September 13, 2024 • 9 mins
"Colourful, playful, sun-splashed Cairns enjoys the unique distinction of being cradled in tropical wonder. The gateway city straddles two World Heritage-protected treasures: the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics rainforest. I took a daytrip to the family-favourite destination of Fitzroy Island. Just 45 minutes from Cairns on the Fitzroy Flyer, this barefoot island getaway serves up a flavourful dabble with the Great Barrier Reef. The island is designated a National Park, in deference to its spectacular walking trails, rainforest, beaches and abundant marine life, in the calm sheltered waters. It’s jaw-dropping to think the island was previously connected to the mainland before the last Ice Age."
Read Mike's full article here.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
A'b our travel correspondent is mister Mike Yardley. He's with
us this morning, Kilda Yielder. Jack, Well, we're looking at
tropical delights in North Queensland. This is a gorgeous part
of the world and Ken's is kind of the gateway
to the rainforest and the reef. Right, So did you
take to the water.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
It would be very rude not to take to the
water in these past, Jack, as you know. So yeah,
what I love about cans is it's such a quick
and easy launch pad to the Barrier reef. And even
if you're a newbie to the reef, there are so
many easy options from cans. So, for example, if you
are traveling as a family and you want to take
a day trip out into the big Blue I would
(00:51):
suggest going to Fitzroy Island. So that's only a forty
five minute very right away. You can actually stay on
the island. But it's an awesome day trip because it
just seems to distill all the great elements into one day.
You've got superb walking trails, classic blonde beaches, you've got
(01:11):
vivid coral gardens to snork around, teeming with tropical fish.
And they've even got a turtle rehab center on the
island which essentially services all of the North Queensland coast,
so they'll get like damaged turtles from Cape York that
end up at Fitzroy Island. So yeah, a really really
(01:32):
good island to explore. And like a lot of the speckles,
these little islands off Shawjack from Ken's, it just amazes
me that before the last ice Age they were actually
connected to the mainland, So fitz Roy was basically Ken's
East ten thousand years ago.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Right, that makes sense, I guess if you look at
the map of the North Queensland cost Yes, so if
you get about further north in north of Kean's, why
is Palm Cove so popular?
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Well, I think there is a hint of HAWAIII to
Palm Cove. There's just very tail in terms of vacation beauty.
So it's about half an hour up the Captain Cook Highway,
and so if you're trucking up to Port Douglas, just
calling to Palm Cove which is just off the highway,
(02:19):
and it is just so leafy, so languid, stretched along
the coral sea, and I've got all of these gorgeous
old paper bark mela luca trees flanking the beach front.
Then I've got a few waving palms and dispersed. But
there's just this really nice shaded village at moss About
Palm Cove, as I say, very reminiscent of some of
(02:42):
Hawaii's beachside villages. And there's just some you know, little
casual eateies and cafes dotted through the trees. It's just
lazy day heaven, I reckon Jack.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Nice. If you're up for an indigenous experience, what can
you expect? At most and gorge?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
This was my runaway highlight. I joined a dream time
walk with a cuckoo yalongy guide called Ben. He was
twenty years old, and oh my god, he had the
wisdom of a ninety year old. So we rocked into
the rainforest and Ben just prized open all the secrets,
the food sauce, to the pharmacy, the hardware store inside
(03:20):
the rainforest. It was just mind blowing. Best of all,
we passed by some enormous strangler fig trees and I
could tell Ben was getting sort of quite spiritual which
he was looking at these trees, and he said to
me that when he dies, he's going to be buried
under that tree, and he pointed to a particular tree.
(03:42):
And apparently, after his body's placed at the bottom of
the tree, the figs, the strangle of figs will sort
of weave their magic. The vines will wrap around his
body and can consumers remains and return them to the
earth as you do. The other thing, Jack, is that
Ben said to me that on Fraser Island the traditional
burial still practiced today. There entails putting the bottom high
(04:07):
up in the tree because otherwise the dingoes will get
to them. Wow, which would not be a good way
to go. No, then there are the bouncing stones. Have
you knew about these bouncing stones? No? So cuckoo yellonge.
They've got these legendary bouncing stones, and as been demonstrated
to me, they do bounce off each other like bouncing balls.
(04:30):
It's just wacky. And many of them are sourced from
a beach called Thornton Beach. Some are stolen because this
is like sacred terf for cuckoo yellowingy and most that
are stolen generally are returned toward off bad luck. But
they are a geological phenomenon. So these stones have been
studied by academics. They're as big as rugby balls, but
(04:53):
they're actually classified as pebbles. They're very fine grained pebbles
and the geologists say that it's hardened silica celtstone. But
they've got this incredible bouncing quality, wide wacking.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
That sounds amazing. Yeah, and what an experiences that sounds
really incredible. Okay, yeah, Now, chocolate production is big business
in North Queensland.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Right very quick mentioned about this Jack. Yes, chocolate fans
rejoice because the region around Mossman, Port Douglas Daintree Rainforest
it's become a phouse producer of Australian cocoa and there
are various commercial plantations all engaged in the bean tabar
chocolate making bizo. So in the Shannonvale Valley which is
(05:37):
just north of Port Douglas, you can go to the
Australian chocolate farm and they give you the most amazing
and very generous farm to her and tasting experience. Oh yeah,
so that's the list.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Definitely, No, that sounds good. And speaking of treats, what
about tropical fruit.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Wine well, it's in a quiet taste admittedly, but worth
a devil.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
So.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Also in the shannon Vale Valley there is the Tropical
Fruit Winery and the Woodhall family have been running this
for about twenty years or so. I sipped and swirled
my way through all sorts of interesting flavors like mango wine, lime,
passion fruit, ginger, even a fortified chocolate wine. But the
best one of all was a particular flavor I had
(06:18):
never come across. It's called Jawbo Chaca bar. And if
it sounds Amazonian, that's because it is. It's an Amazonian
great Jabo Charca bar. And the reason they growing this
in Shannon Vale is because it's the only reliable, red,
sort of tasting wine that they could produce in the area.
(06:42):
So yeah, very very interesting taste. By the way. The
passion fruit, it's kind of like a semion. It's really interesting,
very dry, full flavored, really good with cheese. And the
dry mango wine. If you're a Shardona drinker, you will
love the dry mango. So yeah, something certainly worth dabbling.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
So is it quite dry? When you hear those fruits
passion fruit, mango, and automatically I think all that sounds
pretty sticky. That sounds kind of syrupy.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Are most No, No, Through the production process, yeah, they
do become generally drier than you'd think.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
I reckon that could be a bit of me. What
about standout eateries.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Two recommendations In Ken's I went to a place called
Salt House, which is on the Arena Points, so, as
the name would suggest, you get mouthwatering views. I have
these halfshell roasted Queensland scallops which were just tubo charged
with what they were accompanied with curry sauce, pineapple relish,
(07:44):
my newfound favorite in Ventnamese mint that all together with
scallops and that's really good, and wash it down with
the Flying Fox cocktail, which was the drink of the trip.
Check and by the way, in Paul Douglas, I went
to a restaurant called Sea Bean, very Mediterranean leaning, but
I ate something I had never tried before. I don't
(08:04):
know if you've had ittinion costa.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Oh, okay, yeah, I think I probably have to be honest.
Was it lamb Yes?
Speaker 3 (08:14):
So yeah, like baked lamb meat petty.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah yeah, And and they're sort of like halfway between
a petty and a meatball. Ah, exactly, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Yeah, I'll layer them with vegetables and hamas and tabuuli.
Oh my god, it's so good. The amazing thing is, Jack,
I never realized food could become so politicized. Apparently this
restaurants had protesters outside daring to put something Palestinian on
the menu.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
That is ridiculous. Having spent a little bit of time
in that part of the world, I mean, this is
what makes that part of the world so good, is
all of those cultures have mixed. Surely anyway, Yeah, well
that sounds that sounds amazing. Okay, Hey, thank you so much, Mike.
We'll put all of your tips for indulging your way
through North Queensland up on the News Talks He'd be website.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine a m Saturday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
A'b our travel correspondent is mister Mike Yardley. He's with
us this morning, Kilda Yielder. Jack, Well, we're looking at
tropical delights in North Queensland. This is a gorgeous part
of the world and Ken's is kind of the gateway
to the rainforest and the reef. Right, So did you
take to the water.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
It would be very rude not to take to the
water in these past, Jack, as you know. So yeah,
what I love about cans is it's such a quick
and easy launch pad to the Barrier reef. And even
if you're a newbie to the reef, there are so
many easy options from cans. So, for example, if you
are traveling as a family and you want to take
a day trip out into the big Blue I would
(00:51):
suggest going to Fitzroy Island. So that's only a forty
five minute very right away. You can actually stay on
the island. But it's an awesome day trip because it
just seems to distill all the great elements into one day.
You've got superb walking trails, classic blonde beaches, you've got
(01:11):
vivid coral gardens to snork around, teeming with tropical fish.
And they've even got a turtle rehab center on the
island which essentially services all of the North Queensland coast,
so they'll get like damaged turtles from Cape York that
end up at Fitzroy Island. So yeah, a really really
(01:32):
good island to explore. And like a lot of the speckles,
these little islands off Shawjack from Ken's, it just amazes
me that before the last ice Age they were actually
connected to the mainland, So fitz Roy was basically Ken's
East ten thousand years ago.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Right, that makes sense, I guess if you look at
the map of the North Queensland cost Yes, so if
you get about further north in north of Kean's, why
is Palm Cove so popular?
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Well, I think there is a hint of HAWAIII to
Palm Cove. There's just very tail in terms of vacation beauty.
So it's about half an hour up the Captain Cook Highway,
and so if you're trucking up to Port Douglas, just
calling to Palm Cove which is just off the highway,
(02:19):
and it is just so leafy, so languid, stretched along
the coral sea, and I've got all of these gorgeous
old paper bark mela luca trees flanking the beach front.
Then I've got a few waving palms and dispersed. But
there's just this really nice shaded village at moss About
Palm Cove, as I say, very reminiscent of some of
(02:42):
Hawaii's beachside villages. And there's just some you know, little
casual eateies and cafes dotted through the trees. It's just
lazy day heaven, I reckon Jack.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Nice. If you're up for an indigenous experience, what can
you expect? At most and gorge?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
This was my runaway highlight. I joined a dream time
walk with a cuckoo yalongy guide called Ben. He was
twenty years old, and oh my god, he had the
wisdom of a ninety year old. So we rocked into
the rainforest and Ben just prized open all the secrets,
the food sauce, to the pharmacy, the hardware store inside
(03:20):
the rainforest. It was just mind blowing. Best of all,
we passed by some enormous strangler fig trees and I
could tell Ben was getting sort of quite spiritual which
he was looking at these trees, and he said to
me that when he dies, he's going to be buried
under that tree, and he pointed to a particular tree.
(03:42):
And apparently, after his body's placed at the bottom of
the tree, the figs, the strangle of figs will sort
of weave their magic. The vines will wrap around his
body and can consumers remains and return them to the
earth as you do. The other thing, Jack, is that
Ben said to me that on Fraser Island the traditional
burial still practiced today. There entails putting the bottom high
(04:07):
up in the tree because otherwise the dingoes will get
to them. Wow, which would not be a good way
to go. No, then there are the bouncing stones. Have
you knew about these bouncing stones? No? So cuckoo yellonge.
They've got these legendary bouncing stones, and as been demonstrated
to me, they do bounce off each other like bouncing balls.
(04:30):
It's just wacky. And many of them are sourced from
a beach called Thornton Beach. Some are stolen because this
is like sacred terf for cuckoo yellowingy and most that
are stolen generally are returned toward off bad luck. But
they are a geological phenomenon. So these stones have been
studied by academics. They're as big as rugby balls, but
(04:53):
they're actually classified as pebbles. They're very fine grained pebbles
and the geologists say that it's hardened silica celtstone. But
they've got this incredible bouncing quality, wide wacking.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
That sounds amazing. Yeah, and what an experiences that sounds
really incredible. Okay, yeah, Now, chocolate production is big business
in North Queensland.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Right very quick mentioned about this Jack. Yes, chocolate fans
rejoice because the region around Mossman, Port Douglas Daintree Rainforest
it's become a phouse producer of Australian cocoa and there
are various commercial plantations all engaged in the bean tabar
chocolate making bizo. So in the Shannonvale Valley which is
(05:37):
just north of Port Douglas, you can go to the
Australian chocolate farm and they give you the most amazing
and very generous farm to her and tasting experience. Oh yeah,
so that's the list.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Definitely, No, that sounds good. And speaking of treats, what
about tropical fruit.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Wine well, it's in a quiet taste admittedly, but worth
a devil.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
So.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Also in the shannon Vale Valley there is the Tropical
Fruit Winery and the Woodhall family have been running this
for about twenty years or so. I sipped and swirled
my way through all sorts of interesting flavors like mango wine, lime,
passion fruit, ginger, even a fortified chocolate wine. But the
best one of all was a particular flavor I had
(06:18):
never come across. It's called Jawbo Chaca bar. And if
it sounds Amazonian, that's because it is. It's an Amazonian
great Jabo Charca bar. And the reason they growing this
in Shannon Vale is because it's the only reliable, red,
sort of tasting wine that they could produce in the area.
(06:42):
So yeah, very very interesting taste. By the way. The
passion fruit, it's kind of like a semion. It's really interesting,
very dry, full flavored, really good with cheese. And the
dry mango wine. If you're a Shardona drinker, you will
love the dry mango. So yeah, something certainly worth dabbling.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
So is it quite dry? When you hear those fruits
passion fruit, mango, and automatically I think all that sounds
pretty sticky. That sounds kind of syrupy.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Are most No, No, Through the production process, yeah, they
do become generally drier than you'd think.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
I reckon that could be a bit of me. What
about standout eateries.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Two recommendations In Ken's I went to a place called
Salt House, which is on the Arena Points, so, as
the name would suggest, you get mouthwatering views. I have
these halfshell roasted Queensland scallops which were just tubo charged
with what they were accompanied with curry sauce, pineapple relish,
(07:44):
my newfound favorite in Ventnamese mint that all together with
scallops and that's really good, and wash it down with
the Flying Fox cocktail, which was the drink of the trip.
Check and by the way, in Paul Douglas, I went
to a restaurant called Sea Bean, very Mediterranean leaning, but
I ate something I had never tried before. I don't
(08:04):
know if you've had ittinion costa.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Oh, okay, yeah, I think I probably have to be honest.
Was it lamb Yes?
Speaker 3 (08:14):
So yeah, like baked lamb meat petty.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah yeah, And and they're sort of like halfway between
a petty and a meatball. Ah, exactly, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Yeah, I'll layer them with vegetables and hamas and tabuuli.
Oh my god, it's so good. The amazing thing is, Jack,
I never realized food could become so politicized. Apparently this
restaurants had protesters outside daring to put something Palestinian on
the menu.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
That is ridiculous. Having spent a little bit of time
in that part of the world, I mean, this is
what makes that part of the world so good, is
all of those cultures have mixed. Surely anyway, Yeah, well
that sounds that sounds amazing. Okay, Hey, thank you so much, Mike.
We'll put all of your tips for indulging your way
through North Queensland up on the News Talks He'd be website.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine a m Saturday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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