Day 176
Thursday
22 June 2017
Cooktown – Port Douglas
Moving day here again. We were both awake just after 7am,
happy to read for a short while before getting busy with breakfast, showers and
packing up. We made good time and were on the road by 9am, heading south.
It was quite a blustery and cool day. The evening had been
quite wet with many heavy showers passing through and plenty of wind the shake
the van.
We followed the Mulligan Hwy, stopping in Lakelands for fuel
and then continuing on through Mount Carbine and finally onto Mount Molloy
where we turned left, heading towards the coast. The drive was exceptionally
pretty, so green and lush. There were plenty of B&B’s and lodges for bird
spotters.
We then entered the wet tropics again and the Rex Range,
beginning our low gear decent to the coast. Cassowary signs adorned the road,
but we didn’t see any again.
We stopped briefly at a lookout offering a great view across
the Coral Sea and the land north. Our travel continued finally reaching flat
land again and the Captain Cook Hwy, back to familiar sugar cane farms. We even
saw a cane train, travelling along on the extremely narrow gauge.
It wasn’t long after and we were pulling into the street of
our Big 4 campground. We stopped and removed the car before finally checking
in. We found our big grassy spot and began our set up before sitting outside to
take in our view and eat lunch.
Once settled, we drove in to Port Douglas, 8km from the
caravan park. We found a place to park and then it was off to the shop, back to
the car to unload, back to the bottle-o for beers, back to the car and finally
a chance to wander again. We made our way to the water and did a walk out on
the jetty to check on the prospect of fishing.
We stepped into the St Mary of the Sea church to admire the
stained glass and the giant picture window with views of the water. The grounds
surrounding the white, wood panelled building were lush and green and lent a
very tropical feel.
We walked the main street, stopping for gelato and then
wandered back to the court Hotel to catch up with Ballsy’s mate Matt.
We had a drink and a chat before finally making our way back
to the car and home again. We sat outside enjoying the tranquillity before
doing a walk of the park and familiarising ourselves with the facilities and
collecting pamphlets on things to do.
We read through everything on our return and realised there
was way too much to do with the time we had, so it was back to the office to
book in for a couple of extra days and then ring the Cairns park and rearrange
out dates there too. Finally with everything sorted we could relax, enjoy a
drink and start on dinner.
After eating and doing dishes, I went through the few photos
and watch the DVD and then it was off to bed as we had an early start planned
for tomorrow.
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