boys were starting to shiver (it was probably around 23C outside). We got dressed and came out to find it raining - so it was a perfect time to leave. We went home and dumped our stuff before heading to a seminar thingee. It is hard to explain it as I won it on a scratchie card! In the end, we didn't have to sit through 90mins of marketing to sell us a holiday club, they just gave us 7 nights of accommodation at a resort of our choosing (15 to choose from). This sounds weird, and it is a bit surreal but the end result is a nearly free holiday - nice!
By now the boys were very tired, so we went back to the hotel and they bludged on the bed watching ABC for kids. Steve and I sat outside with beers.
After a little discussion, we decided to return to the Golden Boat Chinese restaurant for dinner. We had the same dishes as a couple of nights ago but added Crispy skinned pepper duck. Once again it was very good however the dine-in cost was nearly twice the cost of takeaway - ouch!
I had no idea how tired I was until I feel asleep straight after the boys were in bed. Steve turned out the light at 8:30 and we were both gone! Big day!
We were in a little 4 seater, and Steve kindly let me ride shotgun, so he had Rohan on his lap.
It was only 5 minutes until we were cruising over Green Island. It looked very impressive from the air.
We couldn't believe our luck with the skies! It was beautiful over Arlington reef.
We got back to the hotel around 11am after the flight. We cobbled together the swimming gear, including snorkels and vests, and drove down to the Lagoon. When we arrived we discovered that it is closed Wednesday mornings until 12pm for maintenance. So we had lunch but the boys were itching to get in. At 12pm, they bolted into the lagoon and we spent the next 1 hour 30mins playing in the water. By this time I was bored senseless and the boys were starting to shiver (it was probably around 23C outside). We got dressed and came out to find it raining - so it was a perfect time to leave. We went home and dumped our stuff before heading to a seminar thingee. It is hard to explain it as I won it on a scratchie card! In the end, we didn't have to sit through 90mins of marketing to sell us a holiday club, they just gave us 7 nights of accommodation at a resort of our choosing (15 to choose from). This sounds weird, and it is a bit surreal but the end result is a nearly free holiday - nice!
By now the boys were very tired, so we went back to the hotel and they bludged on the bed watching ABC for kids. Steve and I sat outside with beers.
After a little discussion, we decided to return to the Golden Boat Chinese restaurant for dinner. We had the same dishes as a couple of nights ago but added Crispy skinned pepper duck. Once again it was very good however the dine-in cost was nearly twice the cost of takeaway - ouch!
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