After my time in Mt Isa, I met Will at the Townsville airport. We picked up our hire car and started the trip North to take us as far as Cooktown. On the way, we passed farms of sugar canes lining the roads and a long thick snake, dead and sprawled across the road. We stopped in Tully, famous for its banana farms and labour from backpackers eagerly working off their farm hours on their working holiday visas. We had ventured as far north as crocodile territory, with even the local pie shops selling juicy crocodile meat pies to its customers.
After three hours, we arrived at Mission Beach, where we would be staying for a couple of nights. This 14km inviting stretch of pristine white sand is also shared by crocodiles, known as (saltys) by the locals who swim up and down the coastline looking for prey. The other famous animal living in the area is the cassowary bird. There are only 4000 left of these birds in the wild, which makes them endangered. The locals are very protective of the wildlife, and reminder signs are every few metres to be wary and watch out for cassowarys strolling
We woke up early, determined to spot a cassowary roaming in the wild. We visited all the known spots, randomly including the Mitre 10 store and the local rubbish tip! With no luck, we stopped for a coffee at the three Tonys in Mission Beach. We drove up to the small town of Bingil, keeping our eyes peeled, and hiked up Bicton Hill. The weather was humid and sticky, and the ground was slippery from the rain, but it stayed dry, and we got some great views overlooking Dunk island. On the way, we passed warning signs to be wary of dangerous stinging plants. Aboriginal people call this plant ‘Gympie Gympie, which means and, if into contact with your skin, it causes an intense stinging sensation that can last for several weeks. We stopped at the quirky Bingil cafe for a mango smoothie before attempting the dreaming trail. We didnt last long before we were swarmed with mosquitos and still no sign of a cassowary, so we decided to call it a day. THEN, we had a very unexpected trip to Woolworths. A juvenile Cassowary strolled out and
across the car park right in front of us! Our enthusiasm for nature took over, and we dumped our shopping and started following the metre high bird from a distance. The cassowary appeared confused and crossed the main road trying to get back into the bushlands safety. Cars were pulling over to look at this rare sighting, and we continued to follow on foot onto the roundabout in the middle of the main road! At one point, we excitedly got a bit close, and the bird turned back to face us and start walking back towards us. They can be fast and dangerous with vicious claws and have been known to kill a human before. Quickly retreating, we continued to watch from a distance until the cassowary had safely navigated away from the road and back into the bush.
Leaving Mission Beach, we headed north towards Cairns. There were old looking train tracks around the sugar and banana plantations, but it wasnt clear if these railway lines are still used as we didnt see any trains. We stopped at the Josephine Falls, which was fast flowing from the recent rains. A local told us this was usually a great
place to swim, but with the water moving so fast and unpredictable, it was too dangerous. We had a quick stop in the Babinda cafe and waiting for the downpour to pass before we continued onto Cairns.
It was another drive north from Cairns to Cooktown in the top of Far North Queensland. We passed only a handful of cars on the windy roads up and down the mountain range. We stopped in Mareeba and tasted some local black mountain coffee at the coffee works display room. The rest of the way was spent listening to podcasts and enjoying the scenery with no mobile signal access. We saw birds of prey, camels, horses, cows. Unfortunately, we drove over a snake basking on the road, possibly a tree snake but maybe also a taipan.
