Our life in Tropical North Queensland

We had the pleasure of having Helene and Yesica, sister in law and niece, from France, spending a few days with us last week. As Helene said, their visit was short but memorable.

We couldn’t let them visit us without showing them one of our gems, the Great Barrier Reef so we booked with one of the many Great Barrier Reef cruises available and off we went. The trip to the reef was a bit rough but we all got there safe and sound. Little Nicholas was the one who probably enjoyed the trip most, with so much motion, he spent most of the trip happily asleep.

Three of us decided to go diving and only one wasn’t brave enough, sorry, wasn’t in the mood, for diving, so he went snorkelling. Can you guess who??????

The day was beautiful, we had a great time and the French girls were extremely impressed with the corals.

And the day after we took off again, this time to visit Port Douglas, Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Forest. By the way, did you know that we help to save the Daintree Rainforest? Every month, Cairns Unlimited buys back five square metres of Daintree Rainforest.

Port Douglas was only a short stop to have breakfast in our favourite cafe, although this time we were all a bit dissapointed with the food, which had been fabulous before. The markets were on, so Steve, Nicholas, Helene and Yesi went to have a bit of a walk while I just waited for them sitting on a bench. I had taken some car sickness pill which hadn’t agreed with me and I was feeling a bit “drunk”. I even had to make my way to the car on my own, since I was falling asleep on the bench and I was a bit embarrased about it. I sent Steve a text to let them know where I was going, and when he showed it to me, it didn’t make any sense at all.

But I felt much better after the delicious hand made ice cream that we had at Floravilla. The flavours were all very exotic. Steve went for the Chilli Chocolate and I tried the Goji Berry with Rainforest Honey Yoghurt. I cannot remember what the girls had, but they were also very excited about them.

We also had time to do a Daintree River Cruise aboard Solar Whisper, where we spotted a few crocodiles, snakes, frogs and birds. It is definetely one of the most beautiful places in the world.

It was already late afternoon by the time we made it to our accomodation in Cape Tribulation Cape Tribulation Beach House. We had two lovely cabins only a couple of minutes from the beach but, most importantly, from the bar. The girls and Steve, after a very early dinner, since we all forgot to each lunch, joined Mason’s Tours for a crocodile spotting night walk. And I, very happily, put the little one to sleep and went to bed as well at 8pm. I know, very very unSpanish but it felt like heaven.

The explorers had a good time although there was no croc to be spotted. However, they came back talking about cane toads, spiders, native mice, white tail rats, sleeping kingfishers, other birds, fish in the crystal clear bubbling brook, wood frogs and even fresh cassowary poo.

The plan for the morning after was to go jungle surfing but someone didn’t plan ahead and the tour was booked out. So instead, we started to make our own way back to Cairns, stopping at Mossman Gorge. There has been talks about a road being built in Mossman Gorge but when we got there we couldn’t see much happening. There are a few massive blocks of concrete which are the base for a boardwalk that will eventually go through the rainforest to the gorge. But up to day, everything is just as it was before and you still have to walk through the rainforest to get there. It was a cool and misty morning and we know that the water in Mossman Gorge is freezing. However, there were still a few brave people having a swin. None of us, though.

All the way back to Cairns, about 60 kilometres, little Nicholas was crying. We tried everything to make him stop and go to sleep. Will you believe he fell asleep only one block away from home? Our little prince!

Helene and Yesi are now back to Stanthorpe, Steve’s home town. And Yesi will be back in France very soon. It was great to have you over, girls. Now it is time for the two rascals, Flynn and Joseph, to come and visit. We look forward to seeing you two.

And everyone, keep tuned. There are lots of news coming up very soon. That’s all I can say for now.

I know we don’t write as often as we should, but we’re in the process of inventing a day with 48 hours instead of 24. Then, maybe, we will have time to do all the things that we want to do everyday. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to yet.

Eddie and Julie stayed with us for a week. We managed to take some time off to do a few things with them, such as a visit to Cape Tribulation and Cooktown through the Blooomfield Track, a visit to Lake Morris for lunch or, my favourite, a visit to Ochre Restaurant, in Cairns. This restaurant is a must for everyone, as least once in their lifetime. We went, again, for the Australian Platter, and tasted the best crocodile, emu and kangaroo ever amongst other delicacies, such as king fish with beetroot sauce or damper to be dipped in delicious native dukkha and oil.

The Bloomfield Track was amazing, beautiful scenery and not another soul. We even saw a crocodile sunbathing on a log when we were crossing the Bloomfield river. At the beginning we thought it was a fake croc that the locals had put there to impress tourists. But we managed to get a bit closer and as soon as we were too close the croc jumped into the water. Lucky for us, I guess.

Our underwater camera rental business is getting bigger and bigger. Now that we have a second model of camera to rent, the Canon Powershot G10, we’re busy designing new posters, flyers, etc. And making sure all the hostels and hotels in Cairns know about this new product we’re offering. We predict a huge success.

But what’s really really exciting in our lives right now is the fantastic news we have a few weeks ago and it’s that in mid February we’re going to have a baby. Yes, a real one!!! We still don’t know whether it’s a boy or a girl, but whatever comes will be more than welcome. I cannot wait, mostly because the nausea hasn’t stopped after the three month period, as everyone said it would. I’m trying to put up with it as best as I can, but putting up with the nausea and tiredness as well as with Steve is getting a bit too much some days, haha.

It’s been eight months since Maria and I had a night off, so we reckoned we were well due for a break. Our friends Eddie and Julie were visiting from Brisbane and that was all the excuse we needed. North of Cape Tribulation, there’s a 4WD track called the Bloomfield Track, which runs all the way to Cooktown. I had been keen to explore the Bloomfield Track for some time now.

Last week, it was finally my chance. We four bundled into our brand new (rented) Toyota Rav4 and hit the road Wednesday morning. Didn’t think you could drive a rental car on the Bloomfield Track? Well, you haven’t been paying attention to our Cairns car hire page…

 After stopping for a coffee and a muffin in our favourite Port Douglas cafe, it was north to the Daintree River. Crossing the mighty Daintree by ferry always gives you the feeling of isolation; like you’ve travelled so far that there’s not even bridges over rivers any more. But in fact, it’s little more than ninety minutes from Cairns.

Once across the Daintree, we soon found ourseoves at our accommodation for the night, Crocodylus Village Resort at Cow Bay. There were no double rooms left, but we were offered an unbeatable deal on two adjacent dorm rooms, each wioth two double bunks. The accommodation was basic - shared bathrooms nearby - but sufficient. And it was quite an experience, sleeping in a cabin in the middle of the lush rainforest, woken by the early morning call of the Daintree Rainforest birdlife.

Crocodylus is well equipped with a cozy bar, onsite restaurant and spacious undercover dining area. We all enjoyed our dinner and were ready for an early night after a few glasses of red wine.

After a hearty breakfast we wasted no time getting to the end of the sealed road at Cape Tribulation, and slowed our pace for the famous Bloomfield Track. I won’t go into great detail here, but instead will use this as an excuse to introduce a new website which we are building, specifically devoted to The Bloomfield Track. For now, you’ll just have to make do with a few photos from the journey…