Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/122153
drivetime from his grandfather when he was a child. We stop for a swim in the clear water of the gorge and dry off on the rocks while Cameron demonstrates how different crushed rocks make earth-coloured ochre pigments for body painting. The walk winds up at a big timber table, where we are offered bush tea and damper. Inspired by Binna Only a few minutes down the road from the gorge is Janbal Gallery. To step into this world of art is to move within the colourful stories of Brian 'Binna' Swindley, a local Aboriginal artist who documents his life and conveys the world around him through his paintings. Binna's works feature incredibly intricate details and vibrant, uplifting colours. He has adopted a modern take on traditional Aboriginal dot painting and is happy to share his style with visitors, sitting with them in his studio gallery and teaching them how to paint with a thin stick. As we chat about life and his late mother, who was also a prolific painter, he steadily paints dot after dot on a small canvas, creating a picture for me to take home. As I watch intently I begin to see the tale emerge: the story of a man hunting an emu, the human footprints tracking the telltale prints of the large bird. When it's my turn I discover that the slow, steady, rhythmic movements involved in dot painting are therapeutic. Silence settles around us, along with a soothing sense of calm, as dot by dot we tell each other our stories. Afterwards, Binna shows me the surrounding tropical gardens, and with a sweep of his arm he indicates his studio, gallery and home above. "I am very lucky to be here, with my own gallery," he says. I nod and smile. What a beautiful life. Welcome to the club The many sailing, snorkelling and fishing tour operators in Port Douglas are a friendly bunch, and why wouldn't they be? You can tell by their radiant smiles and permanently sun-kissed bodies that they have some of the best jobs in the world. I stroll out onto the wharf to where the staff from Sailaway Port Douglas await their guests, slip off my thongs, board the yacht, Sailaway (recently sailed from France), and meet my fellow passengers. I'm then passed a glass of sparkling wine and a canapé, and guided onto the deck, where I find a good viewing spot. After a brief safety talk, the twilight sail – one and a half hours of bliss – begins, gliding out of Port Douglas Marina to the beautiful Coral Sea. The sun sets, washing the clouds in layers of soft pale pinks and mauves. As I sip wine and chat to the friendly staff and the other excited people around me, it dawns on me that I am drifting across a World Heritage site, with another wonder of the world – the spectacular Daintree Rainforest – surrounding me. 32 Lighting up the night Flames of the Forest rainforest dining experience is something that Port Douglas locals are understandably very proud of, and it was listed among Australian Traveller magazine's '100 greatest Australian gourmet experiences' in 2010. As the bus turns into a secluded property, a man steps out of the night and lights a fire, igniting a snake of flames across our path. We turn and drive on, and a minute later we step out into a wonderland of trees that are so tall they seem to reach upwards forever into the sky and gracefully tangle with the low-lying clouds.