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