Our really quite big adventure, Act 3 - heaven and hell in Queensland
Mar 7th, 2014 | 02:21 PM
#62
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 619
Likes: 0
Following along as well. Would love the read the rest of your report.
We are just starting our plans for a visit in November. We are thinking Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns following a week in Hawaii.
Sounds like you have done a lot of what we would like to see. Will certainly be looking into some of your suggestions posted here. Thank you!
We are just starting our plans for a visit in November. We are thinking Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns following a week in Hawaii.
Sounds like you have done a lot of what we would like to see. Will certainly be looking into some of your suggestions posted here. Thank you!
Mar 9th, 2014 | 09:05 AM
#63
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 3,579
Likes: 0
Cristeen, how long are you going to be in Sydney? Depending on what interests you, I may be able to give you some suggestions. Just came back from my second trip there, and I spent just under a week in the city. Looking to go back again.
Mar 9th, 2014 | 12:37 PM
#65
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 619
Likes: 0
Mar 10th, 2014 | 09:41 AM
#68
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 57,091
Likes: 5
I know, I know - I've been enjoying the first decent weather we've had since...well, since we got back from OZ to be honest, and neglecting you all, instead of knuckling down to more trip reporting.
I'll see what I can do tomorrow, promise.
I'll see what I can do tomorrow, promise.
Apr 6th, 2014 | 04:31 PM
#75
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,488
Likes: 0
Okay Ann, small steps, one state at a time maybe ? Let's start with Queensland, or is that finish with Qld.
I think you referred to the "hell" part being not quite over... Something to do with 22 men chasing a small ball ?
You can do it girl, some of that "stiff upper lip" great British spunk needed here.
I think you referred to the "hell" part being not quite over... Something to do with 22 men chasing a small ball ?
You can do it girl, some of that "stiff upper lip" great British spunk needed here.
Apr 7th, 2014 | 08:30 AM
#76
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 57,091
Likes: 5
I think you referred to the "hell" part being not quite over... Something to do with 22 men chasing a small ball ?>>
how did you guess, sartoric?
thanks so much for the encouragement - i like the idea of baby steps!
how did you guess, sartoric?
thanks so much for the encouragement - i like the idea of baby steps!
Jul 17th, 2014 | 09:59 AM
#77
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 619
Likes: 0
Still checking in and following. Thank you, Annhig, for your report. We have decided to book http://www.bytheseaportdouglas.com.au/ for a few days in November. So far so good. We quickly received a confirmation email followed by a welcome email offering to suggest tours and such. So far, they seem like a nice group to work with. Wee are really looking forward to this part of our trip.
Thanks for the report!
Thanks for the report!
Jul 18th, 2014 | 08:51 AM
#78
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 57,091
Likes: 5
cristeen - I hope you like it as much as we did. BTW some other fodorites stayed there too and were very happy as well, so hopefully we aren't all wrong.
actually, i owe you all an apology for having such a long pause in my trip reporting. however, I've decided to have another go at it, so here is "from heaven to hell in 48 hours" [not, you notice, the other way round as i posted somewhere up thread].
actually, i owe you all an apology for having such a long pause in my trip reporting. however, I've decided to have another go at it, so here is "from heaven to hell in 48 hours" [not, you notice, the other way round as i posted somewhere up thread].
Jul 18th, 2014 | 09:09 AM
#79
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 57,091
Likes: 5
Actually, I was getting ahead of myself:
Day 8 - definitely “worth the trip”
After spending a day more or less doing nothing, [apart from recovering, which I felt was quite hard work] I was ready for some activity, and DH seemed to have recovered from his diving, so we decided that today we would make for Mossman Gorge, a well-known beauty spot near PD, where you can walk through the tropical rainforest, discover something about the history and culture of indigenous australians, and hopefully see some wildlife. [our main interest].
When the roads aren’t being dug up, it’s probably about 30 minutes from PD to Mossman, and even with the roadworks, it only took us about 3/4 hour. The gorge is reasonable well signposted, and I suppose that we arrived there by about 11am. It is possible to walk from the visitor centre to the gorge, but given that there is a bus for only $5 return, and it was already quite hot and sticky, we opted for the bus and were pleased that we had, as most of the 2 or so miles to the gorge is really not very interesting. They drop you off by a large noticeboard, and there are several choices of path - we opted for the longer one as we wanted to get as far as possible away from other people. [a vain hope as it turned out]. All of the walks start off along the same track, but there is soon a choice to be made, just past the pool where you can swim - and where very many people were swimming, making it rather overcrowded, which rather defeated the object for me.
We pressed on, hearing [but not seeing] some interesting birds, occasionally spotting the rear end of something [is that a cassowary? no, it’s another wild turkey] but it was the forest itself which offered most interest. So many new and fascinating plants and trees, stretching way up into the sky - it was marvelous. The forest provided reasonably good cover, but it’s not called rain forest for nothing, and the rain that had started as we got off the bus and had ignored in the hope that it would notice our indifference and go away was now coming down quite hard. Now, had we been clever [or even mildly intelligent] we’d have brought our wet weather gear, but the weather had been glorious when we left, so we’d not even thought of it. Duh. Within a few minutes we were really quite wet, and regretfully decided that we had better turn round and retrace our steps. This took 15 minutes or so, and by the time we got back to the “bus stop” we were absolutely drenched, in fact we could not have been wetter if we’d taken a dip in that pool, fully clothed.
We dripped our way into the visitor centre and had a look at the cafe so we decided to go into Mossman to see if we could find some lunch. On the way, I snatched a look at the LP guide, and found a glowing recommendation for a restaurant that would definitely fit the bill even if the review was only half true: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/australi...tralian/mojo-s
It was dead easy to find - turn left at the junction with the main road and drive about 100 yards, - and there was plenty of parking in front, just as well as it was still raining stair-rods. It didn’t look too posh - in fact there was an outside covered terrace with plastic covered tables, but would they object to our disheveled if not to say sopping wet appearance?
Clearly they are used to people turning up and dripping on the floor as there was no problem giving us a table, and we were soon drinking beers and looking at the lunch menu [shorter and simpler than the dinner one I think]. DH decided to have salt and pepper squid and salad, whilst I opted for the seafood broth with noodles. Whilst DH’s squid was nice, my broth was really delicious, with a fantastic depth of flavour. I could easily have eaten another bowl, but it was just as well I didn’t as the puds we followed with were even better - DH had strawberries romanov which was a brilliantly balanced fruity creamy concoction, and again I did even better with sticky toffee pudding. Truly the best of these I’ve ever had [and if you could see me, you’d realise that I’ve eaten a few]. Followed by coffee the bill was quite reasonable for the great meal we’d had. And my stomach appreciated it too - no unwanted after-effects, thank goodness. In retrospect this was one of the best meals we had ‘down under” and if you’re going to be in PD you really should make time to visit Mojos at least once.
After this we went for a wander around Mossman [not much to see] then meandered back to PD for a swim, as the sun had by now returned of course. Our final evening in PD was spent packing and having a last stroll along the main street, stopping for the odd drink and spot of retail therapy. [great cheap crocs, for example].
Tomorrow - off to paradise.
Day 8 - definitely “worth the trip”
After spending a day more or less doing nothing, [apart from recovering, which I felt was quite hard work] I was ready for some activity, and DH seemed to have recovered from his diving, so we decided that today we would make for Mossman Gorge, a well-known beauty spot near PD, where you can walk through the tropical rainforest, discover something about the history and culture of indigenous australians, and hopefully see some wildlife. [our main interest].
When the roads aren’t being dug up, it’s probably about 30 minutes from PD to Mossman, and even with the roadworks, it only took us about 3/4 hour. The gorge is reasonable well signposted, and I suppose that we arrived there by about 11am. It is possible to walk from the visitor centre to the gorge, but given that there is a bus for only $5 return, and it was already quite hot and sticky, we opted for the bus and were pleased that we had, as most of the 2 or so miles to the gorge is really not very interesting. They drop you off by a large noticeboard, and there are several choices of path - we opted for the longer one as we wanted to get as far as possible away from other people. [a vain hope as it turned out]. All of the walks start off along the same track, but there is soon a choice to be made, just past the pool where you can swim - and where very many people were swimming, making it rather overcrowded, which rather defeated the object for me.
We pressed on, hearing [but not seeing] some interesting birds, occasionally spotting the rear end of something [is that a cassowary? no, it’s another wild turkey] but it was the forest itself which offered most interest. So many new and fascinating plants and trees, stretching way up into the sky - it was marvelous. The forest provided reasonably good cover, but it’s not called rain forest for nothing, and the rain that had started as we got off the bus and had ignored in the hope that it would notice our indifference and go away was now coming down quite hard. Now, had we been clever [or even mildly intelligent] we’d have brought our wet weather gear, but the weather had been glorious when we left, so we’d not even thought of it. Duh. Within a few minutes we were really quite wet, and regretfully decided that we had better turn round and retrace our steps. This took 15 minutes or so, and by the time we got back to the “bus stop” we were absolutely drenched, in fact we could not have been wetter if we’d taken a dip in that pool, fully clothed.
We dripped our way into the visitor centre and had a look at the cafe so we decided to go into Mossman to see if we could find some lunch. On the way, I snatched a look at the LP guide, and found a glowing recommendation for a restaurant that would definitely fit the bill even if the review was only half true: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/australi...tralian/mojo-s
It was dead easy to find - turn left at the junction with the main road and drive about 100 yards, - and there was plenty of parking in front, just as well as it was still raining stair-rods. It didn’t look too posh - in fact there was an outside covered terrace with plastic covered tables, but would they object to our disheveled if not to say sopping wet appearance?
Clearly they are used to people turning up and dripping on the floor as there was no problem giving us a table, and we were soon drinking beers and looking at the lunch menu [shorter and simpler than the dinner one I think]. DH decided to have salt and pepper squid and salad, whilst I opted for the seafood broth with noodles. Whilst DH’s squid was nice, my broth was really delicious, with a fantastic depth of flavour. I could easily have eaten another bowl, but it was just as well I didn’t as the puds we followed with were even better - DH had strawberries romanov which was a brilliantly balanced fruity creamy concoction, and again I did even better with sticky toffee pudding. Truly the best of these I’ve ever had [and if you could see me, you’d realise that I’ve eaten a few]. Followed by coffee the bill was quite reasonable for the great meal we’d had. And my stomach appreciated it too - no unwanted after-effects, thank goodness. In retrospect this was one of the best meals we had ‘down under” and if you’re going to be in PD you really should make time to visit Mojos at least once.
After this we went for a wander around Mossman [not much to see] then meandered back to PD for a swim, as the sun had by now returned of course. Our final evening in PD was spent packing and having a last stroll along the main street, stopping for the odd drink and spot of retail therapy. [great cheap crocs, for example].
Tomorrow - off to paradise.
Jul 18th, 2014 | 03:11 PM
#80
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 619
Likes: 0
annhig Thank you! I am so happy to see more of your fabulous trip. No apologies necessary. I find writing the trip reports a bit daunting. I am terrible about setting aside the time to finish them.
We definitely look forward to Port Douglas. We have hopes of visiting Mossman Gorge, Daintree rainforest hike, and snorkeling, for dh, on the reef.
I noticed in this section of your report that you, too, were interested in seeing wildlife. That is our main objective as well. I would love to see a Cassowary and a platypus. Who knows? Maybe we will get lucky.
Thank you for your continuing report. I look forward to your next installment. Paradise.
We definitely look forward to Port Douglas. We have hopes of visiting Mossman Gorge, Daintree rainforest hike, and snorkeling, for dh, on the reef.
I noticed in this section of your report that you, too, were interested in seeing wildlife. That is our main objective as well. I would love to see a Cassowary and a platypus. Who knows? Maybe we will get lucky.
Thank you for your continuing report. I look forward to your next installment. Paradise.
