Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia was founded in 1877 as a bustling gold and tin port and later transformed into a world famous tropical resort village.
The beach is known as 4 mile beach. Many people I've heard of have stayed in Port Douglas such as Bill Clinton, Katie Perry, Pink, Mick Jagger and others. Several movies have been made in Port Douglas.
Christopher Skase made the town into a luxury resort town in the 1980's. He died in Spain aged 52 in 2001. Christopher was accused of corporate fraud, breaching company laws, and improperly using his position as chairman of the failed Quintex group which accumulated over 1 billion in debt and of course was an Australian and fled to Spain. I remember all of that.
Our very first trip/holiday to mainland Australia in our car staying at Motels on the way up and back to and from Port Douglas was in 2000. We discovered how large Australia was from Tasmania (home) to near the top and we had no idea how long it would take us before we left home. We stayed a week in Port Douglas at a resort then drove around exploring the vast area.
Travelled back down to Melbourne in Victoria and discovered we were far too early to catch the ferry as in days, so we headed to South Australia for a visit and stayed several days and explored, then back to Melbourne to catch the ferry home.
4 mile beach and small cruise ship anchored.
These stone formation were and are made by people who stop to do so, we did one year on the way up there. I recall there is a place to stop/park on a corner not too far from Port Douglas.
That's a special part of your country, Margaret. I like those stone formation made by people who visited the beach. Easy to see how Australian people respect the environment.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely new week!
It is special Giorgio and most of us respect our country keeping it tidy and clean.
DeleteIt's interesting how those rocks stay in position, but they do.
Thank you.
Certainly a beautiful area. In two visits to Australia I never did make it to Queensland, and I doubt I ever will.
ReplyDeleteIt's a pity but you just can't go everywhere when in Australia as it's too big.
DeleteIt's rather different in the tropics of Australia, David.
Amazing photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you Anne.
DeleteThis sounds like a wonderful trip. I enjoyed your photos and interesting stories. Thank you Margaret. Have a great Sunday!
ReplyDeleteIt was very enjoyable being the first one taking our car with us, Denise. We had flown to the Gold Coast before a few times and Melbourne many times but never took our car till the year 2000.
DeleteIt is lovely getting in the car and just driving and driving :) I miss the long road trips we used to have. Happy day to you Margaret :)
DeleteWas 2000 really your first trip to the mainland?
ReplyDeleteIn and with our car Hels. We had flown to Surfers a few times and to Melbourne for business several times but never took our car till the year 2000.
DeleteWhat beautiful photos, dear Margaret! Your trip sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda, it certainly was a memorable trip.
DeleteWhat a wonderful idea—the rock formations are just fantastic!
ReplyDeleteAn exciting journey, brought to life by your beautiful photos and the explanations about this magnificent place!
Thanks for sharing; I’m so glad you did, because I’ll likely never get to visit myself,but thanks to you, I get to experience it after all!
Have a wonderful time! Hugs, Elke
Thank you Elkes. It's one way of seeing the world through other people's blogs and I too find it interesting when others do it on their blogs.
DeleteYou are welcome.
You make me fall in love with Australia every time you post.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely thing to say, Nicola. Thank you.
DeleteThe pictures you’re showing are so beautiful, Margaret. The beaches and these magnificent rock formations are absolutely fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThank you Marit. The rocks as good to see in person and no one knocks them over, they are just added to the collection.
DeleteSkvělá dovolená to byla, Margaret! Tak daleko od domova a přesto ve své zemi, takže mluvíte svým jazykem a považujete to za samozřejmost, ale v jiných kontinentech tomu tak není. Krásná pláž to jistě je a ty útvary z kamení, co stavějí lidé, dorazily i k nám a vidím je třeba i v horách. Proč to tak dělají, vlastně nevím.
ReplyDeleteRáda jsem se podívala do míst, která určitě nenavštívím, ale díky blogu poznám zase něco nového. Mějte úspěšný nový týden, Margaret! ☺
Thank you. I'm told you can go through a few countries as we would drive our car in one day to just get to another town or two here in Australia.. Of course, changing languages, as well, and as you say we can speak our language all the way.
DeleteWhat an unforgettable road trip, discovering the vastness of mainland Australia while exploring Port Douglas and beyond, with so many memories woven into the journey.
ReplyDeleteLots of memories on that trips in the car but then all our trips have good memories. Our country is so vast and unusual at the same time, from temperate to tropical.
DeleteThe sea looks very wild, and the beach windswept.
ReplyDeleteThe sea does look a bit wild, but then being by the sea that how it often is up any coast of Australia unless you get a beautiful calm day, Andrew as you would know. It was warm and not cold being where it is in the tropics. Good place to cool down a bit.
DeleteAustralia is just huge isn't it!
ReplyDeleteLooks and sounds a great trip though. I enjoyed your photographs especially seeing the stone formation made by people who visited the beach.
All the best Jan
It certainly is large Australia Jan. It's a strange feeling when you go to Darwin and you can't drive any further, doesn't seem right. I guess driving for days on end and stopping along the way you wonder if you are ever going to get to the top of Australia and when you do it's a bit of a shock to not be able to go further north...lol
DeleteLinda playa. Te mando un beso y te deseo una buena semana.
ReplyDeleteThank you J.P.
DeleteSuch a beautiful place to spend the time with the family!
ReplyDeleteYes that's true, but just husband and myself on this trip and most of them after that, Angie. We took our sons to the Gold Coast of Australia, but we flew up.
DeleteHello Margaret,
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos from your trip.
I especially love the rock formations.
Wishing you a lovely week.
All the best, Irma
Thank you Irma. You have a good week too.
DeleteTake care.
I didn’t know the Skase story, quite something that the man who built up the resort town ended up in Spain with all that debt behind him. I also liked that you got to Melbourne far too early for the ferry and simply carried on to South Australia instead.
ReplyDeletehttps://canalsandcitrus.blogspot.com
Skase could stay in Spain and Australia couldn't get him back to Australia, I forget the reasons. When we had never travelled in our car over there we had no idea how long it would take to get from the near top to the bottom...so it was fun and we soon found out.
DeleteI'm not sure why, but I hate seeing those giant cruise ships. I'm not against big buildings or big airplanes, but those giant ships ruin the view. Your pictures were all excellent--- just like they always are.
ReplyDeleteThank you. There are some mighty large ships out there. I didn't think that one was that big. I took the photo to show that cruise ship which seemed to be rather close. I'd never seen one anchored close like that, it's a reminder.
DeleteHello Margaret,
ReplyDeleteA beautiful story and a wonderful adventure. Australia is such a vast continent—it’s almost hard for me to even imagine its scale! Lovely photos; I really enjoy seeing such expansive vistas—the kind I don’t get to experience myself, given my own surroundings, which are more confined and filled with mountains and hills.
As always, it’s a pleasure to read your posts and look through your photos.
Wishing you good health and much joy in the coming week.
Thank you very much. Australia is large, takes many days and weeks to see a small part of it. Places that have a lot of people and places where there are but a few...
DeleteThat sounds like an unforgettable road trip. Port Douglas has such a fascinating history, balancing its glamorous celeb-favorite resort vibe with those deeper story layers like Christopher Skase. Thank you for sharing such wonderful travel memories!
ReplyDeleteWonderful memories Benita.
DeletePort Douglas is certainly an incredible place.
ReplyDeleteA magnificent beach.
Fantastic photos.
The area with the rock formations created by people is very interesting.
Thank you Maria. Those rocks are amazing to see, and no one touches or kicks those rocks over, they are always standing and balanced.
DeleteWhat lovely photos and memories!
ReplyDeleteThank you. Certainly a lot of memories travelling Australia for years in the winter.
Delete4 Mile Beach looks amazing, especially that rocky part with the piled stones. I'd like to visit there one day, but probably never will. I can "fly over" with Google Earth and see it.
ReplyDeleteWhere the rocks are R, that area is not connected to 4 mile beach, the rocks are not far south of Port Douglas. It's worth a visit if you ever get the opportunity.
DeleteThank you for sharing this wonderful spot
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome.
DeleteHey Margaret,
ReplyDeleteNice pictures you have made. Fantastic to see the shot with that cruiseship. So nice.
And so very special to see the shot with the stacked stones. Nice that the passing human make a small tower of stones on that place.
Many greetings,
Marco
Where those stones are stacked there is a bit of a rest area so it's good to be able to get out and stretch your legs, Marco.
DeleteThank you.
A wonderful post with such wonderful photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jo-Anne.
DeleteI love the pictures of the beach. I haven't been to a beach in more than 40 years.
ReplyDeleteOh my, Mary that is a very long time not to have been to a beach. We went to one yesterday for a few hours..
DeletePort Douglas is a beautiful tropical town. My SIL is going there soon to host the short film festival.
ReplyDeleteLovely town, Diane. Well I hope her film goes well.
DeleteI love the beach!!!
ReplyDeleteAs I do too.
DeleteEin wunderschöner Strand. Das Bild mit dem Kreuzfahrtschiff gefällt mir gut. Diese Steintürme kenne ich aus Deutschland. Bei uns werden sie an vielen passenden Stellen, meist an Wanderwegen, aufgestellt.
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting regarding the stone stacks in your country.
DeleteThank you and I was very surprised to see the cruise ship there as well.
Solitarias es como nos gusta disfrutar la playa. Me encantan las fotos Margaret.
ReplyDeleteBuena semana.
Un abrazo.
Thank you Laura and that day it was quiet there at that beach.
DeleteAustralia never ceases to amaze me with its size. Your journey from Tasmania to Port Douglas sounds like a real adventure. I especially enjoyed learning about the history of the town and seeing the unusual stone stacks people have created over the years.
ReplyDeleteOh yes Veronica, Australia is large as you realize so the things to see are rather varied. Thank you.
DeleteThe ocean looked perfectly calm on one side, yet violent and agitated near the ship. Scary!
ReplyDeleteI have done those "sculptures" once or twice. It seems very easy but it's not. : )
Putting the rocks on top of one another is not easy as you realize Catarina, you have to have the right base on the rock for it to stay there.
DeleteYes the sea, the beach taken one day and the rocks another. We were there awhile and got about a bit as in driving.
Muy bellas escenas marinas, amiga.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ildefonso.
DeleteA Austrália é enorme. Um verdadeiro país-continente recheado de grandes belezas naturais e com uma fauna e flora variadas.
ReplyDeleteAbraço de amizade.
Juvenal Nunes
Thank you Juvenal, it is large and varied.
DeleteGood post.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteMe encantan las playas en España hay muchas. La de tus fotografías es preciosa, me encantaría pasear por ella. Abrazos Margaret.
ReplyDeleteI too love beaches Teresa. Always lovely to walk along.
DeleteHello Margaret,
ReplyDeleteA trip to the mainland like that is wonderful. I only know Australia from TV and the internet. My sister does have a friend living there who emigrated to Australia years ago.
I recognize the stone formations on the beach too. That is sometimes done here as well. My son also did it on the grave of his 5-year-old son, and I think it is beautiful to see. It is also emotional. You will have beautiful memories of your trip.
Best regards
Thank you Helma.
DeleteSo sad regarding your sons 5 year old son. I'm sorry.
Many people from your country immigrated to Australia, a very good friend of mine now passed came from there.
Very interesting, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteI love those stone formations, how interesting! I have seen similar things in Iceland.
ReplyDeleteI had never really understood the scale of a country before I visited Australia - it is so vast. I think where I had lived in the centre of Britain and the centre of South Africa (hence, the rest of the country being accessible from there), I thought we could just take a day trip to Uluru from there.
Fun fact, I live in the town where Mick Jagger grew up and my bedroom overlooks the train platform where he and Keith met
Thank you Mandy. I've been told there are stones on top of each other in some countries, didn't know there was in Iceland.
DeleteYes, Australia is a large area and when you visit as you did you understand it much better, especially if you went to the outback.
My goodness, that is amazing that you live there and lookout where two musicians met so many years ago.