We were all excited to arrive in Queensland. Mum and Dad love to be in the tropics and Jungle Jim was excited about getting his first glimpse of rainforest. Plus he had some shorts with tree frogs on them which had been waiting for a debut. 

Disclaimer – Those of you less interested in the baby side of things should feel free to skip a paragraph… 

Travelling with BB is fun and we felt like we were managing quite well. But daytime naps were getting the better of us. We resorted to buying a book, which advised us that we needed a consistent routine and location for naps – not so easy when on the move. We focused a bit more in getting him asleep before being overtired and stayed in one hotel/apartment and as a result Queensland has been a happy location for us, though we often find ourselves lingering in air conditioned locations whilst the BB has some quality Zzzzzz time. As I write (in a darkened room) BB naps beside me. 

We based ourselves in Port Douglas. So far it is Mum’s favourite place. Loads of places to eat with great seafood, a pretty beach and lots of nice shops where we bought some new outfits for the ever growing BB and a brilliant hotel/apartment called Newport on Macrossan. Thanks to them for a great stay, we were very happy there. 

We went out for a day and dived the Great Barrier Reef. It was fab to dive again, the last time was on our honeymoon in the Maldives. Though it was strange to dive separately as we took it in turns with the bubba. Shout out to Dad for achieving the longest nap of our travels so far (BB not Dad!). 2hr 10 min of sling asleep action on deck whilst mum dived. Sweaty work!!  Rather disappointingly the diving was merely average. Nice coral and good conditions but there was no ‘great’ for us on the Barrier Reef this time.

The next day trip was Mossman Gorge. A lovely 2.6km walk through the rainforest where they have done a great job of making it accessible without over developing it. We refreshed afterwards with a dip in a big pool in the river which runs through the gorge. Mum was on camera duty but failed miserably because she got chased around by a horse fly biting her ass!! Comical to watch from the safety of the water .

We couldn’t leave Queensland without going salty (saltwater crocodile) spotting on the Daintree river and boy did we spot one. His name is Lumpy and he is about 5.5m long. At one point mum got up onto the front of the boat (without BB I might add) and Aussie Ray said ‘I wouldn’t stand up there, not with that being Lumpy’.  Needless to say she moved with some haste. 

A bonus of the trip was spotting a tree frog which Dad was really hoping to see…but not where you would expect… not in the undergrowth but amongst the packets of crisps for sale in the boat company’s shop!

The next day was north across the Daintree river (by car ferry) up to Cape Tribulation where Captain James Cook ran aground in the Endeavour in 1770. This was a nostalgia trip for Dad as he travelled there as a backpacker 16 years ago on his first round the world trip. Not quite as adventurous as Captain James Cook but it was far less developed than it is now… they have sealed roads, cafes and spas now!

Cape Tribulation is all about dense steaming jungle, mangroves and beautiful remote beaches. Whilst they truly are beautiful the beaches are deceptive and have an ominous side, the sea is an absolute no go thanks to stingers (box jellyfish), saltwater crocodiles and sharks. All of which are potentially deadly and even paddling is out of the question thanks to the stingers 😧. 

As you know BB had his 6 month anniversary whilst we were here. In a life void of milestone cards we celebrated by buying him some new togs to fit his rapidly growing long legs and offering him his first taste of ice cream, naughty!!

Bali’s next. We’re sad to leave Queensland but before we go “BB wouldn’t give a XXXX for anything else.”