I'd like to wish all my friends and all my blogging friends out there in blogger land a happy and safe New Year. Thank you to all the people that contributed to my amateur efforts, both with comments and emails. All going well sometime in the New Year will find me on a few Feral type adventures, with plans to walk the Kungsleden in Sweden and revisit the Cape to Cape in Western Australia being partially locked in...
I figure that I'd better put up a decent post seeing that it's the first one for 2019. This little retro job featured some of the easiest days walking that I've ever done along with the single toughest day I've ever experienced when Skip and I climbed Mt Bowen as a day walk from Little Ramsey Bay.
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| Ramsey Bay from the climbing ridge for Mt Bowen, this has to be one of the best views in Australia I think....? |
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| Mt Bowen glowing in the early morning light from Banksia Bay. |
Well I’ve raided the Feral Way Back Machine again and it’s spat out these old photos. So figuring that I’d better digitise them before they turn to dust I decided that it was about time I wrote up another Hinchinbrook Island National Park post. Now when I say another I mean it, this’ll be my third post about walking up at Hinchinbrook, you could say that this beautiful island is certainly a Feral favourite. Unfortunately I haven’t been up on Hinchinbrook since Yasi ripped through so all the photos that I’ve posted are of the scanned variety, I don’t really think they do justice to this stunning piece of Australia really.
There is another reason I’m writing up this post, the Queensland Government is looking at opening up the island to developers to build lodges and run commercial trips. Now while I fall into the camp that the more people that can visit and see some of these wild spots sustainably then the more chance we have of saving them, there comes a point when that theory becomes self defeating. This is one of those times I think, by letting commercial operators in and sterilising the Thorsborne Trail with lodges and other infrastructure (and no doubt bridges, steps, track hardening) then you will probably lose what makes the island special in the first place. If you want to know more of about this then check out this link
https://www.mackayconservationgroup.org.au/national_park_commercialisation_plan_outrages_environmentalists Anyway I’d better jump of my Feral soap box before I’ve got any readers left;)
This walk is notable for featuring what was (and probably still is) the hardest days walking that I’ve ever done but also a few of the easiest days I’ve had on an multi day walk in Australia. Thankfully the first day fell into the easy category. I’d talked my old mate Dave into accompanying me on this walk and then at the last minute a work acquatence named Skip said that he’d love to tag along, now I had some reservations about bringing Skip on this walk as I had a fair idea how hard the walk would be and I wasn’t sure how a fairly inexperienced walker would cope. Thankfully Skip came through OK and over the last 15 years we’ve one many more walks together.
Day 1 Ramsey Bay to Nina Bay 4.8 kilometres
Jumping off the ferry in the mangroves behind Ramsay Bay we followed the day trippers out onto the broad expanse of white sand that is Ramsay Bay and turned right. We only had less than a kilometre to walk, blinking in glare of the white sand, before the track markers pointed into the forest above. Climbing inland a bit over a low ridge we once again soon returned to the coast, now on Blacksand Beach. Blacksand Beach had become a traditional Feral swimming spot over the years and today was no different, dropping the packs we enjoyed this beautiful little cove for awhile. The best views here are actually looking inland from the water I think, the aptly named Blacksand Beach being fringed with palm trees with the massive bulk of Mt Bowen towering above. Imagine a tropical paradise and you’re likely to conjure up something like this (although it wouldn’t be two sweaty blokes that I’d be sharing it with if it was a Feral fantasy!).
After drying off after our swim we once again headed inland, the Thorsborne Trail climbing fairly easily up into a slight saddle. Dropping our packs in the saddle we took the short but steep side trip up to Nina Peak, back in the day this steep little side trip was quite eroded and rough but guessing it’s been hardened a bit over the years. At only 312 metres Nina Peak isn’t a giant mountain but it does provide the best views up and down the coast for kilometres. More importantly for us it gave us our first close up look at the cliff lines protecting Mt Bowen, the 1121 metre mountain looking pretty daunting to us. Returning to or packs all that was left on our first hardcore day on Hinchinbrook Island was to drop down to the camping area at Nina Bay. The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming, eating Black Lipped Oysters straight from the rocks, playing a bit of beach cricket on the flat white sandy beach and generally kicking back and doing not much at all.
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| The Palm fringed Nina Bay with Mt Bowen as the back drop. |
Day 2 Nina Bay to Little Ramsey Bay 3 kilometres Total distance 7.8 kilometres
After packing up camp today we headed off on another incredibly short days walking, today we were walking from Nina Bay to the campsite on Warrawilla Creek at Little Ramsey Bay. Whilst we didn’t have too far to go the Thorsborne Trail is a little rough in a couple of spots today, at one stage climbing a small cliff and at other times traversing a rocky ledge above the ocean. As I mentioned the campsite at Little Ramsey Bay is (was?) on Warrawilla Creek, the tent sites being in the trees beside the inlet. The inlet looks like it would provide a perfect spot for a cooling swim and in fact I’ve always swum here on all my visits, but…..this is Saltwater Crocodile country so you need to be a bit careful, whilst the inlet wouldn’t be big enough to be home to a large Saltwater Crocodile on a permanent basis I don’t think, it could still home to one that was out for an excursion up or down the coast. Once again our afternoon today was spent relaxing on the beautiful beach and exploring the rocky headlands.
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Leaving Nina Bay the Thorsborne Trail gets a little rough for awhile. That's Nina Peak behind us.
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Big Dave contemplating the scramble.
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Up here Skip...
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| Tomorrow's objective draped in cloud. |
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Day 3 Little Ramsey Bay to Mt Bowen return 13.5 kilometres Total distance 21.3 kilometres
Skip and I were up at first light this morning, our original plan for this walk was to camp at North Saddle and climb Mt Bowen tomorrow from the lofty saddle, thus making the climb a two day excursion. However Dave had been struggling in the heat and humidity a bit (remember we’d come up straight from the depths of a Victorian winter) and had wisely decided to pull the pin on his attempt on the mountain, so Skip and I had decided to attempt the climb as a day walk. As soon as it was light enough to see this morning we were on our way, with the slowly rising sun lighting up our backs as we rock hopped our way west up the incredibly rocky, but thankfully fairly dry bed of Warrawilla Creek. Warrawilla Creek was going to be our navigational aid all the way up to we reached the ridge line at North Saddle.
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We scrambled and rock hopped our way up Warrawilla Creek.
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The last steep scramble into North Saddle.
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| The view back down towards Little Ramsey Bay from North Saddle. |
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Our our progress up Warrawilla Creek was pretty good, while the black rocks would be as slick as ice when they were wet, this morning everything was good. Now you might imagine following a creek up stream would of made the navigation fairly easy and for the most part it wasn’t too bad, but the creek gets a bit braided as it heads higher up the flanks of the mountain and it was important to pick the correct braid to take, remember this was in the days before GPS so I was working off a map and compass. By mid morning we were high up in the head waters of Warrawilla Creek, house sized boulders and Lawyer Vines now slowing our progress as well, finally we eventually left the creek and with one last gassy scramble we found ourselves in the small North Saddle. This small saddle probably had room for 1 or 2 tents if we had been staying, but it would of made for a rough camp.
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| Misty crags from North Saddle. |
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| Leaving North Saddle the route got even rougher for awhile. |
After a bit of a break at North Saddle we once again set off, initially pushing through more wet rainforest before emerging into dryer more open country as we climbed. With North Saddle being at around 800 metres we still had a fair bit of climbing to go and the ridge was far from straight forward being full of granite bluffs and huge boulders. The views were now making up for the difficult walking though, spread below us we could trace the coastline all the way down towards Mulligan Bay, the views over the crags of North Peak and down to the mangroves behind Ramsay Bay has to be one of the best in Australia I’m thinking. Passing through the 1000metre contour the walking got a little easier and we found ourselves climbing through heathland and Grass Trees that had been burnt in the last few years. It was just after midday when we finally arrived, fairly shattered, at the Mt Bowen summit cairn.
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Looking across the flank of Mt Bowen to The Thumb.
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Little Ramsey Bay from the ridge leading to Mt Bowen.
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Climbing higher we were getting views down to Ramsay Bay now.
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On top of Mt Bowen, I look pretty happy with myself!
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| The view down to Banksia Bay from near the Mt Bowen summit cairn. |
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We didn’t linger too long up on Mt Bowen. After a bite to eat and drink and a couple of celebratory photos we were on our way back down, keen to get as close as possible to Little Ramsey Bay before we lost the light. From what I remember the ridge walk back to North Saddle was the hardest, we seemed to be detouring off the crest a lot more to avoid the rocky obstacles and more than once we had to retrace our steps as we dropped too far to the west and got into some very precipitous country, as we tried to get into North Saddle. Once through the saddle and back into Warrawilla Creek heading downstream the navigation was fairly easy but we still had 800 metres to drop over loose and slippery boulders before we could relax. After almost 12 hours of fairly constant, hard walking we emerged from the rainforest on the sand of Little Ramsay Bay just as the last of the days light was ebbing away to find Dave waiting on the beach for us. With our clothes soaked in sweat and covered in charcoal we waded straight into the ocean, the cool surging water revitalising our tired muscles. I remember that evening as being one of the few times in all my decades of walking that I’d been too tired to even eat much, after a half hearted attempt at dinner I was soon into the tent and drifted off to sleep with the noises of the rainforest all around me.
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| Skip got there too. |
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Banksia Beach
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There were plenty of oysters to help ourselves to.
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| I'm thinking that this is from Banksia Beach. |
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Day 5 Banksia Beach to Zoe Bay 11.5 kilometres Total distance 33.3 kilometres
Waking up today we actually had a fair days walking in front of us. Leaving Banksia Beach we climbed up onto the ridge where we’d left the Thorsborne Trail yesterday and set off for Zoe Bay. After climbing for a bit we passed over a low saddle and suddenly Zoe Bay was spread out before us, now back in the day the track use to drop straight down cross North Zoe Creek and hit the beach, however with North Zoe Creek reputably being home to Saltwater Crocodiles it was decided that having walkers wade the deep creek probably wasn’t ideal, so the track was re-routed inland. So now instead of heading towards the coast we made our way inland and skirted a large swamp.
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| Hot and sweaty walking.... |
This section of the Thorsborne Trail probably features the most sustained rainforest walking of the whole track as for the next 6.5 kilometres, apart from a couple short sections of Paperbarks, it’s all Lawyer Vines and rainforest. The good news today was that the swamp was fairly dry, the first time I’d come through here with Sam the water had been over knee deep in spots, the other good news is that there are a couple of swimming holes just off the main track, although heed the Saltwater Crocodile Warning signs and give swimming in North Zoe Creek a big miss. Eventually we emerged out of the rainforest onto the sand of Zoe Bay blinking in the bright light, our camp tonight was near where South Zoe Creek enters the bay a few hundred metres or so to the south. As I’ve mentioned we’d been doing a fair bit of swimming on this walk but unfortunately Zoe Bay isn’t really suitable for swimming as the creeks at both ends of the beach could be home to crocs, the good news is that there is a stunning fresh water swimming hole a few hundred metres up the track at Zoe Falls, no prizes for guessing where we spent our afternoon!
Day 6 Zoe Bay to Sunken Reef Bay 8.2 kilometres Total distance 41.4 kilometres
Leaving Zoe bay this morning we were heading for another remote beach just off the Thorsborne Trail, this time it was Sunken Reef Bay. We had a cunning plan though today, with Sunken Reef Bay not featuring a lot in the way of fresh water we decided to follow the track up to the top of Zoe Falls and then spend a few hours testing out some of the different infinity pools that nature has provided up there. By the time we eventually left the top of Zoe Falls it was well after midday, the track now following the creek for awhile as it headed towards a saddle, at 260 metres I think this saddle is actually the highest spot on the Thorsborne Trail and it’s around here that we got our first glimpses of the massive jetty at Lucinda spearing out to sea.
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We spent half the day kicking back enjoying the various natural infinity pools at the top of Zoe Falls.
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Choices....
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The Thorsborne Trail now drops Sweetwater Creek, this bit of dry creek bed walking made for surprisingly rough walking but it wasn’t too long before we arrived at the side track that would drop us down to Sunken Reef Bay. It’s around a kilometre down to Sunken Reef Bay from the main trail and it involves a decent drop, so by the time we arrived at the deserted bay we were once again ready for a swim. Like Banksia Bay, Sunken Reef Bay isn’t as developed as the main campsites on the Thorsborne Trail but what it loses in infrastructure it makes up for with seclusion I think. Pitching our tents in the low dunes we even had the use of some old drift wood for camp furniture, things could of definitely been worse.
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| Mulligan Falls plunge pool. |
Day 8 Mulligans Falls to George Point 6.5 kilometres Total distance 50.4 kilometres
Our last day on the island was once again a pretty easy one. After one last swim in the Mulligan Falls plunge pool we set off towards Mulligan Bay, the section of the Thorsborne Trail between the waterfall and the beach being a 2 kilometre rainforest walk again. Apart from the sounds of the waves lapping gently onto the sand the other give away that we were about to emerge out of the forest was the pig rooted ground, the feral pigs seem to like ocean views like us. Once we arrived at the beach it was just a matter of turning right and heading up the hard sand until we arrived at the spot that the boat would pick us up at George Point. This section of the trail is best walked at low to middling tides as there is a creek crossing about half way down the beach which drains some fairly swampy land behind the beach, at low tide it’s around knee deep but I wouldn’t be keen on it up around my neck at high tide. Once we arrived at George Point today there was just time for a couple of happy snaps before we were being whisked away across the water to Lucinda and our jarring introduction back into polite society.
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There are (was) quite a few feral pigs on the island.
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| We've made it to George Point, my shirt was being held together with gaffer tape! |
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The Dirt.
We walked around 50 kilometres and climbed 2000 metres on this extreme grade walk. Now I’ve dusted off the Feral extreme rating but really it’s only extreme on one day out of the seven. The Thorsborne Trail section of the walk makes for pretty easy, if not a little rough walking. The Mt Bowen climb though was super tough, there are no tracks, signposts or track markers to help navigate through what is a tropical jungle. The best you can hope for is the occasional cairn or an intermittent faint pad up on the tops. We were both a lot younger when we did this walk and we walked solidly from sun up to sun down with minimal stops and even then we only just got down before dark, I think if I ever re-visit Mt Bowen I’ll go for the option of the rough camp at North Saddle to give myself more time to soak it all in. Like I mentioned earlier in this massive post, it’s been awhile since I’ve been up on Hinchinbrook Island, back when we did this walk there were no rat proof boxes at either Banksia Bay or Sunken Reef Bay so any food needed to be hung up to prevent the cunning White Tailed Rats feasting on it. Quite a lot of people have written about the Thorsborne Trail section of the walk including Tyrone Thomas and the Chapmans. Information for the Mt Bowen climb is a little harder to come by, Tyrone Thomas has notes in his old, out of print, North Queensland book and Robert Rankin has some information in some of his coffee table books but most information is pretty perfunctory, that said this isn’t a walk to attempt if your not comfortable walking and navigating in extremely rough ground and the notes are adequate enough if you have those skills I think. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, you have to be prepared to jump through quite a few hoops with the Queensland National Parks people to even get a permit to climb this mountain, back when we did it they only let two or three parties a month attempt the climb.
Relevant Posts.
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| Hinchinbrook sunset. |
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