Palm Cove News
Tropical North Queensland


MAY 2007

Tsunami scare

AN EARTHQUAKE early on April 2nd near Solomon Islands caused a tsunami which sucked the seabed dry, then rose up 10m which washed away villages and killed 40 islanders.
Cairns people heard the news, collected their kids from school, left work, took to their cars and headed for high ground.
Cars on Kuranda Range double-parked to look out to sea and blocked the traffic. No one could move. Traffic at all of Cairns' outlets jammed and took a long time to clear.
The tsunami petered out to a few centimeters measured at Yorkey's Knob.
One emergency worker said that if a tsunami of 10m had arrived, many people stuck in cars still at low levels would have been killed.
Professor Mal Heron of JCU said radars will soon be fitted all along the Australian coast which will measure the size of a tidal wave well before it hits the city.
Prof Chris Schoneveld said the barrier reef would greatly reduce the wave size. (Refer www.palmcovenewsletter.com and scroll to 02/2005)

More parking, please

VIVO RESTAURANT'S head chef Russell Molina says it's time the council restricted parking spots on the esplanade.
Mr Molina said there was no control on the few beach spaces available which were occupied by workers, friends of local residents and others - everyone except customers.
"There is parking in Harpa St and also at our Amphora St entrance, but that is only for resort guests and permanents," he said.
He was not in favour of parking meters but would suggest parking signs installed on the beachfront to favour diners, especially at night.
Going on the saying that you should speak to a hairdresser if you want to know what local people are saying, we asked hairdresser Marlies Medek of Trinity Beach if her customers dined at Palm Cove.
"No," she said. "I myself had to walk a long way to get to a restaurant at Palm Cove. Several of my clients have said they don't visit restaurants at Palm Cove beach because they can never get a park."
Restaurant Manager Karlo Amanono of Sebel Reef House said they had parking out front, along French St, and under Paradise Shopping Centre which was free.
The general manager of Grand Mercure, Stephen Wright, said diners for their three restaurants, yet to open, could park in the Veivers Road spaces.

Floating ambulance

PALM COVE lifesavers are raising funds for a rescue board, development officer Lawrence Green says.
The rescue board will be paddled out to anyone in trouble in the water.
"The person is placed on the board and treated with equipment similar to that on an ambulance," Lawrence said.
"We need $1,700. Anyone wanting to contribute, please call 4059 1244."
The board is to celebrate surf lifesaving's 100 years in Australia in 2007, and the annual sign-on for Nippers (kids age 8-14) is on May 13, Lawrence said.

BISTRO BOOMING

In the bistro, the club is attracting good crowds despite recent inclement weather, club manager Judy Peace said.
"We are presently getting good crowds from Europe, especially from the UK where they have great package deals," she said.
Family membership at the club for locals and visitors is $5 p.a.
The bistro is open for business 6pm-8.30pm Thursday to Sunday. Specials at the bistro are a steak night on Saturdays for $10 and roast night on Sundays, also for $10.
The club is open Mon, Tues & Wed 2pm to late; Thursday to Sunday 11.30am to late.

Tavern nice and quiet

FOLLOWING complaints about noise in the early hours, (seePCN Nov 06) Palm Cove Tavern is very, very quiet.
Manager Geoff Webb said new hours of operation were in force.
"We no longer have live entertainment," he said.
Lunch is served 10-3, dinner 5-9, and all day weekends 10-9.
The tavern was sold by Hedley in August last year and is now owned by Coles Hotels.

Editorial

POLITICAL AGAIN

WE HAVE HAD a complaint that since the newsletter went apolitical in 2005 it has lost its bite : it has become bland. The editor's wife and one other agreed.
Our critic said he enjoyed it more when it was political.
"The newsletter is really Palm Cove's newspaper," he said. "A newspaper should tell the news. All news inevitably includes issues, controversial happenings, decisions, etc. If a newspaper expresses an opinion on an issue, so what! The reader can make up his or her mind whether to support the idea or not."
The editor recalled the early 1990s as a mature-age student doing journalism at the University of Queensland.
We were taught to write news reports in the Inverted Pyramid Style. Professors continually stressed that the reports had to be both objective and accurate. We joyfully learned that the royal "we" could be used by editors and the queen only.
We wrote feature articles and other reports, and we wrote editorials.
Editorials, we were told, were the opinion of the editor or newspaper only. They could be anyone's opinion. The reader had the right to phone, write or (now) email the newspaper with a contrary opinion, and the newpaper was obliged to print that opinion. There were no exceptions to this, providing a name and address were given.
Your editor really cannot live with the idea that his newsletter, previously enjoyed, could now be bland.
Editorials with political reports, for better or worse, are back.

TIME TO BE COOL

The tsunami scare was a wake-up call for us all. It reminds us of what happens when people panic.
It's the same in war, cyclones and bushfires: the people trying to escape the horror but not quite making it are the ones most likely killed.
We in Palm Cove are relatively safe from a tsunami up to 10m if we keep our cool. Most of Terebra St and Veivers and Cedar Roads are ten metres above high water mark.
All people living below that level should quietly walk up those roads and gain shelter in or around houses there. They should be relatively safe. People in high-rise buildings on the esplanade should go to the third floor or the roof. Once again : relatively safe.
We at 52 Terebra St can accommodate a hundred or so standing up. Please bring your own beer and sandwiches.
If the waves are going to be higher than ten metres, that's another matter.

Published by Jerry Dukes
52 Terebra St
Palm Cove 4879 QLD
Ph 4059 1610 Fax 4059 0058
Email : info@palmcovenewsletter.com
On website : http://www.palmcovenewsletter.com

Palm Cove's official website: http://www.palmcove.net