Chase the sun at the Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas
A tropical escape in winter is twice as sweet.
Winter has latched onto southern Australia so firmly, so resolutely, that a far north Queensland getaway feels more like a jailbreak. At 6am on the day of travel it’s puffer jackets and ankle boots, wrangling stuffed bags and airport queues, then some hours aloft, shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow escapees. By 3pm it’s barefoot on Four Mile Beach at the front of the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Port Douglas, sucking in sea air as regeneration begins.
If you don’t already have a plan, make one, because in this 147ha hedonist’s haven some strategy is useful. Otherwise your limited time could slip away as you coast from meal to meal and then sleep it off: breakfasting at Feast, lunching at Lagoon House, dining at Harrisons, with supplementary toasted sandwiches at the coffee shop.
Good food in beautiful surroundings interspersed with lazy swims in any or all of the sprawling network of 10 “lagoons” is important, but it would be shocking to neglect other pleasures. On site there is tennis, an 18-hole golf course, the Kaia day spa and a gym. In Port Douglas, less than 10 minutes’ drive from the resort, take a stroll through the Sunday market or along the perpetually busy main drag, Macrossan Street. And don’t miss the chance to put to sea from the town’s marina in search of the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef, the incomparable star of the far north Queensland coast, or hightail it north by car or bus to the ancient Daintree.
Given the resort hosts about 700 people at any given time, 900 at the peak, all tucked away in rooms, suites and villas, the place feels surprisingly uncrowded. Buggies are in constant motion, delivering luggage, linen and guests who are not up to walking the paths that thread its tropical gardens.
Mid winter in this part of the world means cassowary mating season is well underway, and the start of the agricultural shows. It is also the time to harvest sugar cane, which the resort has recently seized upon as a means of honouring the Italian contribution to the region’s proud agricultural heritage. Before the mills had even cranked up for this year’s crush, guests had been offered new ways to celebrate. Feast, home of the smorgasbord breakfast ($48pp), thereafter becomes a la carte and offers a nightly Italian dinner menu created by executive chef Belinda Tuckwell and an “Italian feast” every month. Showing off sugar in its most refined form, there is a new rum masterclass in the Daintree Bar, also monthly and open to guests and others at $49pp. Mt Uncle Distillery’s head distiller and director Mark Watkins’ unpretentious commentary goes down smoothly with samples of three bottles from his FNQ Rum Co label, as well as Mojitos and Old Fashioneds matched with exquisite hors d’oeuvres.
These sugar-centred events are among the most satisfying offered, along with the new Sheraton Sunset Sessions, also monthly and open to the public. Packages start with a $50pp credit for food and drinks consumed poolside while a DJ plays Ibiza-style music in the late afternoon. The cost tops out at $500 for two, which covers all-day access to a cabana and, from 5pm, Moët and a platter of chef’s Mediterranean bites.
The resort was visited upon the town of Port Douglas in the late 1980s, the brainchild of the late Christopher Skase. And here the controversial developer’s legacy is spectacular: conceived as a world apart, it has successfully evolved, integrating guest experiences with life beyond the sculpted grounds, strengthening its connections with its region’s history and environment.
This outreach includes a new clean-up activity at Four Mile Beach for guests and locals as part of parent group Marriott’s “good travel” program for its Asia-Pacific properties. Volunteers log their finds on Tangaroa Blue Foundation’s Australian Marine Debris Initiative database for analysis aimed at tracking the detritus and eliminating it at the source. With the Coral Sea’s shipping within dumping range it’s an important job, and this two-hour citizen science exercise makes the point more emphatically than a greenie lecture ever could.
• Perfect for: Southerners on the run from the big chill.
• Must do: The rum masterclass. Gin is all the rage, but rum is next. Take a reef trip – because seeing this wonder of the world is a new experience every time.
• Dining: Book ahead for dinner at chef-owner Spencer Patrick’s lauded onsite restaurant Harrisons (Tue-Sat):think Shark Bay scallops with ink aioli; North Queensland squid with spaghetti, ’nduja, tomato, sea herbs and sea crumb; Bindaree flank steak with spinach, shallot, chard, smoked mash and oxtail sauce. In town, options include Melaleuca, Zinc, Salsa Bar & Grill and Nautilus. For the full gastronomic immersion, visit during the Taste Port Douglas Food & Drink Festival (Aug 11-14), with events including golf with celebrity chefs, Catchers and Growers seafood feast and The Long Brunch with Dominique Rizzo.
• Getting there: Fly to Cairns; it’s an hour by bus or car to Port Douglas.
• Bottom line: Rooms from $360; lagoon suites from $407; 2-4 bed villas from $900. Rates vary widely according to season and deals.
sheratongrandportdouglas.com
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