Port Douglas Spared By Cyclone Olga
Queensland tourists: Cyclone? What cyclone?
HUNDREDS of tourists partied in Port Douglas, many blissfully unaware of any cyclone threat, as it hit the coast with barely a whimper yesterday.
Despite a heavy, humid atmosphere, patches of heavy rain, and a light breeze, it was little more than a wet Sunday in the tropical tourist hamlet.
Olga did not produce the 155km/h winds it threatened when heading towards the coast as a category two earlier in the day.
Korean tourists Sara Kim and Scarlett Yoon with friend Peter Wilson were oblivious to any threat.
They went for a stroll on Port Douglas beach at the same time as the cyclone crossed the coast about 2pm.
"Cyclone, what cyclone?," asked Ms Kim.
Mr Wilson, a bartender, said many Port Douglas locals had taken a "chilled" approach to the cyclone alert.
"Everyone is dawdling around, maybe you get lulled into a false sense of security being in such a laid-back place," he said.
Down at the marina, more than 120 luxury boats, yachts and reef-going tourist vessels had been ordered upstream into designated shelters in protected rivers and inlets.
Two boat owners who ignored the cyclone red-alert face warning letters and possible fines.
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