Port Douglas

Posted on August 18, 2024 by Discovery Down Under

60KM north of Cairns and bordering on two UNESCO World Heritage listed sites, Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef, is the coastal town of Port Douglas – another town in Queensland established following the discovery of gold in 1877.

What’s in a name… or several?

Named after the former Premier of Queensland, John Douglas, Port Douglas’ development was largely based on the mining industry with timber cutting playing a part along the Daintree River. Unusually Port Douglas wasn’t the port’s first name, nor the second. It was previously known as Terrigal, Island Point, Port Owen and Salisbury.

Driven by tourism

These days Port Douglas is largely driven by tourism thanks to its location close to the Daintree Rainforest, 4-Mile Beach, Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures, Cape Tribulation and fast boat access to the inner and outer regions of the Great Barrier Reef. But it wasn’t until the 1980’s that tourism took-off following construction of the Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas Resort. Now the Mirage is just one of the many hotels and resorts that Port Douglas has to offer as well as holiday apartments, caravan sites and private accommodation.

While staying in Cairns this week we decided to spend Sunday in Port Douglas, specifically to visit the Sunday Market located on the foreshore. It was our third visit to the Port in 18-years and likely not the last.

The market is open from 8am to 1.30pm at ANZAC Park and features locally made products including jewellery, clothing, crafts and artwork as well as food and the all important coffee and pastry stalls.

The market backs onto the beach and one of the classic Port Douglas photo spots – the Sugar Wharf.

Saint Mary’s by the sea

Another popular photography location and adjacent to the market is the cute timber clad Saint Mary’s by the sea – a non-denominational chapel. Initially constructed in the 1880’s as Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic church, it was destroyed by the cyclone of 1911 and rebuilt between 1913 and 1914. Saint Mary’s is now a popular wedding chapel available for hire as is the Sugar Wharf for wedding receptions.

Since our last visit the once immaculate chapel is now clearly in need of a fresh coat of paint. However, a peek inside will impress with a lofty vaulted ceiling and a window directly behind the alter providing a stunning view over Trinity Bay towards the Daintree Rainforest in the distance.

Cyclone Yasi

No different to all coastal towns in Far North Queensland, Port Douglas is not immune to the seasonal cyclones. To date the Cairns and Port Douglas region has felt the impact of 53-cyclones since 1876 with the worst for Port Douglas being on March 16th 1911 when only 7 of the 57-properties remained standing with two lives lost. More recently, in December 2023, cyclone Yasi made landfall. It wasn’t the wind that devastated the area but the weather events that followed with more than 3.2-metres of rain falling in less than a week – that’s more than 2-year’s average rainfall. Over 100-land slips and rockfalls caused widespread damage with severe flooding, houses destroyed and some communities isolated as a result of collapsing coastal roads. Almost a year later and road repairs are still ongoing with many sections of the Cairns to Port Douglas road affected. And up in the mountains the scars of landslips will remain visible for a great many years to come.

Balancing Stones

Something we first spotted along the coast of the South Island of New Zealand is the art of stone balancing. Seemingly something of a bit of a hobby for our New Zealand cousins, stacking round stones has spread across the ditch and nowhere better displayed than on the rocks beside the Cairns to Port Douglas road.

There’s parking available for a few cars to pullover and explore the many stacks that have been built. Maybe even have a go yourself.

The Crocodile Hunter

In 2006 Port Douglas hit the international news when Steve Irwin, the ‘Crocodile Hunter’, was tragically killed by a stingray, ironically, during filming of the documentary ‘The Ocean’s Deadliest’ on nearby Batt Reef. Steve’s death came as a shock and was so unexpected for someone who had spent most of his life working with some of the most deadly creatures on this planet. His wildlife warrior legacy continues with his family – Terri, Bindi and especially his son, Robert, who has stepped into Steve’s shoes with the same infectious enthusiasm as his father.

Australia Zoo, based in Beerwah, Southeast Queensland, is dedicated to Steve’s quest to better understand and protect wildlife wherever it exists anywhere in the world.

Whitsundays Cruise

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Discovery Down Under

Our final pre-booked trip sees us cruise around the Whitsundays onboard SeaLink’s Reef Quest III, a new and fast, powered catamaran. SeaLink provide courtesy coach transfers from several pickup points in and around the Airlie Beach area for the short drive to Shute Harbour, around 10-minutes from central Airlie Beach.

Whitehaven Big Island Day Tour

Our choice of cruise with SeaLink is the ‘Whitehaven Big Island Day Tour’ taking in North and South Molle Islands, Cid Island and Hook Island, which we saw from the air yesterday but this time cruising through the narrow Hook Passage before taking anchor at Tongue Point. From there we transfer to the beach aboard the ship’s tender to walk up to the Hill Inlet viewpoints before sailing around to Whitehaven Beach for a bush-walk or to pass a couple of hours wandering along the 7KM beach before returning back to port via Chance Bay, Hamilton and Dent Islands.

First impressions

Stepping aboard Reef Quest immediately impresses with two large, immaculate and brightly lit indoor cabins with plenty of outdoor seating also available for those who enjoy the cool sea breeze or keeping a lookout for wildlife. Tea and coffee facilities greet you in the air conditioned dining cabin with large viewing windows and comfortable banket seating.

All aboard

We’re soon underway with the morning snack of fresh fruit and muffins being served. The ship can carry 280 guests but limiting each cruise to only 84 means there is no problem finding a seat or waiting too long to be transferred by tender at each landing.

SeaLink Whitehaven Big Island Day Tour route

Our skipper was also our guide while onboard and ran a commentary throughout most of the cruise detailing the history of the Whitsundays and facts about each of the islands as we passed them. He also kept an eye out from his high vantage point for whales and it wasn’t long before we started sighting them. Perhaps not quite as close as you would see on a dedicated whale watching tour but very visible and on several occasions very active breaching high in the air and creating a huge splash as they dropped to the sea. Giving maximum viewing time the skipper slowed right down to give everyone the opportunity to take a photograph or ‘oooh’ and ‘aah’ each time a whale launched itself into the air.

Back on course and speeding towards Hook Passage it was very noticeable that the sea was beginning to churn with waves forming as the tide was being squeezed between the adjacent islands. Next, turning to the south and we’re into clear water again passing along the coast of Whitsunday Island heading for anchorage just to the north of the spectacle that is Hill Inlet. Yesterday we got stunning views of Hill Inlet from our flight above but today was our opportunity to view the swirling sand and sea formation from a vantage point with our feet firmly on solid ground.

Tongue Point to Hill Inlet

Our boat set anchor in a sheltered bay at Tongue Point to transfer passengers to shore ready for the bush walk up to the Hill Inlet viewpoints. It’s a relatively easy walk with many well built steps to negotiate as it passes through native vegetation and small trees. Brief glimpses of the sea tease before reaching the summit and then a short decent before opening out to the first of three viewing platforms. And what a view! Although quite busy with our three groups amongst others, it was easy to get to the front of each platform. It wasn’t the best weather for photographs today with rain in the distance and low, patchy cloud but the scene was still stunning with the swirling and twisting Hill Inlet passage making its way further into the Island’s interior. Created by the ever changing tides, the wavy patterns are constantly changing with the best views to be had at low tide. To the left of the passage, and continuing into the distance, is the famous Whitehaven beach, which we will be stepping onto next.

As the three groups began their walk back to the beach, I stayed on a little longer when I noticed a gap starting to open up in the cloud shading the inlet. It was well worth the wait to see the sea light up in such a stunning shade of turquoise. It could only have been better if the tide was a little lower.

Before long we were being ferried back to our boat and enjoying a delicious buffet lunch the crew had laid out for us while we continued around to Whitehaven Beach.

Whitehaven Beach

Our ship’s tender ferried us to the beach giving us two hours to wander, take a guided bush walk or just laze around in the sun. We chose to walk along the almost deserted beach and paddle in the surprisingly cool water for a kilometre or so before sitting under the shade of a tree and watching the waves lap gently against the shore. The beach sand has a few unusual characteristics; being almost white allows it to reflect away most of the intense sun meaning it’s actually cool to walk on and even squeaks as you do so. It is also extremely fine and, apparently, makes an ideal polish for jewellery. I’m sure our feet felt softer after our walk too. Local myth even suggests NASA took advantage of the silica’s purity using it to create glass for the Hubble Space Telescope. When questioned if the story was actually true, allegedly the response was, “um, we may have done.” That’s a ‘No’ then.

Whitehaven’s 98% pure silica beach really is quite special, though, and something of a quandary. Sand is usually deposited on shore from local sources such as finely broken down rock, coral or sea shells. Here, however, there is no known source of silica of such high grade anywhere nearby. It is believed to have been deposited here potentially millions of years ago and is such an important and irreplaceable asset that it is legally protected with heavy fines for anyone attempting to take home a ‘souvenir’ of their visit. That is, of course, unless you are Oprah Winfrey, who’s advisers clearly didn’t make her aware of the rules.

The beach does, however, have a claim to fame being regularly voted best beach in the world and was featured in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead men tell no tales’ feature film. Prior to, and during, filming the production company bought every available day trip and boating adventure in the area to ensure the beach was free of tourists and the sea clear of any boat that didn’t fit the era. And just to add to the authenticity of the ‘Caribbean Island’ it was standing-in for, the production crew planted palm trees along the beach, which natively do not grow on the island. After production ended they were removed and replanted at Airlie Beach.

Wildlife

There is plenty of wildlife around the Whitsunday Islands both on land and in the sea. Snakes such as pythons and grass snakes are common but there’s also the highly venomous eastern brown and taipan, though mostly found around properties or sunbathing on the roads. Dugongs, countless reef fish and six of the seven species of turtle in the world call the Whitsundays home and not forgetting the migrating whales, white and blacktip reef sharks, manta rays and several species of dolphin. Of course being in the Australian tropics means stinging jellyfish, some of which can be lethal, should be avoided during their most active time between October and May – probably not the best time of year to go swimming. And I suppose I should mention the common ‘handbag’, known also as the saltwater crocodile, is present in these waters. Usually confined to rivers and river estuaries they do often wander further afield in search of a decent meal. But for us, apart from the odd spider and sea birds, all we saw was a friendly Lace Monitor scavenging for food.

The lace monitor is both active and highly agile being just as happy walking along the ground or climbing up rock faces or trees in search of a tasty morsel… and growing up to two metres in length, big enough to scare the life out of an unsuspecting tourist!

Heading for Home

Back onboard we settled in for the return leg of our cruise passing between Whitsunday and Haslewood Islands to follow the southern coast of Whitsunday Island through Chance Bay admiring some exclusive properties. We skirted Hamilton Island, home to a few eye wateringly expensive resorts such as the hyper-exclusive, 6-star ‘qualia’ resort – deliberately written with a lowercase ‘Q’ and a registered name to boot – now that’s exclusive! Well, Chris Hemsworth, Taylor Swift and Johnny Depp must think so being just a few of the celebrities that have stayed there.

Finally passing by Dent, Henning and Long Islands we arrived back at Shute Harbour after a thoroughly enjoyable day, made all the more special by good friends of ours who we have been sharing this week of adventures with in and around Airlie Beach.

A Grand Day Out

We’d highly recommend SeaLink’s ‘Whitehaven Big Island Day Tour’ suitable for all ages with the added opportunity to see whales during July to October and at the very least some magnificent scenery.

More details available from SeaLink’s website.

Bay of Fires

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Discovery Down Under

Situated on the Northeast coast of Tasmania and stretching from Eddystone Point to Binalong Bay, the Bay of Fires is a stunning mix of turquoise water, powdery white beaches and orange tinted granite boulders.

Named by British Captain Tobias Furneaux* in 1773 after observing fires lit by aboriginal people along the coast. Furneaux’s ship, HMS Adventure, was sailing as part of Captain Cook’s second exploration of the pacific before becoming separated.

Bring on the Colour

The orange colour is caused by lichen** from the Hymeneliaceae family. It is a common occurrence on the granite rocks and boulders in the northeast of Tasmania, but is particularly vibrant within the Bay of Fires region.

Parking is limited along the Bay of Fires coastline with the largest parking area situated at The Gardens. There are small areas where you can pull-off the narrow road but we’d recommend getting there early.

For photography, the early morning and late evening light is best when the orange lichen appears to glow.

The powdery white beach between The Gardens and Binalong is perfect for a gentle walk. Humpback Whales can be spotted here from May to July as they head north to warmer waters and again between September and November when they return south to the Antarctic.

*Tobias Furneaux was one of the first men to circumnavigate the world in both directions.

** Lichens are a combination of algae and fungus that live in a symbiotic relationship. The algae gathers energy from the sun by photosynthesis providing food for the fungus, while the fungus creates a protective environment for the algae to thrive.

The Hazards of Freycinet

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Discovery Down Under

Located within Freycinet National Park, The Hazards are a mountain range on Tasmania’s east coast and gateway to one of the most famous beaches in the world.

Beauty in Pink

Anyone touring around Tasmania, and with the remotest interest in geology, will notice a change in the mountains on the Freycinet peninsula from the grey granite, black basalt, dolerite and sandstone of much of the state’s mountainous regions. As you approach the Hazards via Coles Bay you cannot help but notice their very distinct pink hue and more so in the evening under the setting sun.

Long, long Ago

The granite mountains, believed to have been named after African-American Whaler Captain Richard Hazard, are comprised of a mineral called Orthoclase – a pink form of feldspar that owes its colour to another mineral, iron.

Around 60-million years ago volcanic activity beneath what is now Tasmania, pushed magma upward lifting the land hundreds of metres above sea level creating the Freycinet peninsula. During the same period the land to the west of the peninsula sank forming Great Oyster Bay. As the magma slowly cooled under pressure the Orthoclase formed into the large rectangular crystals that are typical of the rock, granite.

Over the following millions of years the softer ground above the granite eroded away exposing the rock to weathering by ice, rain and wind that has resulted in the giant rounded boulders that now litter the mountains. Today the Hazards stand at a shadow of their former height but still reach an impressive 485-metres above the sea.

Freycinet National Park

Much of the Freycinet peninsula falls within the bounds of Freycinet National Park* with the only access being via a single narrow, and not very well maintained road. Credit, though, is due for the excellent, and unusually large, National Park Visitor Centre, where a large number of park guides and leaflets about the region and activities can be found as well as a good selection of books, outdoor clothing, local crafts and souvenirs.

Time for a Walk

We had been looking forward to exlploring the Freycinet region again following a previous visit in 2008. On that occasion the weather wasn’t in our favour with light rain and low cloud setting in just as we got to a major viewpoint. This time, however, the sun was shining and the sky was mostly clear, perfect walking weather despite the cool late autumn wind.

Our walk was the shortest within the park but with a view worth every step, and ache, up the often steep climb. In 2008 the same track between Mount Amos and Mount Mayson was best described as ‘rough’ with a steep climb on a slippery gravel path interspersed with sharp rocks ideal for tripping the unwary. Now, however, sturdy steps have evened out the steeper sections making the upward path easier, though still requiring a fair amount of effort. Several ‘new’ viewpoints have also been added looking back over Coles Bay towards the distant coastal town of Swansea.

The higher you climb the larger the giant granite boulders become and in places you are walking among and between them towering over you. But there is a very worthy reward for the 45-minute climb when you reach the top of the pass – for this is the Wine Glass Bay Lookout Walk and from here, as the name suggests, you get the most amazing view of the world famous Wine Glass Bay. All the effort to arrive at the lookout weighed down by a heavy camera bag was worth every step. The lookout, too, had been updated with additional platforms giving greater access to the increasing number of walkers being attracted to the peninsula.

1,000 Steps Too Many

We had considered the extended walk that leads down to the white sand of Wine Glass Bay’s beach but we had second thoughts after reading more about the terrain. Access to the beach requires navigating a far steeper track and includes around 1,000 steps down and back to return to the viewpoint. At the end of the day it is just another of the many beautiful white beaches with turquoise water along the east coast of Tasmania and its ‘fame’ due to its curved shape and remote seclusion. So, after several photographs and a chat with a couple of fellow travellers, we headed back down the quite unique one-way track, which separates the freshly rested from the newly exhausted heading uphill.

People often ask, ‘what is the origin of the bay’s name?’, and no one is quite certain. The most preferred, and most pushed by marketeers, relates to the similarity of the bay’s shape to that of a wine glass, but there is a darker and more likely offering, a bloody one, which is where our whaling Captain Richard Hazard features once again.

In the early 1800’s whaling was a significant contributor to Tasmania’s fortunes and much of that was along the east coast of the state. Whaling stations were a common site where spotters would take to the high ground looking for the migrating whales, sending out the boats to harpoon any unfortunate passing whale and dragging them back to the shore-based stations for ‘processing’. The whale’s baleen was used to stiffen corsets and the rings of the fashionable British ladies’ dresses, while whale oil, extracted from the blubber powered the dim lights in Victorian houses and an extremely fine oil for lubricating clocks, watches and the machines driving the booming Industrial Revolution.

A Bloody Past

The more likely origin of Wine Glass Bay’s name, however, is related to the colour of the deeply blood stained water and beach during the whaling season rather than the shape of the bay. Imagine too the putrid stench of boiling blubber and the rotting carcass’s of whales. There could not be a greater contrast to how the pristine bay appears today.

*As with all National parks in Tasmania, a National Parks Pass is required for vehicles entering Freycinet National Park. Passes are available from all National Parks Visitor Centres in Tasmania as well as from the automated machines in Freycinet National Park’s car parks.

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Tag Archives: Sea

Port Douglas

Whitsundays Cruise

Bay of Fires

The Hazards of Freycinet