17 June – On the road again. We headed to Cardwell
to get a ferry to Hinchinbrook Island to do a 4 day walk. On the way we stopped
in at Townsville for lunch. We picked up all our supplies for the hike and had
lunch in the park on the Strand. This is a place along the water edge
that had a great big water park for us to play in. There was no pool but we got
pretty wet and managed to cool down.
18 June - We camped at Cardwell opposite the beach. We
couldn’t swim at the beach anymore because of the risk of being chomped on for
dinner by a crocodile. The previous Saturday a big crocodile had been spotted
eyeing off a family on the beach so the dad threw coconuts at its head.
Cardwell look pretty new because Cyclone Yasi ripped through the area 2
years ago and so lots of buildings were destroyed and had to be built again.
We got packed for our 4 day hike on Hinchinbrook Island.
19 June- We got up in the dark because we did not want to be
late and miss the ferry.
The ferry was not very big. IT was an orangey-red
rubber dinghy.
So we set off on our first day of our 4 day walk. It was a
very sunny day and it was very hot because we were carrying our heavy backpacks
(but not as heavy as Daddy’s and Mummy’s which we couldn’t even lift off the
ground). The walk to Little Ramsey Bay was fairly flat but pretty uneven underfoot and was 6 ½ km
long which prepared us for longer days to come.
Boulder Bay
Mt Bowen behind the lagoon at Little Ramsey Bay
Dinner on the beach
When we eventually found our
campsite it was worth the walking. The view was amazing. We were
overlooking the beach and a lagoon that formed into a little creek that we
enjoyed swimming in. Mum was too scared to let us swim at the beach in case
there were crocs. (even though we didn’t think there were any!)
Our tent
20 June- The next day was the longest and hardest part
of the walk - 10 ½ km. It was mainly through beautiful rainforest. When
there was a small shower the rainforest canopy stopped us from getting wet. We
saw the forest floor, the understorey, the canopy and the emergent layer (just
like Bella learnt at school). We trudged through mud, knee deep water and
we had to cross crocodile-infested creeks! Luckily we survived!
Track to Zoe Falls
Paperbarks
MUD!
Watch out for crocodiles!
Scrambling
We arrived at Zoe Bay, we took our shoes off and went to Zoe
Falls for a swim. It was an amazing waterfall with a huge plunge pool at the
bottom. The water was icy cold and greeny blue. It was very refreshing.
There were lots of mosquito and sand-flies at Zoe Bay. Lucky we had Mum
with us because she was a mozzie magnet. She ended up with nearly 200
bites but we got none (well Will and Hamish got a few).
Frogs on a rock at Zoe Falls
21 June – The third day of our walk we had to climb a
massive hill beside Zoe Falls. We then walked up the rest of the hill to a
saddle between two mountains for a rest with a view. We then walked down to
Mulligan Falls We got to set up camp where we could hear the falls.
These falls were also spectacular and great for swimming under. There were lots
of nosey fish who came over to check us out. We fed them little bits of
bread and they loved it and splashed and fought to get their share.
Steep Scrambling
Later, we went further downstream to collect water when Will
heard a snake hissing at him as he was about to jump onto the rock that it was
sunning itself on. It looked like a piece of string or a vine. It looked
as though it had had a hard life because its tail was all kinked and
shrivelled.
Will finds a snake
Rock hopping
Mulligan's Falls
We spent the afternoon jumping from rock to rock and
swimming in the beautiful water of the pool.
22 June – We had to have another early start on the last day
because we had to walk 7 ½ km to George’s Point before 11am to catch the boat
back to the mainland. We did not want to miss it or we would have been
stranded for another day with hardly any food. Hamish was the first one
ready and when he went down to the waterfall to tell Dad, he slipped on some
rocks and landed with his head in a tree and his legs bent up behind him on
some rocks. He hurt his ear, neck and knee. Thankfully he is tough
and we set off on time anyway.
There were 5 creek crossings through the first 2 ½ km
through the bush and then it was 5km walking along the beach from there.
We had to cross another creek on the beach. We waited for ½ hour for the
tide to go out a bit and then Dad ferried us all across. The water was
very murky and coming from a mangrovey creek so it was a good place for crocodiles.
Dad is very, very brave.
Will crossing a creek
The last 5km
Dad braving the murky creek
A beautiful tree just near the finish
We caught the ferry back to Lucinda where Ninny and Grumps
(Dad’s parents) were there to greet us!! Hooray. Ninny had brought some
fresh bread rolls and smoked salmon and avocado for lunch. Delicious!
We absolutely loved our walk to bits. It was very
beautiful.
Ninny and Grumps took Dad to get our car (where we caught
the first ferry) and we spent 2 hours playing in the park. Then we headed
off to Mission Beach for a swim and a shower and to wash all our stinky stuff
so we would be ready to drive off up the actual Cape York Peninsula at last.
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