Category Archives: Cape York

Cape York – Day 4 – Revisited

December 18, 20254X4, Australia, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Sanctaury, Cairns, Cairns, camera, Cape York, clouds, forest, Landscape, landscape, mountains, Piccaninny Plains, Piccaninny Plains, Plant, Qld, Textures, treesadmin

Late lift off on the last day due to rain at Weipa. We were going to land at AWC’s Piccaninny Plains Sanctuary to visit, but the late departure ruled that out.

We fly out of a wet Weipa over Coen, Yarraden and Piccaninny Plains all in the Cook Shire.

Then Lakefield (a really large area) and the Cape York Developmental Road until we reach Mount Carbine close to AWC’S Brooklyn Sanctuary. We land to refuel at Pennyweight Outstation, located on Brooklyn.

After refueling we headed back over Mareeba, where Bungie the Pilot lives and we fly over his helipad and then back to Port Douglas.

Cape York – Day 3 – Revisited

December 15, 2025Australia, Cairns, camera, Cape York, clouds, Qld, sand, States, Texturesadmin

Today we fly from Punsand Bay down the west side of Cape York to Weipa.

Enjoy. Viva Cristo Rey.

Cape York – Day 2 – Revisited

December 10, 20254X4, Australia, birds, camera, Cape York, clouds, coastal, landscape, Landscape, Plant, Qld, reptiles, river/creeks, rock, salt, sand, sand dunes, Textures, trees, Wildlifeadmin

This morning we leave Haggerstone Island, then see downed aircraft, crocs up and close, Captain Billy Goat Waterfall and finally we land near a WW2 wreck of a P39 Aircobra which crashed on its way to Papua New Guinea. Flying up the coast we see bauxite deposits, sands, rivers and finally hover over the tip of Australia. Then an aerial trip around the Torres Strait, we did not land as you can wait for hours before customs turn up (they work on Island time). Last stop Punsand Bay Campgrounds to stay.

Day 2 was as stunning as Day 1 – Revisited here.

Click on an image to a slideshow. Enjoy. Viva Cristo Rey.

Morning

Northern Cape York – eastern side

The Tip and Torres Strait

Punsand Bay after sunset

Piccaninny Plains revisited

July 31, 2025Australia, AWC, Cape York, forest, lakes, Landscape, landscape, Piccaninny Plains, plains, Qld, river/creeks, Uncategorisedadmin

AWC Supporter events are about to start at Piccaninny Plains on Cape York. The Doc visited back in 2014, and did a flyover in 2015 on Day 4 of the Cape York helicopter trip. It is a fantastic place and very different to others parts of Australia he has visited.

The Doc needed a break from the ongoing rehab and reprocessed some of his old images, using his new post processing techniques. They turned out great.

Most of the images were taken on the helicopter. Enjoy. Click on the first image to see a full size slideshow.

Giant green tree frogs

August 15, 2021ampihians, Australia, AWC, Cape York, Piccaninny Plains, Qld, Uncategorised, Wildlifeadmin

The Doc is still making his way through images from the Excellent Adventure. This time we visit AWC’s Piccaninny Plains Station (Ranch) up in Cape York. These are giant tree frogs from our night wildlife spotting. It is the biggest species of tree frog in the world (shared with a frog from Cuba). Click to see full size image.

Cape York revisited

February 4, 2020Australia, Cairns, Cape York, clouds, coastal, lakes, Landscape, landscape, mountains, ocean, Qld, reptiles, river/creeks, seascape, Wildlifeadmin

The Doc revisited his Cape York images – the 4 Day Helicopter trip around Cape York that is. Bungie was the copter pilot. Enjoy.

The Cape – Australia’s far north – the final day

March 27, 2015Australia, AWC, Brooklyn, Cape York, Landscape, landscape, Piccaninny Plains, Qld, river/creeks, trees, Wildlifeadmin

The final day of the trip from Weipa to Port Douglas, via Piccaninny Plains, Oyala Thumotang National Park, Archer & Coen Rivers, Coen, Lakefield National Park, AWC’s Brooklyn Sanctuary and its luxurious mountain rainforests of this World Heritage Listed area.Report and photos here. Enjoy.

Cape York – tricks used

March 26, 2015Australia, Cape York, Landscape, mountains, Qldadmin

There are a few challenges spending 4 days shooting from a helicopter. A few tricks The Doc used:

he fitted a 24-70mm lense. This gave enough range to take different landscape shots from the helicopter. This Canon lense is very sharp. Because you are further away from the subject in a helicopter you, can shoot at F8, rather than F11 or higher. However you cannot zoom close in, the reason why the helicopter got close to the first crocodile. You could have 2 cameras, but that becomes hard to handle – The Doc tried and gave up after the first session;
focus one third down the frame. So The Doc moved the focus point to the bottom of the frame for many, but not all photos;
be conscious of the horizon. In a helicopter it is changed all the time, tilting left, than right or up and down. Be conscious of the camera being level when shooting. Exceptions can be made, for example, when the horizon is not in the shot;
take several shots, you have fewer keepers. Extra memory cards are much cheaper than hiring the helicopter again;
constant autofocus was used, not one shot mode as the helicopter is moving most of the time;
use the camera which has the best autofocus, one that can lock focus quickly;
the closer your focus point is to the helicopter, the more likely the photo will be blurred. Pointing sharply downwards needs a higher shutter speed, than looking straight out the door. More blurry pictures resulted from this than all other causes added together on the Trip.
There is harsh light around the Cape, so early on The Doc attached a Singh Ray Circular Polarising Filter (CPF), perhaps the best choice he made. The CPF reduced significantly, but did not eliminate, the harsh reflections. The CPF needs to be readjusted occasionally.

Cape York – Day 3

March 26, 2015Australia, Cape York, coastal, lakes, Landscape, Qld, reptiles, river/creeksadmin

Probably the shortest day of the trip in the air, from The Tip to Weipa. The geography is not was varied on the west coast of the Cape, but plenty of rivers and lakes. Report and pictures here.