Living in Port Douglas Paradise!
What makes Port Douglas Paradise? Waking up with the beautiful morning sun and heading to the ocean for a refreshing swim in the tranquil Coral Sea.
4 Mile Beach is perfectly picturesque, stunning white sand and palm trees, surrounded by the magnificent Daintree Rainforest
Live the life of luxury, on a budget!
Port Douglas is a vibrant, tropical getaway. With eco certified tours to the Great Barrier Reef, boutique shops and a wide variety of alfresco dining.
If you are working on the road, like us. The local library is a perfect place for a mobile office. Locals and tourists can make use of ‘the space’ a quiet office area with air con and electric! Furthermore, that feeling at the end of the day, walking back “home” to our camper by the beach. “Port Douglas Paradise!”
Best of both worlds – Sunrise & Sunset
It can be a difficult task to capture images of the magical sunset on the east coast. Fortunately, in Port Douglas you get to see a sunrise and a sunset.
The sun rise’s at 4 Mile Beach every morning. Dog walkers, families and visitors enjoy a magical walks along the beach, with waves softly rolling and lorikeets chirping in the trees.
In the early evening we head over to Rex Smeal Park. A unique environment, with views of the ocean, mangroves and mountains that offer a stunning sunset.
It is a congregation of various people. Couples relaxing by the waters edge, families laughing and smiling, friends enjoying a cheeky beer whilst others play music and dance.
Together this makes “Port Douglas Paradise”
Incredible Views from Flagstaff Hill
A wonderful walk from 4 Mile Beach to Flagstaff Hill lookout. This offers stunning views down the coast all the way to Cairns.
Furthermore, there’s benches to relax and filtered water too! Enjoy the view and catch your breath.
Wildlife Spotting at Mossman Gorge
Magical Mossman Gorge!
Only 15 minutes drive from Port Douglas, this ancient and prehistoric rainforest is definitely worth a visit.
Discover the pristine rainforest, cool streams and towering moutnains of Mossman Gorge whilst learning about the local Kuku Yalanji people.
Snakes are a favourite of mine and luckily I managed to capture this surprisingly beautiful shot as he basked in the morning sun.
As we watch the beauty of an Ulysuss butterfly, a Boyds Rainforest Dragon appears out of nowhere. This beautiful creature is sat just sat 4 feet away and poses perfectly for a photo.
Mossman Gorge is not complete without a swim! It has been said, these waters are the purest in the world.
Without delay, we jumped off the huge boulders into the lush cool waters of the Mossman River. Sometimes, you have to let go of what your supposed to do, be young at heart, be free.
The water is fresh, fast flowing and makes feel alive!
Check out our Youtube video on our Channel.sa
The Great Barrier Reef!
Finishing off our “Port Douglas Paradise” is a trip to the Great Barrier Reef, with Wavelength Cruises. This is by far our highlight of Port Douglas for many reasons.
Wavelength are leading the way eco tourism. Firstly this owner operated company have a passion for the Great Barrier Reef and it’s residents. All their crew are eco conscious and furthermore, were chosen to host the film crew for Blue Planet 2.
We are crazy about Scuba Diving but Wavelength is a snorkel only reef cruise. To our surprise the snorkelling blew our minds and the coral is thriving!
The crew are fantastic, passionate and really care. Furthermore, they are all marine biologists and offer excellent snorkel tours at all 3 reef sites daily.
What did we see?
A green Sea Turtle, white tipped Reef Shark, 3 blue spotted lagoon Rays, an awesome Cuttlefish, a very rare sighting of an epaulette shark (they can walk on land!) and plethoras of fish.
In fact, the coral is just as stunning too with so many varieties, colours and sizes! For example; the boulder coral is 5 times larger than me!
New Friends & Faces
During our adventures in Port Douglas we met some wonderful people.
David (above) adored our Campervan, and of course our logo “Tree Hugger Travel” down the side of it!
From Monterrey, California, David is passionate about the forest and mountains around his home and also helps to save trees!
Furthermore, he fascinated us with great travelling stories. A paraglider for many years, he ‘surfed’ the”Morning Glory” over Burketown and even wrote an astrophysics blog. In fact he’s been invited over to Perth, Australia to give a speech on ‘The Big Bang!’
Another interesting character we met is this guy… Sleeping in Rex Smeal Park. Was he just homeless?
The big answer is NO!
As I washed my plates at the BBQ area Campbell was heating up his Billy Tea. “Hows’ it going, I’m John.” I Said. “Campbell” He replied “Campbell the Swaggie.”
What a surreal moment, his grin was brilliant! Swaggie then expalined, he’s a traveller and visits many folk festivals up and down the coast of Australia.
Swaggie’ spends most of his time visiting the local libraries. His head stooped over pages and pages of hand written paper. Later, we found out he is actually a poet and a famous one too!
Furthermore, he is also known to be the last swagman! Fingers crossed we cross his path once again.
Brekkie Beach Clean Port Douglas | Eco Van Life
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