The Tropical North
Posted: January 28th, 2012 by Courtney
For the Christmas/New Year’s holiday we meet Scott’s parents, brother and his fiancee in Northern Queensland, then flew to Sydney for New Year’s and finally back to Melbourne.  We all arrived in Cairns on Boxing Day and settled into our apartment in Palm Cove.
Palm Cove Beach
Dinner with the family
The next day we set off on the Silversonic to the Outer Great Barrier Reef for some snorkeling and scuba diving.  Our boat stopped at three different sites on the Agincourt ribbon reef.  We did two dives and also did a bit of snorkeling.  Both were fantastic and more of the coral and animal life actually was closer to the surface.  We were able to see giant clams, anemones, sea cucumbers, and lots of fantastic coral gardens and colorful fish.
Getting ready for our first dive
We also were able to spend a day touring Daintree National Park and Cape Tribulation, which is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world and part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.  The park is known for its rain-forested mountains that sweep down to long sandy beaches.  It also has crocodiles, so we were heading on a river tour to see if we could find a few.
Entering Daintree National Park
The first stop in the park was a short guided walk through the rain forest to learn about the flora and fauna.
On our walking tour
Next we had a bit of time to wonder around Cape Tribulation, where British navigator James Cook, of the ship Endevour hit a nearby reef naming it Cape Tribulation for all his trouble.
Cape Tribulation
The family enjoying the tour
The last stop of the day was a one-hour river cruise. Â On the cruise we saw lots of birds, snakes, and even a few crocodiles. Â It was a good way to end the day in Daintree. Â And luckily we were well on the way back to Palm Cove when it started pouring down raining.
Found a nice big crocodile
Next stop Sydney!