Our fantastic Sunday itinerary in Far North Queensland - Port Douglas Sunday Market, Crocodile cruise on the Daintree River, Alexandria Lookout and Wonga beach
We started our day at the famous Port Douglas Sunday Market. Vendors come from all over the Far North to sell their products to both tourists and locals. Here you'll find arts and crafts, jewelry, fruit and vegetables, glassware, books, coffee, beautiful furniture and more. There is a festive and whimsical feel to the Port Douglas Market. Perhaps it's because of the colorful stalls and exotic fruits... everything seems so much brighter and appealing here than your average market - not to mention the exotic setting of shady palm trees and warm and caressing sea breezes. We loved this market and left with goods in hand.
Our next stop was the one hour Daintree crocodile river cruise. We used the company Solar Whisper as the boat is a solar-electric running boat that is totally eco friendly, generating no noise or poisonous fumes. It’s fantastic. It is a small run business and the skipper of our boat was passionate about the crocs and the Daintree area in general. He was very engaging in the knowledge he shared with us. We saw a few crocs but only because our skipper pointed them out to us as they are skillfully camouflaged.... The river itself and the overall setting of this cruise is magnificent..... Highly recommend!
We then crossed the Daintree river using the vehicle ferry, we found ourselves in the thick of the Daintree tropical rain forest. Our cassowary hunt was on!! While hubby was driving, my son and I searched the forests for cassowaries. Hubby was given instructions to drive slowly so that we could properly scan the forests on both sides of the road for cassowaries.... our cassowary hunt was serious business!
Our first stop was the Daintree Discover Centre which we thought was rather expensive for what is offered. However, we enjoyed the walks, especially the skyline walk and canopy tower which provided high up views into the rain forest. No cassowaries were spotted here but we still had four days to go and were still feeling optimistic about spotting one (against all odds!)
From the Discovery Center, we drove to Alexandria Lookout! Wow what a view! You can see where the Daintree River meets the ocean and the lush vast rain forests for miles and miles.... so beautiful. You can even see some of the islands and Port Douglas in the distance...
We hopped back into the car and wanted to get across the river before dark as the roads within the Daintree forest are narrow and winding and would be a hair-raising challenge to do in the dark. Unfortunately, there was a really long car queue for the vehicle ferry. So we were stuck for over an hour waiting to cross the river. So my son and I went cassowary searching.... none spotted YET...
We finally crossed the river and stopped in a deserted beach called Wonga. What can I say... this is Australia.... endless unspoiled deserted beaches lined with palm trees brimming with coconuts, soft white sand ..... just us and the crocodiles....
From Wonga beach, we drove back to Port Douglas feeling pretty satisfied with ourselves and life.... We will continue our cassowary hunt tomorrow in Cape Tribulation!!