Yorke Island

Like most of the islands in the central Torres Strait, it is a coral cay island.


Located in the eastern end of the central group,


... it is larger than the other cays like Warraber and Poruma.

Cute Streets

It takes twice as long to walk around,

... but you can walk around it along the beaches.

And like on the other central islands, there are the cute,



... narrow streets,



... lined by coconut palms and frangipani trees.



And some of these take you to places you can start the beach walk.

Beach Walk - Eastern Half of Yorke Island

Because the island is morre than twice the size of Poruma,



... I did two walks,



... one around the eastern,



... and one around the western half of the island.



The island is teardrop shaped,



... so the eastern half is thinner than the western.



And another thing that is different with this island,



... is that there is one more island in the eastern end!



Approaching it from the northern beach, walking east,



... and when you get to the eastern end of Masig Island,



... you come so close to it that on the low tide, and with the sandbar between,



... it seems that you can walk across,



... and its name is Kondall Island.



The eastern point of Yorke Island ...



... is pretty sharp, there is a timber seat,



... and on the other side is the southern beach.



... with mangroves, and the views back to Kondall Island.



The southern beach is very strait,



... much straighter than the northern one,



... so you can see much farther,



... pretty much to the end of it.



The southern beach has debris as opposed to the northern one,



... it has more palm trees ...



... casuarinas,



... and generally thicker vegetation than the northern one.

Beach Walk - Western Half of Yorke Island

The western side of Masig Island I did on a different day,



... in the afternoon to catch the sunset,



... as the western side is longer,



... round as opposed to the eastern, pointy end,



... and takes longer to walk.



On the southern side,



... there is more debris,



... driftwood, shells and seagrass,



... and in the western end,



... the sun sets.



There were also a lot of large, red, jellyfish,



... and - turtle tracks!



The tracks are a seasonal thing and the time was right: October - November.



The female turtle goes up from the water to make a nest,


... puts the eggs in and returns to the water.



There are therefore always two tracks for each tim - one of her way up, and the other one, down the beach.


Once past the western end,



... soon the pier is visible.



The northern side has a cleaner beach,



... but there are still the shells,



... plenty of activities around the pier,



... and the sunset is just beautiful.



It gets dark quite quickly after the sun sets,



... and the rest of the walk goes past some bushy vegetation,



... boats and kids in the water,



... having the last swim before darkness.



All the information about how to get to each island, any permits and where to stay, is in the Destination Guide.

Plan Your Trip... the FREE Cape York Travel Pocket Guide

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.

Plan and Bring to the Trip... the full Destination Cape York Travel Guide

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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