We somehow woke up in time to finish packing, clean up and caught our 5:15 cab to the airport. The cab fare for the 45 minute ride was $78. *sob* To think we used to complain about getting ripped off for getting charged $12 in Thailand for the same distance. Again, we were reminded that we were definitely not in Thailand anymore.
We hopped on our early morning Jet Star flight to Cairns. It was about 3.5 hours long. As usual, I slept. I am a firm advocate in eye masks on planes. You really do get better sleep that way. Eric, as usual, couldn't sleep. We landed around 9:30 am Cairns time, and got our luggage. The Cairns airport is being renovated so everything is in makeshift buildings.
Since Janita and Paul were not getting in until 12, we walked over to the nicer departure terminal to download pictures and write our blog.Upon their arrival, we hopped into our Avis rental van. We volunteered to squeeze into the back seat. It was fine for me, since my legs are short. Eric looked funny though squeezed into the cramped back seat. We got to know each other pretty well back there. After many twists and turns, we made it to Port Douglas. A cute little beach town.
Our hotel, the Martinique on Macrossan, is about 4 buildings down from the beach. The room is a lot bigger than we expected which was a nice surprise. Our host, Antonia, is very nice and pointed out a few things on the map that we should check out. Surprisingly, you can walk end to end in Port Douglas in less than 10 minutes. Janita, Paul and family were staying in another hotel down the street, so for now we separated.
We decided to check
out the local beach. Because of potential jelly fish dangers in the water, they have set up a safety net in the water and emphasized that all beachgoers should swim within the boundaries. We opted not to swim, but dipped our toes in the water. The water was like the Gulf of Mexico, incredibly warm, like bath water. Very different from the water we experienced in Adelaide, Kangaroo Island and Sydney. The sand was brown, not white, which wasn't as pretty as some of the other beaches we've seen, but at least it wasn't rocky.After our walk, we were off to find something to eat. Antonia had mentioned this local joint called "Tin Shed" that we wanted to try but it was closed between lunch and dinner. So, instead, we decided to walk further down the street to the On the Inlet Seafood Restaurant, which was home to George the Grouper. We had heard about the restaurant and were reminded by Antonia that every day around 5 PM they do a grouper feeding. We didn't know what to expect. Eric was expecting this 1 or 2 foot fish while I was expecting this 100 lb beast. I think the actual fish was closer to my estimates. It was actually two
goliath groupers! It was amazing seeing them come out of the water to feast on some tuna bones. We had prime seating, having gotten there at 4pm. Paul, Janita, Paul's brother, and the kids all came out in time to share in the fun. Check out our videos of the fish feeding. It was amazing. I had only seen a goliath grouper in captivity, so seeing them out in the water was pretty neat.What was also fun about the restaurant is that they allow you to throw your scrap seafood into the water to feed all the fish that are swimming around. We ordered a pail of shrimp and proceeded to throw all the heads, tails and shells into the water. It was cool seeing the fish fight over the food. We also had a fish taco that was pretty tasty.
After the feasting and feeding, we headed back to Paul and Janita's place to put the kids to bed before the adults went out for a real dinner. We ended up at this place called Rattle and Hum that served simple fare - salads, burgers, pizza, etc. It wasn't the best meal, but it filled our tummies.
After making a run to the local convenience store and grabbing a gelato, we called it an early night. We have a full day of diving to do tomorrow!
For pictures of the day, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=bigtandeze&target=ALBUM&id=5406685352968864769&authkey=Gv1sRgCOrCr_qW2_LdCw&feat=email
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