Staying in Port Douglas

View of the pool from our balcony.

Going swimming

White flowers blooming on bushes all over town - very exotic!

We stayed at the Bay Villas resort for 7 days in Port Douglas.  We had a 2 bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, huge living room/dining room, large deck, a toilet in one room and a shower and sink in another room, and a free washer and dryer.  It was lovely.  I loved the pool.  I swam laps quite a few times when we had the extra time and I had some energy.  At night the pool was illuminated with colored lights of red, blue, green, gray, and purple.  From the balcony the pool looked like different flavors of jello.  A couple nights I waited so I could swim in the lighted pool.  From the water the lights made the water look like different flavors of Gatorade.  Swimming was heavenly.  Bird of paradise bloomed right next to the pool.  As I floated on my back I could see the palm trees swaying in the breeze.  I could also see birds I had never before seen in my life land on these trees.  While relaxing and laying on my back in the water, I would maneuver myself in the water to get a good look at these new birds so I could go back to my room and look them up in the bird book I had brought.  Does life get any better than this?  We had a really nice place to stay for the week.  Downtown Port Douglas was about a 8 block walk from our place. So after we settled into our place and rested for a few minutes after traveling for 12 hours, we walked downtown to find a place to eat.  Restaurants post their menu's outside so we can look it over before making a decision.  Ouch, in this town it is hard to find a meal for under $30.  We found a Mexican place that was more reasonable.  Dinner isn't served until 6 so we had to wait a while but we got a great meal for around $15.  I had a vegie burrito with whipped beans, corn, peas, onions and cheese that was very delicious.  We sat at a table outside to eat. Flocks of green and red birds were swarming around.  I'd see 30 or more of these birds at a time swooping over the street and buildings.  After dinner we walked on the main drag to check out the town.  We saw more and more of these birds.  In the final 3 blocks of the main street, just before the harbor, the trees in the median of the street were full of these same birds.  I asked a passerby what kind of birds they were and she said they were red banded lorakeets.  The lorakeets were loud and annoying individually.  Collectively they overwhelmed our senses.   In five trees we saw several thousand lorakeets.  The noise was deafening.  Tourists stopped to gave up in wonder at this sight.  The trees had so many birds they looked like they were loaded with red and green fruit.  It was crazy.  I wanted to put my hands over my ears they were that loud.  The cashier at the grocery store said they roost here every night.  She was grateful that she had worked at the store for 8 years and had never been crapped on yet.  At the grocery store I bought yogurt, eggs, cheese, tomatoes, onion and chocolate.  We could save money by making our own breakfast and snacks because eating out was so expensive. As we walked out of the downtown area with our grocery sacks in our hands and the noisy lorakeet song lessening with every step we took, we were very pleased with the beautiful night, the full moon, the ocean breeze, the warm temperature, and the picturesque town of Port Douglas.