Perfect Port Douglas

We pick up Alex from the airport, get the hire car from Hertz and he helps us unload the motorhome. It's raining and we just wonder if Alex is feeling a bit deflated with the weather after the long journey. However, everything changes as we track up the coast road to Port Douglas, because the sun gets brighter and the warmth feeds into the car. Halfway up, we stop off for a view of the coast and a lovely little beach. Alex thinks it's fantastic and we say that this type of view is what we have seen pretty much all the way up the coast since Adelaide!

Our next 5 days are spent at the Mandalay Apartments, that are just a 10 minute walk from the centre of town, set right on the beach. Our apartment is huge, with 3 bedrooms, a massive living area and wide terrace. Our first decision is to walk into town and have a late breakfast, then look for somewhere to have a 'welcome' beer. In fact, we decide to have a selection of tasting beers from the local brewery, Hemingway's, that is at the harbour. It's really warm, the scenery is lovely and we are really chilled. We explore the town, that is compact, but offers a myriad of eating outlets, bars and clothing shops. As the afternoon draws in, we go into Iron Bar, that has steak on the menu and tuck in; Alex relishing a juicy meal that he hasn't had to cook himself in the past months! With travel fatigue setting in, we decide Alex needs a good night's sleep, so we head back to the apartment, so that we can all be fresh for the following day.

Breakfast the next day is simple; cereal and toast. We all have a dip in the warm outdoor swimming pool. The sun is pretty hot and we have to make sure we apply generous amounts of sun cream. Then off to the beach, that is a 1 minute walk away through the rain forest that lines the shore. The beach is wide, flat and firm to the foot. We set up a couple of picnic chairs and spend an hour just lazing in the sun, enjoying the marvelous views. Alex and Keith go off on a pretty long walk down the beach, trying to avoid the hundreds of tiny crabs that burrow into the sand as we stroll along. Then Diane and Alex brave the water, body surfing as the waves crash into the shore. Lunch is at Cafe Ecco, which is very pleasant and Alex has his first cocktail of the holiday. Then a bit of retail therapy for our son, with a visit to a few shops to look for some beach vests.

We have promised Alex a roast dinner and so after shopping at Coles for the ingredients, we get to work on the dish, which is chicken, and includes stuffing and Yorkshire pudding. The cooker is all electric and Keith sets the dials accordingly. All is going well; chicken with roast potatoes and the batter is poured into the tray that has hot fat and placed on the top shelf. We sit down with a drink and chat about things to do the next day. Then Alex yells 'smoke!' and we all see a black plume rising from the oven. Keith dashes over and opens the door, whereupon more smoke pours out. He takes out the chicken, stuffing and the Yorkshire Pudding. As he does, the smoke detector goes off, the high pitched tone cutting through the night and it is a scramble to try and silence this unwelcome noise, before we fear the entrance of firemen (albeit Diane considers the thought of some hunky Aussie fireman breaking down the door and throwing her over his shoulder might be fun!). We see that the chicken is cooked on top, but a poke inside shows the meat is nowhere cooked. The stuffing is really brown on top, but raw underneath. And the Yorkshire pudding is black on top and cold and eggy elsewhere. Diane reads the cooker instructions and kindly mentions to Keith that he had set the control to grill rather than oven! So, after quickly making another egg and milk mix for the pudding, we

get the dinner back on track. Eventually, and about an hour later than we had intended, we sit down to the 'Sunday' roast dinner we had promised Alex. Amazingly it tasted good. But perhaps we will not try a roast meal again this week!