Cairns and Port Douglas, with access to the Great barrier reef, and the Daintree rainforest

The second leg of our Australia Vacation was to a more tropical destination. We chose to stay in Port Douglas, close to Cairns, giving us easy access to the Great barrier reef, as well as day trips to the Daintree Rain forest

Day 1: A market day, and a drive down to Cairns Botanical gardens

After a travel day, we planned on a light day. There was a Sunday morning market scheduled downtown, So we made that the first item of the day. The market had lots of touristy wares, arts and crafts, and we window shopped mostly, with the occasional gift purchase. The weather was lovely and it was a nice way to spend a sunday morning.

We had decided to go visit the cairns botanical garden in the afternoon, so we found a nice cafe near the gardens, and made the long drive down to Cairns.

Noa had great ambiance and delicious food. Post lunch we walked around the botanical gardens, with some interruptions by rain. It was technically the middle of winter, so perhaps not the right season to expect the most from the botanical gardens, but it was lovely all the same, and a good way to spend an afternoon.

A lovely walkway nearby gave us a chance to get our first experience of the rain forests in this area as well.

Day 2: Skyrail cable, Kuranda Birdworld and butterflies, Kuranda railway

One of our more planned day, we had reserved spots in the skyrail and railways to visit the touristy destination of Kuranda.

An early start gave us a chance to spend more time in the various stops along the way. First a rain forest walkway with guided tours and a second chance to appreciate all the flora here.

The second stop on the skyrail was a viewpoint over Barron Falls, which was at a trickle, because we were visiting in the dry season.

And our final destination was at the small town of Kuranda. A short walk from the railways led us to Kuranda bird world, which Tejas had much anticipated. We had a blast interacting with, feeding and laughing with all the birds in the enclosure. This was also our first chance at seeing an elusive Cassowary, which is native to the rain forests of Queensland

The butterfly sanctuary was a fun stop as well, although perhaps not the best season to visit.

The train ride back on Kuranda Scenic rail was a great experience, and reminded us all of our experiences in trains in India. The scenery was amazing, but a few naps were snuck in too.

Tejas also drafted a version of the events of this day. Here’s his version.

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On 7/17/23, We decided to take the SkyRail Gondola from Port Douglas, QLD to the village of Kuranda, QLD. With a small Daintree Rain forest station with superb views in Smithfield, we soon arrived at Kuranda, where we window-shopped and ate a brief snack.

Soon we went to the wildlife preserve BirdWorld, where Parrots, Ducks, Geese, Cockatoos, a Cassowary, and other Australian Avians free-roam under a large mesh Dome for people to see and enjoy.

Upon entry, we received packs of Nuts, Grapes, and Biscuits to feed the birds. A playful cockatoo tried to bite the button off Sid’s collared shirt.

Soon after exiting this bird heaven, we went to another Sanctuary, this time a butterfly one. We walked among many of these winged Beauties. After a short scenic train ride , we arrived back in Cairns, where we drove to our AirBnB. We all agreed that we had a fun day.

For more information about bird world, visit: https://www.birdworldkuranda.com/.

This article was typed by Tejas Siddarth.

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Day 3: 4 Mile beach

A slower day planned after all the driving and activity on the previous day. We decided to explore port douglas, and walk around on the beach. The boys also wanted to explore the pool on the property, so we checked that off the list too. Overall, a nice vacation day.

A sunset walk downtown before dinner, gave us a nice sunset as well as a chance to hear all the parrots clamoring in the trees, as they settled down for the night.

Day 4: Great barrier reef

We had a reef visit planned with Quicksilver Cruises on this day. They ferry us over to a floating pontoon over the reef, from which people can go snorkeling, Scuba diving, on submersible rides etc. It took a good 90 minutes on the ferry, and once we were on the pontoon, we were so busy doing all the activities (as well as sea water everywhere), so we don’t have too many pictures from this day.

Highlights: Aarav and Sid did an underwater experience. Here’s an overly long video showing the whole thing.

Purni, Aarav and Parents went on a submersible ride, and Parents did a helicopter trip as well.

Overall a busy and memorable day

Day 5: Breakfast with the birds, More beach time.

Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas offers a “Breakfast with the Birds” program. We get to go in ahead of the general public, get served breakfast, while the staff bring around various residents and let us interact with them. The birds were super cute, and the staff and service was amazing. We had a great experience with our breakfast.

After breakfast we had a chance to visit all the other enclosures. The Wallabies were super cute, and the Kangaroos were like pet dogs, and only really interested in eating the pellets that we had available to feed them. All of us really enjoyed interacting with the wallabies and the roos.

We also explored the far end of 4-mile beach, and had fun finding creatures in the ocean, as well as wading in the warm tropical waters.

Day 6: Daintree Rainforest

A day long outing to the Daintree rain forest north of Port Douglas was the plan for the Day. We were picked up by tour guide Kirsty (an ex zookeeper) who drove us for the whole day and regaled us with local history, geography, botany and zoology. We talked about the sugar plantation all along our route, as well as the particular evolution of all the native plant an animal species in this small patch of rain forest that separated from Gondwana millennia ago.

Some highlights from this day

• Spiders and Prickly Katydids, native to Australia and the rain forests here.
• Croc spotting while on a short river boat cruise. Some large ones out there.
• Spotting 2 cassowaries in the wild: one in the brush while on a rain forest walkway, and the second walking along the roadway while we were leaving.
• The cool stream that we got to wade in after lunch at our lunch stop
• The tropical fruit farm turned into an ice-cream stand - Daintree Ice cream company where the triple combo of Jackfruit, Wattle Seed, and Mango was a trifecta of delicious.
• Mossman gorge was fun too, but we had already had a full day of adventure by this point.

Day 7: Riverdrift Snorkeling

Our final day in Port Douglas was mostly a rest day. We had booked a river drifting and snorkeling for the 4 of us in the Mossman river. Purni was not quite as enthusiastic, but managed to come along for the full ride. Tejas and Aarav were fully in their element and thoroughly enjoyed all the water fun and snorkeling

Overall an amazing time in a wonderful and beautiful location. Our entire family is already looking forward to going back and visiting again.