my photo

port douglas

This former fishing village is the closest town to the Great Barrier Reef. Just to say at the end of January/early February this area of Australia is very, very hot!

This is looking out from the inlet watching the boats and cruisers returning to the marina village from trips out to the reef. Port Douglas is a very pretty location with lots of lovely boutique style shops and a supermarket which was great for buying snacks, chocolate, ice-creams etc! There is a great coffee shop, the name escapes me, where we'd go in the evening after our meal, and many traditional bars where J would enjoy a schooner of beer, or two!

We stayed in a very nice self-contained apartment with a lovely swimming pool (which we had all to ourselves), really clean with all the home comforts. A lady whose accent reminded me very much of Barry Humphries, Dame Edna to you and me, greeted us at reception who was very informative and helpful, giving us a map and recommending a few places to eat.

The first night we sat outside of a local haunt and had the best fish and chips served with a very nice side salad, very English. Well we had been away from home for quite a time!

We wished we had booked more nights in this lovely place, and if the opportunity arose we would definitely love to visit again.