Friday 18th July
Magnetic Island is only a 20 minute ferry ride from the mainland – in fact lots of people live on Magnetic Island and travel to the mainland each day for work. It is (as expected) a very touristy place with a good bus network and lots of accommodation. There are lots of backpackers as it is so easy to get around. We bussed over to Horseshoe Bay and spent a lovely few hours wandering up the beach collecting shells. There are lots of coral to be found being so close to the reef and lots of very impressive shells. The kids were itching to ride horses and kept asking every 5 minutes what the time was. We were all very glad when the time came to go riding! The horse riding is very well run. Both kids were ok on their own and the staff seemed surprised that I even asked if an adult had to go with them.
The riding group was split in two – (experienced and non-experienced riders) but all followed much the same path. The groups rode down to the beach with some trotting on the way. The horses were then unsaddled, and ridden into the sea. The horses walk along in the sea with staff walking along the beach beside. It was very well organised and one of the few places you can ride a horse into the sea. Then it was back on with the saddles and more trotting on the way home. Richard and I walked back to meet them at the end, sneaking in a quick drink on the way!
We had to then get three busses and one ferry back to the campground due to not having a car since it was after garage closing time which meant CJ had a night in the garage. The horse riding was definitely the highlight of the kids’ trip so far.
Saturday 19th
Richard got up early and walked to the garage to collect CJ while I did some washing and tidied up. We then packed up and drove up the coast towards Cairns. We stopped at ‘Paronella Park’ which had a free campground if you paid for park entry. Paronella Park was built by Jose Paronella in the 1930’s as he’d always wanted to live in a castle! He moved to Australia from Spain and made money buying and selling cane farms. He then went back to Spain to collect his bride (who didn’t wait the 11 years it took him to make the money so he married her younger sister!) and moved back to Australia to set about building his castle. He started with the steps up from the riverbank so he could more easily carry the stone and building materials up to the house/castle site. The first building he built was the cottage for his family. Most people would have stopped there – a nice cottage in the lovely bush, but not Jose – he goes on to build a castle, tennis courts, ballroom, movie theatre, etc etc. He installed hydro-electric generators to power the park so the locals could have movie nights and buy ice-creams there. This was some 20 years before nearby Innisfail had power! Those original generators have been restored and are still in use today to power the park. It was a very interesting place to visit and we did both the night tours (incl fish, turtle and eel feeding) and the day tour.
Sunday 20th
Today we drove along the Atherton tablelands to Port Douglas. This is a very popular area for people wanting to escape the heat of the beaches and has lots of do. Our first stop was at the crystal caves in Atherton where one couple have travelled the world collecting crystals for display. It was an amazing display and well presented.
Next stop was at the Mareeba Information Centre. We were looking for Dave’s Mum but she wasn’t working that day so we took a look around the Info centre instead. The locals (including Dave’s Mum) have done an amazing job of setting up a museum of the local area. It is really good and has lots of interesting things to see. Sadly we must be getting old as both Richard and I remember using some of the “museum pieces” like old telephones (the ones with the handle to wind to ring) and farm implements.
Next stop was coffee and chocolate world. This museum/display has coffee memorabilia from all over the world. But more importantly has unlimited coffee and chocolate tastings! It’s a great place and really interesting. Not to mention yummy chocolate and good coffee!
Then it was on to Port Douglas where we're staying for a few nights.
Monday 21st
Today we were up early for a reef tour. We went out aboard Calypso Blue which specialises in snorkelling tours. We stopped at three sites, all on the Opal reef. The day wasn’t the best – a bit windy and overcast but the water was warm at 23-24 deg C. They provided wetsuits which us three girls used. Didgy had a sea-sickness tablet and sat out the back in the fresh air all the way out to avoid getting sick. Richard didn't and ended up losing his lunch on the way back in! The snorkelling was great with one of the highlights the tour by one of the staff who dived down to show us things then came up to tell us about them. The whole day flew by and was one of my highlights of the trip so far.
Tuesday 22nd
Today Emily is getting over a cold and Didge and Richard have colds so we've decided to have a relax day. I did some washing and cleaning and tidying while everyone else slept, read books or watched movies. Temp is currently around 26 degrees although Richard is complaining of it being cold and we're putting that down to his cold and would still rather be here with a cold than back in Sydney without!
We have booked an extra night in Port Douglas for everyone to recover as much as possible from the colds before moving further north.
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