At last Thursday’s meeting George gave us an extensive description of his travel to the tip of Cape York and into the Islands in the Torres Strait. The trip was 16 days in length and 6000 kms and 30 hours flying time. The flights were about 3 to 4 hours per day to cover the distance and also achieve a suitable landing aerodrome with fuel and accommodation.
Some of the towns visited were Eulo, Winton, Karumba, Bamaga, Cooktown, Shute Harbour, Agnes Water, Bundaberg, Toogoolawah and Armidale. In particular George and his party were able to go to 4 islands in the Torres Strait called Badu, Moa, Thursday and Horn Islands. The islands have Melanesian influence in culture, language and traditions.
On the trip they flew over feedlots, solar farms, bauxite mines, large irrigation projects, the Gulf Country, the Great Barrier Reef (with Coral spawning blooms) and large pastoral operations. They stayed on Merluna Station near Moreton Telegraph Station for two nights.
In Central Queensland they visited the Archaeological dig for dinosaur bones and footprints overseen by professional Archaeologists with the help of keen enthusiasts extracting the bones from ancient mud.
They visited Pormpuraaw (Edwards River) which had a very active art community. The rangers retrieved ghost fishing nets that do a lot of water wildlife destruction. They make these nets into art objects and sell them at the local gallery.
At Badu, Moa and Thursday islands they visited a very interesting Art Gallery with works that presented their cultural and aesthetic values with a strong marine influence.
The trip could have been longer. They had hoped to visit the eastern Torres Strait islands of Darnley, Coconut and Mer where Eddie Mabo confirmed Native Title under Australian law. Maybe next time.
They covered a lot of ground in a short time reinforcing the concept that flying and driving is the cheapest most effective way to see outback Australia and its amazing land and coastal landscapes.
Russell Dew
