Next up: Port Douglas.
Just an hour up the road from Cairns, Port Douglas is kind of a quieter, more upscale version of Cairns. It’s also right on the ocean, with regular trips out to the Great Barrier Reef.
We spent several days there. I really loved the atmosphere of the place. Some highlights included:
Snorkelling!!! Of course we did a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. It was honestly amazing (so amazing it’s going to deserve its own blog post – so more on that later!):
The local brewery, Hemingway’s. Had some really excellent beers here on a beautiful patio overlooking the marina:
Watching sunset from Rex Smeal Park, which juts out a bit so you can watch the sun actually set over the mountains in the distance (since I’m on the east coast, normally the sun just disappears behind the hills, rather than having a proper beautiful sunset. It was a proper beautiful sunset that night):
This beautiful old church, sitting by the ocean (and only about 100m away from a sign that warned you not to get in the water – crocodiles could be present!):
Hiking around nearby Mossman Gorge:
Spending several hours at the Whileaway Cafe. This cafe was my dream come true: half bookshop and half cafe, you could browse while you had a coffee, or sit and enjoy your new books with some cake. In other words, heaven.
Watching a local rugby game. The rules are different here than they are in Canada (not that I watch much rugby back home, either, but I at least have a basic grasp of the sport…) and to add to the confusion, there are two different rugby leagues in Australia with different sets of rules (i.e., one allows you to stack people up and throw them in the air, and the other one doesn’t). My friend Emma did her best to explain the rules to me and I mostly followed along: it reminded me a lot of American football, but way more exciting (and also, a lot less protective gear for some reason?). We had a lot of fun watching, anyway, and it was cool to attend a local sports game:
After several days in Port Douglas, we would hit the road again…
THE WANDERING YEARS 