Palm
Cove News
July 2004
Fiesta off again, on again?
THE PACIFIC
TOYOTA PALM COVE FIESTA will not be held on September 19th as planned,
Tourism Palm Cove President Alex Whyte said in May.
Mr Whyte said the volunteers who staged the enormously successful
show in September last year had to work intensely for six months part-time
and 6-8 weeks full-time leading up to the event. "The resources
are not in place for this year's event to ensure that the success
of the first two years is built upon," he said.
Mr Whyte said an attempt to contract a management team on a commercially
viable basis had failed to eventuate.
"I hate to see this momentum lost," he said. The Tourism
Palm Cove Committee decided to postpone the event for a year and told
the press. However, when Palm Cove News spoke to several committee
members, it appeared a new decision could yet be made. "The
committee will meet again to discuss the issue," Mr Whyte said.
The
event last year generated media exposure on a regional and national
level.
Marketing
Manager Matt Bolton of Pacific Toyota, the event's main sponsor, said
his company was disappointed to hear the event had been cancelled
for the year.
"I
am sure the public was disappointed, too," he said. "It
was a great day and a huge success."
Big
fish at jetty
Doug Lennon
and his fishing mate Barry Corner hooked a giant groper off the jetty
last month and reckoned it was 140-180kg in size.
The fish had taken whole catfish baits on their two lines, 50lb and
100lb strength. They played it for an hour until it was exhausted, when
it came to the surface at a lower landing of the jetty.
Using a gaff to hold the fish, they removed several hooks including
an old shark hook, took his photo, and let him go.
"We never keep a fish unless it's for eating or bait. Anyway, we
couldn't have lifted him onto the jetty even if we'd wanted to,"
Doug said.
It was probably the biggest groper known caught off the jetty. Doug
said he was always glad to offer fishing advice. "And it's free,"
he said. He and trolley are often seen on the jetty.
Letters
to Editor
NUDISTS
AT BUCHAN BEACH
Re your
June issue, Buchan Beach for many years has been an unofficial gay and
nudist beach, and we generally believe that the small number of mainly
local people who use it, together with people walking their dogs and
the occasional family, mind their own business.
However,
this beach is overlooked by a row of houses along the ridge which have
a very clear view of the beach.
The
residents of these houses understand there is a wish to have an official
nudist beach designated somewhere in the FNQ area, however right in
the middle of a residential strip and overlooked by a major highway
seems an inappropriate choice. We strongly recommend a more secluded
area up or down the coast.
- Mrs J.Raeside,
Buchan St.
What
a sweet cottage
Malcolm
and Patsy Blight have done us proud with a loving reconstruction of
their "Sweet Creek Cottage," Palm Cove's oldest building.
Originally
a railway cottage, it was transported to its 36 Veivers Road plot in
the 1950s.
Sweet
Creek Cottage is now a luxury two-bedroom fully self-contained beach
chalet with all the comforts of home for the discerning holiday-maker.
"We
provide a complimentary champagne on arrival together with locally-grown
tea, coffee, and milk as well as our special Sweet Creek Cottage Sun
Cap," Patsy said.
There
are two bedrooms with king-size beds, kitchen, laundry, in-ground pool,
sun lounge, BBQ, and a library.
"Our
first guests arrived on July 1st and bookings are excellent," Patsy
said.
Rates
: $300 night for whole cottage, minimum stay three nights. (If four
people stay, cost is $75 per person per night. If only two people stay
using one bedroom with one vacant, it is $220 night or $110 per person.
Bookings
(07)4059 0899. Web: http://www.palmcovecottage.com/
Email
: info@palmcovecottage.com
(We gladly
gave Patsy a copy of all past Palm Cove Newsletters which she has filed
and placed in the cottage's library - Ed.)
Editorial
WHAT'S
THIS? NO FIESTA?
What earth
shattering news. The fiesta last year was an outstanding success with
10,000 to 15,000 people attending. There were only 5,000 the previous
year.
The amazing thing was that volunteers did it all.
The volunteers worked their insides out to make it a go and we all know
the result. But you can't do this sort of thing with just volunteers.
Fair is fair. You need paid people to run this sort of thing, as any
similar major event does.
The committee has been caught napping. Perhaps it tended to rest on
its laurels. But the fact was that it met in January and not again until
May when the decision to cancel was made. Some believe it's still not
too late for a small fulltime professional group to do the job assisted,
as before, by volunteers.
Mr Buddy Byrd of Novotel, whose staff and facilities gave much support
last year, said a proper financial structure would have to be put in
place before his company could give its support.
Tourism Palm Cove is all about promoting Palm Cove as a tourist destination.
The fiesta was developed for this very purpose. Not having it this year
would be a serious detriment to the promotion of Palm Cove.
The Pacific Toyota Palm Cove Fiesta is held as part of Festival Cairns.
Many will say it's one of the main events. We had our Fun In The Sun
Day a few years back, another great annual occasion, but lost it to
Trinity Beach. Let's not lose this one, too.
This newsletter is holding its breath.
"Great
bonus"for Cove's computers
TELSTRA
has agreed to conduct a Palm Cove trial of its CDMA Wireless Internet
service. We need computer-literate people for the trial. You can participate
even if your regular Internet provider is not Telstra.You will receive
software and a PCMCIA card which in essence is a full mobile phone complete
with SIM card which is controlled by the software provided. You must
have a Notebook and reside or operate in Palm Cove. The trial is free.
It could be a great bonus for Palm Cove as well as a potentially useful
productivity tool for `mobile'workers and Palm Cove guests, some of
whom no doubt will be computer buffs. Please contact Gerhard Beulke
of Palm Cove
Online, Phone:4059 0903 or email: info@palmcove.net
Published
by Jerry Dukes
52 Terebra St
Palm Cove 4879 QLD
Ph 4059 1610 Fax 4059 0058
Email : jgdukes@ozemail.com.au
On website : http://www.palmcove.net
Please
note that Palm Cove Online takes no responsibility about the content
of the Palm Cove News.