Day - 19. Port Douglas (1)

Arrived in Port Douglas about 3.30 pm and set up in a fantastic apartment right in town.  

Walked around the corner to the marina, checked out all the restaurants and the usual shopping.

This will do us for a couple of days.

Lunch at the Cairns marina.  Something has gone badly wrong in Cairns.  Many shops are empty, no tourists and the Japanese are not coming anymore.

Hardly a person in the whole complex.  Some quick thinking needs to happen here to save the city of Cairns from becoming a soulless town.

One of the few restaurants open on the waterfront.

View from our apartment across Port Douglas.

Quicksilver tours to the reef are still popular.

Day - 18. Wongalinga (7)

Another day of lovely balmy weather - overcast but warm with a light breeze.  First walked along the beach and back to buy a paper at the caravan park, just in case there was some good news contained therein!  There was none, so we had a cooked breakfast instead!!

Maxine and Russell went for two long walks/runs today, without the need to cross any crocodile infested creeks.

Reading the morning paper on the beach before returning to the apartment for a cooked breakfast.

Land yachting on the beach is popular here.  This one was travelling quite fast this morning.

The ferry to Dunk Island departs from this pier which is just north of Mission Beach.

Day - 17 Wongalinga (6)

Today was a very interesting day.  We were fortunate to be in the area for the annual show in Tully.  All the shops were closed all day for miles around and the locals seemed to be all at the show.  We travelled by car to the venue, and enjoyed reminders of the country shows of our childhood.  The familiar ferris wheel, laughing clowns, dodgem cars, fairy floss, ice creams, chips, farm produce competitions, and equine activities on the oval were all very familiar.

Sugar cane entries.  The winning entries are those which have the heaviest weight per stalk, because these have the highest concentration of sugar contained therein.

Many of the bananas in the agricultural competitions.

One of the stalls gave a demonstration of the safety precautions to take for snakes.  This was extremely educational, and he showed us many different species along with information about their colour, likely location in Australia, degree of venom, and how to avoid being bitten if met on a path or in the bush.  Recommended bush treatment if bitten, before going to hospital, was covered.  His advice was not to clean the site of the bite, nor kill the snake to take to the hospital.  Below is a photo of a relatively domesticated "lace monitor lizard" which is only half grown.

Handler showing us one of the extremely poisonous snakes.  Note his high boots and tough jeans.  He has been a handler for 10 years and never been bitten.

A stand at the show, with the "clowns".

An entertainment stall at the show which contained "zombies" 

Competing horses on the oval.

A "porky pig race". We waited to watch the race to the food bowl, which was quite fun.

This is the finish line where the food is located.

Annual competition at the show, to create outfits from the plastic bags which are used to surround bunches of bananas.  Some of the outfits were extremely creative, as you can see, and watching it was a lot of fun.

Another photograph of some of the creations.

Boats were on display, including this one which is the same as Reagan's.

This is known as the "bikini tree", on the road between Mission Beach and Tully.

Day - 16. Wongalinga (5)

On Thursdays a seafood vehicle and refrigerated/freezer trailer comes to Mission Beach for the morning.  We took advantage of this opportunity to purchase prawns, scallops and fish for our dinner which will be accompanied by 3 different salads prepared by the cooks.  The seafood will be delicious cooked with smoked pepper, garlic, tarragon, spring onion and lemon juice.  And of course this will be accompanied with a good white wine after pre-dinner drinks and a platter of "nibbles".  We are certainly not doing without whilst on holiday in the tropics!

Russell and Maxine went for a walk/run late in the afternoon, and on their return they needed to cross a creek which flowed into the sea across the beach.  It turned out to be very deep (chest height for Maxine) and contained many large barramundi.  Scary thought of the possibility of crocodiles in the stream!!!  They are usually around when the Barramundi are there !!!

Today another tough day.   Morning and evening walk along the beach and a run for Russell and Maxine.

Just another day in the warm breeze along the coast out the front of our apartment.  Bedarra Island is just over my left shoulder.  There are stingers, crocs and snakes but still a magic place to relax.

Day - 15. Wongalinga (4)

Today was a slightly less hot day than the past few, and also overcast.  Very pleasant conditions.  Some shopping for food and drinks in anticipation of the arrival of our guests today.  Maxine and Russell travelled all day (flight plus a bus trip from Cairns to Mission Beach), arriving very weary at 4.00 pm.  After a beach walk and a swim in the pool we enjoyed a delicious dinner and great conversation.

Large statue of a cassowary outside the shopping centre at Mission Beach.

Another photo of the statue.

Tropical vegetation on the block opposite our apartment that is owned by Gordon and Heather Frankland.

Arrival of the bus from Cairns.

Maxine and Russell alighting from the bus after a very long day of travelling.

Russell and Maxine enjoying a swim in the pool at the apartments.

Day - 14. Wongalinga (3)

A day of relaxation and walking along the beach today.  Temperature has dropped to 26 and the sea is a little more lively.  

The Wongalinga Apartments consist of about 12 separate units and there are vacancies here and right along Mission Beach.

A shelter near a BBQ area along Wongaling Beach during our walk today.

Made from recycled timber.

Popular Thai restaurant just up the road.

A Cassowary riding a bike sign at the skate board playground at Wongaling Beach. Much confusion with names along the coast.  Many maps call all the beaches Mission Beach and others name each individually as Mission Beach then Wongaling and then further south, South Mission Beach !!

No stingers this time of the year, but no swimming Nov. to April.

And Dunk Island just keeps appearing!

Day - 13. Wongalinga (2)

Back to yesterday, we picked up our hire car at Cairns.  It is a white Toyota Corolla, extremely comfortable, and the console seems quite familiar.  We travelled through very green fields of banana plantations, and tropical vegetation.  Everywhere we look seems to be so green compared to what we see in Victoria.  

This new area at Wongalin Beach is very beautiful with a wide flat and solid beach, and gentle waves breaking on the shore.  Just across the dark blue sea is Dunk Island and several other islands which are available to visit.  

This area is renowned for the endangered Cassowary Bird - a beautiful non-flying bird up to one metre tall which vaguely resembles an emu.  There are road signs everywhere warning motorists to be cautious and avoid hitting one crossing the road.

So far we have had no mosquitoes or flies, so we can leave our windows open and fans operating to provide comfortable breezes whilst in our apartment.  The max temperature today was 28 degrees, minimum 20 degrees overnight.

This photo does not do justice to the magnificent view last night as the moon rose in the east over the ocean.

P our 

Our Apartment is on the left, right on the beach, with great views.

The view from our front lawn across the beach to Dunk Island.

Beach views are common here but they are hard to get used to !!

A few wallabies along the road to Wongaling Beach.

Cassowary signs are everywhere.  Many are killed by cars and domestic dogs.

The view down to Hinchinbrook Island looking south.

Day - 12. Wongalinga (1)

Peter and Jenny took us from Sunshine Beach to the airport and then drove our car to Runaway Bay where we will meet them again in 4 weeks time.

Great flight from Brisbane along the coast to Cairns, the barrier reef was clear and the islands just off the coast were flooded with tourists and tourist boats.

Grabbed the hire car and drove down to Mission Beach and on to Wongalinga to a great apartment right on the beach again.  The waves crashing on the beach all night and the warm balmy evening at 22 degrees and no mossies create a relaxing way of life up here in the tropics.

FaceTime with Charlotte tonight, was so good to spend time with her and hear all about her adventures with her friends over the weekend.

A look at the apartment, we will need that aircon tonight !!

Both to the right and the left of the main room are decks, one for reading and the other for pre dinner drinks, BBQ's and looking at the beach. Tough life up here, I feel confident we will survive the conditions !!

This is the BBQ deck and breakfast area etc 

Day - 11. Sunshine Beach (7)

Jenny and Peter van Camp drove up from Runaway Bay to visit us today.  They will stay the night with us and then drive us to the airport early tomorrow morning for our flight to Cairns.

We met at a famous restaurant "Spirit House" nestled in the hinterland amongst a delightful tropical garden with tall bamboo  and palm trees.  The setting was very beautiful and the banquet which we chose was absolutely delicious.  Anyone visiting this area should definitely have a meal here.

Temperature today was 29 degrees, Cairns tomorrow should also be the same temperature.

An area in the tropical gardens.

One of the many ponds.

Another view through the beautiful gardens.

Peter and Jenny were waiting for us when we arrived.

Just before our first of eight courses.

Leaving feeling very "replete" and content.