drivetime
Round-up
STAY
QT Hotel
87–109 Port Douglas Road, Port Douglas
07 4099 8900, www.qthotels.com.au
EAT & DRINK
Bazaar, QT Hotel
Buffet: adults $65, children 5–12 years $21.
87–109 Port Douglas Road, Port Douglas
07 4099 8900, www.qthotels.com.au
Salsa Bar & Grill
26 Wharf Street, Port Douglas
07 4099 4922, www.salsaportdouglas.com.au
Flames of the Forest
07 4099 5983, www.flamesoftheforest.com.au
EXPLORE
Fast Fact
Port Douglas is named
after Queensland Premier
John Douglas, who was in
office from March 8, 1877,
to January 21, 1879. Former
names included Terrigal,
Island Point, Port Owen
and Salisbury.
Mossman Gorge Centre
Dreamtime Gorge Walk (1.5 hours) departs 9am,
11am and 3pm daily. Adults $50, children 5–15
years $25, infants 0–4 years free; family pass
(two adults and two children) $125.
07 4099 7000, www.mossmangorge.com.au
Janbal Gallery
Aboriginal art workshops and gallery sales from
Tuesday to Saturday, 10am–5pm.
5 Johnston Road, Mossman
07 4098 3917, www.janbalgallery.com.au
Sailaway Port Douglas
Macrossan Street, Port Douglas
07 4099 4772, www.sailawayportdouglas.com
Image: Kirsty Lee Photography
Clockwise from
top: A colourful
work by local
Indigenous artist
Binna; dine out
at Flames of the
Forest; a crystal
and bud light
chandelier in the
Flames of the
Forest marquee.
We are welcomed and then seated under a black
silk-lined marquee, which is glittering with handmade
crystal and bud light chandeliers. The surrounding
rainforest is subtly lit and the marquee features a
backdrop of handmade bud light stars ("very popular
with marriage proposals", says the event manager).
The Saturday night degustation is a fantastic
offering of Australian delicacies, including lightly
seared kangaroo loin carpaccio served with a rocket,
parmesan and Spanish onion salad with fresh truffle
oil; smoked crocodile rillette with crisp ciabatta croute
and salsa verde; and house-made spanner crab tortellini
in a fennel cream sauce with fresh garden herbs. If
you love dessert, the black sapote pavé with orange
blossom cream and pistachio nut praline will have you
booking another dinner here just to get another serve.
Stu Forbes is one of four performers who entertains
visitors to Flames of the Forest. Silence falls before he
strums the first riff of Phil Collins' 'In the Air Tonight'.
I can't help but smile – something is certainly in the
air in Port Douglas, and it's not only tonight. It's some
kind of spell that weaves its magic as soon as you hit
the coastal road between the mountains and the sea,
and I don't think it will ever leave me.
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