What a rather lovely hostel! Two of us in a room for four which was kitted out as two singles and a bunk, along an en-suite shower and a door out to a seating area at the back. And a fridge! And free wifi! The room was tiled and clean with cupboards and bedside lights, air-conditioning. All that was missing was room service and a television. On the other hand, it was strangely quiet. At 9.30pm on Friday night I went to the kitchen and no-one was about and the kitchen looked closed. I tried the door, which was open, found the light switch and made myself a free cup of coffee in this strange, clean space. So unlike Cairns YHA. Do stay there, Port O'Call Eco Lodge, if you're ever visiting Port Douglas.
On Friday evening, I had ventured up the road and into town to buy some food for dinner. I still can't get used to it being dark but early evening and warm. You never get those three together at home. I did one of those movie re-enactment things and walked back along the railway tracks! It was the old track used by sugar cane trains and now once a week for a volunteer-run steam train. I must have looked the right tourist...
Saturday dawned and there was this odd yellow thing in the sky. My plan was to walk around town and suss the place out - the usual Karen walkabout in a new place. And a jolly nice place too. A bit Bournemouth (well Sandbanks really) with the occasional reminder of Poole :-) The Port Douglas Carnivale was on and actually using the word close to its original meaning of being a meat-eating festival. The local yacht club seems very smart as does its marina. I found the old courthouse (closed despite a sign saying it should be open); an old lighthouse and then a look-out point which was up a very steep hill. The views were stunning once I got there and there were some gorgeous houses to have a sticky nose at. Apparently, they hide celebrities in such places if they're filming in the region. A bit like when Brad and Ange lived round the corner to us in Petersham for a while, I suppose.
The main street seemed to be full of places to eat, many of them possibly of the fine dining variety. I found somewhere for me despite that. I walked on and found the beach which I had inspected from on high and it did not disappoint. For once, there were actually people on it, families and everything, even going in the water (between the flags only of course). The sand was fine and I sat down a while, pondering life, the universe and everything. Not sure I have the answer yet though. Eventually, I returned to the hostel.
At the hostel, I logged in to the wifi, had a cup of coffee and wondered again where everyone was. As it got near to collection time I moved to sit out at the front, to wait for my bus to Cairns. Opposite was a tree with lots of bats in it. Then they started flying around a bit. Eventually, I caved in and video-ed (sp?) them. One day, I shall see if I can put it on that youtube thing. What a day. Then it was back to Cairns. Every silver lining has a cloud.
For pictures, keep looking on twitter by finding @runningwomble until I get back to some decent wifi.
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