Port Douglas - Far North QLD

Port Douglas
Situated 75km 9(47 miles) from Cairns, Port Douglas was once a tiny fishing village.

Today it is a tourist centre, but it has managed to preserve some of it's village atmosphere.

Macrossan St is typical of Australian country thorough fares, and at the end of the street is the beautiful Four-Mile Beach. Many 19th century buildings still line the street such as the Court House Hotel, and the modern shopping centres have been designed to blend in with the town's original architecture.

The original port was set up during the gold rush of the 1850s but it was superseeede by Cairns as the main port of the area. A disaterous cyclone in 1911 also forced people to move elsewhere, leavin gthe population at less than 500.

Dickson Inlet
Worlds cross over in Dickson Inlet. Here you can see trees that grow in salt water and fish that can walk on land.

Mangroves like to live on the edge. Above the high tide line, they are home to birds and insects; below it, to fish and prawns. Their tangled roots trap mud, reducing erosion, and they put up a resilient barrier that can help reduce the impact of storm surges.

Mud-skippers hop about at low tide, searching for food on the exposed mud.

St Mary’s by the sea was originally built in 1880.

Destroyed by a cyclone and rebuilt in 1911.

Relocated onto this site in 1988.

Restored by Port Douglas restoration society in 1989.

Island Point Lighthouse

The Lighthouse was blown over in the 1911 cyclone.

The lighthouse was mounted on wooden stumps and the kerosene tins which held the fuel for the light are visible beside the wooden stumps.

Looking out to sea 15km off the coat, there is the main shipping channel with a lighthouse on Low Isles, The original 1878 lens for that light is on display at the Port Douglas Court House Museum.

Despite the weather, a nice little wander around PD

The following weekend, I sat back and enjoyed a beer whilst listing to some good live music at Portober Fest. But the highlight of the day was heading home, watching thousands of Flying Foxes heading out to feed

as the sun set