Port Douglas

QLD

Port Douglas
Popular holiday destination with easy access to the outer Great Barrier Reef and the tropical rainforest areas around Daintree.
Looking at Port Douglas now it is hard to imagine that it was once a wild frontier town filled with itinerant seamen and gold prospectors. Today it is a luxury holiday resort. The Sheraton Mirage Hotel complex, with its golf course, neat rows of palm trees, huge apartments and gate security staff who scrutinise those who enter the sanctum (no wide-eyed members of the proletariat here, thank you), has spawned a wider industry in the town. The once sleepy little village which remembered its roaring days is now a major tourist resort centre with fashionable arcades, well-heeled shoppers, and a certain aloofness which despises those who cannot afford the luxury which the exclusive resorts offer.

There is a hint of unreality about Port Douglas these days. The town is awash with holiday apartments and motels with manicured lawns, blocks of units which are now called 'condominiums', private golf courses, lavish tennis courts, fashionably expensive restaurants and every conceivable tour of the Great Barrier Reef.

Located 67 km north of Cairns, Port Douglas was first established in 1877 when Christie Palmerston cut a road through the rainforest and down the mountain range. Palmerston was one of those fascinating characters who inhabit the early history of Queensland. Born Cristofero Palmerston Carandini in Melbourne, it is claimed that he headed for Queensland in 1873 to join the Palmer River goldrush. It's more likely that he came with his mother's theatre group. Certainly his fame came with the Hodgkinson River goldrush. The track he cut from those goldfields to Port Douglas was his first but in the next decade he blazed at least four trails to the coast.

Palmerston's track was known affectionately as 'The Bump'. In the early days the settlement at Port Douglas was known as Island Point, Terrigal, Port Owen and Salisbury. The latter title derived from Lord Salisbury, the British Prime Minister at the time. However this name too went by the way after a visit by government officials. The present name was bestowed in honour of John Douglas, then Queensland Premier.

Within weeks of its establishment the town was booming. There were an estimated 50 tent pubs, a bakery, a general store and rough accommodation. People poured in on their way to the diggings. By mid-1878 there were 21 permanent hotels and a local newspaper, the town had been surveyed, lots of land were for sale, and the mail was being delivered from Port Douglas to Thornborough on the goldfields. Early the following decade the town had a population of 8000 and had overtaken Cairns as the most important port on the north Queensland coast.

Just like its rise the town's decline was rapid. The gold started to run out by about 1886 and the miners moved on to Papua and New Guinea. Cairns became the major railhead for the whole region with lines running south along the coast and inland to the mining fields. Port Douglas, however, remained the port for the sugar mill at Mossman until 1958.

Things to see:   

Information Centre
The Tourist Information Centre in Macrossan Street is a good place to start your exploration of the area. It has pamphlets and maps which will direct you to a series of brass plaques which explain the past history of the area. They can also help you coordinate your activities if you are interested in pursuing diving, paragliding, white-water rafting or horseriding, all of which are catered for locally.

Check out this Site
Some locals have created a website http://www.destinationex.com which is truly remarkable. It has no advertising (at the moment) and yet boasts 800 pages of information on Tropical Queensland and over 200 videos. Read us and check them out as well.

The Shipwreck Museum
One of the town's highlights is Ben Cropp's Shipwreck Museum on the wharf at Port Douglas. This collection of material from shipwrecks includes everything from ballast to coins. A section of the decking has been opened up so that visitors can view pieces of wreckage in the sea below the wharf, and, of course, there is a continuous video featuring Cropp's remarkable underwater photography. It is well set out and presented.

Lookouts
There are two locations which capture the essence of Port Douglas. Flagstaff Hill (known simply as 'The Lookout') can be reached by turning right at the end of the main street and following the signs. It offers an excellent view over Four Mile Beach and superb views over the Coral Sea.

Four Mile Beach
Four Mile Beach, with its hard, white sands, has a reputation as one of the most attractive beaches in the area. A net cast about the beach from November to May attempts to keep the box jellyfish away.

The Markets
Held every Sunday in Anzac Park, there's plenty to see and buy. In recent times these markets have gained a reputation as some of the best in the region.

Courthouse
Located in Wharf St this is the only old buiding (dating from 1879) to survive a devastating cyclone that struck in 1911.

The Rainforest Habitat
The owners of Rainforest Habitat have established an artificial rainforest environment very near to the extensive Daintree Rainforest. There are plenty of butterflies and birds as well as koalas, kangaroos and crocodiles. It is located close to the intersection of the Port Douglas Road and the Captain Cook Highway, contact (07) 4099 3235.

The Great Barrier Reef, Low Isles and other Cruises and Tours of the Region
There are a number of cruises to the Outer section of the Great Barrier Reef and out to Low Isles, a lovely coral cay surrounded by a lagoon with a lighthouse that dates back to 1878.

Other Attractions
There is also a cruise up Dickson Inlet, where there is plenty birdlife among the mangroves, as well as coach trips to Mossman Gorge, Cape Tribulation and Wetherby Station, a working cattle property (one of the oldest in Far North Queensland) where there is a horse show and a country-style lunch. You can also avail yourself of a 4WD tour of the rainforest with an Aboriginal guide who will help you to see the area from a different cultural perspective, tel: (07) 4099 5327. See the information centre for details of the other services, tel: (07) 4099 5599.

	Tourist Information
	Douglas Shire Tourism Association 40 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 4588
	Port Douglas Tourist Information Centre 23 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5599
	Motels
	Coconut Grove Motel 58 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5124 Rating: **
	Lazy Lizard Motor Inn 121 Davidson St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 3100 Rating: ****
	Port Douglas Motel 9 Davidson St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4098 5252 Rating: ***
	Rusty Pelican 123 Davidson St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4098 5266 Rating: ****
	Hotels
	Central Hotel/Motel 9 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4098 5271 Rating: **
	Court House Hotel Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4098 5181
	Ti Tree Resort 1 Barrier St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 3444 Facsimile: (07) 4098 5025 Rating: ****
	Resorts
	Club Tropical Resort 2 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5885, 1800 079 069 Facsimile: (07) 4099 5868 Rating: ****
	Radisson Reef Resort 316 Port Douglas Rd Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5577 Facsimile: (07) 4099 5999 Rating: ***1/2
	Radisson Treetops Resort 137 Port Douglas Rd Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4030 3333 Facsimile: (07) 4030 4323 Rating: ****
	Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas Port Douglas Rd Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5888, 1800 073 535 Rating: *****
	Whispering Palms Resort 20-30 Langley Rd Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4098 5128 Facsimile: (07) 4098 5762
	Apartments
	Garrick House Holiday Apartments 11 Garrick St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5322 Facsimile: (07) 4099 5021
	Outrigger Apartments 16-18 Mudlo St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5662 Facsimile: (07) 4099 5717
	The White House Holiday Apartments 19 Garrick St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5600 Facsimile: (07) 4099 5006
	Caravan Parks
	Four Mile Beach Caravan Park 2 Reef St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4098 5281
	Glengary Caravan Park Mobraw River Rd Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4098 5922
	Kulua Caravan Park 24 Davidson St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 3422
	Pandanus Caravan Park 97 Davidson St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4098 5255
	Restaurants
	Catalina Restaurant Wharf St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5287
	Coconut Grove Motel 58 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5124
	Court House Hotel Bistro Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 4471
	Fiorelli's Bistro Wharf St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5201
	Going Bananas Restaurant 87 Davidson St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5400
	Han Court Chinese Restaurant 85 Davidson St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5007
	Ironbar 5 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 4776
	Jade Inn 25 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5974
	La Marina Restaurant Marina Mirage St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5548
	Mangiare Italiano 18 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 4054
	Moustachios 30 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 4440
	Nautilus Restaurant 17 Murphy St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5330
	Nikky G's Sports Bar Marina Mirage St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5200
	Portofinos 31 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5458
	Salsa Bar & Grill 38a Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 4922
	Sardis Mediterranean Restaurant 123 Davidson St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5266
	Star of Siam Restaurant 12 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 4707
	Starfish Restaurant 35 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 4077
	Swallows on Wharf Street Cnr Wharf & Macrossan Sts Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 6100
	The Hog's Breath Bistro Wharf St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 4222
	Zai Restaurant 111 Davidson St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 5388
	Cafés
	Cafe Ecco 43 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 4056
	Cafe Macrossan 42 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 4372
	Mango Jam Cafe 24 Macrossan St Port Douglas QLD 4871 Telephone: (07) 4099 4611