A view of Hinchinbrook Island from the ferry that transported us there:
The ferry ride took us around tropical island and then through increasingly narrow mangrove-lined waterways. It felt like traveling back in time. From where we were dropped off, a few minutes walk along a boardwalk brought us out onto this beach:
Not a bad start at all. In fact, I couldn't wipe the grin from my face.From beach into tropical rainforest, thus finally fulfilling my dream:
We ate lunch on the beach at Nina Bay, under the coconut palms. It had a tuna, avocado and sand wrap, followed by an apple, cinnamon and sand tea.
We ate lunch on the beach at Nina Bay, under the coconut palms. It had a tuna, avocado and sand wrap, followed by an apple, cinnamon and sand tea.
The first challenging part of the walk came after lunch. First of all, we couldn't find the trail off the beach. Part of the reason I'd wanted someone to walk with is that I have a fear of getting lost. Well, it turned out that Luke has an even worse sense of direction than me. Part of the reason it was hard to find is that the route involved scrambling over numerous boulders and up a small cliff. It was hard going, especially with a pack. On the Annapurna Circuit we'd had porters, but this time I was carrying all my own gear, including tent, stove, spare gas and four days worth of food, probably about 14kg in total, which makes balancing and climbing exponentially harder than with a small day pack.
Best wildlife sighting of the trip - this massive (I estimate it was just under a meter long) goanna:
By the time we got to Little Ramsey Bay, where we were to camp for the night, we were shattered. Imagine our delight when we found a Mars bar lying unattended with no sign of humans anywhere in the vicinity and no record of anyone else having stayed there for a couple of nights. An hour later, and fifty-nine minutes too late, its rightful owners returned. Let's just say that they weren't very sporting about it.
We spent the evening wandering around the beach, admiring the mistiness of the lagoon and splendour of Mt Bowen which, at 1121m, dominates the island:
At 7pm, by which time we'd had dinner, the sun had long since set and we'd exhausted our interest in playing word games, we called it a night.
By the time we got to Little Ramsey Bay, where we were to camp for the night, we were shattered. Imagine our delight when we found a Mars bar lying unattended with no sign of humans anywhere in the vicinity and no record of anyone else having stayed there for a couple of nights. An hour later, and fifty-nine minutes too late, its rightful owners returned. Let's just say that they weren't very sporting about it. We spent the evening wandering around the beach, admiring the mistiness of the lagoon and splendour of Mt Bowen which, at 1121m, dominates the island:
At 7pm, by which time we'd had dinner, the sun had long since set and we'd exhausted our interest in playing word games, we called it a night.
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