Port Douglas

November 10th--First things first this morning...a very long shower. After using campground showers for a week now, there was definitely the need for a good, long shower for everyone. We then got dressed and headed to breakfast. After eating breakfast this morning, we spent some time catching up with family on SKYPE. Since we had been off internet for a week, we had a lot of catching up to do. After getting off SKYPE, we all went to the pool. Actually we hung out at the lagoon. The Sheraton Hotel that we are staying at has a pool, but there is also 5 acres of saltwater pools that are presented in a lagoon way around the hotel grounds. The lagoons have been created with white sand beach areas at some of the entries into the water. It definitely gives the ocean feeling without having to worry about the 'stingers' that are present now in the ocean. So, we hung out and swam here all day long. The kids made friends with another kid, Jessica, from Sydney. We did get stuck in a short rain shower about noon, but it didn't last long at all. After a long day being in the sun, we got cleaned up and took the shuttle bus into the town of Port Douglas. We ate dinner at the Surf Club. It was recommended to us because it has an outdoor playground. The food was wonderful and so was the atmosphere. We were able to sit outside overlooking the ocean while the kids played. After dinner, we went to the grocery store for some drinks and snacks for the week before heading back to the hotel for bed.


November 11th--Today was more of the same as yesterday. After eating breakfast, we booked a trip to the Great Barrier Reef for tomorrow. It was a little rainy when we first woke up, but it cleared off for us to enjoy the water and sun one more day. We hung out meeting several families from Australia. There aren't a whole lot of people at the resort because it is off season right now. It's amazing to think that it's summertime here, but the beach is off season. A lot of the off season is because of the ocean water. It contains a lot of jellyfish during the summer months. Anyway, today we didn't stay at the lagoon as long as yesterday. We went in about 3:00 to get ready to go back into Port Douglas. We headed in to do some shopping, but quickly realized that stuff in Australian is just expensive. So, we settled on an early dinner at the Ironbar and again had great food. We then headed back to the hotel for bed.