Hinchenbrook Island Hike Day 2

It’s 6.00am and the daylight streams through the rainforest as a wake up call. We have to cross the tidal river on Little Ramsay Bay before 7.30am so we take John’s advice from Absolute North Charters and pack up before breakfast to make headway into day 2.

Feeling a little recovered from yesterday, we check our hiking notes on the app. and start today’s 10.5km hike from Little Ramsay Bay to Zoe Bay., estimated to take 6 hours.

We pass a camp site on the opposite side of the tidal crossing and see Nickie’s hiking shoes drying on a line but no sign of the girls or their tent. Jen calls out but no answer so we continue on assuming they are tucked away sound asleep. We later find out that they didn’t really sleep much and had moved their tent further into the rainforest away from the beach as they had crocodiles on their mind all night long.

It’s 8.30am and the heat and humidity is already uncomfortable as we rock hop some more. From the southern end of the beach the trail heads south-easterly through a small gully to the top of a ridge. It’s already hard going uphill so we stop for breakfast and a rest at a stunning waterfall.

Jen is still sore from yesterday’s trip and enthusiasm is down a bit but we have to crack on one step at a time to avoid the midday heat. We refill some water bottles and load up the packs.

The trail continues south, descending to the Banksia Creek crossing on to the saddle between Banksia and Zoe bays, then into the Zoe Bay Catchment. Each creek crossing is difficult to navigate with fast running water and slippy boulders on foot. I take my pack across this crossing then take Jens’s so she can just focus on getting herself across. It’s always difficult to find the exit point on the other side where the hiking trail continues and we wearily search for the orange triangle marker pointing us in the right direction. These orange triangles are our lifeline as the pathway is rough, not clear or well defined.

We pass through a succession of vegetation types, from dry open forest to rainforest and mangrove swamps. The going is slow and heavy (trudging) with many undulations in the landscape and wet on foot. At this point Jen gets snagged by a rainforest creeper with jagged teeth and struggles to get free. “Get me off this f... island” is the response so we rest for a while, have a drink of water and some chocolate and being half way, assess our next steps. It must get easier.

After some rest, we move on and immediately hit a clearing that is shin deep in dark, murky swampy water without any clear direction. This is worse. We are literally walking through a smelly swamp plain not unlike Frodo, Sam and Gollum in Lord of the Rings on their way to middle earth. This is a test of resilience so we slowly plough on.

We find dry ground for 100 metres then pass through several disorienting water logged palm swamps in tall rainforest between North Zoe Creek and Fan Palm. I was focussed on not getting lost and Jen was watching her tired feet with every step.

Difficulty shall pass and eventually we are heartened to see the sunlight beaming into the rainforests and the magnificent sound of waves hitting the shoreline. We have finally reached the clearing at the Southern end of Zoe Bay and we follow the beach like 2 drunken sailors the last few hundred metres to the campsite.

It’s such a relief to take our hiking packs and our sodden shoes and socks off. We both agree, that was the hardest 10.5km worth of hiking foot steps we have ever taken. We are still standing and have made it through a most difficult test through rugged unforgiving wilderness.

We set up camp and our spirits are lifted as Hannah and Nickie arrive safely a couple of hours later. Our team reward for effort is a short walk to the base of Zoe Falls and a dip in the refreshing clear water pools of South Zoe creek.Read more