Lice, mice and other things that bite!

Cooktown continues to amaze and surprise us and every day brings a new thing of beauty, a challenge, a discovery or an experience like no other.

In the last week alone let me name the various moments in our life.

1. My children continue to suffer from FNQ lice that are the size of small ponies galloping around their heads. No amount of potion, conditioner, combing, washing, etc removes them. I always remember the first time I came across lice in Sydney and I was so horrified at the concept. Now its just par for the course.



Quarantine Bay



2. Then there are the mice that have taken residence in our house....not that we can find them. They have a real penchant for wire and spend a lot of time destroying the wires in the airconditioning unit so it doesnt work. We have now had it fixed for the 6th time and filled up every hole outlet and possible entry point... and guess what - my bananas are still getting eaten during the night. The bush mouse here called a Melomys is responsible and do laugh as you imagine me wandering around in the dark of night with a torch trying to catch him. Laughable. So much for the Jack Russell sound asleep on my bed during these nightly escapades!

3. Our friends Helen and Connie who I have written of before, turned up 2 nights ago in a flurry. Their little baby Zania who has just turned one, had put a seed in her mouth and Helen was frightened that it was poisonous. Although she had rushed to the hospital, they had sent them home but they were not convinced. We looked it up in the local book - its a Sandlewood or Red Bean seed and I discovered that it is toxic if swallowed (Helen got there before it was swallowed) but interestingly is eaten in Java after being baked and is used by the Brahmans in India to colour the red dot on their foreheads. They grow everywhere here and are used extensively in jewellery making. The other red seed that is totally toxic is the Gidee Gidee seed and it would have been a problem if she had put that in her mouth. Mind you, Sean has bought me a whole necklace of Gidee Gidee seeds.........mmmm.



The local croc to be found at the Annan River



Anyway...Helen and Connie told us of a story that happened that morning - their son Gundelby (dont you love that name) had been spearing fish on the point just past the wharf in Cooktown and had just caught a large Coral trout. Suddenly from the depths he saw a dark shape and racing towards him was a large croc with its mouth open...going in for the kill. He shoved the trout at it and swam like hell, scrambling on to the rocks and safety. Needless to say he spent the rest of the day lying around in a daze and I doubt spear fishing will be on the agenda for some time. The reality is that the crocs are here and we need to be careful of that all the time.

We also heard that the Irrikanji are back - one of the local kids got stung up north of here on the weekend and had to be air lifted out by the RFDS. Thank god for the RFDS!

 

But the good things in life are plentiful - the beautiful views we never tire of, the fact that you can leave your car running with the aircon on when you go to the supermarket, you dont have problems finding a car park, there is no fear walking the streets at night, there are still wallabys bouncing around in our garden and the kids are safe riding their bikes all over the place. Lovely Cooktown.

Alkoomie Station - on top of the world!

Here is an article I wrote for the local Cooktown News which featured last week. It was well received by the locals and many of them have never been there. Its part of the new Chamber initiative to support each other locally. V

CLOSER TO HEAVEN THAN EARTH

Alkoomie Station claims it is Closer to Heaven than Earth…. and you would be forgiven for thinking that was the truth. The dirt road that you ascend to reach the homestead on top of Mt Dickson is nothing short of extreme – you need to be fearless or very experienced in a 4 wheel drive to master the, at times, 80% camber of the dirt rd.


What awaits you is the most glorious view and a lovely house set atop the plateau. It’s hard to imagine how anyone could have built such a place at the end of such an amazing road. The front lawn sits on the absolute edge of the escarpment overlooking Cooktown and the Endeavour River and Annan Rivers beyond.

The delightful Merrilyn Holmes makes you feel at home in either the Homestead (sleeps up to 12), self contained unit (sleeps up to 10) or the fully furnished tents (sleeps 6 people). You can self cater or allow Merrilyn to cook for you as you sit under the stars watching the lights of Cooktown in the distance.

As a Cooktown resident, this is a lovely option to ‘get away from it all’ - less than an hour away and it feels like another world. There were new born puppies in the stables, horses and goats roaming quietly under the trees and the opportunity to sit and enjoy the view, swing a golf club into oblivion or swim in the pretty local swimming hole.

Check out the website www.alkoomie.com.au and during the next two months Cook shire locals are being offered a 15% discount up to 20thDecember. Call Merrilyn on 4069 5463 to make a booking and by the way…she will collect you so you don’t have to make that drive yourself!



Toby at Alkoomie Homestead



Strange days & Sorry business

It's an interesting thing up here (or any small community) - you cant hide from anything - the layers fall away and for good and bad, you are left fairly stripped bare.  At the same time you feel like you are savouring more of life than in a city where there are so many layers and anonymity - you can get away from it all.

Sean has been on an incredible journey for the last 16 months and should be writing this himself but doesnt feel he can at present.  His closest work partner - the man representing the farmers of Hope Vale - lost his battle with pancreatic cancer last week having been diagnosed in May. It is a huge loss for Sean as he was the entree and conduit to all families and warring clans of Hope Vale and was a true gentleman and fighter for what he believed in. The bitter sweet of anything like this has been the other friendships Sean has made since Eddie became sick and he is very close to all Eddie's family, brothers and sisters.

So it was a great honour bestowed on Sean last week when he was asked to help the family write the eulogy and then to help the men prepare the body for burial. Aboriginal people up here prepare and bury their own - that is the tradition and Sean found himself on Thursday morning at the Cooktown hospital facing the body of his good friend and mentor, Eddie. Needless to say it was all a 'full-on' experience for the day as they washed and prepared the body, dressed him in his working clothes of shorts and cut off short that Eddie always wore, and placed him in the coffin.

Camping...Cape York style

The funeral (known as Sorry business) was held yesterday in Hope Vale at the Lutheran church which is a lovely weatherboard building with open windows and fans. The first part of the service was an open casket viewing and families were able to say goodbye to Eddie. Unfair when he was only 59. The rest of the service was the dour claptrap of the Lutheran Pastor (sorry for any great believers out there) and the more i listen to this kind of %*?! the less I am a believer. Maybe its because I have sat and listened to a total of 6 hrs of Lutheran sermons in the last 3 months - more than I have been to church in years - and as life takes me along I really question what its all about.  As Sean says if you are going to go to church at least enjoy it - he wants to bring in some gospel singers and liven up the dirges sung by the Lutherans. Not likely I imagine seeing they banned the local Guugu Yimithirr peoples of Hope Vale and region from singing and dancing in the middle of the century, effectively losing much of their cultural heritage, which is passed on that way.



Isabella Falls


Anyway Eddie was buried by his own and every one helped until his grave was filled in and lots of flowers placed on top. Sean BBQ'd a couple of cows (it looked like that much meat) and the community came together to eat and celebrate the life of Eddie. We left and headed up to Normanby station for the night after a bathe in the local Isabella Falls - to wash away the red dust of Hope Vale and the reality that is life....death.



Cooling off



Work in Cooktown

Late afternoon sun is glowing across the Endeavour River, I am stumbling through the back of my house, tripping over piles of leaves gathered by the Brush turkeys and crawling over rocks and through bushes.....all to get to a meeting with the Mayor. It does make me laugh, as I wander along in my thongs, about the dress code and style of meetings in Cooktown as opposed to the big city. Shorts and thongs are ok and if you havent got a tattoo you dont really fit in!


Quandong



The rest of my time at the moment is spent driving 40 kms to a glorious place called Home Rule which sits on Wallaby Creek, a clear fast flowing creek that tumbles over granite rocks...and is crocodile free! Surrounded by the most magnificent wet tropics rainforest with towering trees and vines we see lots of wallaby's, the occassional tree kangaroo and many butterflies and birds.

Native nutmeg

Out there I am still working with the Kuku Nyungkal Rangers and learning heaps about their bubu (country) and their flora and fauna. I find it so difficult to pronounce the words they try and teach me - there is just some way they annunciate things that I dont think any westerner will ever be able to mimic. In return I am doing plans for them regarding Visitor Management and Tourism which is so interesting. 

They take me to sacred sites and show me all the trees that are scar trees where the tribes have in the past cut bark from trees to make shields, bowls, and other weapons, leaving scars on the trees.

Sean came home two days ago with a woomerah to go with his spear, given to him by Neville. He just has to learn how to use it! And catch a mullet!



Sean Creek one of the rangers



AFL - Cape York style

Ok this is a proud mother talking but I am so thrilled about the weekend just gone. Toby was selected as one of only 4 boys in the South East Cape 5 primary schools, aged under 11, to attend a training and selection weekend in Weipa to form a Cape York Under 11's AFL team to compete in Brisbane. Despite being a year too young, he was still selected and asked to head off to Weipa. Tragic mother here couldnt bear for him to attend by himself and luckily Sean's AFL background and interest meant he was able to go as well. So the two of them spent 9 hours in the back of a troopy (troop carrier) each way on dirt rds. Sean can hardly sit down still!

And a good thing that Sean went too...as Toby was one of only 2 white boys out of a group of 30! And he was half their size at least!! Kids came from all over the Cape, many are islander heritage and the others are Aboriginal.

Anyway a great weekend was had by all and these photos tell the story of an amazing experience for him. The AFL people are amazing and spent a lot of time talking about healthy eating, living, respect for each other, no violence etc etc - all good stuff for any 9 year old. He was told at the end that he would have been selected but just couldnt be because of his age - but they're keen to revisit it next near if we are still here. I am very proud but kind of glad - when you look at his skinny little body against some of the other kids well....

Another great experience for him in our Cape York life.

Just another day in the office!

We continue to both experience amazing days up here. Sean arrived home last night at 2am having spent the day several hours north of here on a beach. May sound like heaven and I am sure part of it was, although the bone jarring trip in our old beast which has no aircon, no suspension and no radio, would have been challenging.

He had gone up here to do a recce with some indigenous friends from Hope Vale who run a project for the Hope Vale school kids during the Sept holidays. There will be weaving, spear making, painting and dance workshops and a lovely boat which will take the kids out on trips including visits to Lizard island to do turtle tagging and seagrass monitoring. As this is part of Sean's work we will also be attending these special few days, camping on the beach up there and sharing in the expererience with our kids. More to come when we get back from that.

He then drove back to near Cooktown and then doublebacked onto a rd north to get to Normanby Station. The next set of Secondees, from Westpac arrived on Fri evening and were invited to Normanby station, to meet the TO Ronnie Harrigan and his sons. Some of them are going to do work up there over the next month. Ron and his wife Rosie are amazing people and instilled in their young sons the importance of learning a musical instrument. The result 20 years later is a very popular local aboriginal band called Black Image who played at the closing of our Discovery Festival in June and are just fantastic.

So Sean rocks up, BBQ going, has a chat etc and suddenly two utes turn up with some of the boys - out come the speakers, sound desk and instruments and suddenly in the paddock of the house there is a full on Black Image concert. Sean hopes the secondees, fresh out of their city lives, realise how amazing it is to have that kind of session. They were ofcourse forced to get and dance with Cocky, one of the old giys that helps on the station an good fun was had by all. I wish I had been there!

But more to come from Normanby as they are holding Ronie's 60th Birthday at the station with a concert and ground oven to feed 200 people! I have a sneaking suspicion that some of their good friends, other country music talents, will also be joining in the concert. Looking forward to the 18th Sept!

A Year on...and still here!

I cannot believe that we have been here for one year and one month. It has gone so fast and we have so much still to discover. Two weeks ago I headed to Sydney for the first time since we left, to attend my School Reunion and do some business,visit the dentist and see friends. Nothing had changed which was a nice thing and it was wonderful to see everyone again. It amazed me how quickly I slotted back in to Sydney life, except for my poor feet which suffered terribly from wearing boots and other enclosed shoes, having not worn enclosed shoes for a year!!!

And thats what started me thinking about how different our life is in Cooktown and how quickly we did adapt to the huge change in our life a year ago. When I returned last week, I took off the city clothes, put on the shorts, tshirt and thongs and sat on my verandah and watched the stunning view while listening to the tropical birds flitting about. I realised how truly blessed we have been to end up here - a great town with so much beauty, history and culture.

Our week last week, for example, included Sean returning home on Tuesday with a newly made spear for Mullet fishing (see above) - the season is starting soon - made by one of the fellas that Sean works with. The next day as they were making some more spears, he had Bat for lunch - a real delicacy and favourite of the local people. Mmmmmm.......

This week I started working with the Kuku Nyungkal Rangers - an indigenous land trust who are getting themselves up and running. They hail from the wet tropics rainforest that border the dry tropics just south of Cooktown and this area features the Bennetts Tree kangaroo, Ulysses butterly and according to them some amazingly large black cats (like a Puma) that roam the land. I am helping them set up their business and get things running smoothly ad I will certainly learn a lot from them. Both Sean and I attended a 'warming' ceremony on Wed to ensure we are ok to come and go in their tribal lands without harm from the bad spirits.

Everyday is a new and interesting experience and you learn so much - I need to start blogging more so I dont forget everything we do. In the meantime the kids are well, busy learning piano and guitar, enjoying school and keeping active. Toby has been selected for an AFL team going up to Weipa to play next month so thats exciting. Today was show day here in Cooktown and both won a prize with their entries and had a great

time going on a few rides and enjoying fairy floss. Last night we put on a Bush Dance with a band called the Hillbilly Goats which was great fun - the kids danced all night long! We get it all in Cooktown! xxxx

A Wildlife Wonderland

Once we had dried out a bit from the wet, we took our friends the Fields for a bit of a sightseeing exploration and had ourselves a taste of the wonderful local wildlife. Our favourite Trevethan Falls, made famous nationally for the front cover of the Weekend Australian, was bursting with water and impossible to get too close to or even attempt swimming in the pool below it.

So we tried a bit further down stream and came across the rare and usually nocturnal Tree Kangaroo - two of them - that went bouncing up the trees with their long brown tails hanging down and then sat there watching us. They look like real teddy bears with their little brown ears and bear-like snout. And amongst this amazing sight were the beautiful blue Ulysses Butterflies darting around in the sunshine. Just amazing. The on the way out we ran into (or almost over) old man Lace Monitor - a huge old one by the look of things who then sat in a tree and watched from on high.

After that we headed to Archer Point which is just stunning and it was a clear blue day with vibrant colours. As we stood at the lighthouse watching the world go by we discovered that the sea below us was full turtles and a few dugongs taking their fill from the sea grasses below. Just a magical sight.

To finish the wildlife adventure we headed off to the reef the next day for a spot of fishing and some snorkelling. Cooktown is the closest town to the reef and it doesnt take long to get out there amongst the coral and lovely fish. Toby and his friends Tom and Charlie put down some handlines and not long after Toby had caught something pretty large. After almost taking his hand off with the line he handed it over to the Capt'n who waged battle with what turned out to be a very large shark! As toby is only slight, it was a good thing he didnt end up overboard! After that one of the rods caught something big and fast so we all had a go at reeling that in and managed to land a lovely big Spanish mackeral. Sean went spearing for cray fish and got a huge one so it was a lovely seafood feast that night!

Wet and Wild

Ok...I deserve it. The incessant rain for three weeks I mean. There I was in January and February saying how amazing the wet season was because it wasnt wet at all - just lovely days of sunshine with a few showers thrown in to make it green and lovely. Then the wet season arrived in mid march - just in time for the holidays and for our southern friends to arrive. And when I say wet I mean wet. In total we had just on 2 metres of rain and it was the rainiest season in 70 years or something. Funny thing was it didnt feel that wet at the time - not that much different from those rainy periods in Sydney.

Ofcourse the damage it does to the roads is enourmous and then the council get their graders out just about now and fix up the roads for another year so the tourists etc can come back up and go exploring. The other downside is that with about 98% humidity nothing dries at all. Yuk. Mould/damp etc. I have discovered this weird thing called a Hippo that is a bright pink container you stick in the cupboard and it collects the excess damp in the air. After 3 weeks it was full - a litres worth!!!!! Mmmmmm.....................................

My other memory of our first wet season will always be the night I went to the local Camber of Commerce and Tourism AGM and somehow found myself the President of the damn thing a couple of hours later. So I trot home feeling good about life, step out of the car on our concrete driveway and go slithering into a whole lot of bushes in a most ungracious manner! Oh yes the dreaded moss that had built up made a beautiful skating rink for the new Pres, who definitely came down to earth with a bump!

Anyway.. our lovely friends the Walshs experienced the wet and our inability to take them anywhere as all the roads were awash. The kids didnt mind as they just wanted to do things together and play so that was fine. They got out of here in a hurry back to the delights of Port Douglas before the roads closed.

Then the Fields tried to arrive and at the last minute decided not to take the Bloomfield track (only passable in the truly dry period in a serious 4 wheel drive) in their little white Hyundai (!!!) and opted for the safer inland route. They struck problems on the first day however because the Little Annan river was over and there was no way through. So back to Port D for a night and they made it through the next day.

I have included a couple of pics of the river to show you as whole trees were racing through the water which the day before had been a little trickle. And now that the wet is mostly gone it is lovely and cool and the famous Cooktown wind has returned for the dry season.

The road to Cooktown

My road to Cooktown started on 6th July 2009 when we packed up our Sydney life and took off into the relative unknown. Five days later we would have traversed almost the length of the continent as far as Cairns in our Honda and 7x4 trailer which held our chosen possessions for a year in the tropics.

The interesting thing about heading for Cooktown was the little there is known about the place by the average person, including myself. When I first started to tell friends and acquaintances about us moving to Cooktown, invariably there would be the comment "Wow, New Zealand - that will be cold!" It couldnt be further from the truth although its not as hot as I thought it mught be.

Anyway it turns out that ofcourse Cooktown is famous for Cook - who spent 48 days here while he had the HMB Endeavour repaired after it had run aground on the Great Barrier Reef. It is the sight of the first real encounter and association with the Australian Aboriginal and the place where Sir Joseph Banks collected over 200 specimens of Australian flora that became the famous Banks Floreligium. Anyway enough of the history lesson - there will be more to come of that in other blogs because it is quite simply fascinating stuff.

So back to the trip - during the journey we ran out of petrol in a small dark town and were taken in by the kindness of strangers at 9pm at night. The only room left in the car for the dog was on the passenger's lap and that is where he rode for the 3000 miles. We also managed to squeeze in the espresso machine which has been a daily godsend! Not that these is no coffee here - its perfectly decent and grown locally.

So the most important part of the journey was the final 4 hours between Cairns and Cooktown. In Cairns we enjoyed good food and company and shopped for our final supplies. Although Sean had been to Cooktown it was sight unseen for me and the kids and i really had no idea what to expect.

We set off and the journey was breathtaking. The hills and valleys are still prehistoric in their demeanour - beautiful, remote and untouched by time. There is little between Mareeba and Cooktown - two roadhouses - Palmer River and Mt Carbine and two towns, Mt Molloy and Lakeland.

There is so much history however as Palmer River is the sight of the Gold Rush of the 1870's when Cooktown, as the closest sea port, swelled to a polulation of more than 30,000 people. Other than a few old pictures and some chunks of gold at the Roadhouse there is little to show for the huge numbers that flocked to this place to make their fortune.

The road to Cooktown from Cairns has only been bitumen for 3 years. Amazing to think of the journey which now takes 4 hours and used to take 8. In the wet season the road would subside and disappear under water for much of it and people would always travel prepared for the possibility of camping somewhere overnight.

Along the road there are lots of animals - cattle and wild horses are everywhere and ofcourse the wallabies come out at dusk. Occasionally you will see some other creature like an echidna, Coucal pheasant and even some ducks......yes on the trip back from Cairns yesterday there were 4 white ducks (think Jemima) walking along the middle of the road. Dont ask me why but after 8 months here nothing suprises me. Which is why I wanted to share with you the journey which never ceases to delight in its wild beauty.

I was amused at Lakeland when we drove through the other day, there was a bit of a buzz - there is a new truck washdown bay (which for those not up to speed with Aussie bush life) is designed to wash off nasty seeds and pests that might stick to a truck and be carried intra or interstate. Fireweed is a major problem apparently.

I should have taken a photos but picture a gravel road siding on the outskirts of town (town is a pub, a school, a cafe and petrol pump and maybe 4 houses) with nothing around and a concrete platform with small tanks either side. Well they had an official opening with Local MP's, the Mayor and various local business members. Hilarious! I thought it was anyway...the grand opening of a truck wash down bay. God I love the outback - any excuse will do.

Anyway after 4 days in Cairns you will be pleased to know that I was thrilled to be back in Cooktown with all its natural beauty and sleepy seaside feel. The boys have gone off fishing and I am catching up on work and cleaning.......bye for now.

A grey day becomes a Blog inspiration

The other night I hired the DVD Julie and Julia with Merryl Streep and finally got over my fear about getting on with this blog. I have had the site almost ready to go for at least 6 mths of the 8 that we have now lived in Cooktown, but was concerned about the reality of actually sending it off on a regular basis with something of interest to say.

The thing is that up here, the life we live is so interesting that I actually havent had the time to sit down much and record all the amazing experiences we are having. Anyway...enough prevaricating! Lets get on with it and let me share with you some of our adventures.

Today is a cool, windy and grey day with intermittent showers. Rare in this beautiful place. It is now the middle of March and supposedly we have been in the 'wet' season or monsoon season since December. In all it has probably rained for about 6 days in that time. Far less than in Sydney I can tell you. It occasionally rains in the night for a short time but thats about it. The only thing I have noticed is that the humidity is so high here that even with temps of 32 celcius the clothes dont dry if it has rained and they are on the line.

Yes, sweat is a major issue here - it is hot and sweaty although temps have never gone over 34 celsius. I have never done so much washing in my life - changes of clothes and showers a couple of times a day - but boy does it do wonders for your skin! Like a permanent facial! Speaking of facials, a friend has a dam at her farm which has such amazing fine mud in it that she has given her friends jars of the stuff and we all sit around with mud on our faces. Not sure if it works but it is pretty funny!

I am sitting looking out at the view that you see on the site - its not that colour every day - but that photo is un-edited. That day for some reason, the colours were exactly what you see and I raced out with my camera to capture this image.

The other photo for this week is of the Cooktown orchid - a very beautiful but rare flower found in this area but not often seen anymore. People started stealing them from the Botanic gardens and roadsides so those that know where they are, dont reveal their whereabouts. The other thing is that they dont normally appear until May but this little beauty appeared in late January.

Ok now that I have got over the hiccup of getting going with this Blog, I feel like I could write for ages so I will sign off now and start on the second one which I will send next week.
Thanks for reading..............