Cricket, Rain and a Birthday

A lazy day today; as the sun is shining and the temperature starts to rise, we decide to have another day on the beach and around the town. Yet another game of tennis for Keith and Alex, whilst Diane sunbathes around the pool. We head for the beach, but as we cross from the apartment towards the beach, we are stopped in our tracks by some of our fellow apartment users. They explain that they have just seen a venomous snake bathing on the wooden walkway that links the apartment to the beach! Funny enough, we decide to take the long way to the beach and ditch the chance of a photo shoot. We spot a hut that is hiring out water equipment, but he also has a cricket set, so we organise our own World Cup. Alex soon has us running around and after about an hour, we concede the tournament. For lunch we have a great chicken burger at N17 (the owner is from Tottenham) and finish the day off with a few beers at the Surf Life Saving Club.

The next day, we travel to Kuranda and a trip on the cable car that travels over the rain forest. The weather is not great and it drizzles most of the morning, but it does not dampen our spirits. We look around the town and Alex buys some souvenirs, namely a boomerang and didgeridoo. The cable car experience is great, with an audio commentary that explains what we are seeing. We are told that James Cameron used the tree canopy as an idea for the Avatar film, in particular one stand out tree that does resemble the Hometree of the Na'vi. We get back to Port Douglas to go to dinner, as it's Keith's 62nd birthday. We dine at the Nautilus, that is a restuarant established for over 60 years and is set in a tropical garden. To get to it you have to walk up a long sandy path from the main road. It is set outside and was wonderfully decorated. Felt more Bali than Aussie. Apparently Bill and Hillary Clinton have eaten there, as has David Bowie. So they can add the Dixon's to the golden list! We have the 7 course degustation menu that was really good and justified the good reviews, although the service was a bit eratic, albeit we found it more amusing than annoying. All in all, another great day and we are really enjoying Port Douglas.