To Cooktown and Back

After a night's stay at The Rocks in Sydney (although I wish I could have had much longer...) I made my way up to beautiful Port Douglas on the eastern coast of Northern Queensland. My next stop was Cooktown- the northernmost city on the east coast- to meet with a group of marine conservationalists. So I rented a car in Port Douglas and started on my journey across the Cape York Peninsula. The first 20 or so miles were on winding roads through lush mountains, which quickly turned to a straight-away two lane road through a very dry, tropical savanna. The dirt was a deep red and the grasslands looked nearly dead, they were so dry. Cruising at about 130 (km per hour, of course) I drove the nearly 300 kilometers north, stopping periodically for pictures and cattle blocking the roadway. With no radio, no cell phone service and only a handful of other cars on the road, I took the time to let it sink in that I was really in Australia. From bush fires to kangaroos and wild horses, I passed it all on Route 81. Even got stopped by one of the infamous road trains, which are semi trucks that can be up to 50 meters long. Although the one in front of me was only about 20 meters long, it was still a trouble to pass.

On the way up, I stopped at a small peninsula known as Archer's Point to do a beach survey. I'd heard it was a "hotspot" for rubbish and quickly found that to be the case. After about 2 and a half hours of cleaning only 200 ft of beach, I picked up nearly 800 pieces of trash, weighing over 10 pounds. Finding anything from plastic chess pieces to flip flops and insecticide cans in every language from English to Spanish to Japanese, I found that most of the debris was plastic and a significant amount was from Papua New Guinea. The sun was setting as I packed up all of my gear and as I ascended the bluff up to my car, I noticed a crocodile lingering in the mangroves. I cringed thinking about how long it had been there..

It was dark by the time I arrived in Cooktown, but it was certainly not hard to find my way around. The town had one main road which deadended into the harbor. The only building showing any sign of occupancy was the local pub, and I'm pretty sure the whole town was there. It doubled as a hotel, so I was able to book a room and buy a beer all on the same tab. After a bit of chit chat and a game of pool, I was off to bed to get up for the workshop in the morning.

Speaking with marine biologists and conservationists from all over Australia and New Zealand, I was a bit shocked by what I was repeatedly told. And I think Queensland's "King of Rubbish" said it best: "the Australian governments don't give a toss about the environment." I heard story after story about devastating environmental issues that the government refuses to get involved with.

Well I just returned from a very packed pub here in Port Douglas to watch the State of Origin Rugby match- the biggest game of the year between Queensland and New South Whales. (Queensland won for anyone interested..) But I have an early morning of diving on the Great Barrier, so I'm off to bed!

Cattle along the roadway
View from Archer's Point where I did my clean up

Black Mountain National Park- basically mountain-size piles of big black boulders

Kangaroo Crossing

Bush fires on Route 81