A remarkable woman has taken the first step to calling Port Douglas home after recently purchasing an apartment in Macrossan Street.

Yvonne Bornstein (formerly Weinstock) lives in Melbourne, but by her own admission "would rather be in Port Douglas" and is author of 'Eleven Days of Hell, A terrifying True Story of Kidnap, Torture and dramatic rescue by the FBI and KGB' which details her horiffic ordeal at the hands of kidnappers during the disintegraton of the Soviet Union.

Yvonne currently looks after her 95 year old mother, but is hoping to make it back to Port in the Winter for a short stay before her permanent relocation to Port.

Meeting in Whileaway Cafe amongst the books seemed like an appropriate place to chat with Yvonne, who can't wait to move into her new property and start the next phase of her life.

"The people in town are welcoming and so friendly, it's seems so easy to meet people," she said.

The warmth extended to Yvonne in Port Douglas is the polar opposite of her experience which has shaped her life.

It was in January of 1992 that Yvonne found herself caught up in the political disintegration of the Soviet Union. The KGB was disbanded, and many of its operatives moved into the criminal world.

Capitalism was taking hold and business ventures were springing up between the international business community and the new Russia.
 
It is against this backdrop that Yvonne and then husband Daniel Weinstock found themselves caught. Under the auspices of a deal gone bad, the couple was kidnapped, tortured and held for $US1.6 million ransom.

Read The New York Times article of the ordeal from January 18, 1992

"It was only in 2002 that a key player in the rescue put together by the FBI and “former” KGB, amazingly linked the kidnappers to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network," Yvonne said.    

It took many years for the healing process to start, and now Yvonne is an inspirational speaker who attends conferences to share her story.