Thorsborne Trail: Hinchinbrook Island, Cassowary Coast

​​​​​​​The Thorsborne trail trip really started as a stroke of luck or multiple, at least for Tristan and me.

It began when I just so happened to walk in between our two workmates' conversation about Hinchinbrook Island, ever keen for an adventure opportunity, I poked my nose in and came away with an offer as the backup just in case one of the two boys who had first dibs dropped out. Fast forward a few months and both of them can’t go, sensing a good chance, I said my mate and coworker of everybody on the trip would be a great add-on, they already had the same idea and instantly agreed under one condition, that Tris was an experienced multi-day hiker. Assuring them of such, backing away, and then running upstairs to tell Tris that he might need to lie his pants off for his first multi-day hike of a lifetime.

The whole crew got their next stroke of luck when, with some smooth talking by our resident work mum and silver tongue Lynne, we all were provided with new gear from our benevolent lords at Wild Earth management and marketing (love you guys).

 

Ronan's Big Agnes Parkview 63L Pack and Big Agnes Track Pack

 

So we came up with some inspired shopping lists, expecting maybe half of what we wanted, instead of being given the lot. The general mood was that of kids let loose in the lolly aisle, with what felt like an unlimited budget. We all snagged ourselves new backpacks and I personally got a new cooking stove, jacket, water filter, towel, and tick-related first aid. The last was fortunately unnecessary, but a comfort to have in the pack. 

Now we’ve got the background out of the way onto the...

Logistics:

As any budding adventurer will tell you planning is the real meat and potatoes of a trip. Luckily for Tris and I being last-minute tagalongs, the lion's share of planning was done by Lynne and Tash, probably a blessing in disguise as my planning style consists of two words "bugger" and "it". To acknowledge the efforts of the smarter half of the journey I’ll list what was planned without any input from us lazy half:

• Accommodation both before and after the hike
• Permits and campsites, dates and fees
• Transport to and from the island out of Cardwell 
• Fuel for cookstoves provided by our transport to the island
• Maps and tide times
• Essentially the whole trip

...And probably much more I’m missing. Now in contrast here is Tristan and I’s contribution:

• Transport to Cardwell from Brisbane and back, only for Tristan and I

…Yeah the boys!

So with that done, we sat around chomping at the bit until the day of departure. When it finally came, we drove up to Brisbane, dropped the car at my Mum’s place, got a lift to Roma Street station, and caught the train. Just a quick, loose twenty-hour jaunt aboard the Spirit of Queensland (previously Sunlander for the oldies). It passed surprisingly quickly with a combination of books, conversations with strangers and fitful sleep, most importantly however was the multiple cups of tea and slabs of lamington to keep morale high. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The train dumped us at the vaguely historic-looking Cardwell Rail Station (stopping by appointment only la-di-dah!) and into the tropic heat of a North Queensland Winter, not to be confused with the Hell-hath-no-fury heat of a North Queensland Summer.  We checked in at our accommodation for the night, delightedly finding out we’d catch the last day of the Cardwell UFO festival upon our return, meeting with Lynne and Tash, going over the usual last minutes and having a drink while watching the sunset dappling the island in gold. 

 

The Island:

We were taken to the island by Brad from Hinchinbrook Island Cruises, who I can’t recommend more, he had some great tips about the hike, and a portfolio of tide times, maps, and other goodies that would come in handy. A ripper of a boat ride landed us in the mangroves behind Ramsay Bay. Hinchinbrook Island has one of the world's most diverse mangrove forests, with an estimated twenty-seven to thirty separate species of mangrove tree, even after 2011’s cyclone Yasi. Ramsay Bay is also an excellent spot to go beachcombing for fossilised crabs, the eastern side of Hinchinbrook lies on a sea current which has plenty of interesting ocean detritus washing up so it’s worth keeping your eyes open when wandering the beach. 

We had five days on the island overall, and with the Thorsborne Trail only being thirty-two kilometres we could afford to take it leisurely. Most groups do it in four, some runners in one day. The first great attraction is the scale-up Nina Peak, offering excellent views of Mount Bowen, the tallest mountain on the island, and views back towards the mangrove forests. It’s steep in places but the beaut views make it worth the price of admission.

 

 

A game of ISpy, can you spy 30 different mangrove species? Because I sure can’t.

 

The main campsites on Hinchinbrook are well put together, most having drop dunnies, not-too-far walks to running-croc-safe water, and bag racks to stop the nocturnal melomys from chewing their way into your food, though you may still hear them trying. They also benefit from being placed in spots near ripper views, the parks crew and Thorsbornes knew what they were doing. 

Night one had us at Little Ramsay Bay, which had Mount Bowen rising directly above us close enough to touch. Mount Bowen has the honour of being one of Australia’s few mountains where you genuinely start walking from sea level. The main track up Bowen leaves from this campground, up the creek and onto a saddle. That hike needs a separate permit from Parks staff, one we didn’t have so we were left to gaze at the cliffs and saddles and dream of next time. 

A mix of wetland and swamp crosses the track, which can range from awful to bone dry. Two hot rainless days before our crossing had us cheering, barely getting up to knee-high mud, which was a relief after hearing horror stories about near swims in deluges of swamp. We got out just in time as later that night the rain started. By this time we were nicely, warmly bundled in our tents. 

A rest day followed in which we wandered the beaches, swam at Zoe Falls and generally relaxed. One of us joked that day that we’d probably walked more distance combing the beach than we had actually walked the track two days previous! The rain came back in properly around midday just as Tristan had laid his entire set of clothes out to dry after washing them in the creek, bully for him! Left with just a t-shirt and a pair of jogging shorts he was savaged by the sandflies.

 

 A couple came in that night and told us of the swamp in the wet, which had flash flooded that day and left them wading through mud. It was a nice lesson in preparedness as they’d left camp late with barely enough time to make it to the next camp before dark. The trail isn’t difficult but will remind you that it's still in remote bush if it gets the chance.

 

 

The track onwards from Zoe Falls was probably my favourite section of the whole trail. A staggering amount of biome changes happen in very little time, and the mountains on the southern side of the island have a glorious stark look to them. At one point we walked from the rainforest into dry high scrubland and had to actually stop for a minute and take in how quickly the flora changed. Our resident birder Lynne was in her element in the rainforest sections and would educate us on any bird calls we heard. The favourite of which was the Noisy Pitta, whose calls we would mimic by crying out “Walk to work!” 

This section also takes you through the Diamantena Creek, which has the startling nom de plume of the Disaster Creek, just like the swamp though fortune favoured us and we rock hopped across without even dipping a toe. Mulligans Falls was agreed on as the more spectacular of the two falls walked by on the trail, despite being less popularised, which was a pleasant surprise. It was also chock full of Jungle perch which made it fun to stick your head underwater and into a school of curious fish. 

After this the trail led us to George Point where we initially were to spend the last night, before changing our mind after being warned by Boat-Tour Brad that it was “bloody awful”, he was right, at a quick gander it looked like a windy miserable spot to spend a night and we were glad to have skipped it.  

 

A boat ride back, ticking off the end of the UFO festival, then a twenty-hour train ride in reverse brought us back to the familiar mountains at home. The drive to work the next morning had me blinking wondering if the trip ever actually happened or if I just dreamed it while staring out the windows pretending to work (for legal purposes this is a joke). 

We’ve definitely got plans to go back and attack the bevy of side trips and other multi-day jaunts on the island. Though a short walk, the Thorsborne felt like an epic until you truly take in the scale of the place on the boat ride back and realise that you’ve hardly nicked the surface of the place. A croc sighting was on the bucket list and we got nothing this time, so we have to go back for that at the very least. 
 

The book by the Thorsbornes (Hinchinbrook Island; the land time forgot) is excellent, and I highly recommend taking the time to find a copy to flick through. I only got to read it in the Cardwell library after the walk and everything I read made me wish I had it beforehand.

Truly thankful to Lynne, Tash and Wild Earth for making these shenanigans possible. Can’t wait to do it again.

 

Gear:

• Pack: Big Agnes Parkview 63L Hiking Pack
• Sleeping System: Big Agnes Zoom UL Sleeping Mat and a busted old duct taped 70s fairydown bag!
• Shelter: MSR Elixir 2 Person Tent
• Cookware: MSR XGK Hiking Stove, Military disposal billy, Dessert spoon from home cutlery draw
• Hydration: 2x 1L bottles, Platypus 2L Gravity Works Filter
• Clothing: Patagonia Granite Crest Waterproof Jacket, Patagonia Better Sweater Jacket, 2x long sleeve shirts, 2x shorts, 1x long pants, socks and undies
• Tech: Goal Zero Mini Lantern, GoPro Camera

Weight all up, roughly 10 - 11 kg!

 

Are you ready to hike the Thorsborne Trail? Visit us in-store to chat with our experts or shoot us a message online if you have any questions! Don’t forget to share your adventures with us on Instagram by tagging @wildearthaustralia and #mywildearth in your next post.

 

About the contributor:

Ronan is Wild Earth's Backorder and Stock Control Specialist. He has the outdoors in his genes, coming from a family of avid adventurers - he loves nothing more than escaping to the mountains whenever he can. Spending his childhood camping and hiking has led to a life thriving on being active in any and all national parks he can find. He longs for his next adventure, constantly planning his next great getaway, there’s always a new adventure on the horizon. Whether it’s rock climbing with the crew at local gyms or escaping into the hinterland and getting off the beaten path to find his own track - you’ll be struggling to pin him down in one spot for long!