William & Laura's Travels

Since last writing we seem to have done loads of things. When I last updated we were still in Port Douglas. It was beautiful. We hired a small pontoon boat for the afternoon and went up the Dickson Inlet which was great fun. Needless to say Willie took the fishing rod but no luck. Fun all the same. After a couple of days sunbathing and fishing in Port Douglas area we decided to head up to Cooktown about 260kms North. It was a great drive through the rainforest on a steep winding road which Willie loved driving. Once over and through the mountains we came out onto dry, arid land to take us North. It was so different from the lush greenery near the coast. Long straight roads. As we approached Cooktown we went throughthe Black Mountains which were huge mountains of black granite rocks. Very strange to see.

Arrived in Cooktown, which is a very historical small town. Went up to the top of grassy hill which gives you 360degree views of the town, sea and rivers surrounding. It was very windy but very beautiful. We stayed in Cooktown for a few days and did a bit of sightseeing and fishing. It is one of Australia's most historically significant towns where Captain Cook beached his ship in 1770 and the town is therefore named after him. Very interesting place. We also visited the Endevour Falls which were quite dryish due to it being winter and the dry season but we did see a family of turtles. Also had our first encounter of a HUGE SPIDER!!! It was on its massive web and was about 10cm. Got a couple of photos but they are so far away as we were both to scared to get close!! hehe. No idea what kind of spider it was. Exciting stuff.

From Cooktown we headed back down the road and turned off to visits "Laura" a town on the way up to Cape York (the highest point in Australia) It was 60kms of unsealed road, very dusty and bumpy almost all of the way. What an experience. Eventually got there and it was the smallest town ever and there wasn't really anything there apart from a hotel and campsite, so booked in to the campsite and had tea in the hotel. Had a good night though as we met four aussie guys on a trip and they were a good laugh, also the three girls working in the hotel were from England so got talking to them too. The next day once I had my photo taken by the "Laura" sign, we headed back down the road aftering deciding it probably wasn't wise to keep going North without a 4WD. We stopped off at Split Rock Art Site and walked up a hill to see original aboriginal paintings on the rocks. They were absolutely brilliant. They were still really clear even though they were thousands of years old. Each picture has a different symbolic meaning. Very interesting place and well worth a visit.

Arrived back in Port Douglas all geared up to do a reef trip but it had gotten really windy and the tour operators advised not to go as the sea was so choppy. So instead of hanging about waiting on the weather to calm down we went up to the Atherton tablelands. First stop - Mareeba, which was a nice place.The area has many mango, tea and coffee plantations so we thought we had better visit. So we visited a Mango Winery and got to taste all the wines, ports and liqueers they produce. Very yummy. William bought me a bottle of bubbly for my birthday and some wine. We also visited the Coffee Works. A coffee plantation which did a fantastic guided tour and you got to taste all they coffees, teas, chocolates and liqueurs they produce. Delicious.