Queensland’s far northern region is home to coral-fringed coasts, tough outback life, and vast expanses. Once feared by explorers, this massive land is now accessible and welcoming.
On 17 June 1770, Captain James Cook, his crew, and their bedraggled boat arrived at the mouth of the Waalumbaal River in search of refuge. Cook, after mapping the eastern coast of Australia’s southern continent and finding the legendary southern continent, collided with the Great Barrier Reef, a maze of coral reefs that he named. The HMS Endeavour was now sagging, with its hull on one side ripped and filled with water. It could only be kept afloat by gluing down the leak using wool and dung.
The horizon was filled with mangroves and swamps, eucalyptus forests, and salt marshes. Saltwater crocodiles patrolled the river. Cook found refuge in this river after a series of frightening days at sea.
Alberta Hornsby, almost 250 years after the event, stands on a high knoll called Grassy Top. She traces with her finger the curve of the river in the distance. She says, with her hair whipped in the wind, ‘They brought the ship here and stopped at the harbor to make repairs.
Alberta is a historian whose ancestors once lived in the Bulgunwarra tribal lands to the west of here. They were sheltered from the harsh elements by the Dickson Ranges and Henderson Ranges. She says, ‘This country is Guugu Yimithirr’. It was a meeting place where 32 clans would meet to give birth, arrange marriages, and settle disputes. It was a zone of neutrality where no intentional bloodshed could occur.
She explains that it was here where the ‘first meaningful contacts’ between Europeans and Australia’s Indigenous people took place. The Aboriginal men told them to remove their clothes so that they could inspect the white men from all angles. The pigs and the chickens on board were something they had never seen before. Cook’s crew was also curious about the local plants and the strange burrowing and hopping animals. ‘Kangaroo,’ as it is called in Guugu Yimithirr, means kangaroo. Cook’s crew set fire to hills in the area to cleanse the air of bad spirits 48 days after their arrival.
Cooktown is a small town with 2,400 residents, a picturesque quay, and a quiet main street. It also has six monuments dedicated to its English namesake. The northernmost city in Australia, located in the middle of Far North Queensland, is a lonely outpost for civilization. The wilderness continues to stretch north, with little interruption, until the steepled tip of the Australian continent. To the south, a vast expanse of rainforest stretches over 200 miles until Cairns. This is where many visitors who are heading north end their journeys.
Cook’s first expedition into the Waalumbaal continued to be an important meeting place for cultures. Indigenous tribes met with Chinese gold-seekers, European missionaries, and farmers. It has been a long-held reputation for being the Australian Wild West. A remote getaway from the rest of the world where nature is ever-present and independence is valued, the region is a place of dangers, isolation, and isolation. As we wait in line for beef pies, a man tells us that traditionally, people would come to this part of the world if they were running from the law. He adds: ‘Or running from a lady.’
The road to the south is lined with pink-topped grasses. Soon, it turns from tarmac to packed dirt. The route passes through red soil scrubs, with black granite boulders the size of caravans lining each horizon. The Black Mountains rise as towering piles before becoming sparse and then disappearing beneath a green fringe.
The discovery of copper, tin, and gold in the 1870s brought prospectors from all over the world to this scrappy patch of pastoral land. Cooktown was the second-most populous city in Queensland by the end of the 19th century.
The Lion’s Den Hotel is located just south of the zigzag curve in the Annan River, where fortunes used to be made from creek beds. The Lion’s Den Hotel was the watering hole for tin miners from 1875 to the end of the 20th century. It still stands today, shaded by 100-year-old mango trees by the roadside.
The shack is little more than a wooden shack with a corrugated roof that’s rusted. The inside is filled with a variety of items, including dusty shells from turtles and cow horns, as well as donated brassieres. The walls are covered with messages from visitors. This tradition dates back to the days of the ‘tin scratchers,’ who used to add up the bar tabs. Local legend has it that anything can happen here, from epic bar brawls to week-long drinking sessions, and patrons may even be joined by roaming cattle. On the wall, a photo shows a pub-goer wearing a vest and a giant snake that is as long as the bar.
Locals still chat at the same bar in the nasal, laid-back drawl that is typical of the area. It sounds similar to the caws from the trees in the surrounding areas. Jack Ryle is one of them, a 71-year-old man with a rusty laugh and a beer stubby.’ Jack Ryle has been a regular in ‘The Den” since moving to this area 38 years ago. He knows all of the old stories.
Jack says, ‘Tin Scratchers worked hard and played hard.’ They would drink neat spirit and home-brewed fuel rockets, so it was a rough place. Back then, not many parents would have brought their children here – it was a different time.
Jack enjoys the laid-back lifestyle and hardy people of this region, which he calls ‘the largest unfenced asylum in the world.’ He says as he takes a sip of his beer, ‘It is so laid-back.’ No one is worried. It’s funny from going to Whoa. You never see a political figure here.
The trees, which had been forming a dense mass along the roadside, now reach up to the sky, creating a lush tunnel. The Bloomfield Track dirt road winds up steep hillsides, down steep gullies, and through an endless thicket of palm fronds, vines, and eucalyptus trees straining to reach the shade of the canopy. The buzzsaw chorus of insects, birdsong, and low-throated amphibian croaks fills the air.
The Daintree is the oldest rainforest in the world. Endemisms, like the pink-budding Ribbonwoods that peek through the foliage, date back 180 million years before Australia broke away from Gondwanaland. The creatures that are seen in snatches, like the cassowary with its shark-fin crest and predator-like gait, look prehistoric. Or the brush turkey with its yellow wattle and bald head, which swings when he runs. Even in the clearest patches, visibility is limited to a few feet. The forest surrounding us is nearly impenetrable.
The Daintree River curves and forks across the expanse, its banks dotted with fat brown crocodiles basking in the sun. The Daintree River curves and forks, with its banks littered with brown crocodiles basking under the sun.
Michael says that the forest is made up of trees and plants. But it also functions as an ecosystem. ‘During the cyclone seasons, the roots intertwine with each other like they are holding hands so that they can stand firm against the wind.’
A golden sand ribbon marks the forest’s edge and then the clear blue of the Pacific. The coral islands of the Great Barrier Reef can be seen just beneath the surface of the water. They stretch far into the distance, like the bones of an ancient continent. Cape Tribulation is a foliage-fringed, jutting beach that curves along the coast. Captain Cook named it as a mark of disfavor because this was the spot where Endeavour collided first with the reef. Cook wrote, “Here began all our problems” in his captain log.
Michael lands the helicopter, and the landscape begins to thin. There are open paddocks with grass and fields of sugarcane ready for harvest. Their white feathered tops are grabbing at the wind.
The land is a mix of tropical wetlands, wooded savannahs, and open woodlands, with creeks that run through them. Wetherby Station is a weatherboard farmhouse with a large, wraparound veranda.
John Colless, the current owner, is hand-feeding a herd of prize calves in an adjacent field. The calves jostle around him, and their pelts glow dark amber under the afternoon sun. He explains that these cows are ‘Brangus,’ a cross between a Brahman Angus and an Aberdeen Angus, bred for the harsh weather conditions of the far north.
John says, from the brim of his Akubra bush hat, that the English cattle breeds like Hereford and shorthorn couldn’t handle the heat or rain. The stocks were decimated. These, however, are resistant to ticks and tolerant of heat. They thrive in this climate.
The farm is spread over 4,000 acres, and it’s home to many native animals. Kangaroos munch on the grasses while white-spotted quolls, bandicoots, and a variety of other creatures scamper through the undergrowth. John points to a creek, where solitary platypuses emerge in the dusk. He also gestures towards the source of mocking laughs ringing through the air: a tiny bright-eyed Kookaburra.
Wetherby Station, established in 1878, was originally a sugarcane plantation. Large tracts of virgin forests were cleared for crops. John and Kathy have worked to restore the farm to its natural state since taking it over ten years back. They’ve planted swathes of native trees, from eucalypts to fuzzy-flowered bottlebrush plants to lofty Leichardt Pines.
The station used to be a stopover for prospectors and miners heading towards the gold fields. The only way to get here was to drive buggies on the Bump track, a perpendicular dirt path known for its teeth-rattling jolts. But the track is based on a traditional Indigenous walking trail used by the Kuku Yalanji to cross their territory between the mountains and the sea.
Juan Walker, near the end of the ancient trail at Cooya Beach, squelches his feet as he carefully treads through the mangroves. He lifts his knees high to avoid tripping over the roots. He looks at his legs, which are covered in grey mud. He says, ‘Imagine it as a cheap pedicure.
Juan spent much of his childhood with his grandparents, exploring the beach and learning about their Kuku Yalanji cultural heritage. Juan says, ‘They were old-fashioned.’ They taught us to hunt and how to make boomerangs and spears. ‘We’re lucky to have survived with the knowledge.
Indigenous people in Queensland were forced to leave their land by the end of the 19th century. They were also forced into Christian missionaries and prohibited from practicing their culture. Juan says that Aboriginal people were treated as animals until 1967.
Cooya Beach is ahead, a golden curve of sand flanked by a dense tangle of mangroves and hibiscus. The tide is out far in the distance. Broad flats are revealed, with divots made by stingrays as they sucked up sea worms on the ocean floor. Juan says, “We don’t have ownership of this place.” “We are its owners.” He pats on the sand. ‘That’s country. We are responsible for it, and we must take care of it to allow our spirit to rest.
The stretch of land ahead appears lifeless at first. Still, Juan points to creatures that are hidden from view: a tiny angelfish that is almost undetectable as a floating leaf or a blue swimmer crab half-buried, only visible by its little claws. Juan declares, ‘There is life everywhere.’ You have to know where to search.
The man heads to the horizon, hoping to catch a crab or stingray for dinner. Soon, he is a silhouette against the silvery water with a bamboo spear on his shoulder. This scene is one that’s been repeated by local hunters for generations before an English captain spotted these shores.
Traveling in Northern Queensland
This itinerary takes you between Cooktown, in the north, and Cairns, in the south. Cairns is the main entry to northern Queensland, with flights to major Australian cities, Singapore, and Japan. Hinterland Aviation offers flights between Cairns, Cooktown, and Singapore. You’ll need to have a car in order to get around the northern Queensland region, and a 4WD is required for the Bloomfield Track.
Visit Northern Queensland
It is best to visit during the winter in the Southern Hemisphere. In the tropical north of the country, the dry season lasts from July through August. Visitors can enjoy warm sunny days with temperatures around 26 degrees C. Travel conditions are best at the end of March after the rainy season has ended.
Explore the Great Barrier Reef
There are several ways to explore the colorful depths of Australia’s World Heritage reef, which stretches 1,400 miles along the Queensland coastline. To experience a close-up encounter, depart from Port Douglas, an hour north of Cairns. Scuba dive or snorkel the Agincourt Reef. The ‘underwater walking’ is a great option for non-swimmers. They can wear a diving helmet that looks like a fishbowl and take in the coral from all angles. Whitsunday Island, south of Cairns, is scattered along the coast and near the reef. It’s best explored on a sailing trip, which stops at remote locations for snorkeling or diving. Whitehaven Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, with its fine, white sand.
Protect the reef
Climate change and rising sea temperatures are having an increasingly damaging effect on the Great Barrier Reef. By booking eco-certified tours, visitors can support conservation efforts and help to preserve the Great Barrier Reef. You can also help local marine scientists with Research. With Research, snorkelers, divers, and “reef-walkers” can take notes and photos and then share them with scientists through an online hub. The results help scientists gain a better understanding of the Great Barrier Reef.
Plan your route
1. Start your journey from Cairns and drive four hours north along State Route 81 until you reach Cooktown. On a 2-hour dinghy trip, you can explore the Endeavour River’s mangrove-lined bends and look for saltwater crocodiles at the water’s surface. Enjoy a seafood lunch at 1770 Restaurant, including a prawn bucket that you can peel yourself. Then, head to Cooktown Botanic Gardens for a stroll among native plants.
2. You can drive about 20 miles south to the legendary Lion’s Den Hotel. Enjoy a local beer, such as Castlemaine XXXX or Great Northern. Continue to Bloomfield, where the locals of the Wujal Wujal Indigenous Community offer tours that take you to the thundering Bloomfield Falls. From here, the Bloomfield Track winds through the Daintree Rainforest to Cape Tribulation. The Ferntree Rainforest Lodge is a collection of cozy cabins deep in the forest.
3. Take a bird’s-eye view from Port Douglas, on the southernmost tip of the rainforest. See where the oldest rainforest in the world meets the Great Barrier Reef. Head to the Silky Oaks Lodge. This luxury eco-lodge is located in the rainforest near Mossman. It has tree-house cabins that are self-contained, with large balconies and floor-to-ceiling windows. Explore the nearby walking trails or relax and listen to the Mossman River and local birdlife.
4. Visit Mossman Gorge to learn about the forest culture of the Kuku Yalanji Indigenous people. It is located upstream from Silky Oaks Lodge. Then, it’s a 10-minute drive to Cooya Beach, where you can take part in an adventure. Juan Walker tells his story and shows the traditional hunting techniques of his ancestors. Then, he serves a seafood and crab campfire meal.
5. Kuranda, a small mountain village, is an hour south of Brisbane. It’s the starting point of a historical railway that winds through the hills of forested forests on tracks that were carved by the early European settlers. On the two-hour drive to Cairns – the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef – you can enjoy views of the Barron Gorge National Park and its waterfalls.
