Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

THE NORTH COAST 295
Tips Port Douglas After Dark
Locals meet at the 120-year-old Court House Hotel (& 07/ 4099 5181) at
the west end of Macrossan Street at Wharf Street. Live bands play Monday,
Friday, and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon. The pub is open
daily 10am until midnight (until 9pm Sun).
Port St. at Craven Close. & 07/4099 5422. Main courses A$7.50–A$14 (US$4.90–US$9). MC, V. Daily
6–9pm. Happy hour 5–7pm. Bar opens 4pm.
Salsa Bar & Grill Kids MODERN/TROPICAL This trendy restaurant,
in its lovely timber Queenslander with wrap-around verandas, has terrific food,
great value prices, and lively, fun service. Open for brunch, lunch, or dinner, you
can choose between the simplest of fare such as gnocchi, Caesar salad, or fantastic
spring rolls, or such mouth-watering delights as sand crab pannacotta, or
pan-fried Atlantic salmon with pickled ginger, coriander mash, and green
papaya salad. Even if you usually resist dessert, don’t. The buttermilk and
almond nougat pannacotta is to-die-for, and the chocolate Cointreau soufflé is
a “must.” On Sundays there’s a salsa band and the place really gets jumping. Oh,
yes, and Bill Clinton’s been here too—check out the signed plate on the wall,
with it’s history-making date.
26 Wharf St. (at Warner St.). & 07/4099 4922. www.salsa-port-douglas.com.au. Reservations essential.
Main courses A$20–A$25 (US$13–US$17). AE, DC, MC, V. Mon–Sat 10am–midnight; Sun 8am–midnight.
WORTH A SPLURGE
Nautilus TROPICAL/SEAFOOD Bill and Hillary Clinton dined here
during a visit Down Under, and by all accounts loved it. So did I. The restaurant,
which has been keeping the locals happy since 1953, is set under the palm
trees and stars, with a clever seating plan and unusual high-backed chairs which
give a wonderfully intimate atmosphere. Local produce and seafood is the mainstay
of the menu, which serves such delights as whole coral trout deep fried,
served with lotus root and bean shoot salad, sweet chile sauce, and steamed rice
or yellow-fin tuna poached in broth with tofu, Vietnamese mint, coriander, chili
and Nori tempura oysters. Or you may prefer to go for the fresh mud crab, barramundi,
or one of the many choices for non-seafood eaters.
17 Murphy St. (entry also from Macrossan St.), Port Douglas. & 07/4099 5330. www.nautilus-restaurant.
com.au. Reservations recommended. Main courses A$26–A$38 (US$17–US$25). AE, DC, MC, V. Daily
6:30–10:30pm or until the last diners leave. Closed Feb.
4 The North Coast: Mission Beach, Townsville & the Islands
For years the lovely town of Mission Beach was a well-kept secret. Farmers
retired here; then those who liked to drop out and chill out discovered it; today,
it’s a petite, prosperous, and stunningly pretty rainforest town. The beach is one
of the most gorgeous in Australia, a long white strip fringed with dense tangled
vine forests, the only surviving lowlands rainforest in the Australian tropics. It is
also one of the least crowded and least spoiled.
The nearby Tully River is the white-water rafting capital of Australia
(although the folks on the Nymboida River in New South Wales might argue
about that). Thrill-seekers can also bungee jump and tandem skydive when
they’re not rushing down the rapids between lush rainforest banks.