Mossman Gorge

What with all our day trips, school work and socialising, we somehow hadn’t gotten to Mossman Gorge, which was all of 16km away from Port Douglas. It was the day of the wedding, we were leaving the next day and it was now or never!

It was also the morning after Halloween, and the caravan park was putting on pancakes and bacon and eggs for breakfast. There were children everywhere, breakfast was at the pool and we had two children who were distinctly uninterested in visiting Mossman Gorge. “Really? ANOTHER gorge? I’m gorged out Mummy!” said Angus.

So of course we had two VERY grumpy children who we had to FORCE to walk into the Mossman visitor centre. It is beautifully set out and, whilst you have to pay $20odd for a family pass to catch the bus into the National Park, it was well worth it. Both grumpy children were mightily peeved to discover we HAD to do a 2.6km hike around the gorge, but very quickly changed their mind and thoroughly enjoyed their time. The boardwalks and bridges are lovely and we spent ages at one of the little beaches and swimming holes.

It was a wonderful morning – a hike, a paddle, some photography and we got to see a Boyd’s Forest Dragon on the way back to the bus. Lexie was humming and singing to herself, Angus was beside himself with joy at seeing the lizard and both children admitted that we were right to ‘force’ them to enjoy themselves this way. LOL. Mossman Gorge was a highlight of our time in Port Douglas.