Liquid Christmas

Port Douglas, Far North Queensland

No not an alcohol-bathed celebration- although alcohol was involved- but a trip to Far North Queensland (FNQ) for the Festive- and wet- season.

Port Douglas, a small holiday town an hour’s drive north of Cairns, is a magnet for holidaymakers. Sitting at the northernmost end of Four Mile Beach, the Port offers easy access to the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree rain forest and Mossman Gorge. It’s also a popular destination for Christmas.

Just the two seasons here- wet and dry. This was definitely wet. We wanted to go to the rain forest, but the rain forest came to us!

The rain did hold off just long enough for an idyllic sunset sail and also a traditional Christmas Day lunch on the deck of the Yacht Club.

There’s not much to the town, but Macrossan Street is packed full of good bars, cafes and restaurants with not a fast food chain in sight- the dining here is fine. Three pubs- Paddy’s (inevitably), the Central Hotel and the Courthouse offer round the clock live music. As for accommodation, the choice is between the backpackers’, AirBnB or fancy resort hotels- to suit all budgets and preferences. We snuck in to the Sheraton Mirage just to see how the other half live. Well.

The iconic Four Mile Beach is the classic tropical paradise but unfortunately unsuitable for swimming at this time due to the Portuguese Man o’ War jellyfish, not to mention salt water crocodiles, sharks, rips, etc, and watch out for pythons too!

But we survived our FNQ festive break- despite the near continuous monsoon rains, making the sugar cane fields more like paddy fields. The cyclones held off; just the warm, warm rain, a natural and refreshing shower for barefoot revellers. No one was stung, eaten or strangled- unless you were a turkey. Happy holidays.