Port Douglas is situated to the north of Cairns and is the gateway to Australia's World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropical Rainforests. The Wet Tropics of Australia one of the world's finest natural jewels The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area covers nearly 900,000 hectares of rainforest and other assorted vegetation types. The area stretches for more than 400 kilometres from just north of Townsville to just south of Cooktown. The land is held under a variety of land tenures consisting of National Parks, State Forests, Timber Reserves and some very small areas of freehold land. The whole area has outstanding global conservation significance where the destruction of even small areas would have serious future consequences in terms of species extinctions and loss of biodiversity. In shear weight of numbers the Wet Tropics has more species than any other place on the Australian continent. More bat species are found here than anywhere else in Australia. Half of Australia's bird species, a third of our mammal and a quarter of the frog, reptile and rodent species are found here in the Wet Tropics. Many of these are found nowhere else on earth. Thirteen of the world's remaining nineteen families of primitive flowering plants are found here in Australia's wet tropical rainforests. This profusion of life is packed into an area which is less than 0.2% of the Australian continent. With over 80% of its land protected as national parks the Douglas Shire is the jewel in the crown of Australia's  Wet Tropics World Heritage area.  Its two major towns, Mossman and the small seaside village of Port Douglas, are less than one hour's drive from the Cairns International Airport. This drive through the magnificent coastal scenery of the Cook Highway is a great introduction to the natural beauty of the Wet Tropics of far northern Australia. Port Douglas is one of the world's premier holiday destinations for those seeking a vacation structured around the natural environment. This tiny village is perhaps unique in the world as it is surrounded on all sides by two separately listed World Heritage areas.  Within a 50 km radius you will find some of the richest diversity of habitats and wildlife anywhere on earth. On the east, Port Douglas is bordered by the crystal blue waters of the Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef. To the north, the magnificent and well known Daintree and Cape Tribulation rainforests. To the west, the lesser known but biologically rich Mt Lewis and Windsor-Carbine Tablelands and to the south, the Captain Cook section of the Wet Tropics World Heritage area. The village has accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets from five star resorts down to self contained units as well as camping and caravan parks. It is well serviced with an excellent range of restaurants, shops and other facilities. Our restaurants have creative menus exploiting our fresh local produce with extensive cellars of some of our great Australian wines. There are innumerable reef and rainforest tours showing the best the region has to offer. You have the choice of half day, full day or extended tours to the reef, rainforest or surrounding hinterland. There is a wide range of activities available from world class golf courses to white water rafting. You can bungy jump, sky dive or go hot air ballooning, go bird watching, dive or snorkel the great barrier reef, bush walk, horse riding, or if you wish, just walk the miles of deserted beaches and soak up the sunshine. Perhaps you would like to be introduced to one of the oldest human cultures on earth by taking an Aboriginal guided tour of the rainforest? Have you ever seen an estuarine crocodile in the wild? It is all here in the Wet Tropics of Australia. For the current Cairns weather update click here. Go to top of page Copyright © 1998 David & Diane Armbrust Thylogale Nature Refuge AUSTRALIA  Phone/Fax 07 4094 1600 Intl. +617+4094 1600 Contact us ABN 33 708 530 113 All rights reserved    Home u Thylogale u Rainforest u Outback u Half Day u Accommodation u About Us  Bookings u Port Douglas u What to Bring u Wildlife list u Links u Photographs u Testimonials u World Heritage Map u Webmaster u