Northern Queensland - part 1

We got back from our week in Northern Queensland on Saturday morning (25th) but, for the day before we flew north, Jo and I did one of our favourite walks - Hallett Cove. On the way up there we were stopped in Lonsdale by the huge peleton, police out-riders, support crews and TV helicopters on the first day of the Tour Down Under - an event I usually manage to see some action from - but this interruption in our journey was a little unexpected.

I'd heard they had built 2 new bridges over a couple of the gorges on the coastal trail so we went there first to check them out:

We went off-piste briefly and ventured on to the rocky beach:

The original plan had been to try to walk back to the nice cafe and have lunch there but it was very hot and so we decided to drive back a couple of miles, have lunch and then do the usual walk round the Sugarloaf area.

Jo was still so hot when we got back to Old Noarlunga that she finally broke her duck and took to the pool:

SATURDAY 18th Jan

It was a lunchtime Jetstar flight to Cairns so there was no rush, but our Uber, when it arrived was a little undersized for the 6 of us plus luggage. It was a bit of a job to get it all in but we just managed in the end. It was a timely 3 hour flight and we arrived in tropical Cairns mid/late afternoon. The original thought had been to get an Uber up to our holiday rental in Port Douglas which was an hour north by car, but we made the wise decision to hire our own vehicle instead - and this time there was plenty room for all of us plus luggage.

The thing that hits you is the humidity - the absolute temperature was manageable - almost static day and night around the 30 C mark. We had been to Queensland before - Brisbane, which we thought was pretty northerly, but Cairns is over 1,700 kms further north and well in to the tropical zone.

After some food shopping at the local Coles store we walked out on to the beach from our lovely villa and then just chilled after dinner. For future reference we took note of the warning sign at the edge of the beach:

SUNDAY 19th Jan

There was a Sunday market in Port Douglas so we all took a hot and steamy walk along Four Mile Beach to the town with a welcome cafe stop when we finally got there. After a quick walk round the market, Jo and I went exploring and found a lovely cliffside trail which, unfortunately for Jo, involved a fair bit of climbing. Chris, Kelly and the boys went back to the beach for a quick dip in a safe from stingers etc area created by a large beam. They then walked back to our villa via the beach.

Meanwhile, Jo and I staggered on, resting occasionally and taking advantage of a couple of nice viewing platforms:

Jo and I finally got to the end of our cliff adventure and were now desperate for some fluid intake - "water or beer, Jo?" The latter was the swift reply so we crossed the town down to the marina and Hemingway's brewery:

Suitably refreshed we planned for an UBER back to the villa but, despite over a dozen attempts none were forthcoming so we just hoofed it back. At one of our rest stops as we went to lean on a tree we noticed what we thought were 4 large bugs on the trunk - here's one of them:

On closer inspection we noticed they were just shells - probably of cicadas who had shed their outer layer. It was a relief when we finally got back to the villa - over 15 kms and 20,000 + steps on our first day in the tropical heat and humidity.

That evening we experienced the first of what we thought might be a daily thunderstorm, although it turned out to be the only one we had all week.