Long goodbye

On Sunday, April 6th we left Port Douglas.  We took a 1 hour shuttle to Cairns.  The. We had an almost a 3 hour flight from Cairns to Sydney.  We arrived in Sydney just in time to have a very mediocre airport hotel dinner and  then it was bedtime because our flight home departed at 9:35 and we thought getting to the airport between 7 and 7:30 would be plenty of time.

Market in Port Douglas before the rain and before we left 

The market in Port Douglas if you are in the mood for handmade jewelry or tarot card readings, I would highly recommend.

Katie view from the plane after takeoff 

Katie’s view from the plane right around sunset

3 of us are off to Sydney International Airport where we might almost miss our flight because the passport and security queue was so long.  At one point, I was prepared to fight a lady who was baffled by Security scanner and a dude taking selfies.  Luckily, my support team talked me down and we eventually made the plane and made it to LA without further incident.  Now home to sleep in our own bed and use our own shower.

Lots of great memories but the best was seeing how independent and dynamic Katie is becoming as we see her explore the world on her own.  It was also amazing to see how close Katie and her roommates are.  You want people to like/love your children as much as you do and it was very fun to see that first hand with her Australian friends.

Gracie vs. Australia 🇦🇺

Saturday, April 5th, 2025 was a good day to sleep in a little bit after our snorkeling adventure.  Everyone slowly rolled out of bed to start the day.

Morning walk on 4 Mile Beach

All smiles early in the morning.

We had a relaxed and enjoyable breakfast at the local dinner.  Eggs, bacon and toast was the preferred order for most.  Gracie went with Nutella French Toast pancakes, which seemed to be a big hit with her. 

We all hung out around the pool in the morning reading or relaxing.  Before we knew it, it was 1:30 and time to depart for our afternoon and night tour of the Daintree rainforest.

Prior to departure, G-Money lost her sunglasses which turned out to be a very traumatic experience.

Far North Queensland Nature Tours even have branded drinks. 😮 

First stop was the Daintree River for a 1 hour cruise in a solar boat to look for Salt Water Crocodiles.  Our guide informed us this is not the best time of year to see them because they will typically remain submerged or semi-submerged in the warm summer water. June, July and August is when you will see themselves sunning on the banks and sandbars.  

The crocodiles are here in the Daintree river, they are just hiding holding their breath for up to 7 hours hoping you will go for a swim and become a tasty bit.

Gracie and Katie, not in an actual crocodile mouth.

The whole family (-1) on a crocodile adventure 

Side note: Tree kangaroos love this plant 

Kari and Katie on the Daintree. Grace battling the sun on all fronts.

Bruce the female 🐊 

4 meters long and chilling in the warm water

Bruce turning to look at Grace.

Mangroves and murky water. Swim at your own risk. Also, there may be a few bull sharks in this river as well.

On the ferry as we cross the Daintree River.

Views from Daintree Rainforest 

On our daytime nature walk.

Right before we started this walk, we were getting out of the van and preparing for our walk Katie saw another traveler pointing and saying something.  She walked out to the road and saw a Cassowary crossing the road in the wild.  None of us got there in time to see it which is sad for us.

Wombat berries

Strangling figs.


These are ferns.  The spores land in the trees, collect the leaves from the trees and make their own compost/dirt which gives them their nutrients. Some get so big they contain worms

Mangrove and their roots reaching into the air for oxygen 

Ant Plant.  The base is filled with little chambers that encourage ants to make a home in.  The ants will use one of the chambers to store the dead ants which in turn provides the nutrients for the plant to grow.

I swear David said these were lichen spores and one of the oldest organisms in the rainforest.  Mag up to see the little spores on the grass like strands

This mangrove was tipping over so it grew a root straight down to keep itself upright.

Look at this evening view from the beach over the Coral Sea.

On the beach, just before sunset.

The family (-1) and our guide David.

Grace and I smiling on the beach enjoying the sunset.

This is a rainforest spider.  If you shine the light just right it will reflect red from their eyes revealing their location.  If you shined your light out on the trees you could see a lot of them and I mean a lot.  Grace was not impressed.

The glowing object is a little rainforest scorpion.  They have a venous sting, not enough to kill you but enough to make you feel bad.  Our guide, David says he sees people sitting on this all the time during the day.  Gracie was not impressed.

This spiders weaves a web and then throws it at his prey.  Grace was not impressed

This is a green tree snake.  According to sources it is either not venomous or slightly venomous. It is primarily interested in hunting frogs.  It was not happy that we interrupted his nocturnal activities. 

This is the point where Grace decided she was done with the Daintree Rainforest.  There may have been some tears at this point.  Grace was like UV Index 12, fine, humidity fine, rain fine, night hike fine, spiders not very fine with this, snakes, ooh hell no we are done with this hike and this place.

The canopy at night with our torches.

Cane Toad

This spider weaves an entanglement web with little trip wires for its prey.

Night photos of the Rainforest from the beach

The moon at night through the forest to us on the beach 

This was supposed to be the Southern Cross, maybe you can see it maybe you can’t 

Here is a brief list of the dangerous or poisonous plants and animals we avoid during our time in and around the Daintree Rainforest.

1. Box Jellyfish: extremely venomous 

2. Irukandji Jellyfish: extremely venomous.

3. Cassowary: large with sharp claws.

4. Green Tree Ants: spray formic acid which stings

5. Dwarf wood scorpion: bee sting level toxin

6. Green Tree Snake: nonvenomous 

7. Cain Toads: poisonous to dogs if eaten

8. Funnel-web spider: venomous 

9. Redbacked spiders: venomous 

10. Gympie-Gympie: most painful plant in world

11. Milky Mangrove: temporary blindness

12. Black Bean trees: seeds poisonous if eaten raw

 Everyone went back to the room, showered vigorously and then packed  up to begin our return home. It will be a long trip home but it was sure a fun time in Australia 🇦🇺.

The Great Barrier Reef

Friday, April 4th, 2025 is one of those bucket list days! Today, the available members of the Anseth family are going to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.  The Reef is around 500,00 years old in the making. The Great Barrier Reef stretches over 1,400 miles in the Coral Sea from Bundaberg to the tip of Cape York.  The Great Barrier Reef is made up of 2,900 + individual reefs.  There are 1500+ types of fish, 400+types of coral and reef sharks are the apex predator on the reef. 

We did stop at Opal Reef for one of our 3 spots.  Our tour company, Calypso chooses the snorkel locations based on weather and tide patterns according to the members who helped us.

Reef map on the boat.

Leaving Port Douglas

Australia rules.

Grace and Katie before the snorkel tour

Let’s go snorkeling!!!

No one took a picture of us in our stinger suits but they have stirrup feet, hood and the covers for your hands. They are black and they are hot when you are not in the water.

The reef and a school of fish

More fish

Chevron Butterflyfish on the coral

Love the color of this coral.  I don’t think the picture does it justice.

Blackbacked Butterflyfish

I think these are a variety of parrot fish

Parrot fish

Love the coral

Fish among the branch coral

Threebanded Pennantfish


Stripey Seaperch.  Never forget the stripey dress!!!

Moon Waresse

I can’t match this one.

Saddled Butterflyfish

Black Butterflyfish

Parrot fish

Wrasse???

Stripey seaperch.

Steephead Parrot Fish

No idea???

Jellyfish #1

Jellyfish!!!

Apex predator: White-Tipped Reef Shark

I was just snorkeling out away from the group when this guy showed up to check me out.  He swam around me and I followed him for about 30 sec. Super cool seeing him cruise in and survey the reef.  Everyone eventually saw him and he took off.

One more shot from my GoPro. It was so cool to see this guy out moving.

Definitely, out of practice snorkeling, first stop I was always popping up, not comfortable with the snorkel in my mouth, always looking around for Katie, Grace and Kari.  Once you get comfortable and you can just use the buoyancy of the salt water and the stinger suit you can just let the current float you over the reef and the interactions are so much better.

We finally finished snorkeling and now it was time for a 🍺 and a trip home.

Grace and Katie after the snorkeling.

Island with a lighthouse outside the harbor

Australia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Australia UV index is at 12 all day.

The coastline and the clouds 

Mrs. Anseth charting our course home.

Nautical miles 

Back on dry land and in one piece!!

Hemingway’s Pub, Port Douglas 

Coconut Prawns

Chips!! Australia loves French fries as much as I do.

Sunset 

St. Mary’s by the Sea.

Info on the church.

Mojito to close the night out at La Cucina with our meal.  

Amazing day to share with the family. Amazing!!