Day 414 Daintree Discovery Centre

Another of the must do's was the Daintree Discovery Centre...this fabulous centre has an audio interpretation device that gives you almost to much information..there are boardwalks all the way through...with vegetation to blow your mind...
All of these are so difficult to show what they are really like, but hopefully you can get some sort of an idea.
There is a tower, 5 stages high, which swayed a little to much for me...that and vertigo has me holding on for dear life...but I did make it up there, what you can't see is the white knuckles...and I even looked straight down.....
This one was easier, it was a shot straight up...this means we were back on the ground ..phew!!!!

Day 414 Cape Tribulation

Still at Port Douglas, we travelled up to Cape Tribulation. We had thought that this area would only be for 4WD...but until you get out the other side of the Cape all is easy with a few twist and turns that would have slowed us down but not much else. We are thinking that if, and that is a pretty long shot if, we do not go up to the Tip, we may come back here and stay awhile.
There is  ferry crossing to get to the area and beaches around every turn...that is Cape Tribulation behind me..
Don't get to many of these ... us together, I mean!! Thanks to a kind offer from an American girl who was lying on the beach.
Artistic shot.....
Things you see in the sand....this small crab digs out the sand and pushes it away from the entrance...all at low tide..then after high tide has to do it all over again.....amazing shapes and patterns....Stephen called it a sand flower.

Day 413 The Daintree Karnak Playhouse

Now imagine this...driving back through the Daintree and see a sign for coffee and home made cakes....follow sign....end up at  Karnak Playhouse....stuck out in the middle of nowhere..this picturesque site has been host to many artists including Jane Rutter (flautist).
Diane Cilento (first wife of Sean Connery), developed this amazing place....it was a shame that there was nothing going on while we were there as it would had been a hoot to go to the Playhouse and have dinner. All their meals are cooked with local produce...we had a apricot, coconut & kaffir lime cake covered with chocolate.....yummy!!!
There were the stain glass windows and an art display....this piece is a dress made from a base of fabric & the outer is dry leaves, you would rattle as you made your entrance !
The stage...cute hey!
Muggings with tropical backdrop!!

Day 413 Mosman Gorge

Off to Mosman Gorge, we had intended to do the walk etc...but unfortunately, the Rex Bridge was shut and the circuit walk also shut. So we just did the circuit walk to the lookout.
The water was as clear as, but we are both wondering just what this would look like in the wet!!
Beautiful spot....
With great photo opportunities!!!!

Day 412 Reef Part 2

Sunburnt, wind burnt, snorkeled out, looking a complete wreck...but as happy as Larry!!!!
One of the lowest tides meant that the reef could have been walked on...no I know you don't do that as it kills the reef.
On the other side, the wind and the waves crashed on the reef, while where we were snorkeling was in the forground..tranquil...oh the serenity!!!!
Divers away..........
We took a whole film, but they are still to be developed... so we cheated here with an aquarium photo...we saw so many fish that it was mind boggling!!!!

Day 412 The Reef Snorkeling Part 1

We booked on the QuickSilver tour out to the reef to snorkel at three different places..it is whale season here and we were told that we may be lucky to see some...we did and were blessed with Mum, calf and another (supposedly another female).
They got quite close, but to many people trying to get good shots meant that this was all that we were left with. she disappeared, basically under the front of the boat to surface again way away..
We had picked a stormy day, as you can see from the shot above. The waves were coming up the windows on both sides, with many of the passengers turning a slight  shade of green..
Callam showed us were we were heading..it took two of them to hold down the map!! We were going to Agincourt Reef, about a hour and a half out of Port Douglas...luckily by the time we got there the sun was out most of the time..and although choppy it was a blast!!
Sitting with us was Cham and Pat from Cambridge (UK). They were great, in fact we ended up having dinner with them when we got back to base.....

Day 410 The Lookout

We moved on to Port Douglas...Barbara had also moved up there, so we arranged to meet for one last dinner on our first night there...before that we went to the Lookout at the top of the town. Just showed us how far from home we are if we could fly like a crow!!!!!!
View was pretty specky too..this is looking back to Cairns.
Then down to the harbour to book our reef dives and found a Chinese Junk, so out of place!!

Day 409 Botanical Garden Part 2

Guess what he found....Bamboo everywhere... Giant Buddha's Belly
When you walk through the forest and look up to these incredible fronds, the artist in you just comes out...well it does in me anyway..
And just by the path is this cut log...now I ask you, what makes it go like that...don't know myself...but very appealing. 
Back to the Bamboos...Stephen hopes the Bamboos are doing this well at home...don't think so!!
Incredible formations, colours and effects.

Day 409 Botanical Gardens Part 1

We have always loved our plants and Botanical Gardens hold a fascination for us both...so Cairns was no exception....very compact with obviously tropical plants aplenty...
The standard insect catching varieties..they could do with more of these as we were both being eaten by sandflies again....
No photo shop here, that's as it is...background and all!
Orchid house that defied imagination...then we went for a walk through the Rainforest section...see next blog.

Day 407 Skyrail

The Skyrail was all that we had heard and more..the vertigo took some getting used to but overall okay.... we stopped at Barron Falls on the way down and saw the falls from the other side of the valley from the morning.
The span that this skyrail traverses is fantastic..it must be one of the most spectacular rides in Australia. You skim over the canopy of the rain forest, with birds flying in all directions.
And breathtaking views that make you go goose bumpy (or was that the vertigo?).,
And then you pop out to look out to the Great Barrier Reef, the Coastal Plains and your destination..
with just one last reminder that you are still a fair way up...as you pass over the road that had brought us down to Cairns only a few days ago....matchbox toys wind their way up and down the road!

Day 407 Kuranda Birds Part 2

Got me.....
These were cute but we have no idea what they are....
Then we saw our first Cassowary's they are so big and powerful...next job is to find some in the wild..
Stephen could not resist the portrait of the Macaw..

Day 407 Kuranda Bird's Part 1

Joma and Pops had told us about the Bird place here and in Port Douglas, so with an hour to go before we had to head to the Skyrail we did the walk around..passed this palm tree doing it's thing and then into the birds.....now I'm not going to do lots of words with this just captions as we could not pick which ones to put so we have done two postings....
These birds are not only from Australia but from foreign climes too..they are also very fond of jewellery..here Stephen is being attacked with the Sun Conure trying to get his chain.
You can see I am being sized up by the Scarlet Macaw.
This Turquoise Hooded Parrot (I think that's right) actually took a fancy to Stephen's hat and did a fair amount of damage before I could get the shot off....& him!!
This Major Mitchell's was giving me a hard time....attacking my earrings....