Panoramic

It is a 4 hour drive from Cooktown to Cairns along the sealed Mulligan Highway (then turning east through Julatten) so we had time to stop at lookouts for panoramic shots and to eat a leisurely lunch at Port Douglas SLSC.

These pictures were taken at the first of the lookouts on the Mulligan Highway as you head north to Cooktown. The view is to the east and most likely is of the mountains west of Daintree and Port Douglas. We didn't stop on the way up as a number of trailer towing 4WDs took up most of the parking space.

We took the Julatten Road to get down to Port Douglas. Amazingly the countryside became lush and green almost from the moment we turned off the Mulligan Highway. The following view looks north towards Mossman.

The holiday makers were out in force in Port Douglas:

The SLSC had a yellow flag up with a triangle warning sign about marine stingers. The council also had  erected a sign beside the beach access path warning of the possibility of crocs and stingers. I don't think I would be swimming - even if the council is only covering possible liability. The breeze was too cool anyway.

I ordered a hot tomato based stew of seafood and vegetables for lunch. The English waitress asked whether it would be too hot to eat during the day as it was a warm day. I said it wasn't warm for a Queenslander (and I enjoyed the hot seafood stew).

Sections of the drive south from Port Douglas to Cairns would have to be one of the best ocean drives in Australia. We stopped where we could to get pictures.

Pebbly Beach (the white beach is not sand - it is pebbles, though not as many when I first saw it nearly 40 years ago):

The view towards Ellis Beach:

We've already booked our tours out of Cairns. Tomorrow we head to the Daintree and Cape Tribulation and then to Emmagen Creek at the southern end of the Bloomfield Track. On Friday we are going west through Mareeba to Chillagoe to visit caves and mining remains. We plan to drive ourselves to Mossman Gorge and to wander around Cairns on Saturday and Sunday.