Travelling North

My first impression of Port Douglas came from the film of David Williamson's play Travelling North, which I saw in an Australian film festival while living in the US. It is a classic film with fine performances from Australian film royalty (Leo McKern, Julia Blake, Graham Kennedy and Henri Szeps). Research told me that it was a small but popular holiday resort town and an ideal starting point for tours to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree National Park. Incidentally these are two world heritage listed areas that are side by side.

The flight landed at Cairns airport around sunset. I had booked a direct transfer to PD. The hostel reception was closed but a hosteler told me to look for the key in the mailbox. I deposited my carry on luggage and walked about 15 minutes to the centre of town. As expected the streets into town were dim and quiet but got more lively closer to the main drag, Macrossan Street.

I found the restaurant that served a soft shell crab wrap and ate it in the courtyard of the local supermarket. It had started to drizzle by this time so after cleaning up, I dodged into the supermarket to buy some provisions for breakfast.

I finished off with some gelato for dessert.

A piece of sage advice outside a popular café.

I returned to the hostel for a rest. Fortunately the next day's tour didn't start until after lunch so I could take it easy.