Port Douglas

After arriving in Cairns, my little sister and I headed straight up to Port Douglas.  Situated about an hour north of Cairns, Port Douglas is a tiny town which has become increasingly popular with Aussie tourists.  The number of people in the town at any given time is often double the actual population of 5,000 or so permanent residents.  Accommodation and dining options seemed to be unlimited, and I was shocked to find that some of the restaurants were booked out days in advance.  On our first night, we discovered that the Italian restaurant that a work colleague of mine recommended was booked solid until 10pm three nights later.  Fortunately, there was a Mexican restaurant with only a two hour wait.  The Mexican food wasn’t half bad for a tiny Australian town.  Kudos to Port Douglas.

Just south of the town was Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures – just one of many zoos that dot Far North Queensland.  We began our adventure there with a boat ride on Hartley’s Lagoon – a man-made lagoon with roughly 20 or so crocodiles in it.  The boat was full of children which made for a miserable ride and I was hoping the driver would sacrifice one to a hungry croc.  Alas, he did not, but our time there improved greatly once we were back on land.  A crocodile show was next on the agenda and it was spectacular:  one giant croc and two well-trained idiots in its enclosure.

We got to meet a cassowary named Big Bird:

And it was Melissa’s first encounter with a kangaroo.

She also became quite fond of this little guy:  a pademelon.

Of course, just like any Aussie animal park, there was a koala for the petting.  And if you’ve ever pet a koala, you’ll know that they smell like marijuana.  Or eucalyptus they say, but I’m still convinced all koalas are stoners.  I mean, their daily routine involves 20 hours of sleep and 4 hours of eating.  Munchies much?

Between Port Douglas and Hartley’s was the Rex Lookout – a fantastic spot for a photo op of the Far North Queensland coast.

In the opposite direction, just north of Port Douglas, sits Mossman Gorge.  Located near the southern tip of the Daintree Rainforest, the gorge has an Aboriginal cultural centre, some great rainforest hiking trails, and even a few swimming spots (but it was a bit chilly so we opted to not take a dip).  My friend Andrea was in Port Douglas at the same time and she gladly tagged along.

Back in town, we also opted to avoid swimming at Port Douglas’ Four Mile Beach.

It is true:  everything in this country wants you to do.

Port Douglas is also home to the world’s creepiest mannequin:

For the true Queensland experience, we also got tickets to see the cane toad races.  Cane toads were introduced to Queensland in the 1930’s to eat a beetle which was threatening the state’s sugarcane crops.  Unfortunately, the cane toads didn’t do a good job at eradicating the beetle as the beetles sat atop the sugarcane out of the toad’s reach.  Instead, the useless toads spread over great distances and have become a massive pest, probably one of the most noted pest species in Australia after the rabbit.  The cane toad races – put on in a bar in Port Douglas – are a tacky tourist trap but fun nonetheless.  I’m just glad my ticket didn’t get called.  Those lucky participants had to kiss their toads before the race.  Ick.

In addition to deadly beaches, creepy mannequins, tacky touristy toad races, and halfway decent Mexican food, Port Douglas also serves as an excellent jumping off point for day trips to the Great Barrier Reef, Daintree Rainforest, and Atherton Tablelands.  More to come on each of those in separate posts.

Cairns

Cairns – pronounced “Cans” by the Aussies – is the gateway to the area called Far North Queensland.  Home to the Great Barrier Reef and some of the world’s oldest rainforests, Far North Queensland is one of Australia’s biggest tourist destinations, and Cairns is where everyone’s trip there begins.

Cairns itself isn’t a major city, but with approximately 150,000 residents, it’s the largest city in the region by a long mile.  Originally founded as a place to service the mining community up in the hills and on the tablelands inland, it later grew into a major port for the export of gold, sugarcane, and other minerals and local tropical crops, such as mango, banana, papaya, and coffee.  While the port remains an important part of the economy, it’s tourism that has really taken over.

For a city of such small size, you wouldn’t expect the airport to be anything more than one or two gates servicing a few small flights per day to the country’s two or three biggest cities, but the size of Cairns airport demonstrates the draw of this region.  Flights operate daily to all major Australian cities and a ton of smaller ones in regional Queensland.  Additionally, there are flights to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the US, and all over Asia:  Japan, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia… it’s a proper airport for a little city.  To compare size, it’s about the same as if Sioux Falls, South Dakota had a direct flight to Tokyo.  Not going to happen ever, is it?  But it happens in Cairns because it’s such a popular destination.  And because of this popularity, the Aussies… well, they hate Cairns.

“Oh.  You’re going to Cairns.  You’re not staying in Cairns, right?”

“Cairns?  Please tell me you’re staying in Palm Cove or Port Douglas instead?”

“Cairns?  Are you renting a car and getting out of Cairns?”

“Why on earth would you want to go to Cairns?”

“Cairns is awful.”

About 99% of Australians will advise you to immediately get out of Cairns once you land because there’s nothing to see there and it’s just overrun with busloads of Asian tourists and smelly, drunken European backpackers in campervans.  But, I decided to go against the advice (somewhat) and spend some time in Cairns (just a bit).

The tourist areas around the water make for a lovely place to walk and explore.  The Esplanade runs along the waterfront day and night and our hotel was conveniently situated right on it.

As any Aussie will tell you, at closer glance, the beach is actually a big mud flat and not a beach.  It’s not the most attractive piece of property, but given the crocodile situation, nobody was going in the water anyway.

In place of a proper beach, the city built a big ass “lagoon” swimming pool to serve the community and throngs of tourists that visit here.

The city even puts on Zumba and other fitness classes on the Esplanade so people can stay fit while eating all kinds of crap on vacation.

Cairns also has a few cute markets, ranging from fruit markets:

To some pop up markets on the Esplanade:

To the famous Night Markets, which sell all kinds of tacky touristy trinkets, massages, and some delicious local fruit too.

One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the Night Zoo at the Cairns Tropical Zoo.  Located just a short drive north of Cairns near Palm Cove, we originally signed up for the Night Zoo rather than visiting the zoo normally during the day just to save time for other daytime activities.  It was a bit of a lofty price, but it turned out to be well worth it in the end.  The Night Zoo featured a delicious Aussie buffet, some super tacky (but actually super fun) bush dancing, and they even made us damper (bread that they make in the outback) and tea out at one of the exhibits.  As many Australian animals are nocturnal, we got to see quite a few of them in action.  Of course, this included our chance to hold a koala!

My sister got to hold a python.  I opted to not shit my pants.

We even got to pet a wombat and pose for a picture with the cute creature and the strangely attractive and rugged zookeeper.

The best part was that the Night Zoo is limited in numbers – there must have been no more than 20 of us there that night.  Even better, there was only one child in the whole group.  I’d definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Cairns.

There are also some great outdoorsy activities in Cairns.  We took a stroll along a mangrove boardwalk one afternoon and saw the crab holes in the mud.  Ick.

But the crown jewel of Cairns, in my opinion, was the Cairns Botanic Gardens.  Located what must have been just a three minute drive from our hotel, the botanic gardens were fantastic and can put any big city’s botanic gardens to shame.  Of course, there were all the typical plants you’d find at a botanic garden.

But the gardens also had some lovely boardwalks which lead us to saltwater and freshwater lakes.

The adjacent Mount Whitfield Conservation Park had two hiking trails up to the top of Mount Whitfield – a quick 30 minute one and a tougher one all the way up that takes a few hours.  We opted for the short one given my sister was only in normal sneakers, but I’m definitely doing the big one next time.  The views from the top of the easy walk were great.  In one direction was the airport and in the other direction was the Esplanade and the city itself.  Also, just have to point out:  I love the zoom on my new camera.  Look at how far the airport is in the first pic and how close in the second!

The conservation park is also a cassowary habitat – right in the city!  “What to do if you meet a cassowary”.  First, introduce yourself.  Second, shake hands.  Oh wait… maybe not.

The botanic gardens also serve as home to the Tanks Art Centre, so called because they occupy formerly abandoned fuel tanks constructed for World War II.  We poked around one of the special exhibitions until they turned the lights out on us.  Only in Australia is it acceptable to close at 2pm.  Again, I’ll need to explore that more on my next trip to Cairns.

The best part of the botanic gardens, however, was the brunch at the Botanic Gardens Restaurant & Café.  It was probably one of the top 5 brunches I’ve had in this country.  The food was stellar.

More importantly, there was a cute waiter in little shorts.

Delicious!

Overall, we really enjoyed our time in Cairns and I’d definitely recommend a day or two there for all visitors to the region… no matter what anyone else tells you! 

All About My Sister

Seeing as it took my mother and sister over 4 years to visit me after I moved to Seattle, I thought surely it would take at least a decade before either of them set foot on Aussie soil.  After all, Seattle is just less than 3,000 miles away from South Florida, but Sydney is nearly 10,000 miles away.  But, my little sister was on a mission to prove me wrong (aren’t little sisters always annoying like that?)  Just under 3.5 years after my arrival in Australia, my little sister landed on Aussie ground.  For two weeks, The Peacock – as I’ve called her for some unknown reason since we were kids – roamed around Australia.

My sister came bearing a bounty of “gifts”.  I use the quotes because I paid of most of them online and had them shipped to her for transport.  Many of them were functional – winter clothes, camera accessories, etc.  But some were just simply indulgent – like a tonne of Theo Chocolate and a few boxes of Cheez-Its.

One of my favourite things was the actual luggage she brought them in – my new REI travel pack that I’ll use on my big overseas trip later this year.

As I’ve done with many visitors before, I took my little sister around to see all of the key sites, like the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, and some views of the skyline:

And of course the Bondi to Coogee Walk:

I’ve always done something new with my guests – but the longer I’m here, the more things I check off the list, and the harder it is for me to find something new in Sydney.  Luckily, there was one thing that I’d been saving for a special occasion:  The BridgeClimb.

For an outrageous sum of money, you and a group of roughly 14 other tourists can walk to the top of the Harbour Bridge – far above the pedestrians, bicycles, cars, trains, and the water below.  It’s one of the Sydney’s biggest tourist attractions and for a very good reason:  the views are fantastic.  High up on the bridge and totally unobstructed by downtown skyscrapers, the view from the Bridge spans from the ocean to the far inland suburbs.  The bridge itself was/is a feat of engineering.  Never before in history had such a bridge been built, and to this day, no bridge can truly rival its size and load-bearing capacity.

From start to finish, the tour takes about 3.5 hours, but much of that in the beginning is the safety briefing and the time it takes to get suited up.  For safety, you are required to wear a special suit and you aren’t allowed to bring cameras or any other items with you.  While it’s annoying that you can’t take any pictures, it’s probably better that you not risk dropping your camera on some poor motorist below.  Luckily, the guide has a camera (tethered to him/her) and photos are available for sale afterward (at prices that are even more exorbitant than the tickets themselves).  But, the pictures turned out fairly good and the views were great.  They stopped to snap a few shots along the way.  From a lower level just above the road:

To the beginning of the arch:

To the highest point of the Harbour Bridge:

The guide was armed with an arsenal of bridge trivia and stories as well.  Overall, the excursion was well worth the cost… but probably just one time and one time only!

A short two weeks later, we ended my sister’s trip with breakfast at my favourite café on Bondi Beach.

But that wasn’t before I dragged her up to a region of Australia that I had yet to explore:  Far North Queensland.  Additional posts to follow…

p.s.  I made her try Vegemite.  She didn't like it.  I wasn't surprised.