Continental Shelf, and Quicksilver have anchored a two-level
floating platform just above it. It’s a little daunting for those
without their sea legs – there’s nothing but 360 degrees of deep
blue surrounding us, and a whole other ecosystem thriving just
below. “One of the things I love the most about the tour is you’ll
see even the long-term crew come out of the water, with big grins
on their faces, and say ‘Did you see that? How amazing!’. To have
that as your office every day, it’s pretty great,” says Megan Bell,
who has been in the Quicksilver company for 18 years.
I’ve never been this far north in Australia, and it’s my first
chance to catch a glimpse of this underwater universe. I jump
off the snorkelling platform into the water and see firsthand that
Quicksilver’s office is, indeed, amazing. While it’s not quite as
colourful as I imagined, the dramatic silence of being underwater,
deep drops opening up to never-ending chains of coral, schools of
gliding fish and even a turtle swimming by to say hello, is living
proof that Port Douglas will never really go out of style.
Back on dry land, I have a lunch date booked at the newly
renovated Reef Marina. Walking across the palm-fringed harbour,
past the remains of the deserted shopping complex, I wonder if
I’m in the right place. Weathered timber boards and chipped yellow
paint are evidence of the marina’s decaying heyday; most of the
buildings have been left untouched over the past 30 years. But
closer to the water, along the recently updated boardwalk, you can
see why this spot is now the talk of the town.
Opened at the marina in 2016, Hemingway’s is Port Douglas’s
first craft brewery. Putting the pure waters of nearby Mossman
Gorge to good use, the brewery makes a range of high-quality beers
that nod to important moments in the town’s timeline. “We wanted
the locals to feel like it was their pub, their place and their beer; all
of our six beers have been named after someone who was local
here,” says Hemingway’s general manager, Dean Scadding.
The Prospector is a bright and refreshing pilsner brewed in
honour of the gold rush; Doug’s Courage, a pine-scented IPA,
commemorates the community’s incredible spirit after the tragic
cyclone; and Pitchfork Betty’s is a pale ale named after the town’s
most famous publican.
“Betty Whiting used to have one of the first pubs here in Port
Douglas. She became a bit senile and, if anybody started to upset
her, she’d start chasing them out of the pub with a pitchfork – she
was a bit of a legend in town,” says Dean.
It’s places like this, along with modern restaurant and cocktail
bar Barbados around the corner, that have brought life back to the
marina. “We’re not a traditional sort of pub. People can actually sit
down, taste and experience the different beers,” says Dean. “We
offer somewhere else for people to go, not just wander up and down
Macrossan Street. Everybody loves sitting beside the water.” 1