Lockerbie
It is on the road junction where you can turn left to Punsand Bay, or right to the Tip of Australia.
There is the old homestead, the Croc Tent, and north of here is the Lockerbie Scrub rainforest.
Croc Tent
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.
Back Tracks around Lockerbie
There is a track to Cody Hill,
... there is a track west to the
mouth of
Larradinya Creek,
... great for photographing and fishing,
...
and there are tracks to the
east including an abandoned homestead.
All are explained in the Destination
Guide.
Lockerbie
Scrub
North of
Lockerbie is the Lockerbie
Scrub - the northernmost rainforest in
mainland Australia. 
You drive through it on your way to the northernmost point of mainland Australia.
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.
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This site uses British English, which is the English we use in Australia.
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