General overview of the Port Douglas area

The Douglashire County in North-eastern Queensland, Australia is described as “where the rainforest meets the reef”. I have always believed that one can be happy anywhere – we carry our happiness within ourselves, but it sure does help to be living in such a beautiful place.
Cairns is the closest airport to fly into, and is considered the big shopping hub by those of us that live in a town with no movie theatre or fast food restaurants. Heading north, Captain Cook Highway veers suddenly towards the coastline and your breath will be taken away by the sight. You will want to stop and stroll along every little beach, or just stand and stare at the endless blue water.
The Habitat is located on Captain Cook Highway at the turnoff to Port Douglas. Here you will be able to get up close and personal with animals like kangaroos and wallabies. You can have a lovely breakfast with the birds, or lunch with the lorikeets. You have to get up earlier for the breakfast, but it is worth it as there you will be able to sample a vast array of strange tropical fruit.
The Sunday Markets are perhaps the most famous happening in Port Douglas. Every Sunday morning this park is filled with a huge number of stalls offering all manner of local products and crafts. The Marina is chock a block full of boats to take you out to the reef, which of course is top of the list of things to do there. On Sundays there is the last steam train ever built in Australaia called the Balley Hooley. For 4.00 you can do a one way trip through the mangroves and along past the hotels, and then have a lovely walk back along tropical shaded sidewalks, or do the return trip back to the marina by train.
Anytime from June to October you will see the sugar cane being harvested and occasionally be stopped on the road by cute little locomotives, with names like “Douglas” or “Faugh-a-balaugh”, carrying their load to the Mossman sugar mill. A trip up to the rainforest and a walk through Mossman Gorge takes you back to the primal earthly way that this wonderful world of ours was put together and continues to grow and feed itself in magnificent balance. You will leave this place feeling inspired and renewed – I guarantee it!