Hiking the Thorsborne trail on Hinchinbrook

[benno573]

Hi all,

 

This is not strictly a pure fishing report report but thought I’d throw up a bit of a story if anyone was interested. 

About 2 1/2 years ago, my sister and I booked a spot on the thorsborne trail on hinchinbrook island. This is a 32km long 4-day hike and has a limit on numbers so slots can be hard to get during busy times (school hols). Major hiccup was since we booked a small person has come into my world... what the hell we thought, we’ll take her along for the ride, what could possibly go wrong with that...

 

so last saturday we jumped on absolute north charters at Lucinda and had an amazingly scenic trip right up the inside of the island to our drop off point. 

A hasty offload onto the boardwalk through the mangroves and sand flies and we soon arrived on the eastern beach. First day was 6.5km but with a side track up to Nina peak to add on. The information online said total walk time of 6 hrs which we thought was nuts for only 6.5km... how wrong we were. We quickly realized this was not a track you could take your eye off for a second. While the terrain itself was challenging, the “track” at times was bordering on nuts. At one stage it took us an hour and a half to cover 800m across a rocky headland and through the infamous Boulder Bay. But I digress...

 

we decided to ditch the big bags at the bottom and I carried bubs up the side track to Nina peak - what an amazing view.

after a lunch stop at Nina bay, we pushed on to our first nights stop at little Ramsay bay. The boulder bay was a serious test for all of us, especially me with just on 30kg on my back. We arrived at our campsite, set up, applied several tonnes of bushmans and enjoyed walking around unladen. Thankfully only about 100m walk to a beautiful freshwater creek for water. There were heaps of juvenile mangrove jack and jungle perch in amongst the granite boulders which was really cool to see. We were treated to a beaut sunrise the next morning to get us motivated for day 2 - 10.5km

 

what a days walk... how we got through this day I still don’t know. After scrambling our way around a headland that seemed to go on and on we entered the bush and started to climb. And then we went down - which was probably harder than the up. Loose rocky surface, tree roots, creek crossings... this track was a serious challenge. We stopped for lunch on the edge of the swamp section - coz that’s what we needed to make our day - MUD. 

After negotiating the mud, 4 creek crossings, 2 more bog sections and the sandfly ridden hell hole around the back of the mangroves we emerged muddy and battered onto the beach at Zoe bay. Child promptly offloaded to lighten mums load and the remaining 800m was covered in quick time. Camp set up and another several tonnes of bushmans applied. After a hard day, this was a great sight on the beach

 

thankfully the next day was our rest day. We did as little as possible in the morning, with the exception of drying out boots, charging all devices and me throwing every lure I had at the local fish with very limited success. I did land 3 small cod but that was it. We watched a school of 15 or so cow-tail stingrays feeding on the waters edge, some truly massive queenfish smashing into schools of mullet and small sharks cruising in the shallows. 

 

That afternoon we walked up to Zoe falls and had a great time relaxing in the refreshing cool water - even a bit of a jacuzzi under a waterfall.

the pool at the base of the falls is teeming with massive jungle perch that are so tame they literally nibble your toes. While I would love to throw a line and catch my first JP, I am quite glad there is a “no fishing” sign there - it was really cool to see what many of our wild tropical rivers used to be like without introduced pest fish, habitat degradation and fishing pressure.

 

 

the next morning we woke to wet tents after a couple of heavy showers through the night. Bad news is all the granite rocks on the track and around the creeks that has provided excellent traction were now more like walking on wet cakes of soap. 8.5km to cover today for our last overnight destination at mulligan falls. We climbed to the highest point on our trek which I am sure on a clear day would afford amazing views. Unfortunately, we had a lot of low cloud and light rain so our view was a little different. The last major obstacle was diamantina creek which is prone to flash flooding and can leave walkers stranded with no way forward or back. We arrived at the creek which is around 40m wide and fast flowing. I was the crash test dummy so I attempted first without a pack and quickly determined the safest way across was to ditch the hiking boots and go with socks only to grip the wet rocks better - like felt soles shoes when rock fishing. With a lot of teamwork, we all made it across unscathed. After arriving at our campsite the heavens really opened up and the spectacular falls just near camp doubled in volume in the space of half an hour. Very glad we got over the big creek when we did. not a lot else to report from here on. A lot of huddling in a tent trying to entertain a bored bub and keep her dry and warm.

 

The rain was persistent throughout the night and a wet and muddy packup ensued - unfortunately meaning the pack was now even heavier owing to wet clothes, tents etc. our last day of hiking was a 2.5km stretch through the rainforest followed by a 5km walk up the beach - should be easy right...?

Yeah... NAH.

the overnight rain had turned 3 of the 5 creeks we had to cross in the first 2.5km into raging torrents. With no other option to get out, crash test dummy benno was sent into the waters to check it all out and again with careful and methodical teamwork everyone made it across safely. The worst one was sketchy AF, waist deep on me in parts and flowing hard, had to really pick the soft spots in the current behind boulders and things like that. When we finally hit the beach for the final push, we were all a bit emotional that we had made it through all the hard stuff, the last bit of stress with the creek crossings had really got to us all. Despite the 25kn SE we were walking into and sideways rain we all happily trudged our way up the beach, knowing a hot shower wasn’t too far away.

a brainwave on the drive back to Townsville and into lockdown saw the deployment of the KFC app and a mountain of fried gold subsequently applied to all and sundry. A massive unpack, clean up, dry out and repack ensued, with my boots and backpack both suffering terminal damage in the final 2 days. Fare thee well comrades... you were both faithful servants.

 

so how would I rate the overall experience? Well... I guess challenging would be the optimal word. Way more so than any of us had anticipated. Amazing place, spectacular scenery and I am 100% sure some great fishing opportunities as well. Would I do it again... unsure. I would love to go back there but possibly not with the the 4 days of hiking. I am glad I did it for sure, but just not sure I want to sign on again anytime soon. Good news is bubs on the whole loved the experience which is the most important thing I guess.

big shout out to John at absolute north charters though - went out of his way to help us and made sure the boat home arrived at the pick up point right when we did which was awesome. Even arranged us access to a hot shower upon return at a local accommodation place if we needed it which was hugely appreciated. If you are thinking of heading to hinchinbrook, he’s your guy.

anyway, enough from me, thanks for reading if you made it this far, hope you enjoyed the trip.

cheers,

benno

 

[jon]

Mate kudos to you for tackling such an adventure with lil Bub as well. Be a great yarn to tell her how tough mum and dad were when she gets older

[GregOug]

Great story. I would have been worried about crocs as well as everything else. They are definitely there. Glad you all made it safely. I’ve been to Hinchinbrook, albeit many years ago, and remember that walk through the mangroves to the ocean beach. I think we even walked up to that lookout. But as for the rest, no thanks! Admirable effort mate!

[ellicat]

I can't believe this was voluntary !

Epic hike though, with some great countryside/views. Good training for when you have to carry my gear on our next rocky fishing trip.

[Kat]

What a fantastic challenge, and what a hero for being the guinea pig in the creeks!

[kmcrosby78]

Great write up there @benno573, sounds like a tough but rewarding experience. I too wondered about crocs on the creek crossings - assuming the guide gave the all clear for that area? Or did he/they send you as the guinea pig for a reason ...... 

[Drop Bear]

Mate it is such a great track. I did it about 10 years ago when Junior Drop Bear turned 13. It was hard enough with a 13 year old. Must have been a huge challenge with your bub. Kudos mate.

I loved reading this report. it has brought so many memories back. One day if I ever get around to foot surgery and it goes well I would love to tackle it again. we did it south to north for some reason... 

We tacked on a few extra days and wanted to hike up Mt Bowen. It was sideways raining pretty much for the whole trip and the path up is to follow the stream for most of the way. We battled the torrential rain for about 2 hours and it was hellish. the rocks were so slippery and the creek in full flood. So half way up on my sons 13th birthday we decided to turn back. haha so much for not quitting on your goals  as it turns out it was a good decision. On the boat trip back the lads on the boat said that we had had record breaking rain and that they had not seen so many land slips on Mt Bowen ever before. 

They told us a story of a hiker that got trapped up there on a land slide. Both his legs pinned under a large bolder and the rescuers had to cut his legs off to save his life.. Not sure if it is a true story or not but we both felt better that we turned around after hearing that. 

I thought I would stick a few photos of the young fella in here too. Hope you don't mind. 

[Old Scaley]

Epic journey @benno573. My memory of going anywhere with toddlers involved a bootful of kiddie paraphernalia and a small backpack for myself, so kudos to you just for packing for that trip. Was it just you and your crew or was it a larger group. Did you have to carry all your food and water or were there food drops? Great report by the way - perfect lockdown reading.

[benno573]

@Old Scaley Just my sister and her partner, Mrs benno, me and bubs, we had to carry all food but plenty of places to top water up along the way so only carried a max of 4L at a time on the track. We saw some other groups on the first two days but the last two we didn’t see anyone else.7 

 

@kmcrosby78 - what’s a guide? No guides, just work it out yourself. Follow the trail markers and hope for the best. Hence they sent the most expendable one in first...

 

@Drop Bear - looks like some great father/son bonding time there. We were certainly not going to be taking on mt Bowen, even if the weather was mint. I don’t blame you for turning back. Places just inland on the main range recorded 300mm in the last 24hrs we were on the island so who knows how much fell on the range on the island in the same period.

 

@GregOug - we did actually see a croc in Zoe creek one night. Not a particularly big one but a good reminder to remain vigilant. Majority of creek crossings are well into the freshwater sections so not an issue there, few were just above the tide line though so heads were well and truly on swivels the whole time.

 

@Kat - certainly not trying to be a hero, just the most likely to be able to make it over and back and the one that everyone would miss the least if it all went pear shaped.

[benno573]

21 hours ago, jon said:

Mate kudos to you for tackling such an adventure with lil Bub as well. Be a great yarn to tell her how tough mum and dad were when she gets older

Or potentially more evidence against us when child services come knocking to discuss reckless endangerment...

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi Benno

Thanks for a great report! That’s awesome! It must’ve been such a great experience.

One day I will hopefully do something like this.

Hamish