Leaving Cairns, we headed up to Hartley’s Croc Farm. We enjoyed many wonderful experiences here and even joined the croc cruise twice! This involved a boat trip around the lagoon, spotting the local crocs and feeding a few some chicken for lunch. The kids were amazed by the loudness of the crocs’ ‘jaw snap’- the sound a croc made when just missing their lunch! We also went on the croc farm tour and learnt how the crocs are breed for export. Kaytlin, who had a developed distaste for crocs thanks to a Putt Putt we went to last year (long running family joke) actually grew to love them and held a croc at any chance she got. We couldn’t resist a number of pics of her with her precious ‘snappy’.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch on the balcony, alongside the crocs in the lagoon. One croc even decided to join us for lunch by snapping up a poor Welcome Swallow dipping down for a drink. Of course, with the circle of life- yes- croc was on the menu. The skewers were delicious and tasted a bit of a cross between chicken and pork.

There were quite a number of experiences that we enjoyed at the park, including a reptile show, cassowary feeding and an interactive centre.

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Heading up to Port Douglas was one of the most stunning drives we have done so far. The road meanders along the coast, with the ocean on one side and the towering Atherton Tablelands on the other. At one of the higher points, we stopped to enjoy the lookout and watch a hang glider enjoy the ocean updraft.

Arriving in Port Douglas, we discovered that the city has quite a number of resorts and upmarket restaurants. With 3 kids in tow, we opted for the shop-in-Coles-dinner-in-the-van option! Later, we enjoyed live music from the local, while we fished off the wharf under the stars. That night, along with some other vanners, we simply free-camped near the wharf area.

The following morning, we headed up into the stunning Daintree Rainforest. Travelling into Daintree Village, we booked a tour on the Crocodile Express down the Daintree River. This was an enjoyable experience as we spotted a number of large crocs on the riverbank, as well as some gorgeous birdlife. The rainforest hanging into the river was so dense and it was great to pull up right next it and learn a bit about the various plant life. Those who were game also had a taste of one of the flowers.

After the cruise, we went back up to the river crossing where those who wish to explore Cape Tribulation take a barge across the Daintree River. Here we joined another Crocodile Express tour for a trip through the mangroves. We chose this company for our Daintree River Cruise because we were able to join both of these cruises for the one price of $60 for the family. The mangroves cruise was really enjoyable and we spotted some more large crocs and well as quite a number of small crocs on the river banks.

We then headed south to Mossman and enjoyed a lovely lunch from the cafe, right under trees covered in…you guessed it…moss! There was also a great park for the kids to play in. Driving to Mossman Gorge, we unhitched the van and drove into the gorge area. We had a gorgeous walk through the rainforest along the board walks, followed by a swim in the fresh cool water of the gorge. We were reminded that we were indeed in the rainforest, when we put our clothes down right next to a rather large spider.

Now that the kids had had their ‘baths’ for the day, we drove up into the Atherton Tablelands and free camped in Mount Molloy at the Rifle Creek Rest Area. This was a lovely spot and we enjoyed a camp fire with toasted marshmallows.