The perfect 10: Port Douglas, North Queensland

A popular North Queensland holiday town with a colourful past has had a revamp.

The picturesque sandy stretch of Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas.

A popular North Queensland holiday town with a colourful past has had a revamp.

1. BACK IN BUSINESS: Australia’s go-to luxury tropical getaway in the late 1980s, Port Douglas is enjoying a resurgence led by the $40 million overhaul of the town’s iconic Sheraton Mirage resort. Reef Marina on Wharf Street is also experiencing a mini-renaissance. In June, Hemingway’s Brewery opened offering a selection of boutique brews made onsite with water from nearby Mossman Gorge and named for historic characters, such as the Mrs Watson’s “small ale”, which pays homage to an unfortunate woman who perished at sea in a barrel. The smart fit-out includes a glass wall looking on to the brewery, al fresco dining with great marina views, and a large meat smoker churning away in the background. A casual menu features burgers, steaks and seafood (ginger-steamed mussels, perhaps, or local prawns). Paddles of ales are available for tasting and there’s a fantastic local ginger beer.

More: hemingwaysbrewery.com.

2. CARIBBEAN COOL: Wendy McWilliam kicked off Reef Marina’s renaissance when she opened the Barbados sunset bar last December. Late of Sydney’s Paddington, the style-savvy dynamo has designed most of the bar’s chic fixtures and many are for sale, either online or next door at Martinique Island Style. Fanning out over the marina’s timber boardwalk, the bar has great views across Dickson Inlet, and a stellar cocktail list, including a brilliant gin-based tipple served in a teapot. The vibe is part Caribbean, part Ibiza. “We’re going for barefoot luxury, casual but sophisticated,” McWilliam says.

More: barbadosportdouglas.com.au.

The Barbados bar, which opened last December, is a top spot for cocktails. Picture: Brian Cassey

3. SET TO SAIL: There’s more barefoot luxury in store aboard the 45-passenger sailing vessel Aquarius with Captain Andy at the wheel and the sure-footed Sarah from Tennessee hopping about proffering canapes. The 90-minute cruise is BYO (glasses, ice and refrigeration are provided) and offers the best vantage point for viewing the sunset over the mountains of the Daintree. Kick off your shoes, pop a cork, sit back and enjoy this gentle expedition close to shore across the gorgeous Coral Sea; $60 a person.

More: portdouglascruises.com.

4. CAFE SOCIETY: On Macrossan Street, you’ll find a mix of the old and new, including cane-toad racing at Iron Bar (No 5) and blokes in high-vis vests downing a cold one on the veranda of the Central Hotel (No 9), built in 1878. Or head to Betty’s Bohemian Beach Cafe (Shop 2; No 56) with its doilies under the sugar bowls and dream catchers on the walls; be early to grab a table for breakfast and go for the house-made pear and pecan loaf with espresso butter, Earl Grey poached pear and maple syrup.

More: ironbarportdouglas.com.au

centralhotelportdouglas.com.au

tourismportdouglas.com.au.

Betty’s Bohemian Beach Cafe.

5. RAINFOREST DREAMING: My guide Cameron has a deep knowledge of the forest and its critters and he’s showing me how to interpret the ancient Daintree in a very practical manner. Blue ginger leaves are used to wrap food for cooking; the buttress roots of the cluster fig are perfect to craft boomerangs and shields; the sap of the milky pine tree will cure headaches. A half-day interpretative tour offered by the Mossman Gorge Centre is a brilliant introduction to the rainforest. The excursions are led by indigenous guides who share stories as well as their immense botanical knowledge, and the outings finish with a cup of strong bush tea and damper. Tours can include hotel pick-up, if required, and time to explore the centre’s impressive art gallery. Mossman Gorge Centre is about 22km northwest of Port Douglas.

More: mossmangorge.com.au.

Visitors can take an interpretative tour of the rainforest of Mossman Gorge.

6. HOT CHOCOLATE: Roasting coffee and making chocolate since 1988, Coffee Works has outlets in Cairns and Townsville as well as a Hobbit-like outlet on Macrossan Street (Shop 5; No 32) crowded with handmade chocolates and oddments (an hour inland at Mareeba you’ll find the company’s HQ, a self-styled “Disneyland for coffee” featuring historic coffee and tea-making paraphernalia). Most of the chocolate flavourings, including coconut, coffee, mango and nuts, are locally grown. Try the lemon myrtle or salted caramel varieties; locals are apparently crazy about the “caffeinator” (with the crunch of whole beans, it’s an instant pick-me-up).

More: coffeeworks.com.au.

Head brewer Jared Stewart at Hemingway’s Brewery at the Port Douglas Marina. Picture: Brendan Radke

7. RETAIL AHOY: Artist Jai Vasicek is well known in northern NSW’s Byron Bay for his hand-painted plaster wall tiles and “portholes”, many with a retro sea-going flavour. More recently he’s opened an outpost of Ahoy Trader on Macrossan Street (Shop 1; No 39), stocking Byron Bay clothing labels, homewares and deliciously scented candles by Ancoeur. In-house coffee is courtesy of the cute Sparrow cafe.

More: ahoytrader.com.

8. GET FRESH WITH A FISH: This small holiday town is bulging with dining options, from a casual sandwich “made by chefs” at Little Larder (after five try the Coachella Colada) to the fine-dining stalwart, Nautilus, still serving best-quality local produce (whole coral trout or live mud crab). Spilling out of an old Queenslander on to Wharf Street, Salsa Bar & Grill is a local favourite, while at the waterfront On the Inlet is a great spot to tuck into fresh seafood (try the fish taco) and you might spy George the Groper, who apparently pops out from under the restaurant for a feed at about 5pm.

More: tropicalnorthqueensland.com.au.

9. BEACHSIDE BLISS: Begin each day with a stroll along Four Mile Beach, a gorgeous stretch of sand lapped by coconut palms and tropical forest and sweeping into the distance for as far as the eye can see. On any given morning, most of the townsfolk seem to be here, jogging or walking their dogs; tourists are unfurling yoga mats or setting up camp for the day. The northern end of the beach is popular for swimming, with a stinger net in season and patrolled by Surf Lifesaving. Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas has beach access tracks.

Sheraton Mirage Resort has had a $40 million revamp and offers ‘swim out’ rooms.

10. BEST BEDS: Christopher Skase put sleepy Port Douglas on the luxury map in the late 80s when he opened the opulent Sheraton Mirage, bulging with 18th-century antiques and daubed an unforgettable pink. The then president Bill Clinton, Clint Eastwood, Mick Jagger and celebs galore dropped in to drop out, lounging by the resort’s impressive saltwater lagoons. A recently completed $40m makeover puts paid to Skase’s gold taps and dark green marble; in their place are cool, contemporary coastal interiors featuring pale timber floors, canopied beds and smart plantation-inspired furniture. The refit includes swim-out guestrooms and suites with ladders dropping directly from private terraces into the lagoons, plus fully serviced poolside cabanas. The 147ha grounds have been streamlined, opening up the landscape immediately around the lagoons and a new day spa is slated for development next year, adjoining the golf course. For former guests nostalgic for the heady 80s, fear not as the resort is still Pixie (Skase) Pink, albeit four shades lighter.

More: sheratonportdouglas.com.

Christine McCabe was a guest of Sheraton Port Douglas.