First stop was the Sunday Markets & coconut milk straight from the nut.
View from Flagstaff Hill over Four Mile Beach & entrance to Port Douglas.
Churches & other old stuff around town. The church has the most marriages for any church in Australia, more than 650/year.
Island Point Lighthouse is near Flagstaff Hill & was built in 1879. Its been blown over a couple of times in cyclones & rebuilt. It closed in 1997 & was replaced by a light on a stick close by. The other one is the Lighthouse on Low Isles. The light was built in 1878 & was the first lighthouse in North QLD. I have cheated with the photo as we are not going out on the reef this trip. This photo was from when we visited in 1994 on the Kona with Vic Tonkin. Vic is no longer with us but the memories are. We ran into a Whale Shark in a channel on the ribbon reefs on the way back into Port Douglas.
Sugar Cane Locos around the place.
The two most important buildings in Mossman. The Exchange Hotel & the Sugar Mill.
Mossman Gorge was chaos. The pictures don’t show it but there were kids everywhere.
We had a hit at the Mirage Country Club. Course was OK. Greens a bit bumpy. With the closure of Paradise Palms this seems to be where the locals are playing.
Followed by a beer & dinner at the Brewery at the Marina.
Boat ride up Dickson Inlet to find some crocs. Found a couple only 1km out of town.
Then a train ride on the Bally Hooley train from the marina to St Crispins.
They have four locos that share the work. All of them worked in the Sugar Mills at one stage.
Faugh-A-Ballagh was used to link Mossman to Port Douglas on a rail line that was built in 1899. It was finally retired in 1958 & is on display at Port Douglas.
Had another game, this time at Sea Temple (Palmer hasn’t destroyed this one yet).
Lunch at the Tin Shed with the boy was something to remember.
Quote of the Day
“Either give me more wine or leave me alone.”