Thorsborne Trail, Hinchinbrook Island National Park - September 2005

This was my third visit to Hinchinbrook Island, previously Sam and I had walked the Thorsborne Trail on our own and I had also been back on the island to climb Mt Bowen another time with my mates Dave and Skip. Hinchenbrook Island is a tropical island in the deep north of Queensland, at the time we visited it was uninhabited except for a small resort on the very north of the island. The island has a bit of a Robinson Caruso feel about it, walking along deserted white sandy beaches with mountains soaring over a kilometre into the tropical sky, palm trees swaying in the breeze, crystal clear waterfalls and the warm tropical waters of the Coral Sea, its hard not to love this walk.  On this walk I was accompanied by Sam and Belinda, as well as my friends Skip and Janty.

The author and his long suffering wife at Magic Saddle, day 3.

First swim of the walk.

Day 1                 Nina Bay                  5 kilometres 

Yeah you read that right, 5 kilometres is all we walked, and even that included an optional side trip up Nina Peak. To start the day though we had a nice cruise out of Cardwell stopping first at the small resort on the north of the island before heading down through the extensive mangroves to drop us off behind Ramsay Bay. After a short board walk, we crossed a couple of dunes and arrived onto the expansive Ramsay Bay, looking north the beach seemed to go on for a long way, we were heading south though and our beach combing would last for less than two kilometres before we had to climb around our first headland. 

Climbing over the first headland wasn't overly taxing however and we soon dropped down to our next beach, Blacksand Beach. As the name implies this beach wasn't the typical white sand beach but it still made a good place for our first swim, with our next destination Nina Peak towering above its a nice spot. Leaving the beach we headed inland again through forest to the small saddle that marks the spot where the side track to Nina Peak heads off from, Sam and Belinda were pretty keen to get down to Nina Bay for a swim so that left Skip, Janty and myself to make the 220 metre climb up the rough track to the summit. For a hill that's only 312 metres above sea level Nina Peak provides a great view with some grandstand views north along Ramsay Bay and Nina Bay below us to the east, by far the most stunning view is behind us though, the massive hulk of Mt Bowen towering above. Skip and I were able to regale Janty with our tales of navigational problems and physical hardship on our walk up there a few years previously, I'm surprised she didn't fall asleep!

Nina Bay from Nina Peak.

Myself, Skip and Janty on Nina Peak.

Back down at the saddle we grabbed our packs and dropped down to the camp at Nina Bay. The campsite is situated behind some swaying palm trees, which themselves are behind a beautiful white sand beach. The camp has a toilet and a rat proof box but apart from those facilities its undeveloped, what the camp does have though is one of the most stunning tropical views you could imagine. We spent the rest of the day swimming and playing beach cricket, before heading to bed early to read as soon as it got dark and the squadrons of mosquitoes arrived.

Looking back to Ramsay Bay.

Mt Bowen.

Banksia Bay and Agnes Island are in the distance, tomorrows destination.

Looking for oysters on the rocks around Nina Bay.

Day 2               Banksia Bay                8 kilometres        13 kilometres total

We awoke to another great day in paradise, after packing up we set of on our days walk which at 8 kilometres didn't look to taxing. Distances on Hinchinbrook can sometimes be a bit misleading however and 8 kilometres can take a bit longer than you think. The Thorsborne Trail is generally pretty unformed so when you leave the beach sections it can get surprisingly rough, our main obstacles today however were the rocky headlands between beaches, which were made a little harder due to us having a high tide in the middle of the morning.

Traversing the rocks at the end of Nina Bay, Nina Peak in the distance.

After rock hoping our way along the aptly named Boulder Bay we crossed another headland and dropped down to Little Ramsay Bay at Warrawilla Creek. There is another camp at Little Ramsay Bay complete with rat proof box and toilet, Warrawilla Creek is the start of the most popular (relatively) route up to Mt Bowen, the hardest day walk that I've ever done. Today though we beach combed our way along the wide beach under the tropical sun, after half an hour or so the easy walking ended again and we had to cross another rocky headland, before climbing onto a ridge. Climbing onto a ridge might sound pretty arduous but in reality it was probably only 50 metres above sea level, so even allowing for the mid day tropical sun it wasn't too bad.

Banksia Bay and Agnes Island are getting closer.

Leaving the main trail on the ridge we dropped down the rough pad to the idyllic Banksia Bay. Banksia Bay is a little bit less developed than the camps on the main trail, basically we just had a flat spot to pitch the tents with no other facilities. But what Banksia Bay does have is a beautiful secluded beach, which provided another great spot for a game of beach cricket as well as plenty of cooling swims. As well as the swimming and the cricket we took the chance to head east around another headland towards Agnes Island, unfortunately the tide was too high to wade across to the small island. Last time we'd been here we had seen sharks in the shallow gutter separating us from the island so I wasn't keen on a neck deep wade, I presume the sharks feed on fish that are funnelled through the small gap between the two islands. After hanging all our food from heavy fishing line to keep it safe from the native White Tailed Rats we were once again into our tents early to avoid the worst of the mosquitoes, spending the evening reading and listening to the sounds of the tropical bush around us. 

Skip above Boulder Bay.

Day 3                     Zoe Bay                    11 kilometres                    24 kilometres total

If there is a better way to start your day than by crawling out of your tent and walking straight into the warm tropical waters of the Coral Sea for a morning skinny dip I don't know what it is. After our refreshing swim we once again packed up and shouldered our packs, we had a bit of a climb initially today, first back onto the ridge and the main Thorsborne Trail and then up to Magic Saddle. The track up to Magic Saddle more or less follows Banksia Creek, unfortunately Banksia Creek was bone dry so we wouldn't be able to rinse off the salt for awhile yet.

Climbing up to Magic Saddle.

Sam and Bel at Magic Saddle, Zoe Bay is behind them another couple of hours walking away.

Zoe Bay from Magic Saddle, in the ye olde days the Thorsborne Trail descended straight down to the beach however some pesky Saltwater Crocodiles mean that now days the track gets to the beach via a wide arc around the flat green swampy section in the middle of the photo.

From Magic Saddle we could see Zoe Bay fairly close at hand, in the ye olde days the track used to drop straight down to the northern end of Zoe Bay and then wade North Zoe Creek onto the beach, however after a few close calls with the local Saltwater Crocodiles parks decided to re route the Thorsborne to cross North Zoe Creek further inland. So while Zoe Bay looks close it would still be two hours before we set foot on the sands of Zoe Bay. The route now skirts around a large swampy area, crossing North Zoe, Fan Palm and Cypress Pine Creek on the way, as well as going through a lot of stunning rainforest. Eventually though we broke out of the forest onto Zoe Bay and into the glare of the early afternoon sun, we were keen to get to the camp and pitch the tents however as Zoe Bay has a hidden jewel.

Zoe Falls comes complete with a rope swing.

Janty and Skip basking on the rocks at Zoe Falls.

Quickly pitching the tents we grabbed some food, our towels and a book and headed off on the short walk up to Zoe Falls, this place is my idea of tropical paradise, an emerald green plunge pool with a multi tiered waterfall cascading down a series of granite bluffs, jungle perch feeding in the crystal clear water and even a rope swing for the truly energetic. So that's how we spent our afternoon, swimming, reading a relaxing while basking like lizards on the rocks around the falls. That night we broke with tradition and stayed out of the tents after sun set, taking the opportunity to go for a night spotlighting walk along Zoe Bay to North Zoe Creek, we were hoping to spotlight some crocs in the creek but unfortunately(?) all we could see was inky black water, what we did see on our spotlighting walk was turtle tracks coming up out of the water so our excursion wasn't all for nothing.

Walking along Zoe Bay on our way to North Zoe Creek on our crocodile spotlighting expedition.

No crocs tonight, but we did see turtle tracks.

Day 4                   Sunken Reef Bay         10 kilometres               34 kilometres total

The mosquitoes at Zoe Bay camp were the most ferocious of the walk so far so we didn't linger over breakfast, packing up quickly we headed back up the track past Zoe Falls, from here the trail climbs to the top of the falls steeply, aided by ropes on one particularly steep section. Arriving on the top of the falls we settled in for an extended break, the top of Zoe Falls is at least as good as the bottom, the pool at the top provides natures perfect plunge pool with Zoe Bay and the Coral Sea stretching out below. South Zoe Creek also provides plenty of other spots to soak in and we spent all morning exploring the different waterholes.

Scrambling around Zoe Falls.

There are a series of these small plunge pools at the top of Zoe Falls.

Eventually it was time to head off towards our nights camp at Sunken Reef, from the top of the falls we climbed along beside South Zoe Creek all the way up to the highest point on the track, although at 220 metres its hardly alpine. There are no views at the high point but a little bit further on the track starts to sidle the slopes above Sweetwater Creek and we got our first view of the massive jetty at Lucinda, the walking along this section is fairly rough but it doesn't last long. Reaching the turn off to Sunken Reef Bay in the late afternoon we dropped down to the deserted bay, the only hurdle being a bit of a swampy section behind the dunes.

South Zoe Creek upstream of Zoe Falls has plenty of great spots for a swim as well.

We've made it to the high point of the Thorsborne Trail.

Our first view of Lucinda in the distance.

Once we left our swimming hole at Zoe Falls it was pretty warm.

Crossing the swamp behind Sunken Reef Bay, what could possibly go wrong?

Sunken Reef Bay like Banksia Bay is undeveloped as far as camp facilities are concerned, with only a flat patch of sand to pitch the tent on and some drift wood to sit on. After another quick swim and a bit of exploring we settled in for for another relaxing night, lulled to sleep by the gentle waves lapping on the shore.

Meal time at Sunken Reef Bay.

Day 5                  Mulligan Falls              2 kilometres                    36 kilometres total

Check out those kilometre stats hey, yeah we really put in today! After a leisurely start we climbed back up to the track junction and the Thorsborne Trail, almost as soon as we resumed our journey south we got to the substantial Diamantina Creek. This crossing can potentially provide a few dramas on the trail as the water cascades over black rocks with about the same amount of grip as ice, today however it was all sweet as we easily made our way across. Once safely across Diamantina Creek we started the descent down to our camp at Mulligan Falls arriving at camp by mid morning, this is hardcore walking Hinchenbrook style!

Filling up our water bottles at Mulligan Falls.

Mulligan Falls, hardcore walking on Hinchenbrook!

Jungle Perch.

Mulligan Falls camp is situated about two minutes from the plunge pool at the base of Mulligan Falls so it made a great place to spend the day. We spent another day swimming and relaxing, it sounds like a bit of a theme developing here, doesn't it? Skip and Janty were catching a late afternoon ferry back to Lucinda this afternoon, so I interrupted my swimming to walk with them out to Mulligan Bay and see them on there way. Returning to the falls I found Sam and Belinda still basking on the rocks by the water, and that is how we spent the rest of the day. Interestingly the water in the plunge pool at Mulligan Falls is quite cool in the morning, but as the tropical sun heats up the huge slabs of granite that the water flows over to get to the pool, by the end of the day the water coming into the plunge pool gets quite warm. This natural thermal heating makes Mulligan Falls a perfect spot for a late night swim before crawling into the tent.

With the tropical sun heating the granite slabs all day, by late afternoon the water cascading into Mulligan Falls is quite warm.

Day 6                     George Point             6 kilometres                    42 kilometres total

Our last full day on the island was another lazy day that involved a lot of swimming and basking on rocks reading. With tonight's camp at George Point having no water and not the most appealing swimming we decided to spend the majority of the day at Mulligan Falls before heading down to George Point just on dusk. 

Catching up on a bit of reading.

Enjoying our last cool swim at Mulligan Falls before leaving for George Point.

We've broken out onto our last beach of the walk, Mulligan Bay, in the late afternoon.

George Point in the distance.

Mulligan Bay in the late afternoon.

We did eventually leave the beautiful Mulligan Falls and made our way through the last section of rainforest for the walk, less than an hour after leaving camp we were on Mulligan Bay. Once on the wide sandy beach we had an easy stroll in the late afternoon down the beach to George Point, the only obstacle being a knee high wade of Mulligan Creek. Arriving at the small camp behind the palm trees at George Point we had just enough time to pitch the tents before the sun went down, after our last dinner on the track we once again headed into the tents early to beat the mosquitoes.

Mt Straloch from Mulligan Creek in the late afternoon.

Mt Diamantina from Mulligan Bay.

The Dirt

We were picked up bright and early next morning by our ferry and started our trip home down the east coast. We walked 42 kilometres on this trip, the Thorsborne Trail is only short and could be completed in a lot less time, the track however is a little rougher than may be expected so the short distances can take a little longer to complete than may be anticipated. If you like deserted tropical beaches, beautiful rainforest waterholes, and a bit of adventurous walking as well then the Thorsborne Trail may be worth considering, I rate it one of the best walks in Australia. There are a couple of negatives to consider though, its not all tropical paradise, the mosquitoes and sandflys can be ferocious, the island is also home to Saltwater Crocodiles, and the tropical sea is home to Box and Irukandji Jellyfish, neither of which will do you much good! I used the notes from John Chapman's Bushwalking in Australia. and that's all you really need to complete the walk, I consider this a medium walk. If want to check out our previous visit here's a link to that post.

Our last night at George Point, we caught the ferry out first thing in the morning.

Bel and Sam doing it hard at Zoe Falls.