Port Douglas, Mossman & Wonga Beach

Richard and Tai took the weekend off. We all drove down to Port Douglas to experience Breakfast with the Birds, then on to Mossman for a little wine tasting/site-seeing and finally to Wonga Beach where Tai's sister and family generously put us up for a couple nights.

Wildlife Habitat | Port Douglas

We were (I quote) "immersed within the Wetlands environment whilst enjoying the cacophony of sounds and colours of wildlife as they wander(ed) freely amongst (us). (We were) treated to one of Queensland’s best tropical breakfast buffets—fresh tropical and exotic fruit platters, cereals and freshly baked pastries...(and a) selection of hot buffet items." The food was very good. The coffee was delicious. And it was fun to watch the birds. The park includes rainforest, wetland and grassland environments. Click here to see more photos!

Check out their website!

Mossman

Before heading onto Mossman, we stopped to look out over Port Douglas.

One of the things we miss about Oregon is wine-tasting. We found a lovely winery in Mossman—Shannonvale, a tropical fruit winery.  Tropical fruit? you say. Yes, the winemaker was delightful! Her wine was delicious and surprisingly dry. She had quite a selection including:  Black Sapote, Mango, Lychee, Lime, Jaboticaba, Purple Mangosteen and a Cointreau-style Orange Port.

We also went on a walk thru the rainforest on aboriginal land along a rushing river.

Wonga Beach

Andrew, Ange and Paris were kind enough to let us stay in their cute little bungalow. They live just a short walk from the beach. The other couple shown in the photo came over for dinner and later invited us to their place. They were very sweet!

Saturday, after a morning of field service, we enjoyed prawns on the patio. The cat eagerly awaited his share as I peeled my prawns.

   

The Daintree River is just north of Wonga Beach and known for crocodiles. Apparently we were too late in the day because we did not get to see any, though we had a very nice boat ride. 

These swallows hitched a ride on the bow of our boat.

This is the Kingdom Hall that Andrew, Ange and Paris attend. They've only recently moved to Wonga Beach to help the congregation and establish an Aboriginal & Islander group.

   

This is their place and this Rhino Beetle was hanging out in the bathroom Sunday morning.

Andrew, Paris, Ange, Richard and Tai

   

We headed back to Cairns Sunday afternoon. Monday morning we went to the airport to fly out to New Zealand. Cairns and the surrounding areas are beautiful. We are very happy to have added to our family of friends. They were most hospitable.

Next stop: Auckland, New Zealand!