Back down Cape York and Beyond

List of identified species will be at the end of the last part of the whole trip (Part 4).

Back down the track and a trip to some world war 2 plane wrecks (DC3 and Beaufort Bombers, could not find the Kittyhawk) in Bamaga.  Somehow not as atmospheric as the ones in the jungle in PNG – mainly as they have been cleared and fenced here, not so there.

On the way we were stopped by a Policeman as Steve was speeding (9km over) apparently he was behind us for quite a while with lights flashing and sirens going. Asked why we did’nt stop, did’nt hear or see you was the reply car is to noisy on dirt road. Be more attentive was response and let us go. 

A quick stop at Bramwell station then on to Moreton station for the night as it had some good walks, a river and some birds we were after.  Met up with the same couple that had shared our campsite in Iron Range on the way up.  It seems quite common to bump into the same people a few times.

Worth a read about the place as it is in one of the 3 most unspoilt areas left on earth.
https://www.moretonstation.com.au/index.html

Iron Range again and slightly better weather this time. Certainly more life about, like calling Noisy Pittas – not seen though. We did luckily get great views of the Yellow Billed Kingfisher.

Finally we also saw a perched Palm Cockatoo – last time only flying overhead. Another of my favourites here was the Yellow Breasted Boatbill.  I just love colourful birds.

Along with Spotted Cuscus, and Bandicoots the place is so alive with interesting birds and wildlife.

Two species of reptile we wanted to find were the Amethystine python and the Green python, many people we met had fallen over them night spotting or out driving or walking.  Not so us, we spent 7 nights over the 2 trips out and about looking but not till some young reptile researches left us a stick arrow and instructions did we find the Green Python – but never the other.     

Batavia goldfields were interesting and met a prospector who looked as if he had stepped out from 50 years or so ago.

https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/queensland-places-wenlock-goldfield-cape-york

 Artemis station again for hopefully better pictures of the golden shouldered parrots – this time there were about 15 or 20 with a number of juveniles, great to see.

Staying 15km out of Cooktown at a great campsite on a river. Visits to Cooktown Botanic Gardens, Captain Cook Museum (where the officious staff member would not let Steve in unless he could produce his seniors card – he must look very young….), and Keatings Lagoon kept us busy and interested.  The museum was a lovely old building, a 19^th century convent, and very fascinating, easy to spend a few hours.  Cooktown itself does have some lovely old buildings and a fascinating history.  In the early years it was mainly colonised by the Chinese who set up market gardens.  One of the legacies left today is many many mango trees.  I picked quite a few from the ground to eat – there were so many everywhere.
https://nationaltrustqld.org.au/visitor-sites/James-Cook-Museum

The Botanic Gardens also cover a huge area including coastal reserves and forested hills.  Archer Point was another place worth a visit for the stunning views along the coast a lighthouse and some great beaches.

A place we missed was Elim Beach Coloured Sands – supposed to be very beautiful but the campsite was closed while we were there.

A couple of nights in a Lodge where David Attenborough had stayed to film as the area contains 3 different habitat types.  It was a nice place, with basic cabins and a beautiful garden.  A few walks to waterfalls on the property and supposedly plenty of wildlife.  Unfortunately we did not see much as the owner moves things on in case guests don’t like wildlife, he had only a few days before removed a lot of white tailed rats and a couple of Scrub Pythons.  A real shame as that is why we went there. One strange thing that happened was an aqua butterfly which was almost exactly the colour of my Tshirt kept following me and landing on me – I think he thought I was another butterfly.

The main waterfall Jilngankaku was quite a trek – not far just overgrown and more like a climb with a few river crossings.  On one such crossing Steve got attacked by a March Fly and while flapping it away he managed to poke out a lens from his prescription glasses which promptly flew in the river.  30 mins looking and digging around in water – no luck.  Had to give up to get back before dark. 

The owners suggested we have a look at Shipton Flat Road – not at all sure why it is called that as it is incredibly steep and winding, going up around 600 metres. Very beautiful, although quite scary to drive, luckily almost no traffic as not many places to pass.  On the way back down we stopped at the Infamous Lions Den Hotel for lunch – it was a lovely sunny day and plenty of people.  We particularly enjoyed the live music and the song about Cape York which was so correct, for instance “You know your in Cape York when you might as well throw your mobile phone away”.

The coastal route to Cape Tribulation is the Bloomfield Track 4WD.  There were some incredibly steep bits, water crossings and some pretty nasty pot holes, still much improved on many parts (Until not long ago it used to take a whole day to do).  Lovely drive, pretty, thick rainforest and deserted beaches. Along the way are Bloomfield Falls with a surprising amount of water for the dry season.  Very pretty place.

Cape Tribulation is also a lovely spot with a few walks, rainforest and beaches.  Really unspoilt – apparently what Australia looked like when dinosaurs roamed.  Our first trip out to the Great Barrier Reef was to Mackay Sand Reef.  Great snorkelling with lovely coral, turtles and plenty of fish.  The best is that it is only 45 mins out to sea.  The day was perfect with amazing visibility.

Daintree village campsite was not great as there was no shade whatsoever, we had planned a couple of days but only stayed 1.  A morning and evening river trip were much quieter (birdlife) than usual due to the sudden heat, but still very pleasant with some lovely orchids and other flowers.

A great birding area is the area around Julatten, amazing variety of birds and also cooler as up in the hills.  Mind you the various roads are very winding and quite tiring (and sometimes scary) to drive.  There is also a great walk at the top of Mount Lewis (another very steep, windy, narrow drive).  4-5km down into the rainforest to a lake.

Took us a number of hours as so much bird and wildlife, at one point Steve grabbed me from the back as I was about to step on a Red Bellied Black Snake.  (It was trying to escape, more scared of me).  This was the second close snake encounter in this area.  At our accommodation the night before we had gone out night spotting for owls and frogmouths when I (in thongs) stepped on a snake (too busy looking up with torch, not ground).  I thought it was just a twig till I looked down – scary, luckily it slithered away (I only caught the end of its tail).  We found out it was most probably a slaty grey which is poisonous but not aggressive. We had 2 stays in this area and saw so much, our highlights were the Buff Breasted Paradise Kingfishers that had just arrived from PNG on their annual migration and the Platypus in such clear water – no good pics though.

We had planned to go to Chillagoe Caves and do wish we had but got scared off by all the warnings about heights, fitness, enclosed spaces etc.  I am sure it would most probably have been fine but it was about 300km round trip so we felt it just too much for a maybe OK.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/chillagoe-caves/about