Nth Qld 2023 | FindPenguins

Newest first

Trip start
November 2, 2023
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Melb Airport
November 2, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Today the Chasers fly out for another small adventure…this time to Nth Qld.
Jen and I sharing some time in the Virgin lounge.
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Palm Cove
November 2, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 24 °C
We walked around the little village of Palm Cove and had an amazing breakfast at the Garage…served by Gabriel.
They have these majestic paperbark Eucalyptus trees that are common to this area.
The surf beach as you can see is a big rectangular boom net that prevents box jellyfish and crocodiles coming into the bathing area.
The life guard patrols this small area which when you consider how big some of the surf beaches are on our coasts this is quite funny to me.Read more
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Skyline Gondala
November 4, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
We took a ride on the Skyline gondola to connect with the Kuranda scenic railway. We had done the Kuranda scenic rail approx 30 years earlier when the Skyline had not been built.
It is an impressive development and all within pristine rainforest parkland.
The gondolas stop off at three different points along the way to showcase different aspects of the rainforest…interestingly the apex predator in the forest is the Amethyst Python which can grow to 8 metres and eats the tree kangaroo amongst other things.
Got some good shots of the strangler vines doing their thing slowly killing the host tree over time and then standing independently.
In most of the forest there are multiple canopy levels as plants compete for the sunshine and prime position and believe me the competition for that space is fierce.Read more
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Barron River & Kanunda Train
November 4, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
There were some great stops along the gondola ride to observe the Barron River Gorge.
We plan to to do some canyoning later in the week down that particular gorge.
It looks inviting especially the rock pools which we hopefully will plunge into. I think the biggest jump is around 10 metres.Read more
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Kanunda Township
November 4, 2023 in Australia
We took some time to explore the town of Kanunda and check out the variety of shops in the Main Street area.
Most of the shops were handicraft stores and local indigenous artwork.
When we arrived in the town we were greeted by four different didgeridoo players that lined the walk into town and 3 of them were young boys. They were practicing an ancient craft and demonstrating the skill it takes to play.Read more
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Mossman Gorge
November 5, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
We booked for a First Nations tour of the Mossman Gorge which was such a wonderful experience to visit the rainforest as well as understand some of the unique power of indigenous culture and folklore.
Our guide was an indigenous man who had grown up in the forest and spoke so passionately about it and what it means to him to have people visit and want to learn about indigenous culture.
He was passionate about the indigenous mindset of only taking from the forest what they need to survive…so counter culture to our shop and then throw out approach.
The quietness of the location and the fact that there is so much greenery and stillness arounde which is very therapeutic and mind soothing.Read more
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Mossman River
November 5, 2023 in Australia
We trekked through the bush to a beautiful natural rock pool where we swam and played in an natural occurring whirlpool.
Lots of fun 🤩 we then walked back out and drove back to Cairns.
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Mossman Gorge (cont’d)
November 5, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Perhaps the highlight of the walk for me was understanding how First Nations people use the forest and the knowledge passed down over thousands of years to coexist in the forest as it supplies everything they need.
Some of the surprises were:
1. Hitting a tree root with a rock to scare off your enemies…so loud.Read more
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Fitzroy Island
November 6, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 26 °C
Fitzroy Island (originally Koba or Gabar or Goong-Gan-Jee) is a continental island offshore from Cape Grafton, 29 km (18 miles) southeast of Cairns, Queensland, Australia. It is a locality in the Cairns Region. In the 2021 census, Fitzroy Island had a population of 85 people.
We visited to snorkel with turtles 🐢 and view coral as well as have a go at stand up paddle boarding.
Fitzroy island is a national park area and a sanctuary for the conservation and re introduction of turtles into the wild.
The highlight of the paddle boarding was Jen getting on her board backwards and not being able to paddle forwards because of the fins being at the front of the board instead of the back.
Hilarious…
We also walked around to one of the more secluded beaches to Nudie Beach 🏖️.Read more
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Palm Cove
November 7, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Trinity Bay Bike Ride
November 8, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
We hired some bikes after Leis had left for Melb and rode approximately 13 kms to have lunch at Trinity Bay.
The bike path has been constructed from Palm Cove and it has sections that weave in and out of palm trees which is quite picturesque.
There are also some netted swimming areas with small life saving stations to cater for tourist seasons.
This time of year the box jellyfish 🪼 is a big problem as well as crocodiles.Read more
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Behana Canyoning
November 9, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Canyoning is probably the most fun you can have as it pushes all of my buttons for exhilaration, fun, pushing your boundaries and just the beauty of being immersed in nature.
I was so proud of Jen on this trip as she really pushed herself and jumped from 12 metres which believe is quite high.
It always looks much lower looking from the bottom up ⬆️😜.
We had a great guide (Spencer) who really did push us to do some stuff that was not included in the trip…very thankful for his relaxed and professional approach.
We were fortunate to have beautiful weather as well which made floating in the river and climbing over the rocks even more fun.Read more
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Cairns Park
November 10, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Some of the beautiful parkland around Cairns and when it is hot like it is most of the time…then put in a public swimming pool.
0 likes
Nth Qld 2023 Traveler
Burleigh Heads - Leano
November 12, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
We spent the last couple of days of the holiday in Burleigh Heads with Dean and Leisa.
It was a fabulous way to finish off our short break with the Chasers.
We did some great hikes and very early starts…waking up at 4.30am to grab a coffee at 5.00am as everything starts early in Burleigh pretty much as soon as the sun ☀️ comes up.Read more
0 likes

Trip end
November 12, 2023