Ah, the optimism of youth and being a backpacker!

Imagine the scene: Cyclone Tasha is heading towards the coast just south of Cairns , due around Christmas Day. You decide to spend a few days on Hinchinbrook Island, hiking the Thorsborne Trail (which also happens to be just south of Cairns).

Fantastic! Let’s go! It will only be a bit of rain and wind!

Sunrise over Zoe Bay Hinchinbrook Island (in slightly better weather)

Rather than re-write the article from the Couriermail, we have shared it here:

For four days, the men from Germany and France sat out Cyclone Tasha in a public toilet, trapped by rising creek waters.

They were found by an emergency services helicopter yesterday morning around 9am at Zoe Bay.

The 19-year-olds were given hiking permits for the national park on December 23, despite wild weather warnings.

After failing to return Christmas Eve, a warning was sent out but rescue operations were held off until yesterday morning due to the bad conditions.

The young men said they did not even know they were in a cyclone until found by emergency services.

“We were struggling,” hiker Nils Franz told Channel Nine.

“We didn’t know what to do or if a rescue team was coming.”

Senior Sergeant Peter Williamson said the three men were extremely lucky considering the circumstances.

Another of the hikers, Romain Le Floc, told Channel Nine that the 10 packs of noodles the men had to share were “the best Christmas dinner ever”. (They obviously had not bought Food to Go – our recipe book!)

Police said they also picked up two other hikers who had abandoned their trek because of the conditions.

This must have been scary stuff for the French and German boys.

On a trip into the South West of Tasmania we were caught between the flooded Louisa and Faraway Creeks for a day and that was a bit disconcerting…..

A couple of questions come to mind:

1. Should Parks have issued a permit knowing the weather forecast?
2. Can you just live on 2 minute noodles?
3. Have you ever been caught in a flood?
4. Have you ever used a toilet as an emergency shelter?

Image: apurdam via Flickr

We were invited to join a project being run by Tripbase.com to share our 3 best kept travel secrets, and being  hiking types, we have chosen three special place that  you, and the readers at Tripbase may enjoy.  They are all in Australia and cover a wide variety of environments across three different States.

A little background:

“The aim of this game is to unite travel bloggers in a joint endeavor – to create an amazing list of top travel recommendations across the globe to share with the entire online travel community.”
“We’ve collected so many incredible secrets that we’ve decided to compile all the posts in a Free Travel Secrets E-book to be shared with the entire online travel community”– Katie from Tripbase.com.

Many thanks to Linda Fairbairn from Journey Jottings for the nomination.  She has three fantastic ideas  for her travel secrets, please take the time to read them.

And our winners are?

1. The Overland Track – Tasmania – Australia

This 65km (40 mile) track is a spectacular bushwalk through the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage area. Hikers generally take 5 nights and enjoy the isolation, wonderful scenery, basic facilities and many side trips. It can change lives,  and gives those that complete it a huge sense of achievement.

Barn Bluff in snow - Overland Track Tasmania

Why?

• Pristine wilderness
• Incredible scenery
• Fantastic sidetrips to mountains, lakes and waterfalls
• Chance to see wombats, platypus, tasmanian devils or wallabies in their natural habitat
• A huge sense of achievement completing a “tough” hike in all the conditions that Tasmania can throw at you.
• Can be guided or do it yourself depending on experience, time, confidence and budget

Why Not?

• Can be very tough, snow in summer, rain at any time, packs can be heavy
• Isolated, no phone service, no internet, no power, untreated water and you have to carry all your gear.

2. The Great Ocean Walk – Victoria – Australia

This terrific,  newly developed coastal walk,  ends near  the 12 Aposles, a “must visit” attraction  in  Victoria, Australia.  Instead of just driving along the Great Ocean Road,  you can enjoy 100km of beautiful coastal trekking.

Johanna Beach - Great Ocean Walk

Why?

• Coastal scenery to die for
• Isolated camp sites in some spectacular locations
• Only 8 camp sites available each night , uncrowded
• Easy to do in sections if short of time
• Can stay in B&B’s or luxury accommodation nearby, walking each day, relaxing each night
• Echidnas, kangaroos, koalas, whales (in season)

Why not?

• Can’t think of one reason, you can “tent it” or stay off track.  The only reason you  is if you don’t like walking….

3. Thorsborne Trail – Hinchinbrook Island – Queensland – Australia

Hinchinbrook Island, one of Australia’s largest island National Parks (39,900ha), is off the north Queensland coast between Townsville and Cairns in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The 32km Thorsborne Trail runs along the Island’s east coast and combines some toughish inland walking with wonderful rain forests, inspiring waterfalls and out of this world beaches.

Nina Falls - Hinchinbrook Island

Why?

• Freshwater swimming holes that take your breath away
• Huge isolated beaches where you can walk or swim at the end of most days
• Only 40 people allowed on the trail at any one time
• Beautiful tropical island hiking with terrific vistas
• Off  “the beaten track”, isolated and wild

Why not?

• This is crocodile country and you need to be careful when swimming in the ocean.  It’s usually well signposted if there is one about ….but keep your eyes open!
• Sandflies can be viscious, you really need to be well protected and have a lot of “bug stuff” 

Part of the project is to nominate five travel bloggers we love. 
Our fabulous 5 are:

A Travel around the World
Richard Tulloch’s – Life on the Road
Liz Down Under
The Professional Hobo
Only OK

We hope they join the project. We would love to hear about their three best kept travel secrets.

Do you have any travel secrets you would love to share?  Drop us a comment below, we would love to hear from you.

The Thorsborne Trail is rated as difficult by Queensland Parks & Forests,  but is it really a difficult hike?

We received an email asking us to compare hiking on Hinchinbrook Island with Tasmania.  In this post we summarise a few points from our experience hiking the Thorsborne Trail a couple of years ago.

The question:

My husband is keen to walk the Thorsborne track later this year and for it to be our family holiday. I am just a little concerned that my fitness level may hinder the family. I have walked the Cradle mountain track, the day trip , first day to  the lookout above Dove Lake taking the difficult track.  I note that the Thorsborne Track description rates the walk as difficult. Are you able to make a comment about any comparison. Thanks

Swimming Nina Falls - Thorsborne Trail

The Answer:

Mmm, how long is a piece of string you ask???

First a couple of observations:

• The track up to the Cradle Mountain Plateau in Tasmania is a bit tough. There is a short section of almost vertical climbing over rocky terrain.  There is even a chain embedded in the rock to help.  Of coures, adding a 20kg back does make it a bit more challenging!
• Sue finds this bit the most challenging of the whole Overland Track, and studiously avoids it on each trip by heading up “The Horse Track”
• Gauging the difficulty of a hiking track is very subjective and a LOT depends on the individual’s fitness, previous experience, aversion to heights or scrambling etc.

Compared to hiking in Tasmania, The Thorsborne Trail is not difficult BUT it has the following “features” that can make it interesting.

• It can be really hot and humid and it saps your strength

• There are many exposed sections of the track that are in full sunlight for much of the day.
  • We went there thinking tropical paradise,but reckon ROUGHLY 40% of the walking is inland and quite open, exposed and rocky. The sun belts down and it feels like you are walking in the desert.

Hiking one of the beaches - Thorsborne Trail

• Part of the reason it may be defined as “difficult” is that the track is rough, narrow and rocky in places BUT no worse (by far) than the track up to Marions Lookout in Tasmania. i.e. it seemed to us to be a normal bush walking track.
  • As Parks Queensland state on their site:  the Thorsborne Trail is not a graded or hardened walking track and in some areas is rough and difficult to traverse.

• River crossings -There are many stories of people getting into serious trouble trying to cross swollen rivers on the Trail. Basically they were stupid and did not make the decision to wait it out or turn back. Of course this is very weather dependent. When we did it none of the rivers were more than a foot deep!!

• Did we mention the heat? Distances each day are quite manageable but the heat can drain you.

Sunrise Hinchinbrook island

Of course you can get around all these things and enjoy the walk. It IS well worth doing!

• Get fit before you leave. Every km you walk at home will have a great impact on your ability to walk the track

• Your pack weight should not be too bad as you don’t need cold weather gear or heavy sleeping bags (did I mention it is hot?)

• Get away early before the heat of the day hits

• Carry (and drink) plenty of water and keep drinking and topping it up when you can.

• Have long breaks and a swim where possible to cool down. There are plenty of fantastic swimming holes along the way. We ended up just jumping in to the waterholes in our hiking gear, they dried off quickly

• Wear good hiking footwear. We made the wrong decision and wore runners rather than  normal hiking boots/ shoes with heavy soles. The track is quite rough in places so you need good protection for your feet (especially the soles)

• Make sure you have lightweight longed sleeved pants and a shirt for in the evening. The locals we met always put them on with socks to protect themselves from sandflies.
  • Take a really good repellent or use the dettol & baby oil mix we suggest  (OR both) Those little suckers can be really annoying.

In summary, we went into it thinking it was going to be an easy walk. At the time we thought it was moderately hard BUT the main reasons were the heat and sore feet from walking in the wrong shoes.

The positives FAR outweigh the negatives.The scenery is spectacular, the water falls and swimming hole magic and the beaches out of this world! We had a GREAT family holiday.

If you are worried about slowing up the group, leave first and get some distance behind you in the morning. They can pack up! Leave early from the lunch break and head off. It is well marked and pretty hard to get lost.  This can take the mental pressure off you to keep up and it is really nice hiking alone sometimes.

View from Nina Falls -Hinchinbrook Island

The final piece of advice is to not make it a race. Take your time, plan a rest day, just go from one camping spot to the next. Even by stopping for a couple of  swims on the way, you are still into camp very early afternoon. There is plenty to see and do around each campsite and the sea is great to swim in!

We hope you decide to go and would love to hear how it turn out!

Thinking of hiking the Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island?

Looking for a tropical hike with beautiful scenery, fantastic swimming and beautiful beaches?

Want to enjoy a fantastic wilderness hike on a World Heritage Island?

If you want to hike out rather than be taken to hospital by chopper then DON’T climb the waterfalls, just enjoy the beautiful swimming holes at the base of them.

Swimming in these fresh water holes is one of the highlights of the Thorsborne Trail – we loved it!

Swimming Hole - Mulligan Falls - Hinchinbrook Island

Hinchinbrook Island is a rugged, outstanding feature of the north Queensland coast between Townsville and Cairns. Its cloud-covered mountains, reaching 1000m, support fragile heath vegetation. Patches of lush rainforest and extensive eucalypt forest descend to a mangrove-fringed channel in the west with sweeping bays and rocky headlands along the east coast.

Protected since 1932, Hinchinbrook is one of Australia’s largest island national parks (39,900ha). The island is within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and is separated from the mainland by the scenic Hinchinbrook Channel.

Thorsborne Trail
The 32km Thorsborne Trail, along Hinchinbrook Island’s east coast, is named after the late Arthur Thorsborne. Arthur and his wife, Margaret, shared a lifelong interest in nature conservation that included monitoring pied (Torresian) imperial-pigeons (Ducula bicolor), which migrate to nest on local islands in summer. Environment & Resource Management – Qld Government

Yet another visitor to Hinchinbrook Island fell 50 metres (approx 150 foot) down Mulligan Falls and was rescued by his mates before he drowned in the swimming hole pictured above.

According to Cairns.com.au in recent years six people have been injured and one person has died at the waterfall. The full story about how the 18 yo fell down Mulligan Falls is here.

When we were there hiking the Thorsborne Trail a couple of years ago there was plenty of signage and warnings about climbing up waterfalls, guess some people just don’t take notice.

For more information on hiking the Thorsborne Trail this is the link to the official site or check out our posts listed below, we had a blast!

Looking for GPS track or route information for some of Australia’s premium bushwalking tracks?

Need waypoints, track , campsite or huts locations or routes for?

• The Overland Track – Tasmania
• Walls of Jerusalum to Overland Track – Tasmania
• The Great Ocean Walk – Victoria
• Thorsborne Trail – Hinchinbrook Island – Queensland
• South Coast Track – Tasmania

We often get searches on “Our Hiking Blog” regarding this information, but are rarely contacted, so we decided to post and declare our willingness to share this information with anyone who takes the time to email us.

Erik Charlton trying to get a satellite on his GPS at the North Pole

View from Clare and Tom’s tent first morning

Zoe Falls – top with Zoe Bay in distance

Zoe Falls – swimming pool at base

Local wildlife

Nina Bay – late afternoon

Leg: Nina Bay to Ferry
Distance: aprox 3km
Time : 1-2 hrs at a slow pace

The final day on this delightful trek dawned to our usual fare of bright sunny skies and a nice warm temperature. The walking was relatively easy other than a couple of rocky outcrops and sections close to the beach. We scrambled over these OK as the thought of “real” (read take away here) food was starting to stimulate the salivery glands . Below is the final leg of the journey heading up Ramsay Bay to the ferry pick up point. All details for ferries etc are on this page of the Blog.
The ferry arrived as we had arranged and following a boring wait while some day trippers had a look around, we were taken aboard and whisked back to Hinchinbrook Resort. Great disappointment followed when we were informed the Island was “closed” due to the filming of a Jodie Foster children’s movie called Nim’s Island. The plan had been to have a leisurely lunch at the resort to round off the trip and then head back to the mainland and Cairns. So, after a quick stop to pick up some of the film crew, we were straight back to Cardwell and real coffee and chips!

The “Crew” top from left – Ken, Frank, Clare & Tom – front Vinnie & Sue

Related Posts
Thorsborne Trail – Hinchinbrook Island – prelude
Planning for the Thorsborne Trail
Thorsborne Trail – Planning the walk
Thorsborne Trail – George Point to Sunken Island Reef
Thorsborne Trail – Sunken Island Reef – Zoe Bay
Thorsborne Trail – Zoe Bay to Little Ramsay Bay
Thorsborne Trail – Little Ramsay Bay – Nina Bay
Thorsborne Trail- Some great pictures of the wonderful scenery

Leg: Little Ramsay Bay to Nina Bay
Distance: 3.6 km
Maximum Elevation: 74m
Time taken: 1-2 hrs

Today was almost a rest day as we only had to cover a short distance. It was up late, a wander on the beach and then we packed up and were away by 1030. The travelling was relatively easy to Nina as all our packs were getting light. Vinnie had almost run out of the type of food he liked, so he has having to make hard decisions about what he would and would not eat. Below is the campsite at Nina where we camped under a HUGE tree, again right on the beach.

Beach cricket was enjoyed in the afternoon using a coconut and a palm frond as a bat. We also had several games of bocce using the plentiful empty coconut shells. It was great to have arrived early and to have the whole afternoon to enjoy the beach and the fantastic scenery.
It was a late night for the Hiking Bloggers as we tried to listen to the Geelong / Collingwood preliminary final. We had taken a small radio and speakers just for this momentus occasion. Unfortunately the reception was awful and we only heard one minute in ten of the broadcast, the tension was huge as the game was very close and we paced up and down Nina Bay with the radio held in the air trying to pick up a Sydney radio station!! We finally heard the result 10 minutes after the game had finished and going to bed that night, knowing Geelong would be in the Grand Final the following Saturday, topped off our last night on the island. Go Cats!

Related Posts
Thorsborne Trail – Hinchinbrook Island – prelude
Planning for the Thorsborne Trail
Thorsborne Trail – Planning the walk
Thorsborne Trail – George Point to Sunken Island Reef
Thorsborne Trail – Sunken Island Reef – Zoe Bay
Thorsborne Trail – Zoe Bay to Little Ramsay Bay
Thorsborne Trail – Little Ramsay Bay – Nina Bay
Thorsborne Trail – Nina Bay – Ferry
Thorsborne Trail- Some great pictures of the wonderful scenery

Leg: Zoe Bay to Little Ramsay Bay
Distance: 10.4km
Maximum Elevation: 90 metres
Time: about 6 hrs but at a slow pace with lots of stops

We got on the track quite early as this is one of the longer legs of the Thorsborne Trail. The first part of the track is along the beach and was very pleasant walking in the early morning. The picture below is Ken & Vinnie heading along Zoe Bay with Mt Bowen in the distance.

The track then goes inland through a long section of rain forrest that skirts a large mangrove area. This was very pleasant walking except for a couple of areas where the track markers were not clear and the ground quite boggy. This area would be a challenge in “the Wet” as it is low lying and would have become very muddy. There were two river crossings,while easy for us, would be quite challenging following heavy rainfall. Below is the first river crossing. We guessed that in the wet the river could be one metre deeper. That would be a serious crossing.

Walking had become quite laborious as we skirted the low lying mangrove area and headed back into the rain forest. We were quite surprise with the landscape in one section at the back of the mangroves. It was quite open, dry and very hot in the late morning sun.Following a short rainforrest section we came across a very small swimming hole and a few of us had a rinse. It was the size of a large spa but, as with all rivers on the Trail, the water was beautifully clear and cooling. Below Clare is catching up with another walker we met. The swimming hole is at the base of the “Falls”. We stopped here for lunch and were rewarded with some great wildlife.

Below is a Tree Frog that was sleeping in the tree above our lunch spot.

This Lace Monitor Lizard was very relaxed. We watched it wander across the top of the fall, stopping to see what was going on, and then make its way down the walking track to near our lunch spot. Clare took photo’s within one metre of the dozing reptile…. It was almost a metre long and showed little fear of humans.

Following lunch we headed off towards that evenings camp site. There are two options here, Banksia Bay or Little Ramsay. We decided on Little Ramsay as other walkers had told us the water supply was better at Ramsay. There were also reports that Banksia had more sandflies so that put us ALL off.

Below is a picture of a small beach between Banksia and Ramsay. The track heads up and over the small headland to Ramsay. As you can see, everywhere you look on Hinchinbrook is magnificent.

Ah, to be young and fit! Clare and Tom running back to meet the oldies after dropping their packs at the campsite

So what did we do when we got to camp? We swam, and swam and swam. The water was magic. The view was magic. The company was great.

Sitting on the beach at sunset reading a book was also a favourite pastime. Once you got over the sandflies, the March Flies and mozzies…..we must have gone through a litre of insect repellent.
Related Posts
Thorsborne Trail – Hinchinbrook Island – prelude
Planning for the Thorsborne Trail
Thorsborne Trail – Planning the walk
Thorsborne Trail – George Point to Sunken Island Reef
Thorsborne Trail – Sunken Island Reef – Zoe Bay
Thorsborne Trail – Little Ramsay Bay – Nina Bay
Thorsborne Trail – Nina Bay – Ferry
Thorsborne Trail- Some great pictures of the wonderful scenery

Leg: Sunken Island Reef to Zoe Bay
Distance: 6.9.km
Maximum Elevation: 232 metres

The sunrise was wonderful at Sunken Island Reef and the shot below from Clare and Tom’s tent showcases it beautifully. Clare’s pack can be seen hanging from our rat rope, which is effectively a strong (but light) rope threaded length wise through two softdrink bottles. The theory is that even though the rats can easily tightrope walk along a rope, they can’t get over or around a slippery , plastic bottle! We carried bottles and rope for this purpose and had up to 5 packs hanging off one rope without any rat attacks!

Below is the campsite, looking out to the Bay, there was plenty of room, but a lot of rubbish!

It was a big grunt uphill back onto the Thorsborne Trail from Sunken Reef Bay and, in retrospect, it was a toss up whether it was worth the side trip, compared with staying at Mulligan Falls. Mulligan Falls camping area was quite large and close to the Falls so a freshwater swim could be had at any time.

Our next objective was Zoe Falls and the walking was relatively easy. Just as we were getting hot again and looking for a swim, we came across the top of Zoe Falls. We had thought that Mulligan Falls was an excellent swimming hole until we came across the top of Zoe Falls. It is a great swimming hole, with spectacular views down to Zoe Bay. THIS is the spot that is shown in all the guidebooks and is a wonderful spot, one of the highlights of the trip. We stopped there for 2 hours having several swims and a nice long lunch break.

The pictures below show the swimming hole with Zoe Bay in the distance. The second picture is from the top of Zoe Falls. This would be very difficult and dangerous to cross in the Wet or if the river was flowing strongly. In fact, all the river crossings would be dangerous in wet weather as the rocks are very slippery.

We then moved on down a steep track to the base of Zoe Falls. The one minor obstacle is a very short section of climbing down some rocks. Parks have kindly installed a thick rope to help with the descent (or ascent). The drop is about 3-4 metres and Sue, who hates heights and slippery rocks, did it easily. About 10 minutes later, the BEST swimming hole on Hinchinbrook Island that we were to encounter, was revealed at the base of Zoe Falls. It is a large, deep hole with lots of inquisitive Jungle Perch gently cruising in the water. We stopped again and had a great swim. Clare tried diving to the bottom of the pool and was unable to reach it!

From here we made our way down to Zoe Bay and found the campsite. The camping area here starts in very sheltered rain forest, about 150 meters from the Beach. Try and remember to fill your water containers up at Zoe Falls, as the closest point where you can get fresh water and reach the river is about 3-400 meters inland from the Beach.

Some great people from Maryborough , in Southern Queensland we had met at the top of Zoe Falls , suggested the best camp sites were hidden off the beach. We found our site (pictured below), which was just off the beach, with a great view and a table! Sand flies were very prevalent. Later in the afternoon a couple of the boys from Maryborough were casting lures into the area just behind the shore break and were able to catch (and release) several salmon. Pretty keen fishermen to carry in their rods as part of their hiking gear, but they were not the only people we saw enjoying a cast and landing a few fish on this trip. keep that in mind any keen anglers out there!
We had a pleasant evening at Zoe bay, met several very nice people and enjoyed the table to cook and eat around. Top spot, worth a couple of days if you can squeeze it in to your trip.
Related Posts
Thorsborne Trail – Hinchinbrook Island – prelude
Planning for the Thorsborne Trail
Thorsborne Trail – Planning the walk
Thorsborne Trail – George Point to Sunken Island Reef
Thorsborne Trail – Zoe Bay to Little Ramsay Bay
Thorsborne Trail – Little Ramsay Bay – Nina Bay
Thorsborne Trail – Nina Bay – Ferry
Thorsborne Trail- Some great pictures of the wonderful scenery

Leg: George Point to Sunken Island Reef
Distance: 9.5 km
Maximum Elevation: 120 metres

Following a very early start we were all keen to get on the Thorsborne Trail and start the walk. The group comprised 3 experienced walkers, one who had walked a “few” years ago, a 16yo with 2 walks under his belt and Vinnie, a 10 year old with too much ENERGY and too light a pack.

From here we had decided to push on to Sunken Island Reef campsite. This was because we had heard the rat’s were particularly annoying at Mulligan Falls and we had plenty of time in the day to get some more km’s under our belts. There was another small swimming hole on the way and we all stopped again for a swim as it was quite warm (around 30 degrees C) and the water was just great!

The picture below is looking back towards Mulligan Bay from the climb up to Mulligan Falls

Sunken Island Reef campsite is not the best area on the walk. It is quite a steep “down” to get to the beach from the main track (30 minutes) The track is un-formed and very slippery at times due to loose rock and steep sections. The camp site has a lot of rubbish (either through rubbish being washed up on the beach or junk left around by previous walkers or kayakers)

The water supply, while we were there, was also poor and required a long walk to the end of the beach and then a rocky walk 100 m upstream to get sufficient flow to fill our water containers safely. I am sure following good rain this would improve.

All that being said, the views were great, the beach excellent for a stroll or swim and we did not see or hear any rats.

The picture below is Clare and Sue having an evening stroll along the beach

Related Posts
Thorsborne Trail – Hinchinbrook Island – prelude
Planning for the Thorsborne Trail
Thorsborne Trail – Planning the walk
Thorsborne Trail – George Point to Sunken Island Reef
Thorsborne Trail – Sunken Island Reef – Zoe Bay
Thorsborne Trail – Zoe Bay to Little Ramsay Bay
Thorsborne Trail – Little Ramsay Bay – Nina Bay
Thorsborne Trail – Nina Bay – Ferry
Thorsborne Trail- Some great pictures of the wonderful scenery