Far North Queensland trip part 1: Wonga Beach, Mossman, Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation

I have just had a week in Far North Queensland, visiting my sister Jacki. And I met her new partner Dave who is a good man, but who beat me at both pool and backgammon. We both stayed most of the week at Dave’s place in Mossman where there is more space than at Jacki’s more remote place at Wonga Beach.

Jacki picked me up at the airport in Cairns and we drove north to Wonga Beach, which takes about 90 minutes at the moment. There are a handful of stops on the highway which is being rebuilt after the most recent cyclone damage.

We stopped at Ellis Beach for lunch and for a look.
The beach is patrolled and netted; this massive cable is here to hold the net. 

This beachside bar by the highway brought back deep down memories
of stops on bus trips in Peru and Ecuador, where the climate was similarly steamy.
But this place was clean, had good food and the beer was kept in the fridge. 

There are automated traffic lights instead of stop-and-go lollipop men,
but the lights have to be supervised.

A walk on Wonga Beach itself. The tide was in and we had to hop
over a lot of recumbent palm trees. That is Snapper Island out there.

Jacki has a couple of immense orb weaver spiders in her driveway

Mossman District Hospital is a jaunty art deco / Spanish mission hybrid

Dave’s local, the Post Office Hotel (cash only).
The cane trains used to run right past it.

Still from an YouTube clip only a few years old

On Day 2, Jacki took me down to Port Douglas for a look. It’s 8km as the fruit bat flies and 20km by road, because of swampy mangrove flats. We took an interesting boat tour up the creek; and I learned a lot about mangroves and crocs. I saw my first croc; about 60cm long.

I think Port Douglas is the first hot and humid yet swanky place I have been. The main shopping strip has galleries and designer fashions, as well as many gentrified pubs. I had occasional vague flashbacks to being a kid taken to fancy enclaves on Sydney’s north shore in summer; and to visiting the bourgeois side of Lima, Peru.

Full of crocodiles

I’ve heard Jacki talk about the Sugar Wharf; this is it.
Recently redeveloped; the shed is used for events.

This is the view north from the wharf towards Mossman and Wonga Beach.

St Mary’s By The Sea in Port Douglas, a very popular place for weddings.
Wonderful stained glass.

On Day 3 Dave did the driving and the three of us went ‘over the river’, north of the Daintree to Cape Tribulation. To a Tasmanian this feels like you are just about in New Guinea; and you are closer to PNG than to Brisbane. But there is so much more Queensland to go. 

The ferry across the Daintree River costs $50 return for a tourist car and is free for locals.

We did the Madja boardwalk through the rainforest at Noah Beach which was terrific.

Then we had a walk along Noah Beach (or this might be Thornton Beach?)
and I imagined sharks, crocs and deadly jellyfish lunging at me from every rockpool.

Dave and Jacki

Above is today's haul of critters, starring a wild cassowary. We had pulled up at one of the traffic queues, I think we had just crossed a one-lane bridge; and there he was. I snapped him heading left then he changed his mind, crossed over again and disappeared into the rainforest on the right. This was obviously exciting for me but more so for Jacki and Dave who understood how rare this is. Neither had every seen one.

We got home, showered and changed and then it was time for a night out at the Mossman Bowls Club where both Jacki and her son Malachy work. She’s on food and beverage service and he’s assistant chef. He's also one of the club's star bowlers. 

We were there for a birthday party for one of Dave’s friends, who happened to be manager of the Mossman Woolworths. 

Dave and I snuck into the ‘Sports Bar’ and he beat me at pool but it was really nice to see the traditional colourful set of balls; you mostly just see reds ‘n yellows these days.

Dave said again and again what a wonderful day he’d had. He’s lived in Mossman for 10 years, but he works pretty hard and he has never once been over the river before.

 

I'm told my goal last week looked like this

I scored the only goal of the first half last Sunday. I went on a bit of a run and ended up cutting it back into the net past Andy. At half time, Kell made a fuss and even pulled out his phone to show me this goal which he claimed mine resembled. Apparently I left bodies on the grass. I can only really remember my last two touches, the rest is a blur; so I am happy to take Kell's word for it.

Today I was back there; and probably thought I was too good to warm up properly and get a feel for the grass. It was a bit long and wet and I didn’t play to the conditions, kept giving away the ball. So I have to get my head on straight for next time.

Friends with horses

 Elf and I were walking home last night. We were still passing through the hotel district, waiting at the traffic lights when a group of four older tourists hailed us for directions to Woolworths. One lady had her phone out with a set of directions on it; so I thought we could just point out the first street in the distance and they could follow those instructions.

But. It was pretty much dark. Woolworths in the city is hard to find; you literally don't see a sign until you at the top of the escalator. They were pretty elderly. So I said to Elf; we really should walk with them. We scampered after them and said, do you mind? They were happy for us to escort them.

Mrs Directions-On-Her-Phone was leading the way so I caught up to her, and Elf chatted to the other three. One gent with a stick was 92! My lady's name was Rosemary and we have now exchanged numbers. They were all in town for a square dancing festival at Town Hall! They were staying at a city hotel but keen to have their own provisions for breakfast.

Once we'd got them in sight of the escalator we said our goodbyes (with hugs) and chuffed off to try to catch a bus home. We missed it by that much. We caught an inferior bus and had a late dark hungry walk instead.

But, we have new friends from WA; they live in the country out east of Perth. Rosemary said we should visit if we are in Perth. "We have horses - for the kids. But the kids are in their fifties".

Wheeling column of birds (no pic)

A pair of wedge-tailed eagles has been seen at Ridgeway, halfway up the mountain from South Hobart. Concerned locals emailed us* on Saturday about the proposed zipline attraction up there, and the risk to the eagles.

The very next day I saw them from our house!

It was a very blue-sky weekend. Sparkling clear, not very warm in the shade but unbearably hot in direct sun; in that Hobart way. I went out on the back deck in the early afternoon and saw basically a whirlpool of birds in the sky, not far away in the direction of the mountain.

This is over the Cascade paddock, and I imagine they were enjoying thermals coming up off the expanse of golden sunbaked grass.

There were the wedgies, and [at a safe distance] a range of other big and small birds, all going anti-clockwise.

Michael came out and spotted another smaller spiral of birds more south of us, maybe over the soccer ground. They were shining like polished metal – probably just a flock of cockatoos.

* (Elf is secretary of the local progress association, SHPA) 

A wet day in Switzerland, 26/10/16

I'm sorting photos from our trip ten years ago. These photos are from the Bernina Express train from Zurich to Milan. They are no good as holiday snaps but they look like paintings, maybe by Phillip Wolfhagen?

Colour snaps

B&W snaps

These are taken in colour with my phone on walks around Hobart city and suburbs. I just mono them in Instagram. Sometimes because I'm being a "photographer". But usually because there's a quality there that's not so apparent until you strip out the distraction of colour.