Cape York

 An island

 Cooktown and the Endeavour River

 Silica Sands

 Another island

 Cape Melville

Coral reef

 More coral

And more core



Thursday, 26 July 2012

We have been and we have seen!

Yesterday, Wednesday, the alarm was set for 5.30 am, ready for our very early check-in for our flying tour to the Cape York Peninsula. After a final visit to the bathroom, we boarded our ten seater plane (including pilot) at 7.30 am but didn’t get into the air until just after 8.00 am, owing to the heavy volume of traffic at Cairns Airport. Followed closely by our fellow travellers in an accompanying plane, we quickly turned to the north and followed the coastline past the northern beaches and Port Douglas. The Daintree River and Cape Tribulation were familiar sights as we headed towards Cooktown and the Endeavour River. We left the coast for a short trip inland over Hope Vale before returning to the sea and flying over Cape Flattery before giving the area south of Cape Melville and its bad weather a wide berth. We were able to bank around Cape Melville and get some very good views of the large boulders on the headland.

Our flight across Princess Charlotte Bay was highlighted by the muffins and cold drinks served by our very capable flight attendant (aka Leslie) who was seated in the rear of the plane (his wife was seated directly behind the pilot). We continued in a northerly (sort of) direction, flying low over the Great Barrier Reef, with some amazing views of the coral reefs and small islands. Unfortunately, the tinted windows of the plane did really help with the photography.

Our flight path also crossed numerous silica sand dunes – startling white against the dark vegetation. We continued flying over the coral reefs, which just seem to go on forever, as did the flight. The time in the air really brought home just how far the Cape is from Cairns, let alone Hobart! Just after passing the mouth of the Jardine River, with its two large waterfalls easily seen from the plane, we headed inland for a VERY bumpy ride to the airstrip at Bamaga. We may not have driven up the notoriously corrugated rode to the Cape, but we certainly felt the corrugations during the final phase of our flight. Sitting directly behind the pilot, it was very obvious how hard he worked to land the plane safely at 11.00 am.

After landing, and the mad dash to the one toilet (and subsequent queue), we were loaded into a truck/bus, with a few passengers accommodated in a 4WD, for the drive to the Tip. If the 34 kms of corrugations and red dust were indicative of the remainder of the Development Road (Cooktown to the Cape), we were all extremely glad we had flown and weren’t making the 1200 km drive! After passing through the ruins of the Pajinka Resort, we drove onto Frangipani Beach, ready for the final walk to the Tip. As the tide was out, we were able to take the easy route along the beach, keeping a watchful eye out for the 4 metre crocodile which inhabits the area! It was very hot and dry, but as we climbed up onto the headland, we were hit by the full blast of the wind. Fortunately, we were very lucky in that there weren’t many people about at that stage and we are to line up to have our photos taken at the sign.

The return walk to the bus was a little harder, along the ridge of the headland and over rocks until we dropped down to Frangipani Beach and lunch. Our guides quickly set out chairs beneath a lovely shady tree and handed out cold drinks while they set out cold meat and salad for lunch. A hopeful scrub turkey paid us a visit but soon left when no food was forthcoming. We were eventually ushered back onto the bus for the return drive through the rain forest and one water crossing to the souvenir tent at the site of the old Lockerbie Station. Like all the vegetation within twenty metres of the road, everything in the tent was covered with thick, red dust. Apart from the displays, all stock was kept in plastic bags in boxes – no way would anyone buy a t-shirt complete with red dust!

Evidently, the previous day, a carload of tourists had stopped at the souvenir tent and asked the man if he would remove a python which had attached itself to the underside of their car. Having a couple of pet pythons (?????), he was happy to oblige and after pulling about a metre of snake out by its tail, suddenly realised it wasn’t a python but a coastal taipan – caused a bit of a heart flutter, no doubt! Anyway, he told us he still had the taipan in a pillowslip as he was too frightened to let it go.

We continued into Bamaga for a quick tour of this Islander community and we were very impressed as to how clean and tidy the town was. As we were returning to the airstrip, we had a small detour into the jungle to look at a DC3 which had crashed in 1945, a couple of months before the end of the Second World War. It was amazing that the wreckage has survived the elements and jungle for so long. This probably wasn’t what we needed to see before boarding a small plane for a long flight.

A surprise awaited us at the airstrip as the head pilot announced we would be landing on Horn Island in the Torres Strait for refuelling and we would have a chance to fly over Cape York and see some of the Torres Strait Islands from the air. Less than fifteen minutes later, after a look at Thursday Island, we were on the ground at Horn Island and taken into the passenger lounge for another pit stop before the long flight back to Cairns. Take off was about 4.30 pm and we climbed to ten thousand feet (for a much smoother flight) before heading directly to Cairns.

About half an hour after take off, our multi-skilled flight attendant (still in the rear seat) managed to whip up a batch of lamingtons and serve for afternoon tea, along with more drinks (not really needed at the start of a three hour flight!). At one stage, we could see both the east and west coasts of the peninsula and later in the flight the waves could be seen breaking on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. As the sun set, we settled back for just over an hour’s flying in the dark. Apart from an odd light here and there on the ground, Cooktown was really the first sign of a major settlement before we passed over Port Douglas with the lights of Mareeba visible in the distance.

Touch down was at 7.30 pm, the end of a long and very enjoyable day.

(As there are a number of photos to add to the blog, I will have another blog with just photos.)