Cape
York peninsula is full of things to see and do.
It is mostly known for its fun
four wheel drives
and the northernmost point of the mainland Australia, but there is
more.
There are some great national parks, interesting towns, cooling swimming holes and
waterfalls, famous Aboriginal art, the multicultural Torres Strait
Islands, and some birds
and animals found nowhere else than here and Papua New
Guinea.
In the end of the page
are the most popular activities,
and
things that can be dangerous.
Cape
York
Towns
The only real Cape York towns are Weipa
and Cooktown.
Others are
just small townships such as Bamaga, Seisia, Coen, Laura and Lakeland.
Just south of the peninsula are Cairns, Mareeba, Mossman and Port
Douglas.
Cape
York
Attractions
The best attractions are its waterfalls, the Old Telegraph Track and
the northernmost point of
Australia.
But there are also some unique
animals and some
excellent
Aboriginal Art; and off the Tip
are Torres Strait Islands.
National
Parks
There
are also some great national parks. Daintree and Iron
Range
have tropical rainforest; Mungkan Kaanju and Lakefield protect dry open woodlands,
Cape Melville is coastal and great for fishing, Mt Cook and Cedar Bay
for serious bushwalking.
Activities
There
is so much to do if you like spending time outdoors and in the
nature. There is some great camping, fishing,
bushwalking, four wheel
driving. Off the coast is the Great Barrier Reef with some
excellent
snorkelling and diving.
Dangerous
Things
There
are also some dangerous
animals
on the peninsula, some snakes and spiders;
and there are crocodiles
in the rivers and jellyfish on the ocean beaches.
Other
things
that can be dangerous
include tropical cyclones,
bushfires, and remoteness.
Cape
York Attractions
So what
are the top Cape York attractions?
For most
people, the single
best one probably is to stand on the
northernmost point of
mainland Australia.
For many other people, it is
the fun four
wheel drive along the Old
Telegraph Track.
But
there are also the magnificent waterfalls, some great history, and some
of
the best
Aboriginal
rock art in Australia. And there
are
two more attractions. Nowhere else in Australia can you
experience the
Torres Strait Islander
culture, or discover Cape York's unique mix of Australian
and
Papua New Guinean animals.
Cooktown
does not only have some of the greatest history in Cape York, but in
the whole Australia. This
is where James Cook and his crew had their longest stop in Australia,
collecting the first
plants and
spotting the first kangaroo.
Laura
Aboriginal Art
The
Quinkan Aboriginal Art around Laura
is some of the best
Aboriginal art in Australia
and easily rivals the more famous sites like Kakadu and Carnarvon
Gorge
National Park.
The
Old Telegraph Track
The
Old Telegraph Track
is
supposedly the only one of its kind left in the
world. It's rough, has many creek
crossings, and is
definitely one
of the absolutely best of all Cape York attractions.
Waterfalls
In
the middle of the Old Telegraph Track - about half way up - are Fruit
Bat Falls, Eliot
Falls and Twin
Falls - so beautiful and such a great
cool break from hot dusty roads.
The
Northernmost Point of Cape York
The
tip of Australia
is the main goal of most Cape York travellers. It is a beautiful
place surrounded by emerald blue waters, but what most people want is
of course a photo with
the famous sign :-)
Torres
Strait Islands
Just off the coast of the northernmost point of mainland Australia are
Torres Strait Islands
-
not only naturally beautiful, but also a great place
to experience Torres
Strait Islanders culture.
Unique
Wildlife
And finally - thanks to the past land bridges between Cape York and
Papua New Guinea, we have some species
of birds and animals that are found nowhere
else but in Papua New Guinea and Cape York.
Queensland
Beaches
Many
Queensland beaches are known for their "uselessness".
As
opposed to the southern
beaches, we have "no good waves", we cannot go to the water because of
jellyfish and crocodiles, and
some of our good cities have muddy mangrove beaches instead of
golden sandy ones.
And like
other Australian
beaches, on top of that our sun is dangerously strong, and we
have lots of different dangerous marine creatures, including quite
frequent shark
attacks.
For
swimming we really prefer to use swimming pools, so what's the use
of all those beautiful Queensland beaches... well, we
locals
mainly use them for fishing
or
having a
picnic with views, or going for a walk or a jog. Many travellers
go swimming, but there are a few things to bear in mind.
1.
No Good Waves
Well this is probably a good thing unless you are really into surfing.
And it's not like we have no waves - but yes they tend to be bigger
down south, and the most known reason for it is that our Great
Barrier Reef is known to act as a barrier for waves.
2.
Muddy Beaches
It's not like all
our beaches
are muddy. But it so happens that in some
places, a good example is Cairns,
the
main beach is partly muddy. It's
just the nature of many beaches here, and that may be why we have so
many different species of mangroves.
3.
Crocodiles
Northern Australia, including Queensland, is home for two species of
Australian crocodiles.
Only the
larger Australian
Saltwater Crocodile is found in marine waters, but it is also
the
deadly species, and yes it can be found on all northern Queensland
beaches.
4.
Jellyfish
There are many different species of jellyfish
in Australia, but two dangerous
jellyfish
are found up here, mainly during the Wet Season. During that season, on
more popular beaches, there are stinger nets. If you do get stung there
are bottles of vinegar on north Queensland beaches to pour on the
wounds. And
as
always, you should try to swim between the flags - these areas are
watched by life savers.
5.
Sharks
and Other Dangerous Creatures
We
don't have the great white shark that causes most of the attacks in
the southern parts of Australia. So in that way we are lucky when it
comes to
sharks.
But we still have bull and tiger shark - two killer
sharks
that have
taken
people.
Australian Beaches - Including
Queensland
On top of
all of the above, (I have got used to, and stopped pointing out..), but
my friends in Europe
always comment on how empty are Australian beaches.
Well, in Australia we
don't sunbake ouselves on the beaches. The sun is strong
enough that we get the little tan we need just by being out anywhere.
On the beaches, we rather
keep to the shade,
not only because the sun is known to be strong enough to cause a lot of
skin cancer, but also because being in the sun is too hot to be
comfortable.
Get
this 50 pages
guide totally for FREE.
It
contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip.
You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you
should take, how to get
there and get
around, where
to stay (general info), what
will it cost..
and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.
This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact
detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
gear by my vehicle-recovery-guy partner).
Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)
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This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.