The fields of cattle and crops have changed to mile after mile of sugar cane as we migrated north. Now, in the tropical zone they are replaced with banana and pineapple plantations.
Our first port of call was the tiny little bay of Atty Beach.
It's a cute little place, but our reason for the visit was to try and catch a sighting of one of Australia's rare and unusual flightless birds - the Cassowary. They look like this...
There's only a thousand or so in the wild, so it was a bit of a long shot, but apparently they like the beach here, so it seemed like a good place to sit and have a coffee break, just in case one walked by (they don't fly). After a very enjoyable elevenses, we had been joined by three sky divers who landed on the beach, but no Cassowary. They have razor sharp claws and can be quite vicious, so it was probably a good thing anyway. As we were driving out if the bay though, a young one (less colourful) appeared and walked out along the verge before disappearing into the forest. We swung the van around to try and get another view and a photo, but by then it was gone.
A few hours on the road further and we'd passed Cairns. We've taken Reg and Dale's advice and come all the way up to Port Douglas, where there are less tourists and better access to the Great Bartier Reef. The drive from Cairns to here was only an hour, but much harder to drive. The road follows the coast line which is beautiful as it's right down by the sea. The downside is that it requires a lot more concentration following the wiggling route than just sitting with the cruise control on. We were both tired when we eventually pulled into Port Douglas - Where swimming in the sea was not advised!
No comments:
Post a Comment