Port Douglas!

The van dropped Amy and I off at our hostel, Dougies, in Port Douglas. I was super excited for Port Douglas because it was one of my parents' favorite places that they visited when they lived in Australia for 6 months (which was before I was born... I wish they had just stayed forever!!!). We got settled into our room and then walked to the main street, Macrossan Street, which was full of restaurants and touristy shops. Amy and I parted ways there to go off on our own for a little while. I went into a few shops and then searched for my parents' favorite restaurant, the Nautilus, but couldn't find it. Then I went to the park that's at the end of the street and watched an unbelievable sunset. The park was on a corner so it was one of the best views of a sunset I've ever had. Then Amy and I headed back to the hostel to shower and get ready for dinner. We found a really cool place to eat called the Ironbar. I had a hot chicken burger and we shared garlic bread. Then a man at the restaurant announced that they were going to start a game of trivia so Amy and I decided to participate in it. Everyone else was a lot older than us and the whole game was hilarious!!! We got made fun of a good bit. Ironically, the round we did best on was the round with questions all about Australia! It was so much fun! Then we headed back to the hostel and went to bed early (and by early I mean probably around midnight or one haha).

The main street in Port Douglas, Macrossan Street

So many palm trees! :)

Let me apologize for the ridiculous number of sunset photos, but at least it's not even a fourth of the number that I actually took haha it's so hard for me to choose from them...

 Fisherman!

 While I was watching the sunset a huge group of fish appeared out of nowhere! So weird!

 All of those ripples in the water are fish

It's times like this that I REALLY wish I could take panoramic photos! So instead I just took a video

This chicken burger was HUGE

 As we were eating there were cane toad races going on. We didn't pay the money to see them though

 Team America!

The next morning Amy woke up early to go for a bike ride so she wasn't there when I woke up around 9:15. I checked out of the hostel around 9:45 and asked if they had any bikes left to rent but unfortunately they didn't. I headed to the main street and looked for a cheap breakfast but couldn't find one so I settled for a $7 croissant (so ridiculous but I needed food). When I finished I stayed at the cafe and called my parents. It was so great to talk to them, as always! Then I walked around for a bit. I asked a woman at the tourist info center where the Nautilus was and she explained it to me (I had asked somebody at the hostel too but still couldn't find it). I finally found it and took a bunch of pictures! Then I headed to the beach. The beach was really big and was super crowded. Port Douglas definitely seems to be the most family-oriented place that I've been here. There were kids everywhere! Then I went and got a chicken caesar wrap and smoothie for lunch, where Amy met up with me. Then we went separate ways again. I went to the park where I watched the sunset the night before and finished my book. Then I went back to the beach. I saw people climbing up the rocky pathway next to it so I decided to check it out. Such a beautiful view!!! Then I took a short walk down the beach before going back to the hostel around 4:45. The van came to pick us up at 5:15. I wish we had another day (or a hundred) in Port Douglas, but we had other places to be!

 My $7 breakfast

 These pictures are for my parents haha

Couldn't even find anything on the menu that I'd want to eat...

 The Nautilus has its own rainforest walk... so fancy!!!

 I thought of everyone from home the second I saw this!

 This is the Ironbar, where we ate and played trivia the night before

 I treated myself to a kids' size cone with cake batter flavored gelato- soooo yummy!!!

Four Mile Beach!

 Pathway to the beach!

 These signs kind of freak me out, but I still don't think twice about going in the water haha!

 Yummy lunch!

 The park where I read (and watched the sunset the night before)- so nice!

 Not a bad place to spend the afternoon reading and listening to the waves! :)

What a view!

 Look at that water!!! No editing whatsoever! 

 I sat on the rocks for awhile and it was so peaceful!

 It's hard to see them because they blend in so well with the rocks (there are two in this picture), but there were a bunch of really cool crabs on the rocks. I was frustrated though because they would sit still until I moved just an inch to take a picture and then they would scurry away. I thought it was cool how they were able to cling to the rock and get pummeled by the waves and not move at all though!

 Cricket!

 Loved this sign at the hostel 

 Sooo wish I had more time at this hostel in Port Douglas!

The drive back was beautiful once again. We checked back into Koala (the hostel we were at before the rainforest trip) and were told that we'd be in the same room, which meant we were with Sam again! We were excited to see him when we went up to our room and told him all about our trip. We all showered and got ready and headed back to PJ O'Brien's for the $5 dinner special. After dinner we were sitting around having a drink when somebody who worked there came and told us that Sam had to leave because he was wearing a tank top. They're so strict about dress codes here! So we went back to the hostel so he could change and then went out and enjoyed the night life (and Mackers) for the rest of the night!

 So many palm trees on the drive home!