The pool
Two hectares of interconnected saltwater lagoons threaded through the gardens of a tropical Far North Queensland resort.
The Sheraton Grand Mirage was built in the 1980s as the great folly of Queensland tourism — two hectares of saltwater lagoon-style pools winding between the buildings, palms, and Eucalyptus of Port Douglas. The lagoons are filtered with salt and stocked with native fish; the water laps right up to the edge of many of the rooms.
Port Douglas is the nearest town to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree rainforest — but the pool is good enough that some guests never make it offshore. Float for an hour, eat a mango, repeat.
