Palm Cove

MY TRIP TO FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND
Follow Kate as she dives, climbs, eats and sunbakes her way through lush Far North Queensland.

Palm Cove is located 20 minutes drive from Cairns International Airport off the Cook Highway which is the coastal highway which goes from Cairns all the way to Cape Tribulation.

The main street of Palm Cove is what you see on many brochures advertising vacations in Queensland. The palm trees against the perfectly blue sky and clear turquoise waters is the oasis families dream about for getting away for rest and relaxation for a few days. With the monumental hotels along the beach, the bookends at the end of the street are polar opposites. On one side you have the caravan/camping site which is nearest to the pier and rocks. On the other side, you have the 5 star Angsana Spa and Resort which has a world famous day spa which is open air and looks towards the ocean. I didn't get to see this resort but from the brochures and the required booking times, it seems world class.

To walk from one end of the beach to the other, it would take about 30 minutes. On the waterfront, there is hotel after hotel, with cafes and restaurants on the ground floor. There are not many stores in Port Douglas, but there a few which sell resort wear and trinkets/souvenirs. Relatively untouched by big business, there are no junk food outlets, nor are there multinational coffee shops yet. I expect that sooner or later, you'll be seeing a Starbucks popping up there.

Relaxing at Palm Cove
The people who holiday here are a bit different to the ones who holiday in Cairns, or even the ones who holiday in Port Douglas. There's a more mature feel, with more families and less debaucherous drinking and partying, partly to do with the lack of places to actually do those things and partly because the town probably doesn't aim to attract those crowds. You wouldn't come here to party, you'd come to Palm Cove to relax under the bowed palm trees, drinking some sort of coconut cocktail, in a hammock let the breeze take your cares away. And this is precisely what we did. Honeymooners seem to also be a prevalent presence in the landscape, and if you aren't married, maybe this is the place to get married or propose?

At first I thought it was an effortless sexiness in the people but then I realized that it was their clothes. I never really understood "resort wear" until I came here. I always thought that it consisted of white three quarter pants, a hat and a light nautical inspired t-shirt. After my intrigue for resort wear was spiked, I did a little research and worked out that its usually a collection of clothes at diffusion label prices, that a hot designer creates for the jet set crowd. Here is the place to don your oversized organic hemp fedora, with your subtly sequined caftan. If you want to be prepared, Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors, John Galliano, Matthew Williamson, Vera Wang and Anna Sui, have all shown resort wear in recent shows for the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

Towards the middle of the beach, there is a cordoned stinger enclosure which allows beach goers to swim in the sea water. This is because it's stinger season, which are a type of killer Jellyfish called Box Jellyfish. Because you aren't alerted to the dangers by seeing sharp jaws, it is no less dangerous. The Jellyfish have long tentacles are generally more problematic in beaches north around Bundaberg. This period starts roughly around November and ends May, so if you want uninterrupted swimming in the ocean, it's best to avoid these times. The alternative to swimming in the stinger enclosure is to wear a full body suit, which covers the entire body and prevents the tentacles of he Box Jellyfish to sting the skin.

The Angsana Spa and Resort
The Angsana Spa and Resort is the premium resort in Palm Cove, with 67 suites. Upon arrival, we were beat, but when we walked into the small reception area, we were treated with a glass of ice organic green tea and a cold refreshing towel. It was just what we wanted and needed! Once we checked in, the bell boy took our luggage to our room and valet drove our car to the car park. We followed him to the room, where we were amazed! The rooms were huge bi-level apartment style suites, with two bathrooms for the bedroom level, one containing a spa and another self contained bathroom for the living area, there was a balcony overlooking the pool (some have ocean views) and a fully equipped kitchen (a tempting mini-bar with snacks a-plenty), massive couches for at least 10 people and a huge screen television.

The hotel is centered on the 3 pools. Two of them are surrounded by the hotel and there is a traditional rectangular one is next to the beach. The larger one in the middle of the resort is for the kids and is quite shallow; measuring around 25 meters from end to end, with some umbrellas perched on pillars for some sun protection. The other pool was more like a basking pool which was deeper and for older folk. Not that kids could not go there, but it was half the size and not much fun if you were looking to jump and swim around. The third pool faced the beach (approximately 10 metres from the coves edge), a traditional rectangular pool - and just outside the gate and official resort, there are hammocks and lounges to relax. Although they are supposed to be for guests only, it seemed that anyone could just claim one and bask in the sun on the beach. Foolishly, I basked in the sun for one hour, it wasn't even full sun, but I was burnt, and usually I do not burn so quickly - definitely put your sun cream on.

Opposite reception, there is a permanent marquee which is set up for functions. The night we stayed, there was a wedding reception and it is an appropriate sized function space, with live music and dreamy reflections from the adjacent pools.

Another notable hotel on Williams Esplanade is the Outrigger which is located near the middle of the Esplanade strip. From the beach, it looks opulent and massive. There are two swimming pools, one has a waterfall and the other has sand at the edges. They also have a famous spa treatment called the Rainbar which alternates warm and cold water on your exfoliated body. All this relaxation will probably make anyone hungry, so it's lucky that there are two Gourmet Traveler listed restaurants here, Nu Nu and Tamara.

Restaurants at Palm Cove
In the evening, we ventured out into the town for some dinner. As you are still in the tropics, it's still very humid and as we walked down to the other hotels, we were working up a sweat. We choose the Gourmet Traveller reviewed restaurant called Nu Nu, which was located in the Outrigger Beach Club and Spa. It served modern Australian food with tinges of Asian flavours and techniques. It was expensive for the quality, service and surrounds, but the prices were standard for high-end food in Palm Cove. Many of the restaurants on Williams Esplanade were priced similarly, which makes me think there is a reason why there are fully equipped kitchens in the hotels. If staying here long term, it would quickly turn very expensive if you were spending $80 per night on dinner. The desserts were the highlight, with each dessert having something derived from bush flowers or fruits, the only criticism I have was that it was very sweet and strangled the flavours instead of promoting them.

The next morning we awakened to the sounds of the beach and our breakfast at the hotel restaurant, which overlooked the hammocks and beach. Rooms at the Angsana provide breakfast in the mornings up to a value of $20 per person, which was more than enough to fill us up. After laying on the deck chairs and having a snooze in the hammock, we moved to the Angsana Hotel bar - there was a band there practicing for the new year celebrations, and it was a great place to relax, get a cocktail and soak up some sun.