Thorsborne Trail - Hinchinbrook Island

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One week before the big trip Jack and I trek across Hinchinbrook Island, one of the most picturesque treks (and longest waiting lists ) in Australia.
We decided to go north to south which we believe was a good choice as the first two days were the most strenuous.

Taking the ferry from Cardwell, we landed deep in the mangroves behind Ramsay Bay. A short boardwalk took us out to the beach which we traversed the length of before entering the forest. The first day took us about 5 hours with a side trip up to Nina peak with fantastic views back across the mangroves.
Continuing on, we climbed through a saddle making our way down to Little Ramsay Bay where we camped that evening.

Day two.... yes, well everyone we talked to who had done Hinchinbrook neglected (deliberately, I think) to tell us about the swamp. Armed with the knowledge that this was our longest day of 7 1/2 hours it started out perfectly, watching the sunrise over the ocean. The day started trekking further up the beach along the cliff and back into the forest crossing some beautiful creeks and when it became to hot, stopping for a quick dip. Lunch was shared with some curious fish and small yabbies who thought our feet were a good source of fresh meat.
After lunch we happily spent the next four hours in a hot, smelly, croc-infested swamp. Our sole intention was keeping our shoes dry so keeping one eye on the track markers, one eye on suspicious looking "logs" and hopping from tree root to tree root proved a challenging afternoon.
That evening we camped at Zoe Falls glad of the chance wash our aches and pains in the beautiful pool below the falls.

Day three started with another amazing sunrise from the top of the falls before continuing a more sedate day of 4 1/2 hours. Passing through another saddle above Sunken Reef Bay gave us some great views of the southern end of Hinchinbrook. We arrived at Mulligan Falls after lunch and spent a relaxing afternoon swimming in the clear pools below the falls .

Day four was a short 2 1/2 hour trek that morning to the ferry, mostly up the long beach toward George Point where the ferry picked us up, weary but happy in our achievement.

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Photos

Banksia Creek Smoko Stop
second day

View of Zoe Bay
This beautiful view masks the swamp inland from the bay that we spent most of the day trudging through.

Comments

[AroundOz]

Hinchinbrook
Perhaps you saw the "I shouldn't be alive TV show last night that talked about the guy who got trapped in a creek under a boulder on Hinchinbrook a year or so ago - yabbies tried to eat his feet!

[Bella]

more stuff, more lists!
Ha Ha love your blog - miss you guys! I see there is yet another tent, and a long list of dates and locations, was that Christine... or Jack? Jack. :-) Hinchenbrook looked beautiful. Guess the wet season came and went then. Have a wonderful time - i will be checking in every now and again to make sure you both get through wolf creek Ok :-) You both prob know all this already... Im heading to Syd (in the red car) after the thesis is due end July (OMG so much more work than I thought)... to live in the bondi flat with bonnie and get some funds together doing a few months of contract work, prob something policy related with the govt - theres heaps of that kinda thing in syd at mo. Also think its fair time to catch up with family and syd friends (and that reunion!). I guess then I plan to travel overseas from Nov-Feb in a very unstructured and wonderfully meaningless way... before maybe canberra? Unless a job or a lovely man in NY pops up, or god who knows :-). Prob see you both for lunch or something when you head through bris in June, if time allows on either side. Christine I suppose I should start looking into a suitable wine list :-) Take care - always turn the gas off B xx