Luxury at The Cove

St Patrick's Day -- Palm Cove (Thursday, 17th March)
It rained heavily and constantly all night, which of course meant everything had to be packed up very wet - including the RRs! Thank goodness for our Drizabones and red wellies.

Our travels today ended at Palm Cove where we will be accommodated in a fully self-contained unit on the beachfront for the next four nights.

Coffee plantation at Mareeba

We chose to drive via Mareeba and Kuranda instead of the Gillies Range, which is an extremely steep and winding road. Once again we passed through a variety of orchards -- avocados, bananas, mangoes, pawpaw, coffee, sugarcane, and tea.

View from Kuranda Range

Views along the Kuranda range gave us a wonderful panorama from Cairns to Port Douglas as we passed under the Skyrail gondolas that go from Cairns to Kuranda passing over the Barron Gorge falls. Unbelievably the rain stopped after we left Atherton and the sun shone all day.

Settling into the unit was a bit messy as we had to take things from Ada in stages. Main problem? We kept forgetting things and the OWO had to keep dragging Ada out from the parking bay for us to get access. But all good after an hour we were finally organised and settled into a lovely unit looking out over the ocean right across the road.

Beachfront views

Marlin Waters units

Tankers on the horizon

Already loving this place after two hours - totally relaxed and completely chilled out. Just perfect.

Rainbow lorikeet outside our unit

Rainbows in the paperbarks

Wednesday, 23rd March --- Palm Cove to The Daintree.
A full week since we arrived at Palm Cove and I have totally neglected entries in my daily journal since our arrival. We have really not explored this area as we were very content with just walking along the beach, swimming, and eating out at local cafes and restaurants. However I mustn't forget to mention the main reason for our time at Palm Cove was to attend the wedding of my niece, Kylie.

Kylie and Ian were married at Port Douglas on 19th March. It was a beautiful day and the service was very emotional for many of us, including the bride and groom. The reception was held at the Nu Nu restaurant at Palm Cove, hence our reason for staying at Palm Cove.

The beautiful chapel in Port Douglas

Congratulations Auntie Kye

Mr & Mrs - a quiet moment together

Is that ring still there?

Reflections in the chapel window

We had originally planned just three days at Palm Cove but then booked four nights. After the wedding weekend the OWO decided we should stay another two days. Hooray for the OWO -- it was a wonderful decision. With the wedding over we had some quality time with family members enjoying time together on the beach and in the unit.

Just a short stroll to the beach for a swim

Palm Cove jetty

Look at me Auntie Di - STROOOONG

Water Boys!

Water baby fun

Oops! Catch me daddy!

We left Palm Cove very reluctantly today around 10am and re-started our journey northwards.


Travelling the coast road was very pleasant although a little slow with some steep and winding sections.

Destination today?  -- Cape Tribulation Camping Ground. This section of our journey included a ferry crossing at the Daintree River before travelling through the Daintree NP and World Heritage Wilderness areas. Such a beautiful lush tropical area - 'where the rainforest meets the reef'.

Daintree River crossing

Welcome to Cape Trip and the Daintree

Cape Trib Camping ground

Our campground for the next five or six nights was a short walk from the beach and seemed the perfect place to spend Easter.