Palm Cove FNQ

It's been almost a decade since we've been in Far North Queensland - and here we are back again, but this time staying at Palm Cove (last time we stayed at Port Douglas) so we're not too far from where our friend David is staying at Smithfield, north of Cairns!

We left Canberra yesterday, first flight for us in a few years (thanks to COVID). It felt very unfamiliar, and not all that relaxing either, especially when our flight was cancelled at the eleventh hour and we were diverted through Melbourne. We were awake early for our (cancelled) flight in cold Canberra and didn't settle in to our much warmer Reef Resort at Palm Cove until around 3.00pm - a long day without food or much of a break between flights.

This is our garden view (complete with bird songs) from our balcony at the Reef Resort - which had an immediate relaxing effect ..........

And the pool area is very appealing to us. The Reef Resort is one of the older resorts in Palm Cove and we appreciate its space, beautiful expansive gardens and privacy. Its not at all "designer" or contemporary, but we're ok with that ...... 

First thing on the agenda was to find something to EAT. Luckily we are very close to Palm Cove's very pretty esplanade, looking out the Coral Sea .....

and only a few minutes walk to Vivo - a restaurant we'd visited a decade ago on the occasion of my (61st) birthday. We had fond memories of Vivo but were very disappointed to find they would not serve us ANY food (not even a bowl of olives!) until 5 o'clock - hard to deal with when we had virtually eaten NOTHING all day!

We tried to make do, until 5 o'clock, with the view and a glass of beer!

First thing on the agenda this morning was the 2 and a 1/2 klm walk south to Clifton Beach. It's a great track all the way to Clifton Beach, designed for cyclists and walkers, along the coastline and through native wet coastal paperbark forests ... quite beautiful really!

We imagined we'd be able to do a lovely coffee and breakfast at Clifton Beach, but alas there was nothing on offer (other than a sad offering outside a Coles supermarket!) so we made our way back to Palm Cove where the choices were much better.

We hoped to swim at Palm Cove, but the Box Jellyfish are still around at the moment. The main "surfing" beach got closed today while we were there and the nets were raised to clear them. We are not inclined to swim with Box Jellyfish so we caught some sunshine lying on the grass while watching the drama, then returned to our resort for some swim and spa time, free of stingers and crocodiles.

I love the palm trees at Palm Cove and enjoyed this view as we sunbaked on the grass ..... (also love a beach where you don't have to sunbake on the sand!).

The jetty at the northern end of Palm Cove.......

We are eating early in the evening these days (no lunch!) and gave O'Donnells Irish Bar and Grill a try tonight

Rob loved his smoky caramel pint of Guinness and I enjoyed my salad with local prawns! We also love being able to enjoy a meal this close to the ocean (even though there was quite a strong off shore wind tonight).

Walking back to our resort in the beautiful evening light - under the giant Palm Cove native Melaleucas.