The Cape – Australia’s far north – Day 2

Haggerstone to Punsand Bay (The Tip)

A good nights sleep in a hut similar to the one seen in Death in Paradise. The poor morning light the next morning meant the Haggerstone photos were not very good.

That morning we saw several turtles and crocodiles. This time we went down to look closer, the first croc snapped at us and the second was a 14 foot monster. The Doc told Bungie not to get too close to the 14 footer, he did not want it jumping into the passenger side of the chopper.

Captain Billy’s Waterfall

Next stop Captain Billy’s Waterfall in Jardine River National Park.

WWII Wreck – fighter

The landscape varied a great deal, sand dunes, then coloured sands, even a WWII wreck a Bell P-39 Aircobra. Which Bungie and 2 others discovered the year before, after big storms uncovered the wreck, over 70 years after the war. This is an exclusive photo of the fighter. The Doc hopes the pilot radioed his position, because he was not walking out alive. The Doc took a mall souvenir from the plane (it was not a war grave).

Back to the ever changing scenery. Notice the bauxite? The red in the soil.

We drop into Albert Island, a fishing resort closed for the wet season for morning tea. Then a short trip to The Cape. We hover over the most northerly point of Australia and headed across to basecamp.

We stayed at Punsand Bay Camping Ground. The Doc enjoyed a swim in the pool and we had a drink watching the sunset. The only people there were staff working in on rebuilding a shower/ toilet block, plus the ladies keeping everyone feed. Great company and stories that afternoon and night. It was a very short trip today after the long hours of the first day.

Torres Strait Island tour

After lunch we took a flight over several Islands in the Torres Strait, including the Stone Church and WWII gun emplacements. The Doc noticed the gun platforms allowed the guns to be pointed 360 degrees, so if the Japanese had landed on mainland Australia the guns could pound the positions. Enjoy.

Before sunset we sat near the beach to see if the metallic starlings would swarm, they did not let us down, after sunset they came out in the thousands. Bungie took the cover off the helicopter, we jumped in and went in search of the flocks. As we got close we could no longer see the birds, so we turned back. The birds were spotted on a small islet off the coast, as the helicopter closed in thousands and thousands began to lift off and fly as a swarm, twisting, turning, diving…

The Doc has no real idea how many birds there were. If someone said 5,000 The Doc would not argue. The photos do not have all the birds, many remained on the islet.

The metallic starlings fly over from PNG to breed during the wet season. The birds are grouping on the Cape and will shortly fly back to PNG. For now they are feeding in the rainforest during the day and roosting on the Islet at night. It was an unexpected treat.