Hinchenbrook Island Hike Day 1

Today is the start of our Hinchenbrook Island 4 day hike. We are uncertain as to what lies ahead and we document blow by blow to capture the highs and lows of our epic adventure.

Shane from Wanderers Caravan Park loads us and our weighted packs in his Ute and drives us the 1km to Dungeness Marina. We have an 8.00am ferry departure to the island with Absolute North Charters. John, the owner and Brad are there to meet us and give us some tips on how best to traverse the island. Brad will be our skipper for the transfer. It’s not so much a ferry but a solid aluminium boat with inflatable sides.

We meet Hannah and Nicki, two young fun adventurers based in Mackay who are also doing the hike, so we won’t be alone. They are studying medicine so they can be our mobile A&E.

Access to and from the island is dependant on the tides. The sea is choppy as we ride each wave up the eastern side of Hinchenbrook. The view of the island is spectacular, with massive rugged peaks partially covered by foreboding clouds and rainforest that runs right down to the beach. Its like the opening scene of Jurassic Park, only in this place, crocodiles remain and the dinosaurs have long gone.. we think!

The starting point for the hike is Ramsay Bay and Brad drops us off at the southern most point of the Bay due to tidal conditions. That saves us 500m of hiking and every step saved, counts on this island.

Hinchenbrook seems to have its own climate with high humidity and plenty of tropical rainfall so we are happy that it’s a sunny dry day for the start of our journey.

As we get close to shore, our instructions from Brad are to take hiking boots off, put our hiking packs on and jump in to wade through the near 2 foot of water onto the beach. Hearts racing and adrenaline pumping, we make it to the soft sandy beach and look back to see Brad and the boat disappear. Little did we know that this was the first of many steps we will take getting our feet wet.

Now the official name of the hike is “The Thorsborne Trail”, an epic 4 day, 32km hike North to South on the East side of the island and graded ‘difficult’.

There are designated camping spots en route mainly by the beach, usually with a fresh water creek nearby for supplies and all with crocodile signs warning of danger...!

We decide to stick together with Hannah and Nicki and start the first section of our treck. Ramsey Bay to Nina Bay is 4km but will take 2.5 hours to complete as its difficult terrain and we need to carry 4 litres of water each. Not long Into the hike is our first obstacle, a fast and wide moving creek. We take our hiking boots off to stay dry but this became futile as around the corner was another creek, and another, so we ended up wearing them through the crossings.

The second creek was rocky under foot and we hear a cry for help as Jen slips, her leg gives way and she ends up flat on her front with the heavy pack on top of her. We move in to rescue and A&E is administered sooner than expected by the girls. Worst for wear, with bruises, a bump on the head and a strained finger, Jen is patched up, shaken but not stirred, she bravely continues.

It’s very humid and sweaty and with the weight of our packs, progress is slow and I think we drank about 1 litre water every 1.5km

The 2nd section of day 1 is Nina Bay to Little Ramsey Bay, a 2.5km hike. At the southern end of Nina Bay, the trail crosses a rocky section by the shore and we slowly rock hop our way through and head towards the base of a small cliff. The trail climbs the cliff and follows the headland to Boulder Bay, now we are boulder hopping... and onto Little Ramsey Bay.

We cross a creek flowing quickly into the sea and are relieved to see a campground sign. The campground is by the beach with an amazing backdrop and a fresh water creek running through smooth creamy brown rocks. There are metal rat proof storage boxes for our food and hooks to hang our packs away from the ground level... so why are we the only thing left on ground level...?

We set up the hiking tent, take our soaking hiking shoes off and head up the creek for fresh water and a cooling swim.

Before long, the sun disappears over the dark silhouetted mountain tops and we find enough energy to boil some water and make a freeze dried meal of Thai green chicken curry.

Hannah and Nicki decide to try another camp site in a cove slightly further on and we flashlight each other from the beach in the darkness.

It’s still humid and I decide to sleep in the hammock and keep watch for a while as the sound of the tide hits the shore. Jen is very sore and eaten by mosquitoes so she doesn’t get much sleep.

Day 1 was exciting at the start but this was quickly replaced by soreness and tiredness as we realised how tough and challenging the terrain was carrying loaded hiking packs.Read more