We have been in lock down for quite a while and getting on the plane is something I really missed so knowing that we were about to board on the plane was an amazing feeling 🤩
2 weeks before to our trip to Queensland, you'd need to do the rapid test and fill in an online form but that was scrapped just before we went so we were super lucky.
Our trip was only for 5 days with 3 tours booked and I think that was enough as we wanted some free time to explore ourselves. If you haven't been to Port Douglas or Cairns, make sure to read on.
Day 1 - Friday 21 Jan 22: Travelling to Cairns.
Dropping our little Pixie at our bff's place was hard cus we love spending time with her but we needed some time away to rejuvenate. If you are a dog owner, you'd know the feeling ðŸ˜
We have chosen the 8:45pm flight so Scott could work and not having to use his annual leave so this flight was perfect. We got to the airport 1.5 hour earlier to check in, walk around and do abit of work before we caught our flight. It was a 3 hour flight on Jetstar which wasn't too bad. Once we landed in Cairns airport we picked up our car hire which we got upgraded from a normal Sedan to a massive monster truck which we were super lucky! The drive was 1 hr from Cairns to Port Douglas which was a bit scary at night but we managed.
We booked to stay at the Ramada resort to stay here for 4 nights. Nothing fancy and the reason why we booked here cus of the cheap price.
Day 2 - Saturday 22 Jan 22: Chilling out and Water rafting.
We have our white water rafting tour booked at 2pm because we wanted to sleep in and not having to rush on our holiday. We drove to the main strip in Port Douglas which took only 10 minutes to get there. It started to rain abit so we decided to have our breakfast at Cafe Fresq. We had their Irish breakfast and the pulled pork sandwich which were very meaty and filling. Then we drove to Lake Placid which was near Cairns for our rafting tour. It was still drizzling with rain but stopped just right before we did our rafting. The instructor was very good and man.... we had a blast on this tour. It was so much fun and I highly recommend anyone to do this. There were heaps of kids on the rafting as well ( Age 12+). Phone wasn't allowed but they have a photographer to take photos for you which was $55 and you will get about 70 pictures. Totally worth it! This tour also had a pick up transfer but we decided to drive cus the tour finish around 5pm and we wanted to stay back in Cairns for dinner.
We walked around in Cairns, had some drinks at a Rooftop restaurant/ bar called Rocco which was really nice then ended up having Indian for dinner. We were going to have Japanese but when we were crossing the street, there was an incredible smell from the restaurant so we couldn't resist. We had Lamb Masala and butter chicken with naan bread. OMG it was so delish! Marinades Indian Restaurant. Cairns.
Driving back to Port Douglas was a bitch cus it took another hour and by the time we got back it was late so we were both tired. We got an early start for our Cape Tribulation tour at 9am so had to wake up early.
Day 3 - Sunday 23 Jan 22: Cape Tribulation and Daintree tour.
We had a full day tour booked with pick up. It was a bit manic at first as when we got picked up, the tour guide asked everyone what they wanted to have for lunch as it was included. Some people were so fussy e.g. no tomato in my burger, no sauce, blah blah blah. It was just annoying that's all when we were already late and the fussy eaters just wanted to be fussy.
When we got to the first stop Mossman Gorge Centre, the tour had a morning tea session which was optional. Basically it's for those who wants to have breakfast but even if you opt out, you'd still have to wait for them so that's another time wasting.
When the tour finally started, we had an Aboriginal welcome ceremony which was pretty cool. We got to learn how they use mud/coal to write their indigenous name on their arms and that the natural painting also helps protect them from insects.
After the ceremony we took a bus up to the river. It was a really nice rainforest walk. We had 45 minutes to check out the river and walk back, but we didn't swim cus it was way too bloody cold. There were a lot of people so we found a side track where we had to walk through the rocks in order to be away from people. Got some nice shots here as well!
Next stop was the Daintree River cruise where we got to see some crocodiles, lunch before Cape Tribulation then back to our accommodation with a quick pit stop for famous Daintree Ice cream.
I personally didn't think the tour was amazing but the welcome ceremony was something that you needed to do which I don't think you can book separately by yourself. Part of doing a tour like this is that you need to be prepared with fussy people. Maybe I'm just bloody old that I get annoyed with high maintenance people. Like you know how we needed to get back to the bus within 45 minutes? Some people were 15 minutes late so we missed the bus and they didn't even say sorry.
