Port Douglas

In Port Douglas we decided that is was where we were going to do the Kuranda skyrail and Train. Of course we had the added benefit of doing a ships tour hence getting the first tender off the boat.
Being a larger port all the tendering was handled by the local Catamarans. Once at the marina we boarded the bus that took us back to Cairns to catch the Sky Rail up to Kuranda. The Sky Rail is divided into 3 sections . At each of the two stations you hopped off the gondola and walked through the rainforest and took advantage of the different look outs. Then onto the next gondola , through the next section and eventually arriving in Kuranda.

From our short visit in Kuranda it reminded me of a Queensland version of Byron Bay. There were markets and incense burning everywhere and all the residents look like they live an alternative and “happy” lifestyle.
After a couple of hours there we were taken to Kuranda Station where we caught the old train for the 80min ride back down the mountain..... The train stopped part way and we were able to hop off at the vantage point to look and take pictures of the Barron Falls.... it was just amazing as we travelled along in the rattly old train hugging the mountain edge, passing through no less that 15 manmade tunnels. Then back to Cairns for the bus trip back into Port Douglas.

Our guide Joanne was very informative and of course took us through the obligatory drive through town and showed us the Port Douglas hot spots.

When we made our way back we found that we had just missed out on catching the next tender and there was only a 10 min wait till the next.... Well that is all you need!! In 10 minutes I manage to hop to it back to the marina into the shops and walk out with a new dress . Garry says it was the most expensive 10 minutes of the whole trip...

The catamaran that we caught back was adventure shore tour of it’s own as the swell had increase and I am sure that we were airborne a couple of time.... woo hoo it was fun !!