Jumping on board the Oz Tours truck in Cairns it was immediately obvious that our little crew had reduced the average age of the group as we joined an adventurous bunch of ‘grey nomads’ for our northern adventure. The cost of a tour such as this, even in tents is likely to be beyond the majority of backpackers and the remoteness of where we are headed is not everyone’s idea of a holiday (even for 1 or 2 of us….).
As with our recent foray into kayaking, Mother Nature shook things up a bit and decided to break a recently declared drought, resulting in some of the roads and national parks being closed that our truck was due to follow out of Cairns. Once again, Plan B delivered the goods and we were diverted through Mossman Gorge, just north of Cairns and within the Daintree National Park.
Rainforest experience now ticked off (minus cassowaries, again!), we were bound for Cooktown and an education awaited us. Our guides Geoff and Dee are married and deeply passionate about our beautiful country and along the route have shared so much info about the area and its history which includes Captain Cook’s arrival in 1770, a gold rush in the 1870’s that had people flocking to the region from around the world, WW2 involvement and then of course the long and colourful history of the aboriginal communities of the Cape.
Cooktown is a one street country town, permanent population approx. 2000. It’s hot and humid, often rains and has a varied and interesting history. In recent years tourism has been steadily building in the region and has resulted in some good options for coffee, pubs and food and the local council has done an excellent job of laying out the town’s history in plaques, on pavements and story boards up and down the main drag. You just need to be at least 5m from the waters edge as you are taking in all the info, lest a saltwater crocodile be cruising by too closely…..
Leaving Cooktown for the tiny township of Laura (population 100) we travelled through aboriginal Quinkan country and visited a site that is world renowned for artwork that has been protected by overhanging escarpment ledges. Our local guide Roy talked us through the stories that he had learned from his father and the work the community is doing to preserve the site and educate the younger generations to understand their culture. Roy also tried to encourage us to eat green ants which are bush medicine for cold symptoms, however we politely declined!
As for camp life, it is treating us well. So far so good on the weather; our group is a well-travelled bunch of storytellers who have enjoyed having ‘kids’ on tour, and the home cooked food is being served frequently, in large portions and includes dessert every night!
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