Hinchinbrook Island

[Rico]

If you cannot sort it out in another way let me know, we have a point of sale inside the Night Markets complex on the Esplanade in Cairns, and we close at 10.30pm. We don't stock gas cartridges but I am happy to run to another shop and get some for you.

[bailz66]

Thanks Rico,

I will let you know

[DoubleDutch]

I am heading up there in about a months time.

One of the challanges I have at the moment is where I can purchase some Gas Canisters for my Jetboil in Cairnes / Cardwell.

We will be arriving on a Saturday afternoon and our ferry leaves on a Sunday morning.

If our plane is delayed by a few hours all the hiking shops could be closed by the time we arrive which would be dissapointing.

We have the same problem although we travel via Townsville / Cardwell to Hinchinbrook, hiking shops are not near the airport or near the railway station. If anyone knows where to get Gas Canisters for our Jetboil in Townsville in the area of the railway station or in Cardwell please let us know.

Thanks!

[bailz66]

Hello Doubledutch

I spoke to the information centre about this. The hardware shop in Cardwell has them and opens at 7am most mornings (Including sundays).

I think the centre itself might even have them stocked. Give Jenny a call at the centre and she will help you out.

When are you doing the walk?

Cheers

[Jason68]

Hi all, thinking of doing the Thorsborne Trail in Aug, any locals/regulars on the forum I can ring & have a yap with?
Cheers Jason

[nq111]

Hi all, thinking of doing the Thorsborne Trail in Aug, any locals/regulars on the forum I can ring & have a yap with?
Cheers Jason

Hi Jason68

I'm local but haven't actually done the Thorsborne Trail (have kayaked the island however). Beautiful place. I believe the walk is all straightforward (some of the side peaks sound interesting).

Being from the NT you will find it chilly in August at night (like i do) - not like the southerners . Expect 8-14 degree minimums ,20-26 maximums. 'Not much chance of rain but it is a possibility (not like NT where I know locals camp in winter with out bothering to take a tent).

PM if you want any non-specific help.

[DoubleDutch]

Hello Doubledutch

I spoke to the information centre about this. The hardware shop in Cardwell has them and opens at 7am most mornings (Including sundays).

I think the centre itself might even have them stocked. Give Jenny a call at the centre and she will help you out.

When are you doing the walk?

Cheers

Thanks for the info. Will give them a call to seen if they can help me.
We will be doing the walk in the first week of Sept

Thanks again!

[DoubleDutch]

Being from the NT you will find it chilly in August at night (like i do) - not like the southerners . Expect 8-14 degree minimums ,20-26 maximums. 'Not much chance of rain but it is a possibility (not like NT where I know locals camp in winter with out bothering to take a tent).

Will be there early Sept, will take a tent but 8-14C, means no sleeping bag needed

[bailz66]

I am heading up there in 3 weeks

Can't wait!!!

With 2 young kids its very difficult to find time to hike but I have been looking forward to this one for about 12 months.

[nq111]

With 2 young kids its very difficult to find time to hike but I have been looking forward to this one for about 12 months.

+1 - about 12 months planning for a half decent walk is normal

Enjoy the walk

[bailz66]

Trip starts tomorrow,

anyone here able to provide directions to the ferry in cardwell. The map I have is shocking and info centre opens a bit late
jerry number might help if anyone has one.

I'm sure we will work it out but just in case

[JulianS]

Hi all,

My partner and I just got back from Nth QLD after walking the Thorsborne Trail a couple of weeks ago. Ive been getting tips from these forums for a little while now, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to contribute a post for the first time.

As this walk is well-documented (i.e. detailed track notes, extensive discussion here and elsewhere) I'll just add a few observations re- issues that have previously been raised and/or aspects that were a little different from what we expected. Overall - it was a fantastic experience.

1. Difficulty
Much of the trail is graded as 'Difficult'. When you're walking it, you can understand why, as a lot of it is pretty rocky. At times, you're rock-hopping along or crossing creek beds. The section between Little Ramsay / Zoe is low-lying / swampy and you can expect to get muddy boots. That was even without recent rain. Before the walk we saw other posts advocating the need to take proper hiking boots and we'd definitely reinforce this.
Having said that, 'difficulty' of the track is offset by short distances. For example, Nina Bay-Little Ramsay is listed as only a couple of hours (from memory) but didnt take us that long. Indeed, we thought that all of the estimated walking times were pretty conservative. Even the longest section (Little Ramsay - Zoe) we didn't find to be too big a day of walking.

2. Insects
Not as much of a problem as we expected. Based on some other posts about being eaten alive through clothing, etc, I'd imagined walking through such a haze of mossies/sand flies as to limit visibility to a few metres. Nothing like that at all. Yes, there are mossies and sand flies and you will need repellant. Long sleeves / pants are useful at the camp sites in the evening. However, bugs werent the dominant factor they've been made out to be elsewhere. Maybe we got lucky with the timing - not sure. Fyi, I am the type of person to get annoyed by them...

3. Camp sites
Really nice and tidy. Rat-proof food boxes very useful (even though we didn't actually see any rats). At most camp sites, there was one food box to serve anywhere from ~1 to 5 tent sites. The boxes are big enough to fit a whole pack in (potentially 2), but definitely not if you have to share the box with other campers. i.e. dont rely on being able to store your pack in them. In line with a post that we saw from another user (not sure which forum), we brought a rope along (with an empty plastic bottle on each end) to hang up the packs each night. However, this was a mistake - there are notices on each food box specifically asking people not to do this as it damages the trees. Fair enough - we never used the rope and it was a waste of time bringing it along. We just transferred all food/rubbish into the food boxes and stored our packs under the fly / outside the tent each night. This was fine - no evidence of rat intrusions

4. Places on the way
The highlights for us - far and away - were the swimming holes at the base of each of Mulligan and Zoe Falls. Amazing. Perfectly clear water, great refreshing temperature, and incredible scenery / landscapes. The view from the top of Zoe Falls is also amazing - photos dont prepare you for it. Some great little horizon pools there too. Make sure you set aside plenty of time to experience these places. One word of warning: Zoe Falls is a relatively short walk from Zoe Bay, which is accessible by boat. We deliberately spent 2 nights at Zoe Bay so that we'd have a whole day relaxing at and around Zoe Falls. During that day (a week day) there were quite a few ring ins from boats - I'd estimate 3-4 groups of between 3 and 15 people who swung by for an hour or two. A bit disappointing - I always feel violated when day trippers can access a great place you've walked for some days to get to - but we avoided them by spending more time at the top of the falls.

Sunken Reef - go or avoid? We made a quick dash down there from the Mulligan camp site late in the afternoon just to check it out, but were blocked by what appeared to be a tidal creek. Access to the beach would have meant a long-ish bush-bash detour (or wading through a deep creek with potential resident reptiles) so we didn't bother. However, from a distance, it would appear that Sunken Reef would not offer more than you're already going to get at Little Ramsay or Nina Bay. If I did the walk again, I'd avoid this side trip and just spend more time at Mulligan Falls.

Banksia Bay vs. Little Ramsay Bay for camping? The latter was nicer in our opinion.

5. Scheduling and direction
We did the walk South to North, but most walkers were doing it in the other direction (as per the orientation of the track notes). I dont think it matters - you cant go wrong. If I did it again, I'd probably go in the other direction so as to finish the last couple of nights at swimming holes.
We spent 5 nights in total on the trail, which accommodated spending 2 nights at Zoe Bay, as I mentioned above. I'd do this again if I repeated the walk. The short distances between each of Little Ramsay/Nina and Nina/Ramsay Bay mean that Nina Bay is potentially 'skippable'. We came across a few walkers going in the other direction who'd gone straight to Little Ramsay after getting off the ferry at Ramsay Bay. Should you do this? Hard to say - Nina Bay was nice and the camp site was nice. But then again, its pretty similar to the Little Ramsay site. Again - you cant really go wrong. It will depend on ferry pickup time if you're going south-to-north.

6. Other stuff
One issue we had was in the sourcing of gas canisters for our stove. Being from VIC, we had planned to fly in to Cairns, arriving in the evening on a Saturday, then driving our hire car to stay in Cardwell that night for an early Sun morning bus transfer to the Lucinda ferry. All organised. We had heard that the Cardwell hardware/general store sold gas canisters and opened early enough on a sunday morning. However, when I called them it turned out that they would be closed that week due to a once-off re-location! Cue panic. Luckily, reading this forum led us to Rico from Adventure Friends (I hope he doesnt mind my mentioning this as I dont imagine he'd want to get requests from every man and his dog). On reading about his generous offer to another user on this thread, we asked Rico to buy some canisters for us for later pick up at the Adventure Friends stall in the Cairns night market. Suffice to say he did it for us and it all worked out fine - what a good guy! We're very grateful.

Anyway, that is about all I can think of. As always, preference the official track notes over everything I've said, but hopefully this might offer a couple of extra insights for people who are in the process of planning their walk. Cant wait to do it again some day...

Cheers
Julian

[bailz66]

We were the other hikers mentioned at the bottom of this one.

Just a couple of notes from our walk.

Hi all,

My partner and I just got back from Nth QLD after walking the Thorsborne Trail a couple of weeks ago. Ive been getting tips from these forums for a little while now, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to contribute a post for the first time.

As this walk is well-documented (i.e. detailed track notes, extensive discussion here and elsewhere) I'll just add a few observations re- issues that have previously been raised and/or aspects that were a little different from what we expected. Overall - it was a fantastic experience.

1. Difficulty
Much of the trail is graded as 'Difficult'. When you're walking it, you can understand why, as a lot of it is pretty rocky. At times, you're rock-hopping along or crossing creek beds. The section between Little Ramsay / Zoe is low-lying / swampy and you can expect to get muddy boots. That was even without recent rain. Before the walk we saw other posts advocating the need to take proper hiking boots and we'd definitely reinforce this.
Having said that, 'difficulty' of the track is offset by short distances. For example, Nina Bay-Little Ramsay is listed as only a couple of hours (from memory) but didnt take us that long. Indeed, we thought that all of the estimated walking times were pretty conservative. Even the longest section (Little Ramsay - Zoe) we didn't find to be too big a day of walking.

We walked from Little Ramsay to Zoe on a day where it was wet and it took us quite a long time to get through. I would say we probably spent 7-8 hours on the walk but we did stop a few times to enjoy the walk so wern't powering along. It was the toughest day by far but quite enjoyable. We did see one snake on this stretch of the walk but it didn't sound like there were namy there as no one else saw any.

2. Insects
Not as much of a problem as we expected. Based on some other posts about being eaten alive through clothing, etc, I'd imagined walking through such a haze of mossies/sand flies as to limit visibility to a few metres. Nothing like that at all. Yes, there are mossies and sand flies and you will need repellant. Long sleeves / pants are useful at the camp sites in the evening. However, bugs werent the dominant factor they've been made out to be elsewhere. Maybe we got lucky with the timing - not sure. Fyi, I am the type of person to get annoyed by them...

We were insect free for this trip until Mulligan Falls (Our last day) when one of our member had over 100 bites below his knees from sand flys. I got an allergic reaction to one of them and was covered in spots for 2 weeks and my wife was also bitten quite a bit around the ankles. I think it just depends on the weather.

3. Camp sites
Really nice and tidy. Rat-proof food boxes very useful (even though we didn't actually see any rats). At most camp sites, there was one food box to serve anywhere from ~1 to 5 tent sites. The boxes are big enough to fit a whole pack in (potentially 2), but definitely not if you have to share the box with other campers. i.e. dont rely on being able to store your pack in them. In line with a post that we saw from another user (not sure which forum), we brought a rope along (with an empty plastic bottle on each end) to hang up the packs each night. However, this was a mistake - there are notices on each food box specifically asking people not to do this as it damages the trees. Fair enough - we never used the rope and it was a waste of time bringing it along. We just transferred all food/rubbish into the food boxes and stored our packs under the fly / outside the tent each night. This was fine - no evidence of rat intrusions

We had a rope as well but used it for a clothes line. As we did heaps of swimming this did come in really handy. We didn't hang our packs up and generally had a fair bit of space around the camp sites.

6. Other stuff
One issue we had was in the sourcing of gas canisters for our stove. Being from VIC, we had planned to fly in to Cairns, arriving in the evening on a Saturday, then driving our hire car to stay in Cardwell that night for an early Sun morning bus transfer to the Lucinda ferry. All organised. We had heard that the Cardwell hardware/general store sold gas canisters and opened early enough on a sunday morning. However, when I called them it turned out that they would be closed that week due to a once-off re-location! Cue panic. Luckily, reading this forum led us to Rico from Adventure Friends (I hope he doesnt mind my mentioning this as I dont imagine he'd want to get requests from every man and his dog). On reading about his generous offer to another user on this thread, we asked Rico to buy some canisters for us for later pick up at the Adventure Friends stall in the Cairns night market. Suffice to say he did it for us and it all worked out fine - what a good guy! We're very grateful.

We got in at 2pm and were able to get to Ray's outdoors. We also dropped off a number of gas bottles which were half full or full to the Reef and Information Centre in Cardwell who said they would give them to other walkers who might need them in the future. So people could consider contacting them the next time they go.

Anyway, that is about all I can think of. As always, preference the official track notes over everything I've said, but hopefully this might offer a couple of extra insights for people who are in the process of planning their walk. Cant wait to do it again some day...

We forgot our track notes for this trip.... Oops

Also I remember the ferry location being a bit difficult to find so thats also something to prepare before you head up


Cheers
Julian[/quote]

[Rifu]

Hi,

I am interested in walking the trial and if possible climb mt bowen.

I have trekked through many of the blue mountain tracks and camped for 1-2 nights, covering around 12km average a day, i am pretty experienced in living the wild i guess

but from the post, on this area it seems very different.

could anyone please help me out, i am looking to travel during the christmas period, so it would be mid summer...

is there any important details i require for the track?

thanks.

[Skid]

Hi,

I am interested in walking the trial and if possible climb mt bowen.

I have trekked through many of the blue mountain tracks and camped for 1-2 nights, covering around 12km average a day, i am pretty experienced in living the wild i guess

but from the post, on this area it seems very different.

could anyone please help me out, i am looking to travel during the christmas period, so it would be mid summer...

is there any important details i require for the track?

thanks.

Rifu,
Summer is the wet season in north queensland, so expect hot, humid weather and rain. The Thorsborne Trail would still be doable (unless the rain is heavy), expect to get wet, if it's not raining you will be sweating. However, I would NOT recommend attempting Mount Bowen at this time of year!
In my opinion, the difference between walking the trail and climbing Bowen is like the difference between kissing a woman and marrying her.... One happens before the other, but in no way prepares you for it!
There is no marked trail up Bowen, the 'normal' route is up Warrawilla Creek. Trying to climb up a creek in the wet season is something you will get tired of really quickly. The scrub either side of the creek is thick enough to make it really slow going and in the upper reaches the sides are so steep you will be forced back into the creek anyway.
It is possible to climb Bowen via Pineapple Peak (and hence around Warrawilla Creek), but this route has it's own challenges and I would advise against it, particularly in the wet.

So, my $0.02 worth: research the trail, walk it without tackling Bowen (though definetely climb Nina Peak as a short side track, it is one of the best 'views per calorie' climbs around).
Then, if you are still keen to tackle Bowen, come back in the dry season (August/September would be my pick). Oh, and bring secatuers, the lawyer cane post Yasi will have you cursing. If you search this forum, you'll find other threads with good info.

Bowen is a challenge, but to see a sunrise/sunset from the mountain is definately "bucket list" material.

[nq111]

Rifu,
Summer is the wet season in north queensland, so expect hot, humid weather and rain. The Thorsborne Trail would still be doable (unless the rain is heavy), expect to get wet, if it's not raining you will be sweating. However, I would NOT recommend attempting Mount Bowen at this time of year!
In my opinion, the difference between walking the trail and climbing Bowen is like the difference between kissing a woman and marrying her.... One happens before the other, but in no way prepares you for it!
There is no marked trail up Bowen, the 'normal' route is up Warrawilla Creek. Trying to climb up a creek in the wet season is something you will get tired of really quickly. The scrub either side of the creek is thick enough to make it really slow going and in the upper reaches the sides are so steep you will be forced back into the creek anyway.
It is possible to climb Bowen via Pineapple Peak (and hence around Warrawilla Creek), but this route has it's own challenges and I would advise against it, particularly in the wet.

So, my $0.02 worth: research the trail, walk it without tackling Bowen (though definetely climb Nina Peak as a short side track, it is one of the best 'views per calorie' climbs around).
Then, if you are still keen to tackle Bowen, come back in the dry season (August/September would be my pick). Oh, and bring secatuers, the lawyer cane post Yasi will have you cursing. If you search this forum, you'll find other threads with good info.

Bowen is a challenge, but to see a sunrise/sunset from the mountain is definately "bucket list" material.

Great advice.

The walk and mountain could be done in summer but this is a serious undertaking. This is going to sound over-the-top but treat preparation like you would climbing a 20,000 footer in the himalayas. You are going to want new gear, new techniques, plan food and particularly hydration very carefully and spend time on fitness and heat aclimatisation.

Climbing a mountain in the summer humidity puts a great strain on your body and heart - you need to trained for exercising in these conditions and know how to pace yourself. Whilst you may expect to be lightweight the amount of water to carry for even shortish distances is a killer on the back. Whilst it may rain half a metre the day you are there it might also be dry - so can't easily get away from carrying water. The sun if it comes out in force will cook you real quick. Plus the scrub is thicker in summer and the rocks will be slippery.

I could go on....

Great challenge if you really want to do this sort of thing but please take the effort involved very seriously.

[Happy Pirate]

Hi,

I am interested in walking the trial and if possible climb mt bowen.

I have trekked through many of the blue mountain tracks and camped for 1-2 nights, covering around 12km average a day, i am pretty experienced in living the wild i guess

but from the post, on this area it seems very different.

could anyone please help me out, i am looking to travel during the christmas period, so it would be mid summer...

is there any important details i require for the track?

thanks.

Rifu

WOW!!! "12km average a day" You legend!

Please note - Hiking for 1-2 night in the Blue Mountains IS NOT "pretty experienced in living the wild" anymore than watching a nature documentary on Africa is "pretty experienced in living with Elephants"!

AM I GETTING THROUGH TO YOU?????

You sound like you are a Noobie (Inexperienced person) who is pretty chuffed with himself and considers himself proven but to everyone here you would sound like an ill-prepared fool.

You want to climb Mt Bowen at CHRISTMAS!!??!!

Are you aware this is the WORST time of year to attempt the climb???

Water is non-existent, storms likely and the terrain terrible.
If you were a walker capable of this you wouldn't be posting such questions.
But let me guess - If I say you are an idiot to attempt this with your obvious lack of skills??? - this will only encourage you.

Serious walkers have lost limbs on this walk:
http://www.abc.net.au/documentaries/programs/2000/secondstep.htm

Silly Person

(Thanks to nq111 and skid for more restrained replies)
Steve

[Rifu]

Hi,

I am interested in walking the trial and if possible climb mt bowen.

I have trekked through many of the blue mountain tracks and camped for 1-2 nights, covering around 12km average a day, i am pretty experienced in living the wild i guess

but from the post, on this area it seems very different.

could anyone please help me out, i am looking to travel during the christmas period, so it would be mid summer...

is there any important details i require for the track?


Please note - Hiking for 1-2 night in the Blue Mountains IS NOT "pretty experienced in living the wild" anymore than watching a nature documentary on Africa is "pretty experienced in living with Elephants"!

AM I GETTING THROUGH TO YOU?????

You sound like you are a Noobie (Inexperienced person) who is pretty chuffed with himself and considers himself proven but to everyone here you would sound like an ill-prepared fool.

You want to climb Mt Bowen at CHRISTMAS!!??!!

Are you aware this is the WORST time of year to attempt the climb???

Hi, i am aware of the difficulty of the climb and the weather, which is why i am here to Q&A from an experience adventurer who have done this track. I admit i am still new at 'real' adventure thing, but i am only stating my fitness level here. no need to be judgemental on my characteristic. i acknowledge that sometime people do think ahead of themselves, i've been there. thanks for your opinion

and thanks to others that replied to my question. I thank you for the advice and information.

very much appreciated.

[Happy Pirate]

Hi, i am aware of the difficulty of the climb and the weather, which is why i am here to Q&A from an experience adventurer who have done this track. I admit i am still new at 'real' adventure thing, but i am only stating my fitness level here. no need to be judgemental on my characteristic. i acknowledge that sometime people do think ahead of themselves, i've been there. thanks for your opinion

Posting on a forum is NOT experience; so additional clarificational posts don't take you any further.
You need REAL EXPERIENCE: in fitness, terrain, local conditions, general self-reliance, local ecology and knowing that your own limits are safely above the proposed walk plus emergency requirements and long-term self reliance.

You said:
"I have trekked through many of the blue mountain tracks and camped for 1-2 nights, covering around 12km average a day, i am pretty experienced in living the wild i guess

Which makes you naive, NOT experienced.

This is NOT a pissing match nor a competition.
Based on your own description of your experience I am trying to save your life not belittle you.
Steve

[nq111]

Hi, i am aware of the difficulty of the climb and the weather, which is why i am here to Q&A from an experience adventurer who have done this track. I admit i am still new at 'real' adventure thing, but i am only stating my fitness level here. no need to be judgemental on my characteristic. i acknowledge that sometime people do think ahead of themselves, i've been there. thanks for your opinion

Thanks Rifu,

I must admit i have a soft spot for you having a go. We have all pushed out on a limb (in an adventuring sense) at some point.

All I ask is take your research, preparations and training very seriously. In particular don't underestimate the challenge of sustained exercise in hot + humid conditions. The terrain, scrub, weather, etc are all likely to challenge you too, but you can't start to face any of it if you are weak and sick from the heat. 33 degrees and 90% humidity is much harder to work in then 40 degrees and 30% humidity. This is both physics (evaporative cooling potential) and physiology.

I live up here and have a strong interest in bushwalking in true tropical conditions. I have climbed a number of mountains up here in summer (though not on hinchinbrook). I have also spent an obsessional amount of time researching tropical / hot weather exercising and outdoors living.

The number 1 thing I would be considering is getting acclimatised to exercise in tropical conditions. Doing this well will beat nearly everything else you can do (though there is lots of other things you need to do). The research I have reviewed suggest two- three weeks of exercising on hot, humid conditions is ideal. Your body will change the way it sweats, processes salts and make a bunch of other physiological adaptations. Search 'heat training' 'hot weather exercise' etc. A bunch of medical types run the Badwater Marathon in Death Valley, USA and have posted a bunch of useful information both scientific (like the maximum amount of water you can replenish per hour - sweat more than that and you have to have stops to replenish) and general (like exercising in saunas or tracksuits in summer to help acclimatise). However they run in hot and dry conditions so not all their leanings apply. A wet bandana will do nothing to cool you in summer up here.

Little things like do not sleep in airconditioning when you arrive- makes it twice as bad when you need to go out into the real world the next day to start your walk.

If you come straight up here from Sydney in summer and try to walk with a pack on your back you will feel like fainting within 20 minutes - even if you felt fit in Sydney.

If you are going to do this, I am happy to review your gear, preparations etc. please PM me.

[Don R]

hi Rifu,

I have done a lot of walking on Hinchinbrook Island, before and after the Thorsborne Track came along and turned it into a tourist location. Whilst the true wilderness of Hinch' died twenty plus years ago when the track originated as far as the sea side is concerned that is not the case of the inland. 12 Klms a day on tracks is meaningless in comparison, with all due respect. Similarly an overnight or two camp out in the Blueys is not adequate preparation for such a walk. My 11 year old daughter knocks off that sort of distance. Inland Hinch is serious wilderness country, don't be misled by the relative compactness of the terrain. Bowen is 1121m from sea level, from where you start, and most of that is via dense vegetation. It is not a "climb" it is a hill climb. Even before cyclone Yasi came along the interior was demanding due to vegetation and steep terrain. Route finding is important, especially if coming from Pineapple Ridge. It is not straightforward navigation, water finding is important as well. As regards summer, I have gone up Bowen in (Dec) summer. Not recommended, the chance of a view is unfavourable, high temperatures (particularly enervating when pushing through scunge) are common so the overall difficulty of the task is greatly increased compared to a winter trip. The view from Bowen is great although there are some better views elsewhere in the interior. I had three trips before getting the view from Bowen.

If your experience is limited to track walking in the Blueys the chances of a misadventure or at least a woeful and possibly dangerous result is quite high. Anyway you will probably have a very confronting time with minimal reason to enjoy it. Go in winter walk the track, or you are resolved to go up Bowen build off track experience in densely vegetated dry environments first and go with an experienced person. navigation, first aid, water finding and scunge bashing skills are definitely needed for the trip. BTW where did the secateurs come in for scunge bashing ? That is an atavistic reversion to the seventies isn't it ? Whatever you do have a good time and don't be chastised by some of the comments by the more experienced board contributors they are just trying, from experience, to emphasise that some walks are not to be taken lightly or without serious preparation. happy walking.

[pastuseby]

How was the visit to HI in July? Specifically the water supply and the bities. I am planning a group visit in July 2014.

[Zone-5]

Did some boat fishing up there in July, truly beautiful location. With an eerily high mountain top always in the clouds and has that King Kong primitive island feel of foreboding danger.

Watch out, the big flies there bite big like everything else (except the fish ) and you can be soon covered in bite welts very quickly!

Oh and this...

[sebastien]

No, we swam in the ocean all the time. Just kept a look out and in pretty shallow water. It is very well signposted if there is a troublesome reptile.

It was just fantastic.

Same. Long swimming. No troubles!

[sebastien]

Hi,

I am interested in walking the trial and if possible climb mt bowen.

I have trekked through many of the blue mountain tracks and camped for 1-2 nights, covering around 12km average a day, i am pretty experienced in living the wild i guess

but from the post, on this area it seems very different.

could anyone please help me out, i am looking to travel during the christmas period, so it would be mid summer...

is there any important details i require for the track?

thanks.

Mt Bowen is not an easy walk!!!
I did not make it but i am thinking about since my first visit in 1997.

If i were you, i woul walk the Thorsborne track first. On the way, i would have a good look to Mt Bowen and i would start the climb. Not far, not taking any risk and i would stop as soon as i identify some difficulties.
Then, i would come back home and to get prepared to fight this difficulties.

Nothing is impossible. I do not think that Mt Bowen is such a challenge ( it used to be 25 years ago!) but i would not attempt the climb without a good preparation and a real experience of bush bashing. It is so easy to put yourself in some good *&%$#! into that kind of country.

[Miss_WingBat]

Hello everyone, this site was a great source of info before our big hike. So as an update for those interested in the Thorsborne, here is an update from our hike over Easter and referral to previous posts (thankyou JulianS and Bailz66): NOTE: all my comments are in BOLD ITALICS to refer to previously posted, excellent information on the trail.

Re: Hinchinbrook Island

Postby bailz66 » Wed 04 Sep, 2013 9:19 am

[b]JulianS wrote:
Hi all, My partner and I just got back from Nth QLD after walking the Thorsborne Trail a couple of weeks ago. Ive been getting tips from these forums for a little while now, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to contribute a post for the first time.

As this walk is well-documented (i.e. detailed track notes, extensive discussion here and elsewhere) I'll just add a few observations re- issues that have previously been raised and/or aspects that were a little different from what we expected. Overall - it was a fantastic experience.

[/b]1. Difficulty

Much of the trail is graded as 'Difficult'. When you're walking it, you can understand why, as a lot of it is pretty rocky. At times, you're rock-hopping along or crossing creek beds. The section between Little Ramsay / Zoe is low-lying / swampy and you can expect to get muddy boots. That was even without recent rain. Before the walk we saw other posts advocating the need to take proper hiking boots and we'd definitely reinforce this.

We walked as a 65 year old, a 35 year old very unfit person, and a 37 year old heavy (but giving up on the trail) smoker - I think if you need the time, you can have it on this trail. Take your time to stop, breathe, climb, swim, enjoy, before stomping down the track to get to the next campsite.

Having said that, 'difficulty' of the track is offset by short distances. For example, Nina Bay-Little Ramsay is listed as only a couple of hours (from memory) but didnt take us that long. Indeed, we thought that all of the estimated walking times were pretty conservative. Even the longest section (Little Ramsay - Zoe) we didn't find to be too big a day of walking.

Swampy bits - yes, still there especially after Cyclone Ita dumped 300mms in the Cardwell region a week before - but keep a little cup on a hook on your belt instead of lugging heavy water bottles (only if hiking during/after wet season) We left at 7am and got in at 4pm. ****BEWARE THE TIDAL CREEK AT THE END OF LITTLE RAMSAY - THIS GOT QUITE DEEP ON CROSSING***

We walked from Little Ramsay to Zoe on a day where it was wet and it took us quite a long time to get through. I would say we probably spent 7-8 hours on the walk but we did stop a few times to enjoy the walk so wern't powering along. It was the toughest day by far but quite enjoyable. We did see one snake on this stretch of the walk but it didn't sound like there were namy there as no one else saw any.

Yes, if going from North to South this will be your hardest day - as you expect after the saddle from Ramsey you can see Zoe Bay and think it's a little walk across the flat plains - unfortunately you end up doing a reverse 'C' around the bottom of the hills across many creeks, swamps and back over some more hills before emerging out on the beach. A very, very long day of hiking, but rewarding to arrive at Zoe Bay.

2. Insects
Not as much of a problem as we expected. Based on some other posts about being eaten alive through clothing, etc, I'd imagined walking through such a haze of mossies/sand flies as to limit visibility to a few metres. Nothing like that at all. Yes, there are mossies and sand flies and you will need repellant. Long sleeves / pants are useful at the camp sites in the evening. However, bugs werent the dominant factor they've been made out to be elsewhere. Maybe we got lucky with the timing - not sure. Fyi, I am the type of person to get annoyed by them...

We were insect free for this trip until Mulligan Falls (Our last day) when one of our member had over 100 bites below his knees from sand flys. I got an allergic reaction to one of them and was covered in spots for 2 weeks and my wife was also bitten quite a bit around the ankles. I think it just depends on the weather.

This is true - sandflies are not as bad ONLY IF YOU USE REPELLANT - the most affected were the ones that didn't use it. We used a mix of Baby Oil, Dettol, and Peppermint Oil to rub on our legs after washdown at camp before tent time. The last night, at Mulligan, the only 'rainforest' camp, you will get "MIDGEES" These are the same as sandflies, but smaller and can get thru tent flyscreens - long pants, long socks. They are the worse little buggers!~

3. Camp sites
Really nice and tidy. Rat-proof food boxes very useful (even though we didn't actually see any rats). At most camp sites, there was one food box to serve anywhere from ~1 to 5 tent sites. The boxes are big enough to fit a whole pack in (potentially 2), but definitely not if you have to share the box with other campers. i.e. dont rely on being able to store your pack in them. In line with a post that we saw from another user (not sure which forum), we brought a rope along (with an empty plastic bottle on each end) to hang up the packs each night. However, this was a mistake - there are notices on each food box specifically asking people not to do this as it damages the trees. Fair enough - we never used the rope and it was a waste of time bringing it along. We just transferred all food/rubbish into the food boxes and stored our packs under the fly / outside the tent each night. This was fine - no evidence of rat intrusions

We had a rope as well but used it for a clothes line. As we did heaps of swimming this did come in really handy. We didn't hang our packs up and generally had a fair bit of space around the camp sites.

Campsites were very crowded over Easter break, but do-able. We did have a 'issue' at Zoe with some day/night boat trippers that thought they had booked out the entire Zoe Bay foreshore for themselves - (as we discovered you can book either the Thorsborne Trail or Hinchinbrook - Zoe Bay) but we were so tired and the other camps were full we had no option but to stick our ground. There was enough room anyway. **Watch for the big tree goanna's at the corner campsite** anything left out, like the above day trippers, where their whole table set up/campsite was trashed for leaving out food/booze for the goannas to get up on the tables and enjoy!!

6. Other stuff
We got in at 2pm and were able to get to Ray's outdoors. We also dropped off a number of gas bottles which were half full or full to the Reef and Information Centre in Cardwell who said they would give them to other walkers who might need them in the future. So people could consider contacting them the next time they go.

We brought a Trangia stove which proved to be an excellent idea - boils water in minutes. Very happy with this decision.

Also I remember the ferry location being a bit difficult to find so thats also something to prepare before you head up

There are now two ferries that go from Cardwell which we found brought the price down a bit - 70 to the island, and 50 off to Lucinda. The boat leaves from the Northern side of the main cardwell Jetty, about 500m up the beach in an unmarked spot but quite a noticeable boat. We had family meet us at Lucinda (with champers!) so didn't know the bus cost back to Cardwell. Though, I heard a good idea that if you have a group leaving, just get one to hop on the bus back to Cardwell to get your transport to avoid paying $40 per head for the transfer - it's really only about 30 mins down the road. And a 'debriefing' lunch at the main pub in Cardwell is a great idea - and don't mind if you haven't had a shower - sit on the deck, and enjoy the views of the island you just conquered GOOD LUCK!!


Cheers
Miss WingBat and Team Wilson