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Me: "HOLLOOO!!!!"
Mark: "I do not know this person. I am not with this person. I do not know this person. I am not with this person."
At Doyle's in Watson's Bay, Sydney , August 23rd 2009.
[photo by Pere - http://www.flickr.com/photos/grahamfellows/]
Day 5: Port Douglas
When one lives on the east coast of Australia, one cannot ever watch a sunset over the sea as one could if one lived on the west coast. One can however watch a sunrise. This was an impossibility in Sydney however as we do not live next to a beach and could not get to a beach in time for the sunrise. Cue Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas - 5 minutes walk from our apartment. Sunrise approximately 06.35am, easy. So on Sunday morning, that's what we did.
Arrived at the beach at about 5.55am, it was deserted aside from for a hippy family who were hurriedly stamping out a campfire and packing up their children, having obviously ignored the 'no camping on the beach' signs.
The Sunrise Team, at this stage consisting of Bec, Mark and me.
The sky starts to brighten shortly after 6am.
Pere joined the Sunrise Team (sounds like we are getting ready to present an early morning daytime TV show??) at around 06.15am.
Light, but not quite full sun....
Lovely sea. It was still warm, I tested it.
Here it comes....!
Woohoo!
Eerie light -everything went bright orange.
Looonnnng shadows.
People started to appear on the beach as the sun arrived. A large number of joggers, cyclists and a surprising number of people with all their beach stuff ready to start sunbathing!
We went home for a nap, then Bec went to the Sunday Markets where she drank a coconut (they stick a straw in it for you - it wasn't very tasty, apparently), Mark and I went to the ice cream shop, then we all went on the beach for the rest of the day.
Day 4: Kuranda Skyrail
After being exhausted from Green Island the day before, we all went for a good big long slumber and a big lie in. After lunch on the Saturday, we pondered a trip on the Skyrail, which is a cablecar route starting north of Cairns, going over the rainforest and ending in Kuranda, a village in the Atherton Tablelands.
We arrived at the terminal at 2pm and boarded the car, then were swept off high up the side of a rainforest-covered mountain! Pere and I were greatly excited, while Mark, Lep and Bec suffered brief panic attacks before they got used to it!
The ride gives you two stops where you can do a boardwalk in the rainforest. The first is at the top of the peak, the second at Barron Gorge.
Since it was dry season, Barron River was pretty dry! There was a photo on the information board which showed it as a HUGE river and waterfall in the height of summer (wet season).
No sign of a crocodile :(
At the other end of the skyrail is the village of Kuranda. Since the skyrail brings so many tourists, it's a very touristy place, which would probably be very pleasant if it hadn't been tackified up by the tourist industry. Still, it wasn't unpleasant having a stroll around, and we didn't have long anyway before it was time for the skyrail back to Cairns.
On the drive back up to Port Douglas, we stopped of at Rex Lookout on the coastal road (just as the sun was setting), which gives you this fantastic view:
Back in Port Douglas, we went for fish and chips at the Fresq cafe for dinner. Mmmmm fish and chips.
