Early morning with Millie, a gorgeous 12-year-old Maltese ShiTzu, a girl with a mind of her own and who clearly knows her way, she’s taking me to the beach. Its 6.20 am, the perfect time to walk, to start our day. The air feels cool, tiny droplets of dew still glistening on the grass, the feathery leaves of the tall palms fluttery gently. Save for the odd early morning walker, it feels like the village is yet to wake up, there’s a sense of peace and calm …until we hear a few screeching gulls flying overhead. Looking up and then beyond, we spy the sun beginning to peek up over the ocean, it’s rays bringing warmth and light, and we stand and stare. Ahh…what a beautiful morning.
Trinity Beach, only 30 minutes’ drive from Cairns, a small seaside village, somewhere to relax and unwind from your tropical North Queensland adventures whether they be at the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree Forest, Kuranda, the Atherton tablelands. Considered by locals to be Cairns best beach, it’s where they go, it certainly has a quiet, laid-back feel to it and the coconut tree-lined esplanade provides plenty of shade.
With its tropical climate, it is hot and humid in summer, dry and hot in winter. It does have stinger nets for the summer months and is patrolled all year round. It offers many accommodation options including beach front apartments and small holiday resorts. I stayed at Trinity Beach Club as a house-sitter and loved its easy, relaxed atmosphere.
Nearby, a short 10-minute drive away, is Palm Cove – a more glamorous option with upmarket boutique hotels, beautiful colonial buildings, fine dining restaurants and numerous spas. The esplanade, mirroring a wave, lined with 500-year-old melaleuca trees, is the perfect place to “faire une promenade”. There is a jetty, a great land-based fishing spot which is safe and great for family outings. With strong winds offshore on the day I visited, the sea is choppy, stirring up the sand, looking a touch murky, and yet it doesn’t matter.
I had lunch at Vivo which offers local seafood with an Italian twist. The spicy baby calamari salad with rocket was gorgeous. Friends ate at Nu Nu, a restaurant made for long lunches, and could only describe it as ‘wow’.
Enjoying our last morning walk together, Millie decided that we should take another route …and here we found another morning walker…
