Port Douglas

After a long travel day we made it to Port Douglas Australia. We left Christchurch at 7AM and got to Port Douglas at 5 PM with a couple hour stop over in Brisbane. It was raining on our drive up. The gal on the plane said it has been raining for 3 weeks. Oh, brother. This is supposed to be our beach time. Actually we are pretty lucky, originally we had planned on being in Port Douglas the week there was a hurricane that passed through. I don't think we will melt from a little rain. Plus, the weather report said the weather clear up.


We stayed at the Veranda's apartments/condos. The price was right, and the reviews on Trip Advisor were good. So we thought it would be OK. Maybe a little dated. But it turned out to be a really amazing place. We were 2 blocks from the ocean. We had a super neat pool with a fountain as well. A great patio over looking the pool. And a grill. The place was fantastic.

Sue the property manager was really awesome. When we checked in she gave us the run down on the city. Where the grocery store was and good restaurants. She would let us know what day would be the best day to go to the Great Barrier Reef.

We dropped off our bags and walked straight over to the Tin Shed. Apparently there are a lot of clubs in Australia. I guess a place has to be a 'club' for them to have gambling. But you can join the clubs for free. And we could eat there as a guest. WEIRD. Anyway. The food was amazing. Linda and I shared Seafood Laksa, Bob had the Chicken Oscar and Mike had a Lamb Roast. Mike said it was the best lamb roast he ever had. I think it might have been the only lamb roast he has had. Linda had 2 glasses of champagne. We ate at this restaurant twice while we were in Port Douglas. It was that good.

The next day it rained all day. I mean ALL DAY. We left the condo in the morning for about an hour and walked through the shops. Then Bob and I read all day. Linda said it reminded her when she was little and mom would read and grandpa and grandma would take a nap on Sundays.

I suppose we needed a rest day. Although I would have rather been resting on the beach. I would have thought that after three weeks of vacation I would have been rested. But I don't think that Me or Bob or Mike or Linda can sit still. So everyday we were running around seeing all the sights. A rain day wasn't all bad.