The Week/end Guide

A Curated Guide to What’s On in Port Douglas, Daintree and Beyond.

Keep your eyes peeled skyward after lunch today as we experience a partial solar eclipse. The moon will pass in front of the sun, blocking its rays from reaching earth. The eclipse peaks here around 2.40pm, beginning around 1.25pm and ends by 4pm. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) advises that it is never safe to look at a partial eclipse, or the partial phases of a total eclipse, without approved eye protection. As a partial solar eclipse you must have safe solar viewing glasses to view this eclipse and a specialist full aperture solar filter or a dedicated solar telescope. Regular sunglasses, polaroid filters, dark glasses, welding glasses, X-ray film, photographic neutral density filters, red glass filters and homemade sun filters are not safe for observing the Sun. Don’t look at the Sun through binoculars, cameras or telescopes unless you’ve got the correct solar filter. And if you’re trying to photograph the eclipse, don’t look at the Sun through the view finder of your camera — look at the screen instead.

Weather outlook / A high [1030 hPa] moving eastward across the Tasman Sea extends a ridge over most North Queensland waters, with a weak trough extending over northern Cape York Peninsula into the Gulf of Papua. A stronger high [1034 hPa] will strengthen the ridge over North Queensland waters as it moves eastward across southern states over the next few days, reaching the Tasman Sea on Sunday.

Thursday

Winds southeasterly 15 to 20 knots, reaching up to 25 knots offshore north of Cairns in the late morning and afternoon. Partly cloudy. 60% chance of showers.

Friday

Strong wind warning for Friday for Cairns Coast-Winds southeasterly 20 to 25 knots, reaching up to 30 knots during the day.Weather is partly cloudy. 50% chance of showers.

Saturday

Winds southeasterly 20 to 30 knots.Weather to be partly cloudy. 80% chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm.

All Weekend

Every weekend, you’ll find live music at Paddy’s, the Court House and the Central Hotel on Friday and Saturday nights and again at the Court House for a Sunday market session. The Tin Shed often holds a chilled live music session on the deck on Sunday afternoons, and the Tav at Four Mile have live music every couple of Saturday afternoons.

Cane Toad Racing is held at Chilli’s Pizza & Trattoria most nights (weather depending) from 6pm. Arriving early is highly recommended. Fabulous food and atmosphere!

Today, Thursday

Topics in the Tropics is a regular trivia night at Hemingways down on the waterfront. Entry is free but bookings are recommended. Tickets.
Chatty Cafe at the Tin Shed at 10am
Legendary Musos Night at the Central from 8pm
Parmy Night at the Yachty
Jungle Fowl hosts Happy Hour $5 Asian beers from 5-6pm with $10 baos.

Friday

The ever fabulous and ever chic Hughies in Mossman is open again for their once-a-week celebrity appearance from 4pm.

Mount Molloy National Hotel features live and loud local music, Jag the Joker, Happy Hour, local transfer bus home (book early!) or enjoy a country pub style hospitality with a room at the inn upstairs.

Karaoke with Rockin’ Rick at the Mossman Bowls Club.
The Addams Family at The Clink all weekend

A bit farther afield, the Undara Outback Rock and Blues Festival kicks off for the weekend, featuring Genevieve Chadwick, Lady Valiant, Peter Cornelius, Ben Ford Davies and Ezra Lee & The Nomads and more!
Turtle Cove Beach Resort hosts a weekend of Still Here Still Queer 30th Birthday celebrations, featuring MCs, entertainment by Dolly Diamond and Jack Vidgen, and an eclectic selection drag, DJs, fire shows, street performers and plenty more. Very limited tix remain-book via link above, or by clicking on image below.

Saturday

Mossman markets are held in the morning under the Raintrees while Yungaburra plays host to their fabulous monthly country market
The Joker Pokers entertain at Ellis Beach Bar and Grill
Hail Mary on the decks at the IronBar.
The Yachty Saturday’s offering is a Seafood Platter for two with a bottle of vino for $100
For something a little different, why not participate in an Astro Photography Workshop being held at Rex Lookout tonight from 7-11.45pm. Photographer Steve Cooke will guide you in learning how to capture stars, the night sky and the Milky Way. Bookings and further information: https://www.stevecookephotography.com/…/astro…

Sunday

Port Douglas markets
Palmer Sea Reef host a popular Sunday Roast special-2 roasts and a bottle of vino for $60. Bookings essential 40 87 2222.
Mount Molloy National Hotel Sundays are for a Traditional Pork roast with all the trimmings and Yorkshire pudding.
The Yachty crew present Roast of the Day.
Dave Cooke live at Ellis Beach Bar and Grill for $2 oysters from 1pm.
D’nA live at the Courty from 7.30pm

Up at Cape Trib, there’s a full Sunday session on with Whet hosting live music and open mic on Sunday afternoons while PKs Jungle Village are hosting Celestial Serpent and Pauly P from 5-10pm. Enjoy live music with singer/rapper and multi instrumentalists Celestial Serpent and Loop Master Pauly P. Two top notch musicians play original material with a powerful message. Come for a boogie and enjoy music from hip hop and reggae to funk rock and D’nB.

Staged Photography Exhibition opens at Cairns Art Gallery

22 Apr – 18 Jun 2023

The Cairns Art Gallery has an extensive collection of photographic works by artists from the region and a selection of these have been brought together for an exhibition that explores concepts of art, artifice and staging.

Photography is often regarded as a ‘snapshot’ capturing a decisive moment in time. However, many contemporary artists construct their photographs, using props, settings and lighting, to create staged images in order to explore their ideas or provoke a particular response in the viewer.

This exhibition explores photographic works by artists in the Collection, including Simone Arnol, Michael Cook, Ezekiel Dick, Naomi Hobson, Charles Page, Christian Thompson and William Yang.

Michael Cook’s 2020 series Livin’ the Dream comprises five black and white photographs which are meticulously staged and choreographed to create an enigmatic narrative around an event, such as a birthday, BBQ or homecoming.

Cook is renowned for his ability to engage audiences in dialogues about what is real and what is imaginary. His photographs combine the imaginary, political and personal, recalling the history of white colonisation and its enduring legacies of dislocation and inequality for Australian Indigenous people.

Charles Page is one of Queensland’s most important documentary photographers. In 2000 he was commissioned by the Cairns Art Gallery to produce a portfolio of photographs that would capture people and places of Far North Queensland. It is an intriguing collection of photographs of the well-known and not so well-known figures of the day. Each of Page’s photographs is carefully staged to reveal the public/private lives of his sitters.