The next morning we packed up and headed out of the van park. We stopped at a nearby shopping centre for me to restock on groceries. The kids did some schoolwork in the car while I did this. Then we continued north along the Captain Cook Hwy. There were turnoffs along the way to several of the ‘northern beaches’ of Cairns, but we decided not to stop at these – it was not recommended to swim up here (due to stingers and possible crocs) so it would have been looking only anyway. However the highway met the coast at a place called Ellis Beach and it was a beautiful sight to behold – such azure blue sea. The highway followed the coastline for quite a few kms and is known as one of the most beautiful drives in Australia – I can see why. 

About 15mins along this lovely stretch, we came to Port Douglas. Having heard so much about it ( as the place for the rich and famous), we wanted to have a drive around. So we drove along Port Douglas Rd towards the beach area. There were many 5 star resorts all the way along this road. The beach itself was unusually normal and natural. Then we drove along the main shopping precinct and saw all the fairly upmarket shops. I jumped out to take a few photos but otherwise we didn’t stop. We got back onto the highway and continued north.

About another 15 mins further along, we came to Mossman. We had read about the walks at Mossman Gorge so wanted to stop and do 1 or 2 of those. We thought it would be like most NP walks – just driving to the carpark and going on the walk, but visitors to this area had been increasing so much, that the authorities had decided to protect access a bit. They had built a visitors centre where you had to park your car/van/motorhome etc and then take a shuttle bus in to the walking areas – at a cost of course. We had our lunch in the van before we left to go buy our tickets for the shuttle bus. It was a very short wait and then a 5 min drive in – the aboriginal community was still setup within this area, so we drove past their houses etc. We hopped out at the start of the walking area. The 2 smaller walks were still accessible, but the longer walk was closed due to damage to the suspension bridge. We had only planned on doing the shorter walks anyway, but it meant that these walks were probably a lot busier that they otherwise would have been – there were lots of people on the track. The walks were through lovely rainforest with informative signs along the way. The river walk ended at a vantage point overlooking the Mossman River. A few people were swimming in the river, although the signs said it was dangerous to swim there due to strong currents. We sat beside the river for a few minutes and enjoyed the surroundings and watched the goings on of other people. Then we walked back to the start area a different way. We took the shuttle bus back to the visitor centre carpark and got back in the car.

We were still trying to work out where we were staying that night. There were a few options – Wonga Beach (just south of Daintree River), a van park on the southside of the river, or a few van parks on the north side of the river or closer towards Cape Tribulation. Powered sites for 2 nights seemed to be limited, so this affected our choice. I would have liked to stay at Wonga Beach as I knew how much the kids enjoyed being right near the beach, but it was full. So we ended up deciding to stay at Daintree Riverview Caravan Park, right in Daintree Village (only 30 mins from Mossman). As it suggested, it really was right on the river, and one of the river cruise companies departed right from beside the van park. It was quite a basic van park, but it was all we needed and fairly good value. Not long after we’d arrived and set up, I was supervising the younger girls outside for a little while and a lady called us over to where she was standing near the fenced area which overlooked the boat ramp. She had binoculars and had been looking at a croc that was lying on the riverbank on the other side of the river and downstream a bit from where we were. We had a look too. Apparently he is one of the several resident crocs on the river. It was another reminder for Hannah (who is always asking when we can swim) why we can’t go swimming in the rivers and beaches this far up north!

I was feeling a bit headachy that afternoon, so Michael got dinner ready and I went to bed early.

We left the campground around 9.30 – a bit later than we planned to, but everyone had slept in a bit. It was about an hour to Mareeba up a steep, windy road. We passed Kuranda on the way and decided we would stop there on the way back for afternoon tea. 

We got to the rodeo about 10.30 or so. The Boldens were already there and had texted us to say they had saved us seats in the stands. We found them there and sat to watch the events for a while. We enjoyed the experience of watching the rodeo events – the first rodeo we had all been to. There were some events that were fun to watch and others (like the bucking bulls) where we squirmed a bit as some of the cowboys were getting hurt by coming off the bull badly. One guy had to be taken away on a stretcher in the ambulance, and another guy also went away in the ambulance but was able to walk in. The Boldens, who had been to 3 rodeos previously said it was the most accidents they had seen at a rodeo. We ate our morning tea and then lunch in the stands. We stayed for about 4 hours. Lauren was quite happy sitting next to Caitlin the whole time and chatting with her as they watched. Sam wanted to have a look around at the other stands and exhibitions a couple of times. Hannah and Beth also needed to go do other things every now and then. I took them looking at the other stalls for a while, and then later Michael took them for an icecream and a type of jumping castle ride. I enjoyed being able to sit and chat with Karen for quite a while when Michael took the younger girls for a walk. 

We all headed off around 3pm. The Boldens had planned to go and look at a horse near Mareeba which Caitlin was interested in buying as a better beginner rider horse than her current horse. She had saved up money from working at McDonalds. She invited Lauren to come along with her to look at it, and we said this was OK. Ryan wasn’t keen on looking at horses so he asked if he could come with us instead – we said that was fine – then Karen said she might come with us also. So Stephen, Caitlin and Lauren headed off to look at the horse, while the rest of us headed towards Kuranda. It was only 10-15mins there. We went for a walk along the couple of main streets but unfortunately all the eatery shops were closed (or closing) – the last train and skyway had left so the shops mostly shut. There were some souvenir shops open which we looked at, and then the kids had a play at the playground there. Then we headed back to Cairns. 

We got back to our caravan around 5.15, Karen and Ryan joining us there as Karen didn’t have keys to her house. We had a drink and a snack. It turned out that Stephen and the older girls were not going to be back until about 6.15, and the Boldens were planning to go to church again at 7pm (special speakers on). So we suggested we order in pizza and all have a pizza dinner at our caravan before they headed off to church. Michael went to the nearest pizza store and got the pizzas. He arrived back about 5 mins after Stephen and the girls arrived at the van. We were all hungry. We stood or sat outside and ate pizza from the box – saved on washing up! Then the Boldens had to leave. We had all really enjoyed reconnecting again after so many years. The older kids discussed getting together again soon – we decided maybe Caitlin and Ryan could visit us one holidays, and then Lauren and Sam visit them – we’ll keep that in mind. Us Branches then did our usual nighttime routine and got ready to leave Cairns tomorrow.

What a wonderful day we had today at Green Island.  The weather was great after our previous 2 days of rain. I had actually been hoping for a ‘catch up’ day, but when we checked the weather forecast for our 3 days in Cairns, today was the only one which indicated no rain. So last night, we decided we should make the effort to have an early start and full day out. It was worth it, because it was a lovely day.

We went over on a fast catamaran with a company called ‘Great Adventures’. It was a 45min trip. Once on the island, we went to check out the day visitor facilities – there was a pool, a dive shop, several eatery options, lockers for hire etc. We made use of the locker facilities. Part of our tour package was a half hour glass bottom boat trip, which we did at 10.00. I was surprised at how much we all enjoyed this. We saw quite a lot of different things. It was close to low tide when we went out and so the coral was less than a metre below the bottom of the boat. We saw lots of different types of coral, quite a few different types of fish, sea cucumbers, and a couple of sea turtles. There were usually 2-3 boats out at the same time, and towards the end of the half hour, the boats congregate around a ‘fish feeding” area – someone provides the food and many of the larger trevally which feed near the surface of the water come flocking in for a feed. You can see them splashing around on top of the water, but you also see a lot through the glass at the bottom of the boat.

After this we decided to find a table near the pool to have some morning tea. On the way to do this we passed the dive shop and went in to make enquiries about an introductory dive. When discussing Green Island the previous night, Sam had expressed a very strong desire to try scuba diving. He said it was something he had always wanted to do since he was about 3 yrs old and found out about it. He qualified for the minimum age which was 12. Sam’s ideal holiday would be quite expensive as he is interested in all the adventurous sports and activities. He has quite a few on his wish list. He knows he won’t be doing all of them this holiday, but we would pick a couple he could try. Scuba diving seemed to be high up on the list. It didn’t really overly interest any of the rest of us, but he didn’t want to go on his own. Out of Michael, Lauren and myself, I seemed to be the one with the next highest level of interest. So, despite a slight nervousness about it, I found myself booking in to do an introductory dive along with Sam. It was scheduled for 12.00 and would take 2 hrs (including the briefing and training in the pool). Having booked in and so on, we had our morning tea and headed to the patrolled beach area, as the 2 younger girls were keen for a swim. Michael, Lauren, Hannah and Bethany were going to go for a snorkel off the beach while Sam and I were diving. 

Sam and I had an early lunch at about 11.45 and then bid goodbye to the others and headed for the dive area. We had our briefing for about 20-30 mins – discussing how to equalise and you descend, how to breathe normally in the regulator, what to do if the regulator gets knocked out of your mouth, the different hand signals that the instructor might use and that we, the participants, might want to use. We then suited up in our full length lycra suits (to protect against possible stingers) and then in our wetsuits. We got our masks and fins ( I was able to get prescription ones which was great) and then our weight belts. Then our instructors helped us on with our flotation vest with the air tank and other equipment attached. It was heavier than I expected. We headed to the pool for our ‘drills’ with our instructor. We had to practice putting our head under to start with and breathing normally with the regulator, then going down and equalising, then practicing taking the regulators out of our mouth (as if knocked out) and how to recover them and return to normal breathing. Sam and I both passed the test and so we  headed out to the dive boat anchored just off the beach. As it turned out the ratio of instructors to participants was 1:2, so Sam and I had an instructor for just the 2 of us. She was very nice. We were told that she would be linking arms with us the whole time we were down there, which gave me some comfort. We motored to a spot about 5 mins away from the beach. We were told it was going to be about 2m down to the seabed here. Sam and I were the first ones in the water – we walked down some steps that had been lowered into the water at the back of the boat, then had to hang on to a length of rope each once we were in the water.  I think Sam was feeling really excited this whole time, while I was still feeling a bit apprehensive. But I kept telling myself all would be OK. We had to move our hands down the rope – equalising after each 2 hand movements down – this was about 5-6 equalisations before the instructor indicated to link arms with her and move away from the rope. I had quite a bit of pressure in my left ear and, during our briefing, the instructor had said to make sure we indicate a problem rather than thinking it will get better and go away. So I indicated to the instructor. She was very good at keeping me calm and indicating through sign language that I needed to pinch my nose and blow gently to build pressure while holding my breath (I had been breathing out through my mouth at the same time as exerting pressure through the nose). I felt the equalisation then. So we were able to continue on. I didn’t have any more problems with equalisation after this. The only other minor problem was that I felt like water was coming into the mask around the nose area. I signaled the instructor again and she showed me how to purse my lips more and this helped. Once these were sorted out started to relax more and enjoy it. It really was amazing the sights we saw. We swam around coral bommies and saw large schools of fish darting in and out. A lot of the time they didn’t even seem to notice us. We would have seen about 50 different species of fish. We saw a green turtle – twice. The first time, it was hiding behind some coral. This instructor took us right up close to the coral. We could have touched it if we were allowed to. It then swam away gracefully. We saw a stingray, and we saw a couple of giant clams. Once again the instructor took us close to the giant clam and we were allowed to touch the side of it – this made it close up quickly. We also picked up a sea cucumber and felt it. I kept looking over at Sam every now and then to see how he was going. I’d do the ‘are you OK?’ sign to him, and he would signal back that he was OK. Apparently we were down for about 30mins although it didn’t seem that long. We came up slowly – Sam first and then me and walked back onto the boat. Sam had a grin from ear to ear for the rest of the day – he had absolutely loved it.

We went back to the patrolled beach where the others had been swimming. They were still there, although they’d had a break for lunch. All 4 of them had done some snorkelling off the beach – even Bethany and apparently she had done very well. Lauren had gone out a bit deeper on her own (although there were quite a few people around and the lifeguard on the beach) and she said she had seen lots of coral and quite a few colorful fish. She was happy with this experience. We all stayed on the beach for a bit longer – it was such a beautiful day and the water was a nice temperature. We had some of the afternoon tea we’d brought with us. A bit after 3.00 I took Hannah and Beth up to the pool area as they wanted another swim in the pool. We then went and had showers and changed. 

We started heading back to the jetty, but first went and checked the photos that were taken of Sam and I diving – both underwater and on the boat. We chose a photo of the 2 of us on the boat and bought that.

Then it was along the jetty and a bit of a wait to get on the catamaran back to the mainland. Quiet trip back again and Bethany nearly fell asleep. Back to the caravan then, very thankful for a great day.

We took 2 days to travel from Townsville to Cairns. Unfortunately it rained for a lot of this time. So we didn’t get to have walks or plays on some of the beaches along the way.

Some of what we did was:
– stopped at Lucinda to see the 6km long jetty. It’s the world’s longest bulk sugar-loading jetty, allowing enormous carrier ships to dock. Built in 1979, it dips 2m to follow the curvature of the earth and is cyclone-proof. Sugar takes 22mins to travel along the conveyor. We had lunch here and it had stopped raining enough for the kids to run around and have a play.
– very brief stop at Tully, which has the reputation of being the wettest place in Australia – it certainly had lots of puddles the day we drove through. We stopped at the big gumboot monument just off the main highway for a photo.
– stayed at Mission beach overnight. Saw a cassowary as we drove through the rainforest area on our way to the caravan park – proved to be the only cassowary we would see while there.
– went for a bit of a drive along the esplanade of Mission Beach, but the cloud was so low that we couldn’t even see Dunk Island off the mainland.
– went for a half hour walk in part of the rainforest the next morning – called the Licuana Palms walk – lots of these bright green palms with very broad leaves. It was a very pretty walk and it was only spitting very lightly, so with rain jackets on, it was fine.
– stopped at Innisfail for lunch – parked beside the Johnstone River and reheated sausages on the gas cooker. Innisfail seems quite an attractive town in the city centre.
– then kept driving towards Cairns. We actually started to see the sun about half an hour from Cairns – how nice. We took a little. It of a drive through the city centre before ending up at our caravan park – Cool Waters Van Park in the western suburb of Brinsmead. Set up for the night and gathered a few brochures from the office regarding Outer Reef and Green Island day tours. We booked to stay 4 nights and have 3 full days in Cairns, one of them planning to be a day trip to the reef. We were hoping the weather would make it worth the money.