A small-town entree to Australia’s wonders

Once each toad had been properly smooched, it was post time. The crowd packed into the back of this Port Douglas bar was ready to cheer on their favorites. Then the cylinder was lifted, and they were off! Toads leaped everywhere, vying to be the first to jump off the table and be put into a bucket at the finish line by his jockey. I tried to spur my toad on with my “whip,’’ a party blower, but despite my good-luck buss, there would be no fairy tale ending. My toad came in third.

These races take place behind a curtain in the rear of a bar that has the vibe of a dusty Outback station, even though there is nothing unseemly or illegal going on at the event.

Native to South America, cane toads were introduced to Queensland in the 1930s to combat beetle populations that were devastating the local sugar cane crops. Unfortunately, the toads had little impact on the beetles and, even worse, they bred like champion stallions and became pests themselves. Today, their only redeeming virtue may be in enticing the crowds to stop in at the Ironbar for this popular Port Douglas pastime.

We chose Port Douglas as our base to explore the coral reefs and rain forests of north Queensland, and bypassed sprawling Cairns, which is filled with the same types of tourist traps and nondescript strip malls that can be found in countless numbers of American seaside towns. Stretches of the 40-mile drive between the airport at Cairns and Port Douglas are simply spectacular and rival the scenery of Australia’s famed Great Ocean Road, which skirts the country’s southern coast. The winding road hugs the cliffs while the aquamarine water below gently laps onto white, sandy beaches fringed with palm trees.