PORT DOUGLAS
Ah! Port Douglas - the perfect place to unwind to the point of unravelling completely. I hope you
enjoy the view! Above is an aerial view of the port. In the background you can see the higher ground, clothed in tropical rain
forest.
The main street is lined with shops and the most wonderful restaurants and cafes. We reckoned you could,
in effect, dine in a different country every night - and we certainly tried to!
That brings us to the assassination attempt! The main street is lined with mango trees - you remember the song
from the Bond film? "Underneath the mango tree, my honey and me......" Well, if ever you find yourself in Port
Douglas, DON'T sit under a mango tree! Each evening at dusk, huge fruit bats would fly down from the high point
above the town to help themselves to the ripening mangoes. It was just fascinating watching them. On our last
night we were, as usual, eating out. While we waited for our meal to be served, we sat outside the restaurant
enjoying a drink. There was a "Splattt" behind me. I know that looks like something out of a comic
book, but it best describes the noise of a ripe mango hitting the ground and spraying itself over quite a wide
area. We all smiled at each other and carried on talking and drinking. A second later there was an incredibly
hard crack on the back of my skull - one of the fruit bats had tried for an unripe mango and missed his grip!
Nothing much hurt except my dignity, but my head was sore for days. Chris was sure he could hear the bat
chuckling as he flew away!
This glorious pool was almost right outside our terrace and was sheer heaven to fall into at the end of each day! Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.
A delightful park overlooks the sea. Through the trees (which were full of cockatoos) you could see a jetty
standing out into the bay. A white building on that jetty is an amazing maritime museum. The coastline here,
right on the Great Barrier Reef, has been the scene of many a shipwreck.
Port Douglas stands on the edge of the beautiful Coral Sea. When we were there, swimming was restricted to
certain places within nets put out to protect bathers from the box jellyfish. It's a particular hazard at that
time of year and the sting of the box can be fatal.
The town is an excellent base from which to explore the surrounding countryside and most trips to see the
wonders of the Great Barrier Reef begin in the marina there. To find out what delights the week had in store
for us, please continue via the Oz 5 link.
Proprietary copyright is here acknowledged for the aerial photo at the top of this page.
© Darian Border Collies / Sheila Gay. All rights reserved.
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