Palm Cove News

OCTOBER, 2001

Down but not out

PALM COVE PROMOTION ASSOCIATION chairman Bob Shaw says occupancy rates around town are down, but they should be back to normal soon.

"People are delaying decisions on holidays, and considering the New York attacks and Ansett it's understandable; but those who have delayed will want their holiday sooner or later and they'll come then," he said.

A ring around the resorts found most quietly confident.

Reef House's Tony Marrinan said some

of his American guests had cancelled, but he expected the rest of the world would now come to a safe Australia rather than an uncertain America. Angsana said occupancy was presently a good 77 percent. Novotel said September was down only four percent on last year and they had forecast October's rate at 65 percent. Courtyard was forecasting 60 percent for October.

Cairns Post reported city operators as saying the initial shock of New York and the Ansett collapse had subsided and people were starting to fill rooms left empty after the double tragedy.

Brigadier's Bar at Sebel Reef House,which operates an honour system, is for resident guests only, says Manager Tony Marrinan.

He was responding to one of the local lads who had heard about it and wanted to know if he could drink there.

"My staff think I'm too kind-hearted as it is," he said.

Brigadier's Bar was named after Brigadier David Thompson, an Australian Army officer and previous owner of the resort up to 1975, who eventually became the federal member for Leichhardt.

Mr Thompson ran Reef House according to his army training : there was no menu, a maximum of 13 guests only (150 now), and an honour bar for any beverages consumed during their stay.

Pisces closes doors PISCES RESTAURANT ceased business on Sept 24 when administrators Ernst and Young were appointed.

Director Jack James said he was investigating the reasons for the restaurant's demise and would report to creditors in the coming weeks.

"The Ansett crisis may have been a factor but by no means the only factor," he said. "In the meantime I am hopeful of finding a buyer who wishes to purchase the assets and recommence operations in the existing premises."

COACHHOUSE APPROVED

COUNCIL on Sept 11 approved the Coachhouse development which had been held up when 57 submissions against it were received with only three for it.

There will now be three shops only including one for the real estate firm, and landscaping on the unused block.

History of Palm Cove

Part 2. (Original text by Clive Veivers in italics.)

ACCESS to the beach hut (now 36 Veivers Rd) by the Veivers and related families prior to 1930 was by horseback or foot, there being no roads or highways at the time. The families lived inland from Cairns and traversed the Macalister Range. Several very steep tracks were used.

Bert and George Veivers held forest grazing leases on most of the coastal forest from around Red Cliffs to Yule Point, and in the early years stocked the area with cattle and some horses with a view to raising stock commercially. With no road north to Port Douglas or Mossman, the Palm Cove hut was used as a staging camp for Veivers horsemen travelling from Kuranda to access the grazing areas beyond Buchan's Point. The cattle raising project was not successful due to difficulty of access and serious loss of stock to crocodiles, mainly in the Hartley's Creek and Oak Beach areas. Up until the war years the brumby herds were a valuable source from which many stock horses were obtained by the Veivers families. Brumbies and wild cattle, the descendants of the original stock, were still in existence up to the 1950s.

Immediately prior to WW2, Bert Veivers decided to leave Oak Forest and settle in Palm Cove. The first subdivision of the

property comprised beachfront blocks and these were offered, initially, to Veivers descendants for the princely sum of 20 pounds. I purchased one, my brother Horace two, and my father two. Other buyers, I recall, were Bill Moller, Mick Bolt, and Tommy McDonald. Tom had the block where Angsana is today .

Bert Veivers was first to build on the northern corner of this intersection (now Courtyard Resort ). It was a substantial low blocked timber dwelling intended for residential and commercial use. He lived there with his de facto partner Lorna Goldfinch and two children until his death on 9 March 1946...........

Previous occupants of the old hut relied on a tank of rain water or brackish water from a small well in a low lying area between the hut and the beach. I believe this was originally a native well of some description. This water was suitable for washing etc but rarely drinkable. Tank water supplied these needs or it was a long carry down Sweet Creek from near the present day bridge. Sweet Creek dried out to well above the highway for most of the year, so it became necessary to embark on a water supply scheme of some magnitude and permanence.

(Final next month).

REEF REMINDER

The Reef Festival Beach Party will be held 8am - 3pm, Sunday, October 14 at Trinity Beach and not Palm Cove this year.

Alcohol is banned except on licensed premises and at a small licensed area on the beach road below the hotel.

$4,785 for shaved heads

ABOUT 15 people of both sexes had their heads shaved at Apres Bar & Grill (ex-Beach Bar) on September 16 as a fundraiser for the Leukaemia Foundation.

Apres proprietor Robert Van Den Hoven said $4,785 was raised on the afternoon and most of it came from guests at the main resorts.

"Novotel, Courtyard and others allowed a couple of their female staff to shave their heads, and the guests dug up the cash in a good cause," he said.

Photos taken on the day can be had from Gerhard Beulke 4049 0903, or www.palmcove.net/leukaemia, or www.beachbar.com.au.

Published by Jerry Dukes, 52Terebra St Palm

Cove 4879. Ph 40591610; Fax 40590058

Email : jdukes@ozemail.com.au