The Croc Tent is the
northernmost souvenir shop on
the mainland Australia, and they are also a tourist
information centre.
Their souvenirs are unique, especially made for
them, and found nowhere else.
Lockerbie Homestead
Across the road from the Croc Tent is the
old homestead.
It was established by Frank Jardine in 1867.
Around
the homestead, all
kinds of herbs and vegetables were grown in Sana's rock gardens - still
visible.
The
busy couple also grew
coffee, tea, corn, sugar cane and tropical fruit in plantations,
including 20 different kinds of mango trees.
In 1913,
a stockman, Cyril
Holland, also called Ginger Dick, arrived in the area and befriended
Frank, who two years later, when he started to be too old to manage
Lockerbie, offered him to partner in running the station.
After
some years away, while
serving in the First World War in France and marrying Barbara Wilson in
Scotland, Holland returned to Australia, and a few years later obtained
the lease of Lockerbie.
In 1931
he settled in
Lockerbie, with his wife and five children, Tom, Stan, Barbara, Ann and
Richard. They spent 30 years pioneering here, Frank had spent 50.
It is a beautiful
lush
rainforest
with closed canopy
so at times
it
looks as if you were driving through a tunnel.
The ground layer is rather
open compared to many other rainforests,
which is a good thing because it makes it easier to see and explore.
Like Iron Range, it is famous
for its unique
species - that Cape
York shares with Papua New Guinea instead of
the rest of Australia.
It is thanks to the land bridge between the two during the last Ice Age
about 8000 years ago.
It is almost untouched except some minor logging by the Holland family,
and it is unique in being a
semi-deciduous mesophilic
vine forest.
As
opposed to the Wet Tropics rainforests further south (from Daintree to
Paluma), up here there is a longer dry season, the reason why some of
the species have adapted by dropping their leaves to conserve water. Many of the species can be
seen on the Lockerbie Scrub Walk
at Roma Flats, ask the Croc Tent, they even have a species list.
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
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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.