The last day

In Cooktown we spent the last evening of the tour. But first a couple of things not mentioned in the previous chapter.

There is more in Cooktown than Captain Cook..

A great shock for the town was gold discovery in Palmer River. Cooktown was established as the port for the new goldfield. Thousands of Chinese miners arrived soon. The story is too long for this place. I strongly recommend a book River of Gold by H. Holthouse - details HERE.
Excited gold prospectors did not pay attention to warnings - track to the goldfields was long, difficult and dangerous. There were no established supply lines. Gold miners starved in dry season and when the rain season started, simply died of hunger or were hunted for food by local Aborigines.
Lucky ones brought their gold, more than 1 million ounces of it, to Cooktown, where...
"Gold flowed as freely as the water it was found in, and the population continued it's increase, and by the turn of the century it was the second largest township in Queensland.  The population had reached in excess of 30,000 people, and the town was serviced by no less than 65 registered hotels, 20 eating houses, 32 general stores and a multitude of other businesses and outlets. " ( source HERE ).

One of reminders of golden times is this statue...

Chinese miners came in thousands. I mentioned some time ago, that some people expected Somerset to become the second Singapore. Chinese miners came in organised teams fully controlled by powerful masters in China. Then came Chinese merchants and tradesmen and soon ethnic tensions ignited. Reading about this in H. Holthouse book I noticed one detail, which brought back memories from childhood. Both, Aborigines and Australian Police, tied captured Chinese to some tree or branch by their pigtails. This I remembered from my childhood books - Chinese with pigtails. It looks as a completely forgotten habit.

Back to reality. The last evening of the tour started with a visit to the Grassy Hill. Last few steps we walked on nicely decorated pavement...

.. and then just enjoyed the sunset...

The sun went down and we rushed to the local RSL club for a dinner. With full respect for culinary talents of my companion it was a pleasure to have a sumptuous dinner served... including dessert...

And after the dinner we were driven in courtesy bus to our camping site.

Last morning of the tour, it was to be long and exciting ride. and it was, but not exactly what we expected. First thing in the morning, we missed our "guide". He simply disappeared. Anyway, we prepared and ate usual breakfast of cereals and sandwiches and then he arrived with steaming pan - mince meat, eggs - looks like all the remaining food. We already had our breakfast, so most of this landed in the rubbish bin. Communication is the word.

Packing and off we go. Tour itinerary mentioned Black Mountain, Lion's Den, Bloomfiekd Track, Daintree Forest. We reached only the Lion's Den...

What about the rest? Our "guide" drove us to some unidentified place telling us, that someone told him about some waterfalls, which somehow evaporated in the mist. Over 1 hour lost. And what about Cape Tribulation? Well better read THIS, because we MISSED IT! We noticed the road sign and raised our voices, but our bus stopped for lunch some dozen kilometres further on. Lunch, but what about the beach, the swim? We had few minutes for stepping on the beach...

And then I could not resist and jumped to the water for a while.
Our guide apparently reconsidered his plan and drove us back to Cape Tribulation, just for a 5 minutes walk. So we should not complain - the last point of the schedule was ticked off.

Two hours later we reached Cairns. Good bye Cape York.

Conclusion:
Cape York itself is not very exciting place. Surroundings of Cairns look much more attractive to me. Still it has some specific charm of remote and inaccessible place, plus the Tip of Australia of course. Certainly the tour would be much more enjoyable if we had on board someone experienced in guiding tours and familiar with the area and its history.
Our tour operator - Frontier Safaris - was a total disaster. Every possible aspect of the tour - guide, food, equipment, was a failure.
On the other hand I met a bunch of great people, who did not complain, but rolled sleeves and did not spare any effort to make this tour as good as possible. Thank you all very much!
I think, that we could have hired 2 properly equipped vehicles and run the tour ourselves in much better way... and for half the cost. Maybe start planning now?

Jump to earlier entries - Part1, Part2, Part3, Part4, Part5 , Part6, Part7,

Going down

From Twin Falls it was definitely way back home. But there were two memorable stops.

Weipa - a mining town with  rules dictated by an all-protective company -  Rio Tinto..

Here are the richest in the world deposits of  bauxite. Additionally it is extremely easy to mine. Just strip half a metre top soil and here you are - 24 million tons per year. For me it was some disappointment. I expected deep excavations, enormous mining machnery, kilometres of conveyer belts. Instead there was just a loader and a truck... 

We took a 2 hours tour of the town and mine. Our guide worked for years in the mine as a truck driver. These monsters cost $3.5 million and burn 140 litres of fuel per hour. Each procedure is defined to the smallest detail. For example preparation for filling the fuel tank contains over 20 steps. People are supposed to work like robots, but then they do not have to worry about the rest. It reminded me Aldous Huxley's Brave New World - everything taken care of by the omnipotent Company - housing. health, education, recreation and work. Company rules are that at least 30% of employees must be Aborigines and at least 30% must be female.
The Company has a special agreement with original owners of the land, which makes it practically independent of Australian Government.

We hit the road again and soon we are hit by another surprise. Doors of one of luggage compartments broke off and one piece of luggage dropped out. Luckily it was immediately noticed and recovered...

We blocked the faulty door with sticks and straps and moved on.

There was some traffic on the road...

Crossing more beautiful rivers and more crocodile warnings...

And, after 3 days we reached again familiar hills, green and dense vegetation and a town. Not just a town but Cooktown...

This was a place of not the first collision of ship Endeavour with the reef. Captain Cook is commemorated in many places...

Another notable visitor was The Queen in 1970 on the 200th anniversary of captain Cook's landing. The solid memory of this visit are the steps...

now accessible to any commoner.

The real treasure of memories and information we found in James Cook Museum...

There I noticed a board with quotes of some great people about Captain Cook...

There is one smart quote of certain Paddy Waiub (?): Too much captain Cooks! It is followed by a proper rhyme:

Captain Cook chased a chook
all around Australia.
He lost his pants in the middle of France
and found them in Tasmania.

Full text HERE.


But there is more in Cooktown that just Captain Cook. Wait for the next chapter...

Jump to - earlier entries - Part1, Part2, Part3, Part4, Part5, Part6 - Later - Part8

Cape York - mission accomplished

On Wednesday, 21st August we reached our target...

I have to admit, that this small island in the background disappointed me a bit.
The  walk to the tip was short, but interesting - some rocks of fantastic shapes and mangrove trees...

Next place we visited were the remains of Somerset. Linked page contains information, which troubled me for some time. It says, that Jardine brothers drove here a mob of cattle from Rockhampton. Just 16 years earlier, Edmund Kennedy, most experienced explorer, well equipped and prepared, vanished on this track, and here they come with a mob of cattle. How was it possible?
There was nobody around to answer this question, but after return to Melbourne I asked the best expert in the field - Wendy Kozicki - co-owner of Bramwell station - see my previous entries.
- Kennedy was a fool - Wendy cut me short. - He slavishly kept close to the East shore where the grass is poor and has no nutritional value. But just few miles to the centre of the peninsula we have quite good grass. I can easily feed here some 10,000 cattle.
It sounds almost like a story from the Bible. A man obsessed with an idea of reaching some geographical point failed. Good shepherds caring about their cattle succeeded.
At the time of Palmer River gold discovery Somerset was expected to grow into the second Singapore. It ended as just few graves. One of them is quite memorable...

Symbolic grave of Edmund Kennedy. Only symbolic as his body was never found. And here is the view he missed...

Our next stop was Punsand Bay Resort. Beer, coffee, ice cream and another great attraction -  a small swimming pool...

Just few metres from a beautiful beach. But there was a mandatory crocodile warning and a familiar story.. this morning someone saw here a crocodile, even two.
So, protected from crocodiles by a human shield of juicy and tasty children playing in the pool, we could safely enjoy our afternoon tea.

22 August - time to return. Coincidentally it was a 243rd anniversary of declaring East Coast of Australia a British colony. It happened on Possession Island - just a stone throw from our campsite at Loyalty Beach.
I declared a Possession Day, but my initiative did not ignite any enthusiasm. We hit the road again. Dust...

.. and water...

It was not easy, almost asked for a trouble and here it was...

Bolt connecting trailer to the bus broke. And our  tour operator - Frontier Safaris - did not bother about a spare. Fortunately there were around some people with more imagination. First passing vehicle had a spare and gave it to us - so simple.
Finally we reached Twin Falls. After 10 days touring across delightful rivers and around enchanted beaches, we found a waterhole where we could jump in...

There were still some dangers around. Such as this carnivorous plant...

.. but we just enjpyed the bath.

Jump to - earlier - Part1, Part2, Part3, Part4, Part5 - Later - Part7, Part8

Tuesday on Thursday Island

In the morning we boarded a ferry and hit the waves..

Our target was Thursday Island...

Why such a name? It goes back to the Bounty Mutiny. In April 1789, ship Bounty sailing to Philippines, stopped in Tahiti to replenish food supplies. Local climate and culture attracted sailors so much, that they refused to go any further. The crew decided to get rid of their captain and some too serious crew members. They sent them afloat in a small boat with no maps and very little food and water. Still captain Bligh managed to sail over 4,000 miles and reach Timor. On their way they stopped on The Great Barrier Reef ,on a small island, where they got a chance to recover a bit. They called this place Restoration Island. From there they sailed North, the next island they reached on Sunday, so they named it after the day. And so it went, for a whole week.

Before our landing, the ferry crew gave all passengers some labels identifying their operator for the rest of the tour. After experiences of previous days it was not surprise, that we remained not allocated to anybody. Luckily Peddels, the company running the ferry, sorted things out for us. 

We had over 1 hour free time and then tour of  Horn Island. We found a very friendly taxi driver, who familiarized us with the island. It is very small but densely populated. The only reason for it is, that it had a place good for a sea port. Before the port was established, all life was on Horn Island, which is much larger and very resourceful. In fact Thursday Island has no water, it is pumped from Horn Island. The main facility, which still remained on Horn Island is the airport. Thursday Island was simply too small.

Because of the port, Thursday Island became an administrative centre for Torres Strait inhabitants. There are  boarding schools, TAFE College, few hospitals and many, many government offices.

The best view at the island and its surrounding is from the Battery Point. The guns were directed against Russians, who never came...

One and half hour passed quickly and we boarded a small ferry to Horn Island. Here we were finally in the hands of true professionals - Vanessa and Liberty Seekee. We started with a delicious lunch, then a visit to the Heritage Museum commemorating local war effort during II World War.

Horn Island was selected as a place for airbase already in September 1939, just few days after the war outbreak. Interesting fact is, that the Torres Strait Islanders volunteered in large numbers to Australian Army. Their participation rate was much higher, than this of mainland Australians.
Horn Island grew into a major military base in the Pacific hosting hundreds of American planes and initiating numerous air force operations. The island was few times bombarded by Japanese planes.
After visiting the museum we had a tour of the island exploring WW2 airstrip, old trenches, sites of guns batteries and underground command centre.
On the lighter note, Vanessa mentioned a smart way to cool beer in tropical climate - load bottles into a bomber plane and send it to circle on high altitude for half an hour.
There was also a puzzle. One Australian pilot run out of ammunition during a duel with Japanese plane. He attacked the enemy plane with his plane's wing. The attack was successful, but he lost half of the wing. Still he managed to reach the airstrip and land, but at the moment of touch down, his plane lost balance. The pilot jumped out and survived . What was first he did when he stood on his feet?

There were few interesting answers: he kissed the earth, he lit a cigarette. I posted same question on my Polish blog and I got a very good answer - he ran to the wreck of his plane and grabbed a bottle of beer.
All answers were wrong.
The correct answer is so down to earth, that I will skip it.

Jump to - earlier - Part1, Part2, Part3, Part4 -Later - Part6, Part7, Part8

Straight to the TOP

Our next destination was Bramwell Station.
Here we made another discovery. Let me quote from our tour operator's (Frontier Safaris) document: ".. portable generators and or 240 power inverters to ensure life’s little luxuries like charging your camera or keeping a beer cold for the end of the day are taken care of."
Well, our generator was dead and no amount of care could bring it to life.

Luckily Bramwell Station had a powered camping site, so we put our worries away. The station is advertised as Australia's most Northern cattle Station , but at the time of our visit, all cattle has gone to Roma cattlesaleyards. Only one very friendly (and hungry) cow remained...

We had some free time to walk around, not very exciting. Most impressive were termites mounds...

During happy hour in a local restaurant we learned a bit about station's past and present. Due to drop in beef prices the cattle side of the business is not very bright. This is compensated by involvement in roads maintenance and tourism.

Next day we had a long ride, straight to the top. Flat terrain, dust, corrugated road. Luckily I had a very good book, and ability to read in a shaking and rocking bus. Jardine River crossing was the only break in this monotony...

Just 10 metres and price.. $129 per car - return.
Short stop in Bamaga to replenish our food supplies..

Finally we reached Loyalty Beach our camping site for next 3 nights...

Oh, I forgot to show a crocodile warning. It was there, trust me. I could bet somebody saw there a crocodile, even two.
Luckily, in the shower, I had much more pleasant company...

Jump to - earlier - Part1, Part2, Part3 Later -  Part5, Part6, Part7, Part8

Paradise lost

In the morning we had first chance to look at our equipment in a daylight. Photo below says a bit..

To be on positive side - I really enjoyed ambience in the toilet and shower...

We were farewell-ed by a local peacock.- move your mouse over this photo, he will show you the real face...



Then we hit the road...

It was our scenery for the next 3 days. Flat, dry terrain and dusty, corrugated road. Look at the picture above. There was easterly wind (from the right) , compare colour of trees on both sides of the road.

Termites mounds looked like unending cemetery...

Our destination was Archer River camping grounds. The river looked very tempting...

but....

Crocodile warning accompanied us at each creel, river, lake. I asked some passers by if they actually saw a crocodile in this area. Answer was: somebody told me, that somebody told him, that somebody saw a crocodile here, even two. From now on, I heard this story almost everyday.

Back to the camp to find, that our guide... Well, look first into our tour operator (Frontier Safaris) document::
"Our Guides work extremely hard to provide passengers with excellent, wholesome meals. With more time available in the evenings, our staff can concentrate on their culinary talents and present a complete 3 course meal."
Our guide simply disappeared so we were left to our own facilities to prepare the dinner. Our (Ann's) culinary talents were apparently good enough to attract our guide, but he strategically disappeared for the wash up duties. After completing all kitchen chores we discovered the reason for his absence: rugby match against New Zealand.

We lost.

Jump to - earlier - Part1, Part2 later - Part4, Part5, Part6, Part7, Part8

First step in the Paradise

In the morning I embarked our touring bus. It circled street of Cairns and slowly filled with my companions for the next 2 weeks. I made already some half a dozen tours in Australia and usually most of passengers were young backpackers from Europe. This time I found myself in company of people of roughly my age group. How reassuring.
Another pleasing factor was meeting on the road other people in the same state of mind as mine...

Our bus climbed steep road. We were surrounded by dense. lush bush. Sugar cane, tobacco, mangoes.. what a fertile country. Finally we reached Mareeba for a short break. We stopped in the local museum while our guide asked two ladies to help him in food shopping.
- We will be back in half an hour - he said - fair enough, probably some savories for happy hours or desserts. We spent half an hour happily enjoying the museum.
I had also a chance to look at other tourist. Mostly in well equipped 4WD vehicles. But also such ever-young couple - how beautiful...

In fact the museum was quite interesting, I did not mind another half an hour, but it appeared to be over two hours. Apparently we hit the road without any food supplies. This was definitely a completely new experience.

We passed Mt Molloy and began descent on the North side of Great Dividing Range. Our driver/guide introduced himself as Buud, or maybe Bood, hopefully not Booed. Quite impressive story - born on the cattle station, many years in the outback, healer, astrologer, accepted into an Aboriginal tribe. Only two things missing - he never ever guided a tour, and never been North of Laura. The FAQ page of tour operator (Frontier Safaris) assured: "..providing an unrivalled level of customer service with friendly, knowledgeable and experienced guiding". Oooops.

On our way we (luckily) noticed  sign of Split Rock. Aboriginal rock paintings. Unfortunately our guide could not tell us much about them, just few general remarks. I could not find too much information in OTHER SOURCES. Ironically, I found a very expressive description of encounters with Aboriginal art in Laura region in a fiction book by young Polish author. But the book is in Polish - lucky me. So I just watched paintings in silence...

More pictures HERE.

Quite late we reached our first camping site at Hann River roadhouse. First encounter with local fauna - this emu was very keen to have his share in watermelon. Luckily we had old soldier on guard...

In the last rays of sun, we set up our tents, ate dinner and went to well deserved rest...

Jump to - earlier - Part1, later - Part3, Part4, Part5, Part6, Part7, Part8