Australia Part 1: Welcome to the Land Down Under

4 Mile Beach

As I sat in the airport waiting for the flight to depart for Darwin, our first stop in Australia, I realized I didn’t know much about the “land down under”.  The Crocodile Hunter, the one liner of “the dingo ate my baby” and Foster’s Beer was pretty much the extent of my knowledge.  After just a few weeks I’ve come to find out the local Aussies true feelings on the Croc Hunter, their utter distaste of Foster’s Beer, the tragic true story of the “dingo ate my baby line” and much more about the rich history of this country.  Australia, the 6^th largest country in the world and home of 22 million people, was originally founded as a penal colony for all of Britain’s corrupt felons.  Over 80% of Australia’s unique flora and fauna can be found nowhere else in the world and the 10 most venomous/deadliest creatures call Australia home.

 As we got off the plane in Darwin at 3 am, it felt as if we literally stepped into an oven as the temperatures soared at 30° C/86° F and humidity that hit you like a wet blanket.  Darwin would be a quick stop with a goal to do as many loads of laundry as humanly possible and get our feet wet in the local Aussie slang.  I noticed many and jotted down a few to share, including the tendency to add “ies” to many normal words we use in every day speech.  Here are a few..brekkie may be my personal favorite J

• “You’re a champion, mate!”—Nice work
• “Sunnies” – sunglasses
• “Brekkie” – breakfast
• “Wowsa” –lame person
• “She’ll be apples!” – it will be alright
• “Chrissy pressies” – Christmas presents

After taking full advantage of our 36 hours in Darwin, complete with a crucial afternoon stop at Darwin’s wave pool, sunset viewings and a suitcase full of clean clothes, we were off to Port Douglas.  Located on the eastern coast of Australia, Port Douglas is the closest Australian city to the largest living thing in the world, the Great Barrier Reef.  With just a few steps from our apartment door you found yourself on 4 Mile Beach, a stunning never ending beach with a backdrop of Australia’s green covered mountains.  With the enticing water of the Pacific Ocean calling my name and my swim suit already on, I was ready to hop in. 

Cape Tribulation

“No, no, mate” the lifeguard said.  “We got stinger season!” It was in fact box jellyfish season on the eastern coast.  Although cute, little animals to look at, both the lifeguard and Bill Bryson’s book Down Under informed me that any contact with the little creature would kill you within seconds. However, never to turn away the eager tourists, the beach provides a small netted enclosed area to safely swim in.  I decided to stick to the walks along the beach, perfecting my bronze tan and riding my bike along the coast.  Although we were all loving the beach holiday life, we were ready to check out the area beyond Port Douglas.  Our bus arrived, seriously looking like a rock groups’ tour bus.  Immediately I knew this was going to be good.  Our first stop on the tour bus took us to the Daintree River to do our first crocodile spotting.  Mission accomplished—three crocodiles and all of our limbs intact when we returned.  After a walk through the Daintree Wet Tropic Rainforests and look out points over Cape Tribulation (one of first places Captain James Cook came across while discovering Australia for first time), an Australian ice cream stop was a necessity.  None of that cookies n’ cream or rocky road here—but a once in a lifetime flavors of apricot, jackfruit, waddleseed (tastes like coffee) and black sapote (a fruit that tastes like chocolate pudding!).  Mossman Gorge, swimming, snake spotting and an Australian barbie were all to follow that afternoon.  After many trashy novels and lots of yummy home cooked meals, we were out of the city and on to the treehouse!