It is
the first community where
you arrive after you enter the Northern
Peninsula Area,
... after you passed the turnoffs
to Mutee Head, Ussher
Point and Sadd Point.
If
you turn right in the main intersection, you come to Bamaga
and Seisia.
If you
turn
into the community, you come to a church,
and later
to
a
beach park,a boat
rampand a beautiful
beach.
To the traveller, it looks
like any one of the
small communities but in fact it's
the oldest one.
It was
here, at the mouth of
Cowal Creek, as the five
semi-nomadic tribes - Atambaya,
Anggamuthi,
Yadaigana, Gudang and Wuthathi - finally settled after being
brought together after years of fights.
After a cyclone in 1956 they
moved
a bit inland from the creek mouth, where Injinoo is today, and in 1988 the
name was changed from Cowal Creek to Injinoo.
It was the first permanent
settlement in the NPA, and still the only one during the
WWII.
Only in
the mid 1900s the other communities were established, after Saibai
islanders decided to move to mainland, and a little later some people
removals from Mapoon and other communities.
As you
can see from the
existance of a church, the community also became an Anglican
mission.
Today it is home for
about 500 people, more than 95% of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander background.
Languages spoken at home include Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kalaw Kawaw Ya, Hiri Motu, Yumplatok, Kriol and English.
The best thing for us travellers is the cheap fuel station, open 24
hours (with an automatic machine that works with bank cards), plus a
beautifully painted building in the indigenous style :-)
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 ;-)
If
you liked the books or
this website, let others know about it!
Link to it from your website, your blog, your forum post... Share it on Facebook, Tweet
about it...
Every link helps other travellers!
Thank you for doing the
right thing and letting others know :-)
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.