Cooktown

On July 13/14 we suggested you check out the new inland road to Cooktown. We did just that during our first week in Port.

We left Port Douglas about 8.30 am and made the 270 kms to Cooktown in good time for lunch, with a couple of small stops to break the monotony. The roads are great all the way.

The lady at the Booking Centre was helpful. She recommended a room at the Seaview Motel (with superb views overlooking the Endeavour River), and told us everything we needed to know for a 2 day / 1 night stay in Cooktown. We checked out the museum, light house, cemetery and botanical gardens - all worthwhile things to do. Look out for the wallabies at the oval in the botanical gardens.

Early start the next day for a 4-5 hour aboriginal rock art tour with Willie of Guurrbi Tours.

Guurrbi Tours offers a rare opportunity to walk with Willie Gordon, a Nugal-warra Elder, on his traditional lands, and to see the rock art through his eyes, and to learn why the paintings’ conservation is of such importance to the Nugal-warra people.

Previously inaccessible to visitors, the multitude of rock art sites are steeped in stories of both cultural and spiritual significance, and include the Reconciliation Cave, which portrays a heart-warming story of acceptance and compassion, and an ancestral Birthing Cave which is a place of particular importance to the clan.

We had lunch at the bakery before heading back to Port. On the way out from Cooktown you can stop near the Bloomfield turn-off (about 2-3 km on the dirt road) for a swim in the river. (its supposed to be safe, but make sure you find the right spot!).