An excellent trip to Australia (via Singapore on the outward and return legs).
After arriving in Cairns, we headed straight up to Port Douglas for a night, followed by four nights in the Daintree rainforest staying at the Daintree Wilderness Lodge. We had excellent wildlife sightings and encounters such as Cassowary, Saltwater Crocodile and a Boyd’s Forest Dragon. Other sightings included numerous bird and butterfly species.
Next was a return journey back down to Cairns to catch a flight up to Horn Island in the Torres Strait to pick up the Spirit of Freedom dive liveaboard for a voyage back to Cairns. We stayed a night on Horn Island prior to boarding the vessel.
The next week was spent visiting some of the remote and virtually (or even actually) un-dived sites up in the far North of the Great Barrier Reef. We had an excellent week of what I called “binge diving” and saw many things throughout the week. It was a privilege to do this trip.
Once back in Cairns, we picked up a 4 x 4, had breakfast on the esplanade and then headed out to the excellent and remote Mt. Mulligan Outback Lodge.
A site of historical interest and hardship in terms of mining and gold prospecting, the area has now largely returned to nature, but it’s still possible to visit the abandoned town and coal mine workings and a former gold prospecting settlement. Best of all was the abundant wildlife – birds, butterflies, wallaroos, freshwater turtles, geckos, and it was even possible to hear dingoes howling from somewhere around the mountain itself.
A really good trip all round.