Cairns to Port Douglas 16th August
We ended up enjoying two weeks in marina world at Bluewater Marina which is located up the Half Moon Creek just past Yorkey's Knob. In essence it was located up a mangrove creek but it was a very nice mangrove creek. The locals are lovely and with the hire car we were able to get out and enjoy all the tourist attractions that Cairns and its surrounds has to offer.
My eye recovered very quickly and was given the all clear when I went back to the clinic on Wednesday which meant we could get out for a kite board at Yorkeys Knob which we did. During our two weeks we managed to get out for a kite on about 4 occasions which was great. The spot is really nice for kiting but we did find the waves a bit challenging to start with as we are far more used to flat water kiting but quickly got into the swing of it all and really ended up enjoying some kite surfing!! At the end of each day we had a down winder to get us back to the car park which was always heaps of fun and much easier than going up wind.
Apart from enjoying some kite boarding we took the 30minute drive up to Hartley's Crocodile Park which was just amazing and would highly recommend it to anyone travelling to FNQ.
The crocodiles are obviously the main attraction and the Croc Attack Show was a "must do" but there were also many other native animals, reptiles and birds on display.
Another outing was up to Kuranda which isn't quite as Hippy as the last time we were there but definitely worth the stop. Then through Mareeba, Mt Molloy and down to Mossman where we decided to visit the Mossman Gorge. We had often heard of Mossman Gorge but didn't realise how popular a tourist destination it was - the place was packed and we can understand why as it is certainly a beautiful part of the world to visit and can imagine it would be a great place to go and cool down during the wet season.
During our marina stay we also enjoyed a few footie games and even got to see Carlton win a few, got to see a big win to the Aussies in the Ashes and generally enjoy ourselves. Naturally we did the usual food shopping especially as we had wheels and started the provisioning for the trip up to Lizard Island.
We finally departed Bluewater Marina on the 8th August and headed straight to Vlassoff Cay. One of the main reasons for heading north quickly, apart from trying to get warm, was to spend some time on the outer reef. We ended up spending 3 nights on Vlassoff Cay and had a lovely time in amongst the aqua waters of the Great Barrier Reef. We went for several snorkels and swims and saw some great coral although you can definitely see signs of damage be it from cyclones, crown of thorns or the recent bleaching events. As this is a free for all zone re fishing we didn't see any big fish but did get to see a wide range of little ones.
After a couple of days on the cay we had a lovely sail up to Low Isles which is just off Port Douglas. Low Isles is a Green Zone so no fishing, and in fact pretty much no nothing but it does mean the reef is in excellent shape and big fish a plenty. Even the fish know if it is a Green Zone as they are incredibly tame. We were lucky enough to score one of the moorings which was great and within a few minutes of pulling up the mooring we had black tipped reef sharks, bat fish and remora's at the back of the boat. This is a huge tourist area with many boats visiting each day and it is amazing that the reef is in such good condition considering the number of people visiting this small island on any given day.
We are now in at the Crystalbrook Marina in PD. The marinas up here do have rather nice names!!!
We are again enjoying some marina time and we are only a short walk from the main town which is fantastic. Again we are going to try our luck at Kite Boarding. We have already been down to check out the local site and spoken to the locals about the do's and dont's and are just waiting for some wind to kick in to get out and try it.
The plan is to stop here till mid next week and then if the weather plays nice will head up to Mackay Reef for a few days to enjoy some more outer GBR time.
My eye recovered very quickly and was given the all clear when I went back to the clinic on Wednesday which meant we could get out for a kite board at Yorkeys Knob which we did. During our two weeks we managed to get out for a kite on about 4 occasions which was great. The spot is really nice for kiting but we did find the waves a bit challenging to start with as we are far more used to flat water kiting but quickly got into the swing of it all and really ended up enjoying some kite surfing!! At the end of each day we had a down winder to get us back to the car park which was always heaps of fun and much easier than going up wind.
Apart from enjoying some kite boarding we took the 30minute drive up to Hartley's Crocodile Park which was just amazing and would highly recommend it to anyone travelling to FNQ.
The crocodiles are obviously the main attraction and the Croc Attack Show was a "must do" but there were also many other native animals, reptiles and birds on display.
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| The Famouns Crocodile Death Roll |
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| The endangered Cassowary |
Another outing was up to Kuranda which isn't quite as Hippy as the last time we were there but definitely worth the stop. Then through Mareeba, Mt Molloy and down to Mossman where we decided to visit the Mossman Gorge. We had often heard of Mossman Gorge but didn't realise how popular a tourist destination it was - the place was packed and we can understand why as it is certainly a beautiful part of the world to visit and can imagine it would be a great place to go and cool down during the wet season.
During our marina stay we also enjoyed a few footie games and even got to see Carlton win a few, got to see a big win to the Aussies in the Ashes and generally enjoy ourselves. Naturally we did the usual food shopping especially as we had wheels and started the provisioning for the trip up to Lizard Island.
We finally departed Bluewater Marina on the 8th August and headed straight to Vlassoff Cay. One of the main reasons for heading north quickly, apart from trying to get warm, was to spend some time on the outer reef. We ended up spending 3 nights on Vlassoff Cay and had a lovely time in amongst the aqua waters of the Great Barrier Reef. We went for several snorkels and swims and saw some great coral although you can definitely see signs of damage be it from cyclones, crown of thorns or the recent bleaching events. As this is a free for all zone re fishing we didn't see any big fish but did get to see a wide range of little ones.
 |
| Vlassoff Cay |
After a couple of days on the cay we had a lovely sail up to Low Isles which is just off Port Douglas. Low Isles is a Green Zone so no fishing, and in fact pretty much no nothing but it does mean the reef is in excellent shape and big fish a plenty. Even the fish know if it is a Green Zone as they are incredibly tame. We were lucky enough to score one of the moorings which was great and within a few minutes of pulling up the mooring we had black tipped reef sharks, bat fish and remora's at the back of the boat. This is a huge tourist area with many boats visiting each day and it is amazing that the reef is in such good condition considering the number of people visiting this small island on any given day.
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| A day in the life at Low Isles |
We are now in at the Crystalbrook Marina in PD. The marinas up here do have rather nice names!!!
We are again enjoying some marina time and we are only a short walk from the main town which is fantastic. Again we are going to try our luck at Kite Boarding. We have already been down to check out the local site and spoken to the locals about the do's and dont's and are just waiting for some wind to kick in to get out and try it.
The plan is to stop here till mid next week and then if the weather plays nice will head up to Mackay Reef for a few days to enjoy some more outer GBR time.
Enjoyed your blog!
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