We're becoming FNQ junkies - another new year celebrated up north

[bPeteb]

Quick six night trip up to Port Douglas and Palm Cove. This trip was originally supposed to be in October but we moved it to late December when some super cheap fares to Perth were released. We all know what happened with any trips to WA...

QF return to Cairns with points upgrade successful straight away up and still trying to work out what I bought coming home as my statement shows J reward flights even though I thought they were upgrades as well. Doesn't seem like something I'd do but who knows.

Three nights at Port Douglas at Le Cher Du Monde Hotel in Macrossan Street
Three nights at Amphora Laleuca Apartment

Both booked through Agoda with full cancellation available until 48 hours before travel

Booked transfer up with Excellence Coaches and transfer from Port to Palm Cove with Beep Beep Toot. Flight home was not until 6pm so booked a one day hire through Avis so we could do something on the last day.

Off we go

 

[bPeteb]

Lounge was moderately busy. J was full. Flight fell over lunch but have no idea what it was. Cabin manager was very strict with mask policy in J (good on them!).





Ontime arrival into Cairns.

Hand luggage only so no wait around the carousel for bags. Let's spread some Omicron! Asked shuttle desk where to wait and went straight outside. Only six of us on the shuttle up to Port.

Le Cher Du Monde Le Cher Du Monde | Port Douglas Accommodation is located in the middle of Macrossan Street, pretty much next to Rattle and Hum.

Unusual welcome by Lyn and Robert, the otherwise lovely couple who manage the resort. A comment was made by bAl about cancellations. We mentioned that we would no longer book anything that wasn't fully refundable up until travel. Lyn then gave us an indirect serve by saying it's cheaper booking direct and if someone couldn't travel but they would be 'looked after'. Then went on to say that Booking.com offered cancellation up until two days out and that was against their policy. Theirs is two weeks, hence why we booked with Agoda with the same policy as Booking.com.

As most would know I'm usually very good with photos but I took just one picture in the very nice apartment.



It's an unusual l-shaped complex with the pool area overlooked by a large number of the apartments with some out onto either Macrossan Street (ours)



others on to Grant Street and at least one into the wall of another apartment (yikes!).

There was one other issue with our stay at Le Cher Du Monde and it's something that some people will say 'whatever' and others might agree with me. Placed quite prominently beside the bed on an open shelf in the bedside cabinet was a gideons bible. You may disagree but to me it is offensive and completely inappropriate. It was very quickly shoved in the back of a drawer. Apart from that the apartment was excellent.

We'd been contacted by the managers a few weeks before to book restaurants if we had anywhere we wanted to eat as Port was very busy over new year. We couldn't get in to Seabean or Salsa. Nautilus no space until well after new year. We got an 8pm slot at Watergate, 7:15 at Maman and 7:30 at The Mexican.

To fill in time we wandered around to Hemingways Port Douglas | Hemingway's Brewery and had a couple of drinks

Gin coughtail



using Devils Thumb rainforest gin (we bought this on the day we left Port to avoid paying the 15% public holiday surcharge)



and some very delicious loaded potato gems. Who even knew it was a thing.



Dinner at Watergate Port Douglas Restaurant Home Watergate Port Douglas was ok. My sister had been up to Port a couple of weeks before us, arriving on the day Qld opened the border to the dirty south /s

Again, no pictures, one reason being it was so dark I didn't think pictures would turn out but the other being I just couldn't be bothered.

My sister had said service was indifferent and she was right. I watched the service in other areas of the restaurant and it seemed more attentive than our little corner was getting. Drinks took an age. Food was nice but nothing special and definitely not in the same class as Salsa. To top the night off the waitress just about begged for a tip when she brought the eftpos machine. This on top of the 15% public holiday surcharge!!

There's too many good restaurants in Port to choose somewhere that thinks they are better then they really are.

 

[bPeteb]

The weather forecast for our time in Port was ordinary and we didn't actually care. It has been a pretty difficult last few months of the year and we just wanted to forget, relax and reset.

When we woke up to rain on our first full day we didn't care. We consumed some beers and some gin and some more gin and watched cough tv and bought pies from the excellent Moka's Pies.

We had dinner at Maman PORT DOUGLAS — Maman Bar & Kitchen and it was great. No getting wet to get to there as it was in the same complex as the hotel. Good service, drinks and food

burrata, roast garlic with truffle butter


beef tagine


chicken breast

orange and torched rosemary g&t


apple tart (AMAZING!)


worth two photos

 

[bPeteb]

Another wet day and another public holiday - Sunday, Monday and Tuesday!!

We went for a walk along the beach



we both liked the moodiness created by the weather



between downpours



the one downside of the unit was the noise created by the rain beating on the tin roof. The sliding doors shut it out but at the same time it was heaps of fun sitting out there watching crazy people get drowned. What's with the refusing to spend $10 on a cheap umbrella?



We decided more drinking and eating was required so we wandered the 50 or so metres up the road to Rattle and Hum Port Douglas – Rattle N' Hum Bar and Grill. I'll give kudos to the staff of pretty much every venue we went to. They were on top of the check in with green tick. We saw a group of four young international tourists asked to leave after they came in without the tick. They can get the vaccine so no excuse not to have either the tick or a certificate.

More cough tv to see the daylight hours out. We'd not ever usually watch this show but glad we did just for this question and one possible answer



Dinner at The Mexican Home of The Mexican Port Douglas | The Mexican Port Douglas | Family dining restaurant. We loved it. Great staff and excellent food and drinks.

pina-rita


we could both eat the corn ribs all day and all night long


barramundi and pork tacos


fajitas (we ordered too much food!)


bAl had the espresso martini made with patron cafe - he wasn't a fan but I was and I had the rice pudding that bAl loved and I didn't. Easy fix!

 

[bPeteb]

Day four dawned with more rain. Cleaned up the apartment so as to avoid any cleaning fees. This is a pet peeve of mine. We could stay in a hotel, leave it in a total mess, and not get charged an extra cent. We stay in an apartment, paying lots, that isn't serviced once and I'm expected to take out the rubbish and wash the dishes or I get charged. I know we have a choice but it's my peeve and I'll own it.

pool area at Le Chur Du Monde


Had a coffee down at the Courthouse then wandered back around to Hemingways to buy the gin without surcharge. Then we had a delicious brunch at Choo Choos HOME | Choo Choos Marina

My chilli poached eggs were truly fantastic!


a heron (?) also having brunch




we didn't realise that we could check in down at Palm Cove at 2 so didn't have the transfer booked until then. We had a beer at the Courthouse Hotel before grabbing our bags and waiting at our pick up point. The shuttle with Beep Beep Toot SHUTTLE BUS AND PRIVATE TRANSFER was on time and dropped us down at Palm Cove 35 minutes later.

The apartment at Mantra Amphora is privately owned and managed through a holiday rental company. https://www.agoda.com/amphora-laleuca-apartment/hotel/cairns-au.html?cid=1844104. From the pictures I'm guessing they have a number of different apartments to rent. We loved 222, the apartment we stayed in

We were sent lots of messages from them prior to arrival. The instructions for collecting the key from the key box outside the Mantra reception were clear and the apartment was perfectly located in the complex just across from reception, one level up.

 

[bPeteb]

We'd eaten at Beach Almond Beach Almond Seafood Restaurant | Palm Cove last time we stayed in Palm Cove and really liked it so booked it again. It was ok, but I don't think as good as it was previously. Service was odd, and this is because the whole NQ hospitality industry is short of experienced staff, so the wait staff were a little 'different'.

soft shelled crab (there was a soft shell but very little crab)


the spring roles were more successful


banana leaf wrapped barra was a very small portion




the massaman was pretty good said bAl (apologies for blurry shot)

 

[bPeteb]

A glorious sunny morning greeted us for our kayak paddle out to Double Island with Pacific Watersports (for those of you who just chuckled I am too as I type it). Double Island Kayak Tours | Pacific Watersports

Not sure what happened to the water, juice and fruit but it really didn't bother us. I hadn't realised it was supposed to be included until I looked it up just now. A father and son operation and it was terrific. They supplied like new stinger suits, wet bags if we needed them, booties if we didn't have wet shoes, even sunscreen that we had forgotten to bring from home.

Total distance paddled was 9km. It was an easy paddle if anyone is worried. Three people on the tour had not ever been on a kayak at all. They all got back safely







we saw plenty of turtles on the paddle and drift to Double Island and then went ashore



to have a wander around the deserted resort. The boat that used to taxi guests to and from the island. Imagine what this abandoned boat is worth!





Keanu Reeves stayed here for a month while filming the original Matrix and apparently spent a lot of time in this gym





Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston apparently stayed. It's crazy to think the current Chinese owner has done nothing to the island. He bought land on the headland to the north of Palm Cove and wanted to build a cable car to bring guests over. Thank goodness that was knocked back. There is now a push to get the state government to buy it/take it back, clear all construction and turn it into a national park with overnight camping. Excellent idea!




The island is now just occupied by the caretakers who give permission for the different kayak tours to have a look around.

We walked along the shore on the south western side of the island and saw more turtles and a couple of different kinds of rays. Then it was back on the kayaks for the paddle back to shore where we saw yet more turtles. It was an excellent morning and we both highly recommend it. We'll do it again if we go back to Palm Cove and hope for clear water as it was very murky with just about zero visibility.

@kookaburra75 and I had been organising a meetup for when we were both in Palm Cove. We'd been in Strahan at the same time earlier this year but didn't manage to meet. Decided on Chill at Portofino Chill at Portofino - Chill at Portofino. It's very funny rocking up to a restaurant not knowing what the people you are meeting look like. Luckily we were spotted by John and Marianne So great to catch up with some fellow AFFers. Had a lovely lunch at a very nice venue that bAl and I had visited previously.

We had a paddle in the pool with the hoards of screaming children (oh for the bliss of adults only The Reef House) and then relaxed until putting on our slightly better gear for NYE dinner at elgreko

 

[bPeteb]

Unfortunately we weren't able to join our bookings for dinner but we did manage to see them both. As mentioned in the View from the office thread dinner at elgreko El Grekos Taverna was excellent, especially for those of us inside the restaurant.



For those outside, and for anyone else eating under the stars, their evening was impacted just a tad by an almighty downpour that targeted Palm Cove (and Clifton, Kewarra and Trinity) as the fireworks were about to begin.



It was a fixed menu with two choices for most courses. $110pp.

The food was delicious, there was too much but we ate it, and the drinks were kept flowing. This is a family business with family staff who know their thing. When the downpour hit they all swung into action and got the affected diners inside and started their meals over. It was great to watch.

 

[bPeteb]

No-one will know it's me (shirt bought in Port for the occasion - Bush tomato dreaming)



we'd realised after lunch with the Kookas that we had nothing booked for new years day night. Kushi Log into Facebook was somewhere we'd wanted to go to but hadn't made it so I contacted them via Google messages from Google maps (hadn't even heard of it before) and they responded within minutes confirming a reservation.

We made it to about 11.30pm. No seeing in the new year for us

 

[kookaburra75]

@kookaburra75 and I had been organising a meetup for when we were both in Palm Cove. We'd been in Strahan at the same time earlier this year but didn't manage to meet. Decided on Chill at Portofino Chill at Portofino - Chill at Portofino. It's very funny rocking up to a restaurant not knowing what the people you are meeting look like. Luckily we were spotted by Kooka and MrsK. So great to catch up with some fellow AFFers. Had a lovely lunch at a very nice venue that bAl and I had visited previously.

We had a paddle in the pool with the hoards of screaming children (oh for the bliss of adults only The Reef House) and then relaxed until putting on our slightly better gear for NYE dinner at elgreko

Well, this allows me to kill two birds with one stone - I hadn't taken enough photos to put together a Trip Report, just enough to post on Facebook to make the friends and family jealous of where we were. So, I'll just piggy back on Pete's efforts.

It was a great lunch with Pete and Al. We have very similar tastes in food and travel, and it was good to swap notes on small cruises and places to see. Likewise dinner at El Greko - and I agree that the only complaint was the size of the portions, they were just too big for us to finish it all. We were staying at The Reef House, and while floating around in the adults only pool, we spared a thought for Pete and Al who would have been battling through the screaming (happy screams) kids at the Mantra.

Our daily routine, after breakfast in the room out in our courtyard, was find a coffee (mostly at 27Degrees), and then a pre-lunch coughtail. The tie for the best coughtail, other than The Reef House, was Rattle & Hum, and Chill. We had dinners and lunches at Rattle & Hum, Vivo, Nu Nu, and Neptunes - although the coughtails weren't great there. We had two dinners at The Reef House, one being our wedding anniversary and they certainly looked after us, nothing was too much trouble.

For getting up and down to Palm Cove, we used Northern Beaches Transfers - Cindy runs a great service with two cars. We contacted her direct on 0475 596 794 and she organised everything. Including when we were flying home, where I had left my backpack sitting on the bench in front of the hotel. Cindy and the other driver Mel tried everything to get it to me in time for our flight from Cairns, but missed me by only a couple of minutes as I had to board, with two personalised boarding announcements being made etc. MrsK was already on board so she was holding them, off closing the door. Cindy has organised to send my backpack back home by courier.

Anyway, back to Pete's Trip Report.

 

[bPeteb]

Super lazy nothing day. Got down to the pool before the kids descended



a smoothie and a baguette from 27 Degrees Log into Facebook (down the street beside The Reef House)



then a lazy afternoon under the palms by the beach

 

[bPeteb]

Dinner at Kushi was fantastic. I think our favourite meal we've had at Palm Cove. Great location up above Williams Esplanade, terrific staff and excellent food.

bAl's bloody S21 making me look rounder than I am!!









Small but good sake selection, including a sparkling (we didn't this time). We tried one we haven't had before



definitely a highly recommend for anyone visiting Palm Cove

 

[bPeteb]

We'd originally booked the Avis car for 24 hours from 5pm new years day to the following afternoon - $119. What we hadn't considered properly was hot to get to the airport to pick it up. An Uber was $100+ with new years day surge. A cab a similar amount. Beep Beep Toot didn't operate on nyd but for them I would have had to pay for two seats on any day meaning $50. Worst of all picking it up late nyd arvo would mean no afternoon g&t for me.

So on nye we changed the car booking to eight hours from 9am on the day of departure. I booked a one way trip with Exemplar Coaches Cairns Airport Transfers - Exemplar Coaches and Limousines for $25 that picked me up pretty much outside our room at 8am. The car with Avis ended up being less than $100 including excess removal.

Laleuca had a much nicer departure policy. Bins emptied but they asked you to run the dishwasher and leave everything in it. Much better and more hygienic then handwashing everything.

We'd thought we might go for a drive up to the tablelands, or down into Cairns, but we ended up staying by the beach all day.





We managed to get a swim in before they closed the beach due to a crocodile sighting (I kid you not)



lunch at the Irish pub where they weren't quite as strict with check-ins or the newly reinstated indoor masks rule




we hung around the beach hoping we could get another swim in but it was still closed at 4pm when we gave up

I was going to risk not putting any fuel in the car on return but chickened out and put in $7, way more than we could possibly have used

For anyone who wants to know the water pressure in the showers at the lounge was pathetic

From the beach at Palm Cove I could see storms rolling into Cairns and they hit the airport while we were there.



one trolley of bags not loaded before everyone left the tarmac. Some people going home to Melbourne would not be happy in a few hours


Everything was delayed. To be honest I have no idea how late we when called to board. Three empty seats in J. A family of five that included three loud, needy children under six pretty much took over the J cabin. Even before we took off "when are we getting ice cream", "I want ice cream now", "why's there no screen" as young miss kicked the back of my seat.

Fitzroy Island


the kids didn't want anything that was available in either J or Y. It was politely suggested that they request special meals when travelling. I'm not sure what was found but they eventually all had something.

we chose one of each. A soggy but tasty chicken curry


and snaggers and mash that bAl said had skin that was difficult to cut through and that he though an odd business meal (me too). At least the mash was tasty


Luckily the merlot was quite nice and poured constantly

Three or so rows back into Y a child screamed pretty much the whole way back to Brisbane. I thank the electronics gods every time I fly for quality noise cancelling headphones!

And that was our six day FNQ getaway number two. Again it was lovely to meet kookaburra75 and MrsK (John and Marianne) and we'll hopefully catch up when next in Brisbane.

Our fingers and toes are now crossed that we'll be on our way back to Tassie in six weeks

 

[kookaburra75]

From the beach at Palm Cove I could see storms rolling into Cairns and they hit the airport while we were there.

View attachment 268330


And that was our six day FNQ getaway number two. Again it was lovely to meet kookaburra75 and MrsK (John and Marianne) and we'll hopefully catch up when next in Brisbane.

Maybe you should change your AFF tag to Storm Magnet , especially after NYE Thankfully we missed all of that, although we just got hit by a thunder storm with a good amount of hail this afternoon at home.

We'll let you know when we're heading up to BrisVegas next, and we hope Tassie all goes well.

 

[VPS]

Thanks for another interesting TR - looking forward to my booster so I can get out and about again

 

[RB]

Really enjoyed reading about your adventures. Fantastic photos again