Cooktown area

The mountains make such a difference to the climate and vegetation on the east coast of Australia, and the evidence of this was clear as we crossed the range towards Cooktown on the Battlecamp Road. We went from dry savannah to suddenly be in lush tropical green! Our three nights at Endeavour Falls Tourist Park were lovely... even though they were full of work. 

The first job was washing the dirt of The Cape off the car and van with the communal pressure washer - such a luxury!

We didn't really have dust inside the van - apart from what came in the windows when they were open at camps and the wind was blowing, but I had put off washing the screens, windows and curtains before we left because I knew we'd have a month of dirt roads. Two full days of sunny windy days were perfect to get all the washing and cleaning done while Dazz did some uni work.

The one "weak point" for dust is the four seasons hatch, and nothing can be done to stop it, but I have worked out a way to clip an old piece of sheet around the frame to catch the dust that does come in. I was actually surprised at how little dust was caught in the sheet - but it was still better in the sheet than spread through the van!

The Endeavour Falls behind the caravan park.

Once the cleaning, washing and uni work was done it was a nice spot to relax.

One afternoon we drove back up the hill to see Isabella Falls and have a better look at the view from the top of the range. When we were coming down with the van we didn't have a chance to stop.

The Isabella creek crosses the road and there is a small waterfall below.

Our next stop was Cooktown. The view from the lookout was impressive, but very windy.

The Endeavour River

We walked through the botanical gardens, hoping for some birds, but there weren't any. They did have a rather sad looking Cooktown Orchid though.

Finch Bay was just near the gardens and was quite pretty.

The caravan park provided a couple of bird shots.

Large-billed Gerygone

Blue-winged Kookaburra 

On Saturday our plan was to do the northern part of the Bloomfield Track to Cowie Beach (where we went to from Wonga Beach). Our first stop for the day was Keatings Lagoon to see if there were any interesting birds around.

Shining Flycatcher (female)

Green Pygmy Goose

The next stop was Black Mountain.

The road meandered along the side of a number of creeks.

The Bloomfield River and the Bloomfield Falls.

We made it back to Cowie Beach and had a short walk and an ice cream.

Beach Stone-curlews

The Bloomfield Track has some seriously steep sections, but thankfully they are all now concrete. 

A creek crossing on top of the ridge.

And then it went back down the other side!

I wanted to stop at the Bloomfield River on our way back for a photo because I had noticed this pretty spot in the morning. When we pulled over there were some people fishing and they said they had just seen a croc cruising up the river. We got out the binoculars and camera and started scanning and Dazz found another croc on the opposite bank.

The last stop for the day (or so we thought) were the Trevathan Falls. The late afternoon light was perfect.

It took a little longer to get to the falls than I had anticipated, so we were running a bit late as we came into Cooktown. I wondered aloud if we should try to get to the waterfront for the sunset... and so we tried, and only just managed to succeed.