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An adventure elopement 💍 and magical honeymoon 🥂 💕 in Tropical North Australia 🌴☀️🥥🌊
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items My husband and I didn't want a traditional wedding- we wanted to focus on us, our partnership, and starting a new chapter of adventures together. So, we decided to do an adventure elopement and honeymoon!
With that goal in mind, in 2023 we trekked 2...
Map
Sections
6
Travel
Cairns
Daintree Region
Port Douglas
Whitsundays
Noosa
Travel
No trip is successful without transportation! These are these main modes of transport that we used throughout our month-long trip.
As Canadians, we know we've all travelled via Air Canada. We flew direct from Vancouver to Brisbane.
For anyone interested in an adventure elopement, a good tip is that the flight attendants happily took my wedding dress and my husband's suit (which...
Air Canada
We love flying Air New Zealand. Sorry Air Canada, but the food with Air New Zealand is far superior, AND you get free wine or beer.
Our flight home from Brisbane to Vancouver connected through Auckland. While flying direct is always nicer, the Auck...
Air New Zealand
Tropical Northern Australia is a lot like Canada- it's more spread out and a car is often the easiest way to get from place to place. We rented a car for our first two weeks to travel between Cairns, the Daintree, and Port Douglas. We also booked a s...
East Coast Car Rentals
Great for domestic travel within Australia. We used Virgin Airlines to fly from Brisbane to Cairns.
Virgin Australia
A smaller airline that visits some small airports like the Whitsundays. We flew Jetstar to travel from Cairns to the Whitsundays, and the Whitsundays back to Brisbane/Noosa area. For a small airline, we were really impressed by the service and food, ...
Jetstar
Cairns
We knew that we would be arriving in Cairns after 24 hours of travel, so our main goal was to find a place to stay close to the airport. We ended up staying in a little community called Machan's Beach. We didn't know much about Machan's Beach, but as...
Machan's Beach a small little community that has a whole strip of adorable oceanfront cottages. This one on AirBNB had everything we needed..Waking up on our first morning in Australia to be able to see the ocean right out our window made us feel lik...
Home in Machans Beach · ★4.61 · 2 bedrooms · 1 bed · 1 bath
Anyone who has been to Australia before knows they EXCEL at brunch. I don't think I've ever had a bad brunch in Australia!
Mayham at Machan's is the neighbourhood cafe and it did not disappoint. The first bite confirmed that we were back in the lan...
Mayhem at Machans | Cairns QLD
Our first afternoon we were tired from travelling, but so excited to take in the sights. We strolled down the main strip of Machan's Beach and admired both the beachfront and the large variety of eclectic cottages.
However, like all travellers to No...
Machans Beach
I'm a big garden lover and had heard that the Cairns Botanic Garden is a gorgeous collection of tropical plants, trees, and wildlife. Luckily it was only about 10 minutes away from Machan's Beach, so we popped over and wandered the trails. It did not...
Cairns Botanic Gardens.
We were hungry after walking around the Botanic Gardens and stumbled on NOA. It was a warm evening so we sat on the patio and enjoyed the tropical atmosphere. The food was delicious! We ordered the special, which was a series of appetizers paired wit...
NOA Restaurant Cairns
Daintree Region
The Daintree Rainforest is the oldest tropical rainforest in the world. Reading about it online, we were enthralled by the ancient magic the forest seems to hold, and the unique environment created by the tropical rainforest bordering the sea.
We v...
If you are able to stay at Janbal's Forest Retreat, we cannot recommend it enough. We knew as soon as we arrived that we had found something magical.
The lodge is a wooden house nestled in the rainforest. The main living space has huge shutter door...
Janbal's Rainforest Retreat in the Daintree Rainforest
We're so glad that our AirBNB host told us about this market. We love farmer's markets and this one has such a cozy community feel as not a lot of tourists make it to Mossman. We chatted with a number of locals who were very friendly, and did a bit o...
Mossman Saturday Market
This was one of the HIGHLIGHTS of our entire trip!
We knew we wanted to snorkel, but had never heard of River Drift Snorkeling until it was recommended to us by a local.
Basically, we got all dressed up in wet suits and snorkel gear and then float...
River Drift Experience - Daintree Rainforest
Mossman Gorge is known as the "Gateway to the Daintree", and is a deep valley created by the Mossman River. It is the traditional territory of the Kuku Yalanji, who own and operate the cultural centre. While we didn't do a guided tour, many are offer...
Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre
Tropical fruit grows in abundance in the Daintree, and this tropical fruit orchard has taken the delicious fruit one step further by using their crops in ICE CREAM.
We came here on our elopement day, fresh from declaring our wedding vows! It was so...
Daintree Ice Cream Company - Exotic Fruit Ice Cream
The Daintree is separated in the Lower and Upper Daintree by the Daintree River.
After staying a few nights at Janbal's retreat before and after our elopement day, we wanted to move further into the Upper Daintree to get closer to some of the experi...
Ferntree Rainforest Lodge in Cape Tribulation
I admit I was a bit scared to do this excursion because of unknown creepy crawlies, but I am so glad that my husband convinced me to be brave and come along!
Our nighttime walk guide took us into the forest with headlamps. The rainforest is a compl...
Daintree Rainforest Night Walk in Cape Tribulation
You can't come into crocodile country without going on a crocodile cruise!
Fun fact: the Daintree is where Steve Irwin shot much of his crocodile footage, and where he and his family spend a lot of time researching and tracking the native animals! ...
Daintree River Crocodile Cruise
This was such a fun afternoon activity to do on a day where we wanted a chill day.
The tour is held at an operating tropical fruit farm, where the owners grow a huge variety of different fruits. The entire group gets to participate in a structured ...
Cape Tribulation Exotic Fruit Farm - Fruit Tasting
Bush walking (aka. hiking) is a hobby loved by all Australians. When visiting any part of Australia, we will always recommend taking part in a few!
With such a gorgeous setting, the Daintree doesn't disappoint. There is a huge number of bush walking...
Daintree Rainforest Bush Walks
We were completely surprised to learn that the Daintree ecosystem is also the perfect place to grow tea!
While there is a little roadside stand to buy some tea at the actual tea farm, tea bags of Daintree Tea are available all across Northern Queen...
Daintree Tea Co. Tea Farm
Port Douglas
After spending some time in the rainforest, we were ready to be pampered a bit! Our next stop was Port Douglas, a seaside tourist town about half an hour south of the Lower Daintree.
Port Douglas is known for its beach resorts and boutique restaura...
Macrossan Street is the main strip for all forms of entertainment that Port Douglas has to offer. While Port Douglas has many large, luxurious beach resorts, they are a bit out of town, and we preferred to stay close to the points of interest.
Thi...
Seascape Holidays Condo in Port Douglas
For lovers of fine dining, Nautilus is for you!
This is actually where we went for dinner on our wedding night! It is the perfect location for a romantic dinner out.
The entire restaurant is open air, and is surrounded by lush tropical trees. All...
Nautilus Restaurant
Another market! This is #2 of 3 for our trip. I absolutely love local markets for souvenirs, because you can find items that are homemade and unique- so much better than your typical gift shop choices!
The Port Douglas market is definitely bigger t...
Port Douglas Markets
Throughout our trip, we continued to take full advantage of the abundant tropical fruit at every opportunity.
One particularly warm afternoon, we walked past Nourish. The promise of a cool, refreshing smoothie bowl was too good to pass up. With all...
Nourish, Port Douglas
Dave's Takeaway is a super fun place to grab a delicious burger, but especially if your name is Dave.
If you can prove your name is Dave (such as showing ID) you get a discount, and your photo taken to join the Wall of Dave's!
Even the manager is ...
Dave's Takeaway
On our last night in Port Douglas, we booked a romantic sunset sailing cruise. It actually ended up being quite windy, so instead the tour took us down the river to view the rainforest and mangroves.
It was a peaceful and relaxing tour that felt li...
Sunset Sailing from Port Douglas
Whitsundays
A bucket list island for me has always been seeing the Great Barrier Reef. Northern Queensland is the best place in Australia to see it, so once we decided to elope in the Daintree we knew that we would have to organize a trip to see it!
The Whitsu...
We stayed in a cute beachside town called Airlie, which is a starting spot for a host of sailing, snorkelling, and other ocean activities. While we had planned to spend one day in town before our Great Barrier Reef excursion, our taxi driver convince...
Day Cruise to Whitehaven Beach
The ReefSleep experience was the main attraction that brought us to the Whitsundays. Most Great Barrier Reef excursions are day trips that take guests to a couple of snorkelling spots. However, with ReefSleep, you get to SLEEP overnight right at the ...
ReefSleep Great Barrier Reef Overnight Experience
We booked an AirBNB for the nights before and after our overnight ReefSleep experience. It was nice to just be able to get off the boat and have a place close by to go to, before setting off for our next location!
Guest suite in Airlie Beach
Noosa
After the adventure of the Great Barrier Reef, my husband and I were ready for some last days of relaxing before our epic trip coming to a close. We chose to spend these days in Noosa, a surfing town on the Sunshine Coast about 2 hours north of Brisb...
Noosa has quite a few more luxurious beach resorts, but my husband and I always prefer something a little more quiet and personal. This AirBNB condo was a perfect find! It has a private patio which was so nice to relax on and listen to the native bir...
Tropical Condo in Noosa Heads
This great cafe was about a 10 minute walk from our AirBNB and a go to for an amazing brunch. By this point in our trip we were very spoiled by Australian cafe brunches, and we wanted to get in as many more as we could before heading home again haha....
Canteen Café | Noosa
When we arrived at Noosa, we immediately noticed a big difference between Noosa Beach and the many beaches in the Daintree and Port Douglas: people were swimming at them! Haha. We saw it as a sign that we were officially out of crocodile territory. I...
Noosa Heads
Home of Steve Irwin and the Irwin family!
The Irwin family are conservation icons in Australia, and the zoo is a testament to their dedication and care for the environment. It's a huge zoo with a wide variety of animals, both native and from around...
Australia Zoo
One last market- and this was the biggest one of the entire trip!
I had read that the Eumundi market is the biggest market in Queensland, and that is completely true. We found some unique and memorable souvenirs here from local makers. There was su...
Eumundi Markets
We stumbled on the Pixels Barcode one evening in Noosa and gave it a try (my husband is a big gamer) and it was a great evening of fun!
The cocktails were spectacular and unique (mine had cotton candy!), the food was solid, and they had a big variet...
Pixels Australia Barcade
This restaurant was recommended by our AirBNB host and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It was walking distance from our AirBNB, and the food fare was a creative modern fusion of Japanese food with a tropical twist. The decor inside was also delightfully ec...
Light Years - Noosa
We walked past this tattoo shop on Noosa's main strip a couple of times and I kept joking with my husband that we should get tattoos to remember our trip by. I have a couple of tattoos already, while this was his first one, so I didn't actually think...
The Best Tattoo Shop | Full Body Tattoo Art - Hastings Street Tattoo Co