Sometimes you have a holiday that's so jam-packed you need a holiday after the holiday. This is one of those stories, I'm exhausted, we completely blew our budget and I'd do it again.

This journey starts around December 2022 if I recall correctly... I'm typically more of a driving holiday person. This is mostly because I find planes to be a major pain in the backside. Lots of fanfare, time taken and inconvenience for what's effectively a bus with wings. But back in December 2022 my wife happened upon a Jetstar sale that would get the whole family to Port Douglas at mid year. After missing out on holidays due to the pandemic years we decided to just go for it. We jumped on the sale and set this trip in motion.

Tuesday 11th July 2023

This is what I think of as a sacrificial day:

1. Up early for flights (out of house by 4am)
2. Bundle the kids into the plane
3. Fly to Cairns
4. Spend half an hour sorting out the rental car
5. Drive overly-tired kids an hour to Port Douglas

Suffice to say we had some cranky behavior, and many tears shed as we tried to remind our kids that they're overly tired and need to lie down. Pro-tip, never tell a tired child that they're tired. 100% would not recommend.

Wednesday 12th July 2023

GO TIME! This was our first real day out and about, we caught the Quicksilver to the outer reef. There was so much going on the kids didn't know how to contain themselves, we took a ride on a glass-bottomed semi-submersible, sent post cards from the post reef, took an under water walk and went snorkeling. The sheer volume of things combined with my son getting sea-sick on the way to the reef meant we struggled to capture many photos. We did get some good photos from the kids' under water cameras (discussed in detail over at techThreads) and some great video too:

On the way back via boat, my son and I sat outside by the engines in the wind and the spray. This did wonders for preventing return sea sickness.

Thursday 13th July 2023

A trip to far north Queensland isn't complete without some Crocs, so off we went to Hartley's.

There was tons to keep the kids busy, crocodile feeding shows, a boat ride through the lagoon, snake handling show, friendly Cassowaries that you can hand feed, enough to take up a solid half day while you sprint from activity to activity.

Friday 14th July 2023

It BUCKETED rain on the 14th. The 14th was Daintree day. We started our day on the Solar Whisper, a wildlife spotting boat that operates on the Daintree River. Even though the weather wasn't favourable to crocodile spotting, we still managed to spot one while out and about. There's something undeniably exciting about spotting a wild croc out on the river as opposed to a captive one that can't hide.

After the boat ride we boarded the car ferry to get across the river and into the Daintree proper. We ended up spending the whole day in the visitors centre. There we spent the majority of the day on the canopy walk, and climbing the tower above the tree tops. Again there was so much to see and do and enjoy, I struggled to remember my camera.

Afterwards we continued onwards to Cape Tribulation for dinner. I pulled over for some quick drone shots before sunset. I feel a strong urge to return to the Daintree, I feel we've barely scratched the surface and that much like our regular visits to the Grampians, this is a place that would justify return visits.

Saturday 15th July 2023

We stuck with the rainforest theme. This time closer to Cairns. On Saturday we took the train up to Kuranda and the SkyRail (cable cars) back down. Both modes of transport offer unique and stunning views.

The train trip up is slow and offers some amazing views below. This is made a bit of a challenge if you're trying to photograph things because blink and you'll miss it.

The skyrail back down however is something else entirely. While the train takes you through the rainforest, the skyrail just goes right over the canopy. Each cable car has seating for 6 people (as a family of 4 we had a car to ourselves) and the views are just out of this world. My son LOVED it, my daughter discovered her fear of heights. The trip is made all the more special by the fact the 2 stations along the way are only accessible via skyrail.

The short stops along the way offered stunning views and a moment to pause and stretch our legs

The skyrail offered the types of views you go out and buy a drone to capture, but in this instance you get to experience it first hand.

Sunday 16th July 2023

... was given over to the Port Douglas Market. We broke up into two teams. My wife and daughter went looking for some dresses, while my son and I searched for some food and took some time to explore the shore & jetty.

We also used the opportunity to get the drone up for some more shots. Of course the wind gusts picked up aggressively while the drone was out, so I had a "hold your breath" moment hoping to see if I'd make it back against the wind.

Monday 17th July 2023

On our last day we took the reef-sprinter out to Low Isles. Whereas our trip on the Quicksilver was to the outer reef, this is the inner reef. Much easier to get to and much easier waters to swim in. The trade off is less water clarity.

The reef sprinter claims to be so fast you don't have a chance to get sea sick. Can confirm, it checks out.

Once we got to Low Isles the kids had an absolute ball snorkeling out in the reef, taking photos of every interesting coral they could find. I have to admit I had a great time too, even if the colors and vibrancy was muted compared to the outer reef.

My son and I took an opportunity to explore the island too, it takes maybe 10 minutes to walk all the way around and that time is only so long because it's difficult to walk in the sand.

We also found a spot free of people so we wouldn't disrupt anyone getting up in the air for a drone shot. While I was nervous after my experience with wind gusts the day beforehand, I have to admit these were perhaps the best shots of the holiday.

To make the best of it, open this video in full screen and force to 4K:

Wrap up

This was perhaps the perfect holiday. Long enough to be happy to get back home, but also short enough to leave us all wanting more. We perhaps over did it with very little free/slack time in amongst the days, but after a few years where adventures have been sorely missing, I wouldn't want it any other way.