Hinchinbrook Island: Thorsborne Track

Hinchinbrook Island is the largest national park island in the world and is accessed via boat from either Lucinda or Cardwell (Lucinda is 96 km from Townsville). We chose to stay overnight out the back of the Halifax Hotel which cost us the price of a beer and was conveniently located a 5-minute drive from Lucinda which is where we left for Hinchinbrook Island. The hotel had a pool (and slide) that we were free to use too.

Hinchinbrook is a haven for outdoor enthusiasts and offers day walks, multi-day hikes, swimming holes, waterfalls, fishing, wildlife, and boating. The island also has a protected species of fish called Jungle Perch which you see in some rocky swimming holes. The Thorsborne track is only 32km, however as this island is a total gem, to get the most out of the hike it is recommended hikers take a minimum of 3-nights,4 days on the trail. This is what we did.

Day 1 – Ramsey Bay to Little Ramsey Bay, 6.5km

We took Absolute North Charters from Lucinda to Hinchinbrook Island where we hiked the Thorsborne Track. Our book ride from Lucinda to the start of the trail took 1.5 hours (75km). John (the owner, and skipper) was a real top bloke and was full of local knowledge! On the way out we were told of a few off-track places to visit along the way (and when finding out we had a cheap Big-W mesh tent, John lent us his tent for the hike!) It was quite a windy, bumpy boat ride out to the start of the trail. A broken boat seat later, we arrived at the estuary side of Ramsey Bay with tingling windburnt skin. It was here we began our walk from the mangroves to Ramsey Bay beach.

Above: John leaving as we begin our hike.

The track itself was straightforward and well-graded which helped alleviate the wet-heat-induced exhaustion – we were now in tropical north Queensland. About half-way along todays track, there was an off-track to Nina Peak. Here, we dropped our packs at the bottom and ventured up the unmarked track to the peak. It was a tough hike up (again, it was hot) but we were greeted with vast, picturesque views over the island, the maze-like mangrove estuary we came in through, and the track ahead of us. There was a cool breeze up there too which was very welcomed.

After descending the peak, we walked through some more tall forest and mangrove areas before popping out at Nina Bay. From Nina Bay, it was a 2.5km walk along the rocky headlands and beach to reach Little Ramsey Bay.

Little Ramsey Bay was where we had our first night. We were welcomed to our campsite by a bright warning sign reminding us that Crocodiles inhabit these areas and to camp well away from waterways. This was quite the ordeal for us; we were ‘croc environment virgins’ and the best camp-spots were already taken. We spent quite some time walking from camp spot to camp spot looking for the best spot to pitch the tent. As the camp spot was in the middle of a creek and ocean, we had to weigh up the proximity to both the incoming tide from the ocean and creek. In addition, we had a sweet easterly breeze keeping the midgies and mozzies away so were wanting a camp spot with somewhat of a breeze. In the end, we decided on a spot further from the water, but which sadly had a minimal breeze.

After setting up our camp spot and swatting away bugs, we sat down by the ocean (not too close though!) and watched the moon. The beach offered the best easterly breezes and least blood-sucking bugs.

Above: leg day 1

Day 2 – Little Ramsey Bay to Zoe Falls campground, 10.5km

After taking enough water with us to last day 1, it was today we discovered our water filter was broken. It was time to brave drinking from the creeks and waterfalls. Rachel was skeptical of this after getting sick (for 15 days) after the Dusky Track in NZ which is supposed to have some of the cleanest water on earth. With no other option, we drank the water from the available fast-flowing streams/waterfalls and it's now safe to say the water was all good to drink.

Today featured beach walking, rock hopping, tall forests, creek crossings, and swimming. More importantly, though, today was the day we were on the lookout for 'blue pools' and a waterfall that John (our skipper) had told us to venture off the path to. We were told once we get to Cyprus Pine Creek to walk upstream for about 50m to find a 'hidden' blue pool that we could swim in. Then, once we reached the pool, the creek would split in 2; to our left, there would be a large flat rock and behind that, a creek that leads to a waterfall after about 40 minutes walking upstream. Sounds pretty simple right?

On this day there were quite a few creek crossings, some dry creeks, some trickling ones, and then some flowing ones. We knew Cyprus creek would be the 4th flowing creek we got to and so, we began walking upstream at the 4th flowing creek. We did get to a pool after wading hip-high water. Here is the pool we found:

We walked upstream, up the dry creek bed, and turned left at the fork of the creek, but we were feeling very skeptical about this 'blue pool' and there were no flat rocks to be seen. After a while longer we decided to call it quits and began back on the main track.

It was only a matter of 100m before we reached a faster flowing creek and after walking 50m upstream here realized this was the real Cyprus Pine Creek. Here is the real 'blue pool':

We gave the waterfall a miss after already venturing off to find a non-existent one at the previous creek and continued on along the path after a quick dip at the blue pool.

Before long we had arrived at Zoe Bay and walked to the southernmost point where the campground was situated. We were the first to arrive today (surprisingly) so had the pick of camp spots. After setting up we walked a further 650m from the campground to Zoe Falls and spent a while swimming here. Marcus was very taken by the Jungle Perch here and fed them several March Flies that were quickly swatted upon landing on us. We also filled up our water bottles here.

The afternoon was spent walking the beach and sifting through the millions of varied, beautiful shells on the beach, with that same sweet easterly breeze to keep the bugs at bay.

Above: day 2 leg

Day 3 - Zoe Falls campground to Mulligan Falls, 7.5km

Before climbing 260m up the side of Zoe Falls, we stopped off at Zoe Falls pool for a dip. (We saw a friendly tree snake on our way this morning) Marcus had collected several March Flies between dusk and dawn and was excited to feed his new fish friends breakfast. Here he is in the morning with his fly collection (6 flies) and container:

Below: Marcus attracting the Jungle Perch when cleaning our pot used to cook our breakfast oats. Lots of fish!

At the summit of Zoe Falls, there are a multitude of infinity pools and rock pools to swim in so we put our packs down, once again, and spent some time exploring these. It was pretty magical up here!

The rest of the day was spent hiking up to a summit through a lot of thick, tall bush, and then back down to the campsite in the sticky, stale air and midday sun. We passed both groups of fellow hikers on our way through and after a sweaty day of hiking arrived at Mulligan Falls campsite. This was a scenic spot right next to the Falls (we could hear them all night). Our afternoon was spent down by the falls, swimming, chatting to other hikers, and once again being entertained by the Jungle Perch.

Above: hiking track day 3

Below: Mulligans Falls and camp

We had a pretty horrid sleep this night - the ground was hard and bumpy. But you win some, you lose some.

Day 4 – Mulligan Falls to George Point, 7.5km

Today was our final day and were getting picked up at noon. However, we had to time a creek crossing 3km from our pick up point (George Point) for 11-11:30 am so as to not cross it when the water was too high. #crocalert

Above: creek crossing at half low tide

It was a pretty cruisy day, we had a slow morning down by the falls and then started on our way at 9:30 am. Today we walked about 4km through the rainforest and then 3.5km along the beach. We got to the creek crossing an hour early so enjoyed a relax under the trees before crossing. No need to increase our chances of a croc encounter today.

We arrived at George point right as John was arriving (11;30am) and were soon on our way back to Lucinda. The boat ride back took 5 minutes. After returning John's tent in 1 piece (we only had one fluffy mouse peek in) we spent some time talking about the flora and fauna on the island.

Did you know: Jungle Perch don't mature until they are 30 years old and are very adept at fish social skills so we were told. During heavy rains, they swim downstream to lay their eggs and then have to wait until the next heavy rains to swim back upstream to the rock pools below the falls. I can only imagine how tiring that would be!

We traveled down the road to the Lucinda Hotel for a free shower and hot meal before continuing up to the Atherton Tablelands.

Rating out of 5: 5 out of 5*