In the 15+ years I’ve been living in Port Douglas (intermittently), I’ve never seen a big cyclone. With Cyclone Jasper heading our way in December 2023, in a few days, I thought I’d share what it’s like living with tropical storms and cyclones in tropical north Queensland. Extreme weather events are an interesting aspect of …
Expat in Australia
Port Douglas is a lovely holiday town in Far North Queensland Australia. It’s the perfect place to stay for visiting the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. It really is a great holiday destination. Are you planning a trip to Port Douglas? Here’s what you should look out for when planning a trip or …
The Atherton Tablelands, known locally as “The Tablelands” covers a huge area in Far North Queensland, close to top holiday hotspots, Cairns and Port Douglas. There is a vast amount to see and do on the Tablelands and your average visitor probably won’t be able to do it all. So once you’ve been to the …
The only way to get from Palm Cove to Port Douglas is by road along the Captain Cook Highway. There is no real public transport between Palm Cove and Port Douglas but there are shuttle buses and some free options. The drive between Palm Cove and Port Douglas is officially one of the most beautiful …
It’s very easy to visit the Daintree Rainforest from Cairns and we would suggest you take a full day to see the oldest rainforest on Earth. You can self-drive to the Daintree from Cairns, or you can book a tour. This post covers your options for seeing the Daintree Rainforest and Daintree National Park as …
Yes, you can walk the Daintree Rainforest by yourself at several designated boardwalks. We explain where these rainforest walks are, the dangers you need to know about, and which walks are free. There are also tour options and ways of accessing the Daintree Rainforest in this post. Please find what walking or entry information you …
There is not a place called “Daintree Town” in the Daintree National Park or Daintree Rainforest areas of Far North Queensland. This post explains a little more about where “Daintree” is, which towns are in the Daintre and those nearby. Daintree Town simply doesn’t exist according to my extensive research. Daintree The Daintree statistical area …
There is no entry fee for the Daintree National Park, it is free to enter other than the privatised sections like the Mossman Gorge. There are two main parts of the Daintree National Park, Mossman Gorge is south of the Daintree River, the Daintree Rainforest extends north of the river through Cape Tribulation. In this …
No, it is not safe to swim in the Daintree River. The Daintree River in Far North Queensland is in tropical northern Australia and is inhabited by a lot of large saltwater or estuarine crocodiles which are very dangerous to humans and large mammals. The Daintree River is a very popular place to take a …
The Daintree Rainforest is the oldest rainforest in the world at over 135 million years old, possibly older. It is located in tropical Far North Queensland Australia and is a popular tourist attraction for visitors to Port Douglas, Palm Cove, and Cairns. To book a Daintree tour, fast, click here to see your choices. Otherwise, …
Port Douglas is a pretty resort town in Far North Queensland Australia, roughly an hour north of Cairns, a much larger city. Cairns has the nearest international airport to Port Douglas and most visitors will arrive here for their Port Douglas stay. From the airport, either book the shuttle to Port or pick up a …
Most of the biggest and best hotels in Port Douglas do not allow dogs to stay, other than assistance dogs, but a handful of hotels, camp sites and villas, will allow dogs and pets. We run through the best Port Douglas hotels with dogs. Some Port Douglas restaurants and pubs will also allow dogs on …
The best time to visit Cairns is broadly considered to be Australia’s cooler months, thus avoiding the wet season, tropical cyclones, and stinger season. If you’d prefer to avoid these natural phenomena, you should visit between May and October, these are the months many people consider “ideal” for visiting Cairns. However, you can visit Cairns …
Yes, you can snorkel off the beach in Port Douglas at any time of year. In summer “stinger season” there is a netted swimming enclosure on Four Mile Beach. Snorkelling at Port Douglas beach is something I’ve done many times. But read the rest of this post to find out about potential dangers and limitations. …
A lot of people wonder, are there crocodiles in Australia? Yes, there are a lot of crocodiles in the warmer parts of Australia, notably the large, dangerous, saltwater crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, but also the less-troublesome freshwater crocodile (Johnstone’s Crocodile). There are large numbers of crocodiles in northern Queensland and The Northern Territory Australia. Western Australia …
Port Douglas is pretty popular as a Christmas holiday destination. With Australian long summer school holidays falling over the Christmas period, many families choose to travel around Christmas time and into the early New Year. However, Christmas and summer time bring some of the hottest, most humid weather to the tropics. Port Douglas is just …
Stuck for places to visit in Melbourne? Have you visited most of them already? What about places to visit near Melbourne? Day trips, tours, places of interest and activities near Melbourne CBD. We bring you our best places to visit in and near Melbourne in this travel blog post! Melbourne attracts millions of visitors from …
Dining in Port Douglas is made all the better if you can find a restaurant with a good view. A delicious dinner of local seafood or a modern Australian dish is always enhanced by a wonderful sea view, don’t you think? We have a few Port Douglas restaurants to share with you, where you can …
What is Australian food and what are the most popular Australian foods? Modern Australia exhibits a diverse blend of global cultures and histories in its modern cuisines. Many popular Australian dishes are synonymous with Australia, verging on the unique, yet they tend towards Australian variations on international dishes. Other dishes that are most certainly popular …
Paronella Park is a tourist attraction in Far North Queensland, Australia. It was built as a pleasure park business by an inspired Spaniard with a head full of dreams, back in the days when this part of the world was inaccessible to most. But what is it about Paronella Park? Is this crumbling castle in …
Yes, you read that right we have a stinging tree in Queensland. It’s not just a bit “ouch” it’s more searing blinding agony that can persist for months. It’s not going to kill you with venom, but suicide could sound like a good option. Yes, it’s that bad. This post is about Gympie Gympie, the …
Our Australia travel blog will help you plan your trip to Australia, we’ll tell you about the best places to see, how to get around, costs of visiting Australia, how to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef, and more. This blog post has all of our Australia content in one page, covering our experiences and …
If you are moving to Australia, welcome! We moved to Australia in 2007 from the UK. By 2013 we were travelling full-time but lockdown saw us holed up in Queensland. We still own a house there and we’ve just bought a farm or homestead in Australia. We want to put more information on our blog …
I’m no expert on gardening in the tropics, I’ve lived here for 5 years, in tropical Queensland, I’m a British expat in Australia, I’ve made plenty of gardening mistakes, but I’m starting to see some good results in the tropical food garden. Check out our tomato crop. Until a few years ago I lived in …
Honestly, I’m confused, my head is a mess. I spent forty-two years experiencing Christmas in winter. December, in my mind, will always be cold, now, suddenly, our tropical Christmas is in summer, it’s too weird! I find myself living in Port Douglas, Australia, in an alternate hemisphere, am I supposed to adjust to the idea …
This post was written and titled “Living in Port Douglas” when we were planning to escape Port Douglas over a decade ago. We have lived in Port Douglas on and off since we emigrated here from the UK. We owned a beautiful house there, but we left to travel the world for several years in …