Seisia
is a small islander community in northern Cape York.
It is the smaller one of NPA's two Saibai
islander communities -the other one is Bamaga.
It is a beautiful place, north
of Jardine River, in the Northern
Peninsula Area.
There are other pretty places up
here, but with its white-sand
beaches and emerald
blue
waters, Seisia is one of the better ones.
It
is a friendly community,
which, in fact,
by now is quite
multicultural.
Beautiful
Beaches
There
are beautiful beaches in the community, with white sands, and
surrounded by bright blue waters, which make the place
so
colourful.
Like all the
other beaches here, they are not for swimming,
but they make excellent photos, including those of sunsets.
Busy Wharf
If
there is a hub in the community, it is the wharf. There is
somebody here almost all the time - whether fishing, looking for a
crocodile to spot, strolling along
the
beach or the jetty, or coming in or going out on a boat.
Local kids
even jump in for a swim despite the crocs.
Great
Fishing
Like
many other places in Cape York, Seisia is an excellent place to fish.
And the wharf itself is one of the best and most popular
places.
But
locals also fish from rocky headlands, and of course, from the boats.
There are
also a few tour
operators
that take you fishing (full detail in the Destination Guide).
Short Boat
Trips
But if you have your own boat, you can get out fishing on your own, or
you can go and discover the coastline or go and visit some of the close
islands.
Red Island
is just across from
the end of the wharf, and Barn Island (aka Parau),
is a little further out, but still a very easy
distance.
Great
Camping Ground
Just
next door to the wharf is a camping ground. It is a nice
beachfront camping ground with powered and unpowered sites,
some villas and a
lodge.
Powered
camping sites are in so-called
"huts" with bench-tops, sinks and water taps. There is also an
on-site eatery.
Unique Art
Shop
Next to the camping ground is Freebirds Arts and Crafts, where you find
hand made souvenirs crafted by a very talented lady.
She uses rocks, seeds and shells collected from
the beaches right here at the tip of Cape York, and she also
makes wonderful coffee - people love to stop to
sit
in the shade and have a chat with the local :-)
Seisia Fishing Club A
bit away from the camping ground, near the supermarket, is the Seisia
Fishing Club. It's mostly open on the weekends and is very popular with
locals. There are theme nights, celebrations and big screen nights to
watch sport events, but is open almost any Friday and Saturday night
and is walking distance from the camping ground.
Seisia
History
The
whole NPA area, including what is Seisia today, has forever been
Injinoo country.
By them it
was called Red Island Point, which in the
late 1940s became the second, smaller settlement (after Bamaga)
of Saibai islanders.
The name S-E-I-S-I-A is put together by the first letters of the first
settlers' names.
Beautiful
Beaches
Seisia
has beautiful beaches,
... on each side of the wharf.
They are also known for some great
sunsets,
... and the one east of
the wharf is the waterfont of the camping ground.
Seisia
Wharf
The wharf is in the
middle of the two beaches,
... and also makes great sunset
pics.
There is
some great fish
around the wharf, and every now and then you can see crocodiles.
Something that does not
scare local kids away from swimming!
Seisia
Fishing
But most
popular the wharf is with fishing.
There is
cod, trevally,
Spanish
mackerel, queenfish
and barramundi to fish, only to mention a few.
Bait
fishing is also good, and spear fishing is
popular too, and there is some big fish caught by
spearing.
Short
Boat Trips
The boat ramp just
next to the wharf, it's
a great place to take your boat out.
Whether to just for a cruise around and a look at the coast, or to
visit some of the nearby
islands:
Red
Island
Seisia used to be
called Red Island Point, and the
island right opposite from the wharf
is called Red Island.
It is an easy island to
ride around, and pull up on the beaches, just watch out
for the resident crocodile!
All worth for its beaches, views, and the photos you get of its very
distinctive double - island shape.
Beachfront
Camping
Ground
Right
next to the eastern beach and the wharf, is a great camping ground.
Right at the beachfront with
great views, beach huts, and even
an eatery.
Unique Art Shop
Just next to the
camping ground is a lovely lady Simone and her very unique art
gallery - Freebird Arts
and Crafts.
But it's not only the friendly smile - her art is very clever and hand made
of locally collected materials.
She also
makes very nice coffee
served with cookies and a friendly
chat :-)
Seisia Fishing Club
And there is the locals' favourite
- the Seisia Fishing Club!
Travellers are welcome, and there is food, a bar with alcoholic
drinks,
... and special nights with
live music and big screen so you don't
miss out watching sporting events while on travels.
Seisia
History
In front
of the Seisia Camping Ground is the "Tropical Bure" - a
Papua New Guinean canoe used for cargo, supplies, and sleeping.
Seisia's history indeed comes from close to PNG, just as Bamaga's -
namely,
Saibai Island.
After
the Second World War, when Saibai soldiers returned home from
the
tip of Cape York peninsula, their already flood-suffering island had a
couple of really bad
floods. With fresh memories of mainland Australia, a move
to the mainland was discussed and decided on.
The first arrivers made a temporary
settlement at Mutee
Head, while the search went on for better places.
With help of the locals - Injinoo Aboriginal people, they found two places
with freshwater sources - Red Island Point and Ichuru (today's Bamaga). The first
settlers of
Red Island Point was the family
of Mugai Elu,
who arrived in 1948 and
used WWII army huts as their home.b
A few years later they
invited
some other families, and over the time more people followed as
the
word got around. The government supplied building materials and slowly
the housing was built.
In 1972, they got a new church, St Francis of Assisi, that replaced their previous,
temporary one.
In the 1980s, they were
allowed to change the
name of the community from Red Island Point to
S-e-i-s-i-a,
which was a name put together by the first letters of the names of the
first settlers - Sagaukaz,
Elu, Isua, Sunai,
Ibuai and Aken.
Today, there are about
200 people living in the community, and more than 60% are
of Aboriginal or Torres Strait origin. Yumplatok, Meriam Mir, Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kalaw Kawaw Ya and English are
some of the languages spoken at home.
Get
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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.