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| One of many quaint outdoor/indoor restaurants along Williams Esplanade In Palm Cove beach. More photos of the boulevard will follow tomorrow. |
Midday yesterday after my stint at the fitness center, we decided to drive until we found more amazing scenery we’d yet to see. It wasn’t a difficult task to accomplish as we headed north on the Captain Cook Highway, beyond a point which we’d driven in the past.
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A boat launch near the Palm Cove pier.
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At a long distance from our area, we’d seen a pier that piqued our curiosity. After asking Sylvie and Andy about it, they suggested it was definitely worth a visit.
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| When the sun peeked through the clouds, the views were especially appealing. |
We couldn’t have been more pleased after we turned east down the road we’d guessed it might be to find the beautiful Palm Cove, a fabulous beach and resort area with restaurant-lined streets, shops, and tourist attractions.
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| The pier had been designed with various levels to allow those fishing to be out of the way of the walking visitors. |
Surprisingly, on a busy Friday, we managed to snag a parking spot and were able to walk up and down the beach along Williams Esplanade soaking in all the quaint and interesting buildings.
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| The view of Palm Cove beach from the pier. |
Too close to the buildings and with the street crowded with tourists, it was difficult to take good photos from the sidewalk. After our walk, we slowly drove along the boulevard enabling us to get some decent shots to share here over the next few days.
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| Notice the white plastic holders on the posts. These holders are for the purpose of holding the fishing rods while those fishing can take a break from holding their rods. |
The walk on the pier was pleasant on a sunny day and we were able to watch fishing enthusiasts avidly perusing a fine catch of the day. In our old lives, we enjoyed fishing but now without equipment of our own and prohibitive costs to buy or rent equipment, it’s not something we need to do.
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| The long, fairly wide pier is a commonly visited spot for tourists. |
The pier was packed with tourists armed with cameras, like us, along with families and kids enjoying the beautiful, albeit windy day. There were a few sunbathers lounging on the beach and a few in the water, oblivious to the danger signs posted everywhere in regard to the stingers and crocodiles.
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| A brave kayaker in the ocean with sharks, stingers, and crocs in these waters. |
Palm Cove has numerous hotels and resorts and interesting history:
“The history of Palm Cove dates back to over 60,000 years ago when the Aborigines became the first settlers. The most famous landing at Palm Cove happened in 1873 when G.E. Dalrymple’s Northeast Coast Expedition landed to explore the beach. The expedition was met with hostility by the indigenous people and they opened a violent assault on the exploring crew which led to one of the largest beachfront invasions in Australian history. Shortly before World War I in 1918, the land that is today Palm Cove was bought by Albert Veivers from Archdeacon Campbell. Archdeacon Campbell had been known as a priest at Cairns church who experimented with bringing different agricultural crops to the Cairns region. Veivers was important in the advancement of Palm Cove by having the first road built. The creation of the road led property values in Palm Cove to increase dramatically, leading to more prosperity for the community. Shortly after World War II, in which Palm Cove was used as a training base for Australian soldiers, the number of people traveling to Palm Cove greatly increased. The opening of the Ramada Reef Resort in 1986 marked the first international hotel chain to be located in Palm Cove and the town has continued to increase in national and international recognition ever since.
Palm Cove is located in Far North Queensland and is on the coast of Australia. It is guarded against the South Pacific Ocean by the Great Barrier Reef. Palm Cove is completely surrounded by the Daintree Tropical Rainforest and is close to Daintree National Park. Since Palm Cove is located in a tropical climate, the average summer temperature is between 24 and 33 degrees Celsius; the average winter temperature is between 14 and 26 degrees Celsius.“
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| On our walk back to the beach. |
Palm Cove proved to be an interesting and enjoyable spot for us to visit. Later, on our return drive to Trinity Beach, we discussed how different our lives may be then for those of tourists. Most tourists visiting this area would have stopped for a meal and/or drinks in one of the many dining establishments along the way.
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| Catching Tom off guard on the Palm Cove pier. |
Instead, we read and take photos of the posted menus for the restaurants we may return to down the road when the mood hits us. Dining out is less enjoyable for us when my restricted way of eating makes doing so complicated at many restaurants. But, we’re not complaining.
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| The sand on the beach in Palm Cove is known not to be as fine sand as other beaches in the area. |
Checking out the various locations is satisfying enough for us. It’s just not worth my ordering a steak for AUD $35, USD $26.80 when it’s being cooked on a grill where foods with gluten, starch, or sugar may have been cooked. We can easily purchase and cook fabulous grass-fed steaks for AUD $15, USD $11.49 each, with side dished we know I can have.
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| The sixth fish down in the left column on this list is the popular local Barramundi Cod, often found on menus in local restaurants. Apparently, according to this list (see photo below), the sign says, “No take,” perhaps indicating they cannot be kept if caught. |
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| Barramundi Cod as indicated on the fish identification sign in the above photo. |
Neither of us feels any resentment even in the slightest manner by the virtue of the fact that “Hey…we’re traveling the world and we’re healthy. What more could we ask for? Nothing, absolutely nothing!”
Photo from one year ago today, June 27, 2014:
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| Ironically, it was one year ago that we booked our next location in our travels in Savusavu, Fiji as shown on the map of the smaller island in Fiji. For more details, please click here. |