Cairns

Cairns:
"where the rainforest meets the reef"

September-October, 2007

Return to
Aussie
Travel Page

Text and photographs
© David Powell,
except where indicated.

Return to
Home
Page

Day 1:
Arrival

Day 2:
Kuranda

Day 3:
Paronella

Day 4:
Pt Douglas

Day 5:
Daintree

Day 6:
Kuranda

Day 7:
Cairns

Day 8:
Reef Trip

Day 9:
Departure

Day 4
A bit of a "mix" day today. No big trips, just a bit of this and that.. Checked out two of the beach towns (collectively known as Cairns' "Northern Beaches", along with Palm Cove and the rest) just south of Palm Cove .. all on the same actual stretch of beach as Palm Cove - I dunno if the beach itself has a name. Clifton Beach and Trinity beach. Both have a very different feel to Palm Cove. Palm Cove looks affluent and, well, "in your face". Loud and brash in a way. It's a resort town, nothing more, nothing less. Clifton and Trinity are a lot quieter. More discrete than brash, if you like. A few resorts, but mostly weekenders and apartments. Rather than an esplanade facing the beach full of shops and resorts, Trinity and Clifton have homes, apartments and parks. The beach park at Clifton is sizable enuf to be a full-on nature reserve, curiously enuf called "Deadmans Gully Nature Reserve". No cheaper than Palm Cove, mind you, an apartment block was going up in Trinity (I think) and units were selling for the same price as at Palm Cove - to put it all in perspective, a unit there costs more than a house in almost any part of Sydney, let alone the rest of the country. The water today was a rather strange brown-green colour, all up and down the coast. Not exactly the "crystal clear" water the tourist brochures would have you believe. As it happened, it was that colour the entire time we were there.

Arlington Esplanade, Clifton Beach
Image © David Powell, 2007

Palm trees, Clifton Beach
Image © David Powell, 2007

View north, Trinity Beach
Image © David Powell, 2007

View south & Yorkeys Knob, Trinity Beach
Image © David Powell, 2007

View south, Rex Lookout
Image © David Powell, 2007

Headed north to Ellis Beach, the other side of Palm Cove. A couple of Bar & Grills, a caravan park with some bungalows .. and that's about it. I suspect sooner or later it'll be developed in the same way as either Palm Cove or Trinity & Clifton Beaches, but at the moment it's totally undeveloped ... a 5km stretch of virgin beach. A bit sad really, Ellis Beach is about the last spot that's still as it was 10 or even 100 years ago. Apart from the undeveloped coastline, of course. The road north from Ellis Beach to Port Douglas (the Captain Cook Highway) offered nonstop stunning views along the coast. Wow, wow, wow and wow! A few rocky points but otherwise beach after unspoiled beach, right at the foothills of the mountains. Around Cairns and the Northern Beaches the mountains (the Great Dividing Range) are kilometres or even dozens of kilometres in from the coast. Between Ellis Beach and Port Douglas the mountains literally meet the sea, the road hugging the coast often within metres of the shore. Inland, the mountains shoot up and many of them have cloud covered tops.

Wangetti. A little town mid-way between Cairns and Port Douglas. Very dry. The predominant colours were browns and yellows with only a bit of green. You can really tell it's near the end of a long dry season. Of course the local climate may be different .. it looks more bush than rainforest. Stopped at the Rex Lookout, just north on Wangetti. Great views south along the coast, all the way to Buchan Point and Double Island, just north of Palm Cove. The lookout is also a favourite spot for hang gliders. Easy to see why .. no trees, steady wind and a good steep drop to the beach below. Perfect for those who like jumping off cliffs.

Four Mile Beach,
Flagstaff Hill Lookout, Port Douglas
Image © David Powell, 2007

Shops, Macrossan St, Port Douglas
Image © David Powell, 2007

Four Mile Beach,
Flagstaff Hill Lookout, Port Douglas
Image © David Powell, 2007

St Mary's by the Sea, Port Douglas
Image © David Powell, 2007

Just south of Port Douglas the mountains head inland and the cane fields return - sugarcane requires flat land and lots of water, neither of which is easy on the side of a mountain! Port Douglas. Whatever the town may have once been, today it's a resort town. Maybe 90% of the town consists of resorts. Lots and lots of them. All the big names in the resort world ... Sebel, Hilton, Rydges, Mirage and so on. Port Douglas is on a peninsula. The locals live where it joins the mainland, the neck is solid resorts and the "head", which surrounds a hill, is full of shops, apartments and a few homes. Even a bit of rainforest. A little bit. There's a lookout on the top of the hill with great views south along Four Mile Beach (which forms the southern side of the peninsula's neck). Green and lush .. very tropical. Almost every square foot of the head of the peninsula seemed to be used with houses and apartments even on more than 50 degree slopes. But more background on Port Douglas tomorrow. Hit the main street shops and we spent a few hours window shopping, shopping and had lunch at a little cafe. Had a look at St Mary's-by-the-sea, an old wooden church built in 1880, destroyed by a cyclone in 1911 and rebuilt and moved to its present site and restored in 1988/1989. Quite picturesque .. surrounded by tall palm trees, a free standing bell tower and only metres from the ocean, as the name accurately suggests. Alas it was raining at the time, so the photo's did not do it justice. Still, tropics and rain go together just as much as tropics and sunshine, I suppose. Had a quick peek at the old courthouse .. a little wood building with a corrugated tin roof, with of course the traditional Queensland all around. Built 1879 and restored 1996 .. it's now a museum for the local historical society. Saw several signs for a historic lighthouse, but despite driving around for some time could find no trace of it. Maybe the signs are all that's left?

The overall impression of Port Douglas - one big tourist trap. The only sign of a 'port' was a couple of marinas and one sugar cane rail line, now used for tourist train rides. Still, nothing wrong with it being a "tourist trap" - it's kept the town alive and quite healthy indeed. If the town hadn't been reinvented for tourism, no doubt it would still be a tiny and poor coastal community. The only traces of the previous existence of the "Port" (as the locals apparently refer to the place) is a couple of carefully preserved 19th century public buildings!

Old Court House, Port Douglas
Image © David Powell, 2007

Chris Skasse's Palm Trees,
Pt Douglas Rd, Port Douglas
Image © David Powell, 2007

View west at end of Port Douglas Road
Image © David Powell, 2007

Then the drive back south - more spectacular views along the Captain Cook Highway - the views are breathtaking whether you are heading north or south. Most of the day was light showers .. all up and down the coast. At least stretching from Cairns to the "Port". Still, yesterday was the official start of the wet season, so one should expect some rain sooner or later.

Misty Mountains, Port Douglas
Image © David Powell, 2007

View south along coast, Captain Cook
Highway (5min south of Pt Douglas)
Image © David Powell, 2007

Closeup of Sleeping Giant's Head,
Captain Cook Highway
Image © David Powell, 2007

Mountains & palm trees, Captain Cook
Hwy (midway b/t Wangetti & Port Douglas)
Image © David Powell, 2007

View south, near Pretty Beach,
Captain Cook Highway
Image © David Powell, 2007

View north, near Pretty Beach,
Captain Cook Highway
Image © David Powell, 2007

After a night on the bottle ...
Hartley's Crocodile Adventures
Image © David Powell, 2007

Croc, Hartley's Crocodile Adventures
Image © David Powell, 2007

Swamp cruise,
Hartley's Crocodile Adventures
Image © David Powell, 2007

Swamp scenery, Hartley's
Image © David Powell, 2007

Back to Wangetti and "Hartley's Crocodile Adventures", one of several crocodile "zoos" in the region. Saltwater crocodiles, of course. Or estuarine as the experts prefer since they are equally at home in fresh water as well as salt water. Started off with a boat tour around a lagoon system. Saw a few crocs and the guide feed a couple by dangling chickens on a rope. Can't say I was all that impressed by the reptiles .. they were pretty, well, quiet. Still, they're cold blooded and it was a tad coolish .. by local standards, that is. To be honest, I thought the scenery was more impressive. Then off to the "Croc Attack Show", touted as the 'best in the country'. Hmmm... Not much action on the croc front .. the beastie just floated around most of the time, jumped for feeding twice and did some death rolls on cue. Well I can't blame the croc .. I mean, the size of the fish, it was only a bit or two for a human, let alone a croc. Still, the presenter certainly talked up a storm. As an aside, during the question session one kid asked who'd win between a salty and a white pointer shark. The presenter talked around it without giving an answer .. the other day I saw a show on the Discovery Channel which looked at just that question and the show claimed the shark would win. Hmmm... I dunno. Back to the croc zoo. Then had a look at the feeding area. There wasn't a feeding scheduled, but plenty of crocs lurking about .. no doubt they associate the sight of a person with a possible feeding. Dozens of crocs, some fairly active, and many in pretty photogenic poses. If nothing else, they made the visit worthwhile. Passed by several other smaller crocodile enclosures, including one with a skull (possibly a sheep or a goat) - a park employee with a sense of humour, no doubt. There was an enclosure of monitor lizards .. big, even if not quite croc sized. Swamp wallabies - no, not bred for croc food! Finally the cassowary enclosure. The zoo has a breeding programme. The cassowary is a close relative of the emu and is an endangered species, only some 1200 left in the wild and all of those limited to within 250 kilometres of Cairns. Brilliant colours .. even the black feathers were an iridescent black. We were there for the feeding and the presenter allowed the kids to feed them thru' the fence (it's a zoo, there're always a lot of kids somewhere). Skipped the koala feeding - it's not as if koalas are active at the best of the time and their feeding consists of extremely sedately munching on leaves, which they do all day anyway. Despite a few reservations early on, it was a worthwhile experience - it's not every day you get up close and personal with a croc, well a distance of a metre or so (with a good stout fence in between!) and not transformed into a handbag.

Croc, Hartley's Crocodile Adventures
Image © David Powell, 2007

Yesterday's lunch, Hartley's
Image © David Powell, 2007

"'Here Boy..."
Hartley's Croc Attack Show
Image © David Powell, 2007

Walkies ... Croc Attack Show
Hartley's Crocodile Adventures
Image © David Powell, 2007

Call that a meal?
Hartley's Croc Attack Show
Image © David Powell, 2007

Attack!!!
Hartley's Croc Attack Show
Image © David Powell, 2007

"Now that's a meal <burp>"
Hartley's Croc Attack Show
Image © David Powell, 2007

Stopped at a few vantage points on the drive back to Palm Cove for photo opportunities. At Ellis Beach we stopped for a walk along the beach and a leg stretch. And more photographs. Impressive views. Finally back to Palm Cove. The esplanade there has a distinctly Mediterranean feel to it, with most of the cafes and restaurants having alfresco dining. Some have only that. And the view .. several islands offshore and the palm trees, palm trees and yet more palm trees. No wonder they called the place Palm Cove. Well ok, not many palm trees in the Mediterranean. Dinner was at L'unico, an Italian restaurant at Trinity Beach that someone had recommended. Definitely agree there.

Some web sites of relevance (valid as of November 2007) General
Tourism Tropical North Queensland: http://www.tropicalaustralia.com.au
Wet Tropics World Heritage Area: http://www.wettropics.gov.au

Ellis Beach to Port Douglas
Hartleys Crocodile Adventures: http://www.crocodileadventures.com
Port Douglas: http://www.portdouglas.com.au
Port Douglas: http://www.portdouglas.com/
Port Douglas Travel Guide: http://www.portdouglastravel.com/index.html
Queensland Beaches, Ellis Beach: http://www.qldbeaches.com/ellis-beach.html
Tourism Port Douglas: http://www.tourismportdouglas.com.au/
Wikipedia, Ellis Beach: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Beach,_Queensland
Wikipedia, Port Douglas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Douglas%2C_Queensland

Palm Cove
Nu Nu Restaurant: http://www.nunu.com.au
Palm Cove Travel Guide: http://www.palmcoveaustralia.com/index.html
Palm Cove Village: http://www.palmcove.net/about.htm
Sea Temple Resort: http://seatemple.com.au/
The Outback Opal Mine: http://outbackopalmine.com.au