Easter Hols

Here in Australia we get a four day weekend for Easter. So we decided to take the mini break with our friends, AJ and Melissa. They hadn't yet been to Port Douglas and we are always keen to go back there, so we took an extra day off and rented a great little beach house for 5 days. With work so busy lately, we were so looking forward to it.

Unfortunately it rained almost the entire time but being the tropics it is half expected and we didn't really mind so much. Luckily, we had seen it in the sun once before. But it was poor AJ and M's first time there. Either way it was a great weekend off...

We took AJ and M up to Cape Tribulation and spent the day trapsing the rainforest in the rain. Of course we didn't make it far before we realised the road was too washed out and we weren't going to make it across the flooded rivers...and with rain like that you never know where the crocs are. So we all got back in the car and turned around. At least we could still make a stop at our favorite ice cream shop, the Cape Tribulation exotic ice cream for another scoop of Jack Fruit ice cream.

The next day we headed for the reef where under the water we didn't even know if it was raining. It was great that all of us dive. We spotted sea turtles, mauri wrasse (which are pretty big fish) and tons of beautiful coral. That night we checked out the cane toad racing again, where AJ managed to get a bid for M to go up and run a race. She scored second place even though we all think she won it...it was a close call. Good on her as you would never catch Katie anywhere close to one...as you can see there are absolutely no pictures of her and the toads together.

After staying in town the third day exploring a local croc farm and trying to dodge the rain...we opted for another reef day on the fourth day. This time it was the best diving we have had here so far...sharks, sea turtles, lion fish (which are deadly!), potato cod, mauri wrasse, stingrays, beautiful corals, and so much more! Jared found his photographer partner in crime, while AJ and Katie just tried to keep up with the pair of them. We did three dives that day and Katie is getting pretty comfortable under water although still having problems going down and all stuffed up afterwards.

The week included a few great meals at the best restaurants in town (which were right up M and Katie's alley)...the best being The Nautlis, a seafood restaurant under the treetops. It was beautiful and the minute the rain started there were almost a hundred pulley's in operation and the outdoor restaurant turned into a huge white tent. Jared and AJ ordered the coral trout which is considered almost a delicacy up there. They are from the reef and can only be hand caught so there aren't that many. The trout were cooked and served whole and looked like they were still swimming!! They were delicious though! At least we cooked one night in...AJ made some great steaks stuffed with cheese and we all sat out on the patio and enjoyed the night in.

On the last day, Jared busted out his surprise Easter baskets for the whole crew...Katie's first! It true Australian fashion, the baskets were actually sand buckets as the baskets were too hard to find here. The adult Easter baskets included a bottle of wine and a few candies. He took pleasure in hiding all of ours and watching us search for it but don't worry Katie hid his while he was in the shower too. It is only fair.

We took a little side trip that last day to see something new. The sun had finally peeked out for the day! We drove about half an hour inland to Barron Falls...some of the largest falls in Australia. The site was spectacular and they have a great little town there. On the way back we stopped at Crystal Cascades, some smaller falls down the river. Unfortunately after that, it was back to reality and back to work.