Escape to Port Douglas

Time for a midwinter escape from chilly Melbourne. We headed for Port Douglas in northern Queensland where 27C temperatures are the rule at this time of the year.

We had to take a two-stage flight via Sydney but by 1pm we were landing in Cairns and stepping out into the balmy tropical mid-winter.

Port Douglas is about an hour’s drive north and we were soon unpacking our bags and checking out our apartment. Plenty of room to spread ourselves plus a large balcony with a spa pool – and just a few steps to the main street with its shops and restaurants.

While Neil Perry may be designing Qantas menus, his influence certainly isn’t evident in economy class. The meals were the usual abysmal affairs. I see the airline is restructuring its catering. Let’s hope its menus are in for a big overhaul. Now there’s an idea for a TV series – big name chefs compete against each other to make interesting economy class airline meals using local produce. The winner gets the contract.

It was time to tempt our tastebuds. Across the road from our hotel Mango Jam restaurant was prepping for the evening rush, but their woodfired pizza oven was in action so we ordered a half and half pizza – half Mediterranean (black olives, roasted garlic, fetta,) and half Bushmans (strips of kangaroo, mozzarella, Spanish onion and rocket)  both over Napoli sauce. Good fare on a nice crust. A prawn baguette for lunch there a few days later was also tasty though I thought halving the prawns lengthwise was unnecessarily frugal.

An amble round the village showed there was a good selection of restaurants ranging from pub grub to fine dining.

Next day we strolled down along the waterfront and had a not so gentle remainder that this is crocodile territory. No paddling here. You might lose a limb – or more. And if the crocs don't gt you, the jellyfish might...

We did some window shopping at the Mirage Marina complex before La Marina by the water lured us in for lunch with its special of the day –  char-grilled skewered prawns and baby calamari (below right) served with salad and a glass of wine, excellent value at $16.

There's a colourful reef sculpture down by the marina that has plenty of tourists snapping the big fish. While down in the area we called into On the Inlet restaurant (above right) and booked for dinner in the evening.

At nightfall we were seated at the edge of the dining deck above the water. It didn’t take the sandflies or whatever they were long to find my ankles and toes. They must be part of the dining experience as the restaurant had a selection of insect repellants available for patrons. We asked if there were any crocodiles below but the restaurant manager said there was too much light for them to be interested in us.

Seeing we were close to Great Barrier Reef I opted for a reef fish special – spangled emperor fish. It was beautifully prepared and had been sprinkled with beetroot dust – a new one on me! The waitress seemed to think it involved drying and grinding beetroot. It didn't appear to contribute any flavour, but I guess it's a new garnish on the chef's palette.

Next – we go looking for crocodiles >>