It sounds like a mythical place: a beach where the sand tickles your feet; a cafe strip with no fast-food outlets; and self-contained accommodation with separate pools for kids and adults.
"Just make sure you spray on the tropical perfume!" the bus driver jokes.
Aside from the super-sized mozzies, Palm Cove is perfect for families.
We're greeted at Alamanda - the only absolute beachfront property - with a warm "G'day darl", before being shown to our huge two-bedroom suite with full kitchen, laundry, lounge and dining room.
You can hire bikes from the nearby Country Club to explore the paths, which weave through the wetlands.
(I try, in vain, to distract the kids from the Beware of Crocodiles signs, but they end up excited by, rather than scared of, the danger.)
A safer sport is paddle-boarding on the mirrored waters of the cove: this place is a postcard.
But it's not just the sunsets that shine in Far North Queensland. It's the rich indigenous history.
Take the iconic Skyrail cableway, over waterfalls and gorges, deep into the Daintree for a guided tour by one of the Djabugay people.
Aaron jokingly apologises for not giving us a traditional welcome, by wiping sweat from his armpits on us.
Turns out he's an encyclopaedia of culture, telling the kids how to make "termite spring rolls" using insects and nuts.
He points out the so-called soap tree: its leaves foam up when wet.
"Wow, this is really interesting!" our hard-to-impress nine-year-old says.
So, too, is the Cairns Tropical Zoo, a step back in time where you can hold a crocodile, pat a wombat, and hug a koala. (Queensland is the only state that allows the latter.)
Watching the two-metre black-headed python constricting the kids' necks, I think this would come in handy at home when I'm trying to get them to clean their rooms.
The live shows are hilarious, as the "screaming woman bird" swoops low enough to part our hair, and Pebbles the wombat proves she's a "too dominant" female who "can't be tamed by the blokes".
("Go girl!" I say, in an ill-timed feminist outburst during a family show . . .)
The zoo is the highlight for the kids, despite a later journey to the Great Barrier Reef.
Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises runs twice-daily trips to the island, with excellent snorkelling in the "elbow" of the jetty, peppered with colourful parrotfish and fluttering butterfly fish.
The kids build a cubby house from driftwood on the beach, before a glass-bottomed boat ride, revealing spaghetti, elephant ear, and brain coral.
"Starfish thrust their stomachs from their mouths to digest the food," the guide explains.
"Sounds like my son," I reply.
Seriously, this is a special place.
Back at Alamanda, we spend much of our time on the simple stuff: collecting nuts on the foreshore; climbing the magnificent melaleuca trees; and playing board games or watching DVDs, available free from reception.
It turns out this mythical place offers many real-life pleasures as well.
Tracey Spicer travelled courtesy of Alamanda at Palm Cove lancemore.com.au/alamanda, Tiger Airways tigerair.com, and Tourism Tropical North Queensland ttnq.org.au
KIDS' DEAL
BEAR UP
Pack your marmalade and don your duffle coat to follow London's most famous Peruvian, Paddington Bear, through the streets of London.
The new Paddington Trail weaves across the city, marked by 50 statues that will pop up in his favourite parks, landmarks and museums. The trail is open November 4 to December 30, just in time for the release of the Paddington movie, showing in London from November 28 and in Australia from December 11.
The explorer was created by writer Michael Bond in 1956 and the statues will later be auctioned to raise money for children's charities. visitlondon.com/paddington.
