South to Cairns

We were unsuccessful in getting an extension to our room at Port Douglas so we went ahead and booked an apartment in the CBD of Cairns where we can day trip from for the next few days before we leave for Adelaide. Cairns was a short one hour drive so we took our time after checking out at 10:00 am. It was a good thing we delayed our departure as we were able to connect on FaceTime with  Laura and see Owen blow out the candles on his 8th birthday cake!

There were still periodic deluges of rain from cyclone Nathan which is parked about 100 km offshore. The Captain Cook Highway to Cairns would be beautiful on a nice sunny day but this is what we saw.

We stopped in the beach town of Palm Cove and had a walk on the jetty and beach promenade.

I couldn't resist, the Asian tourists always amuse me....

Palm Cove is a laid back premier beach town with its share of large luxury resorts. Unfortunately, beach activities were nonexistent. The stinger net was rolled up and the beach red flagged. It was remarkable that the waves were not bigger given the wind that has been blowing for the last three days but I assume I am seeing the effect of the Great Barrier Reef attenuating the sea.

A little further south from here, we stopped in at Yorkeys Knob. another little beach community with a nice Yacht Club.

We were now at the outskirts of Cairns and scouted out our apartment complex then drove to the harbour area for lunch at a Chinese restaurant overlooking the fleet of charter boats that were all in port. No diving/snorkelling/fishing for the next day or so!

The rain was getting a bit more intermittent so we decided to walk the esplanade. Another great waterfront with nice sidewalks and boardwalks, shade trees and a man-made lagoon for swimming.

And more Asians with selfie sticks....

We also saw a few more species of birds to identify. I think this is some kind of kingfisher...

A Masked Lapwing.....

On our way back to the car we looped by the Library where there is a grove of trees that is favoured by a huge colony of Spectacled Flying Foxes - a species of megabat. Hundreds of them hanging in the trees and squawking.

We then checked into our apartment and I got to watch Friday Practice for the Australian Grand Prix on the TV as the showers persisted.

There are some nice Aussie style barbies here so we went next door to the supermarket and bought some food to grille. As the sun was setting, we witnessed the huge flock of Flying Foxes departing their roost for a night of foraging in the rainforest. Amazing! Right out of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" except they are giant bats.

We had a nice dinner on our balcony and spent some time developing some plans for the next couple of days that take into account the unsettled nature of the weather.