Day 25: Cairns

We backtracked to Mossman for a look around and discovered we had a flat tyre. Although the Goodyear Tyre shop is not normally a tourist destination, there were quite a few tourists there today, and we were happy to get the puncture fixed and to be on our way. It’s funny that we have travelled over 5,000km over very rough and rugged roads, and we get a puncture in Port Douglas.

We travelled back to Cairns and set up camp. Alwyn (the local identity in the caravan park) told us they had 127 mm of rain yesterday, so we decided to just park the camper and head into town, then open it up later. We wandered around Cairns, had a nice lunch at the Banana Leaf – Helen had Prawn Laksa and Jim had Wonton Noodle Soup.  We were planning a trip to Green Island to swim and snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef, but there was a strong wind warning and rough seas, so we decided not to go - mainly because Jim gets seasick and being the shark magnet that he is - it seemed a hazardous combination.

The rain had really set in, so we headed back to the Caravan park, and set up the camper quickly and got a pizza for tea before spending the night in the camper – it was good to have an early night.