Charlotte and Peter’s CAPE YORK ADVENTURE by Charlotte England
The opportunity to travel with friends to Cape York and the Torres Strait Islands was too good to miss so at the end of August we flew to Cairns and boarded an Outback Spirit bus to venture north.
The trip started very gently from Cairns to Port Douglas. We had been to this area before but always wanted to return. We were fortunate enough to have an Aboriginal guide to lead our walk through the Mossman Gorge which was stunning followed by a trip on the Daintree River to spot crocodiles!!
We stayed in the Daintree overnight. We went on an incredible walk through the oldest rainforest in the world guided by the Founder of the Daintree Rainforest Foundation. The ancient fan palms were a feature.
The Bloomfield Track was our first taste of the off road adventure! We saw firsthand the utter devastation that Cyclone Jasper caused prior to Christmas last year. Huge areas affected by landslides and total destruction of the rainforest in places. On to Cooktown, where we visited the museum which was detailed and worthwhile and a wonderful lookout across both the Coral Sea and the hinterland.
The tour continued to Laura where an Aboriginal guide lead us up Split Rock to the some fascinating rock art then through the Lakefield National Park to stay at the Lotus Bird Lodge. The Lotus flowers on the lake were stunning and so was the helicopter flight across the area to Princess Charlotte Bay
The vastness of Cape York will always be an incredible memory as we headed to Weipa across hundreds of kilometres of red corrugated roads stopping along the way to see the fields of cycads and native flora. Our morning breaks and lunches at remote locations were always fascinating meeting other Cape York travellers.
Weipa’s bauxite beaches and mine along with the crocodiles and wonderful bird life showed the immense scope of the Cape . We had a great boat trip on the Embley River to see many crocodiles and beautiful Jabarus, herons and pelicans.
As we drove north the roads became quite challenging and it was a reminder that coming to this part of Australia is not for the faint hearted. We stayed at the Moreton Telegraph Station which was such an important part of the communications to northern Australia and then drove the Telegraph
Track to BamagaFrom Bamaga we drove through the rainforest which was most unexpected on our way to the ‘Tip of Cape York’. An early morning start, as the weather was very warm, and a kilometre of rock hopping to eventually reach the Tip. It was worth it! This was bucket list moment for Peter who had always wanted to go to the northern most point of the Australian mainland.
The ferry trip over to Thursday Island with the sea breeze was a welcome break. The change in culture and landscape was a surprise. We were entertained by a group of young Torres Strait Islanders and learned a great deal about their culture and how hard they are working to preserve it. We visited Friday Island to see the last of the Japanese Pearling farms and had an informative lecture on pearling and pearls. Our last port of call was Horn Island and a tour of the military facilities which were established in the Second World War. A tremendous amount of effort by a small group of people to preserve culture, heritage and the environment.
Our flight back from Horn Island to Cairns over the start of the Great Barrier Reef was fabulous. The colours, islands and sandbars were stunning.
Our thanks goes to our Outback Spirit guide Isabelle who was a wealth of knowledge and our amazing driver Adam who was so professional and dealt with over a 1,600 kms of very challenging roads.
WE MADE IT!!