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Taxiing over the highway<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Departing Hell's Gate<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Doomadgee<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Nicholson River<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nI performed a quick landing at Doomadgee, and then took off and headed east to Burketown. I stopped at Burketown to refuel from their self-service fuel bowser, a rare one which took credit cards instead of needing a specific card from the fuel supplier. This done, I flew north out towards the Gulf of Carpentaria, coasting out over the crocodile-filled waters and making my way towards Sweers Island. This 8km long island is part of the South Wellesley group in the gulf, and today supports a recreational fishing camp.<\/p>\n\n\n
Looking towards the Gulf of Carpentaria<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Coastal wetlands<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Lots of 'crocs down there<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Gulf of Carpentaria islands<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Approach to Sweers Island<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Parked at Sweers Island<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe camp had already closed down operations for the season, but the caretakers had answered the phone and invited me to drop in for a visit. Two men met me on arrival, one in a pick-up truck and one on a quad bike, and welcomed me to the island. I hopped into the pick-up, and we set off for a tour around the island. We started off at an old lime kiln, which still had old equipment scattered abandoned around it. It was dug out of a hill, and on climbing up to the top one could enjoy great views over the scrub-covered island. We returned to the truck and headed to the beach, driving along the waterfront to visit an old cave near the northern end of the island. <\/p>\n\n\n
Lime kiln<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>View over Sweers Island<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Abandoned equipment<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Sweers Island beach<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>My guide<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Visiting the cave<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nSweers Island has a long history, having its western name bestowed in 1802 by explorer Matthew Flinders. Flinders was circumnavigating the continent in the sloop HMS Investigator to map the coastline and determine whether Australia was one large continent, or divided by a waterway between the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Great Australian Bight. In the late 1800s, the settlement of Burketown was relocated from the mainland to the island in an attempt to escape an epidemic, now suspected to be typhoid fever.<\/p>\n\n\n
Sweers Island beach<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Birds on the beach<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Camp outbuildings<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Best licence plate<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe old cave still bore graffiti carved into the walls by visitors in the 1800s. After checking this out we drove back along the beach to the fishing camp, where I met the wives and we enjoyed tea and biscuits before they drove me back to the airstrip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I set off east across the Gulf of Carpentaria towards the shore, coasting in at Karumba where I carried out a touch and go. This town used to be a refueling and maintenance stop for the flying boats of Qantas Empire Airways. I followed this up by another at the nearby airport of Normanton and then turned north to follow the eastern shores of the Gulf, to the airport at Pormpuraaw.<\/p>\n\n\n Pormpuraaw was originally set up in 1938 as the Edward River Mission. The Anglican Church managed the area for almost 30 years, until in 1967 the Department of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs took over the running of the community. The ERSA flight guide warns that only the airport itself counts as public property, and that permission from the Shire Council is required to access anywhere outside of it. This came across as pretty unwelcoming, so I kept within the fence to stretch my legs a bit, and was on my way again after a few minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n I continued up the beautiful Queensland coastline, flitting over the turquoise water and pondering the number of salt water crocodiles who were probably hanging out below me. Fortunately Planey’s engine kept running smoothly and I did not make their acquaintance. I performed a landing at the airport of Weipa, just for the fun of it, before carrying on to the north towards the tip of Queensland and the islands which lie beyond it. Departing Weipa I flew over an area of enormous dirt roads, with giant dump trucks and other machinery running back and forth along them. These appeared to be the Rio Tinto Bauxite mines; the company has rights to an astonishing 10,000 square km (4,000 square miles) in the area. They produce more than 15 million tonnes of ore a year from the sites.<\/p>\n\n\n My final stop for the day was Horn Island. This island serves as the gateway to the Torres Strait islands, between Australia and Papua New Guinea. The population of Horn Island itself is just over 500, with most of the local residents basing themselves on the adjacent Thursday Island which has a population of around 3,000 and is a tourist destination. I had arrived at rush hour; a Qantas flight had just landed and multiple small commuter aircraft were buzzing in and out. I followed a Britten Norman Islander aircraft in to land and taxied to the ramp, pausing to give way to another Islander taxiing outbound. All the Torres Strait Islanders from the Qantas flight were dispersing to multiple small aircraft scattered across the ramp, ready to give them heavily-subsidised rides (up to $4,800 per year per person, courtesy of the Australian taxpayer) back to their villages. One Britten Norman Islander had just two people boarding it!<\/p>\n\n\n I had chosen a room at a small hotel on Horn Island, close to the ferry. They collected me from the airport and drove me the 20 minutes to town. I settled into my little cabin before going for a walk; there wasn’t much to see, apart from the supermarket, so I made my way back to the hotel for dinner and turned in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next morning I woke early to get the first ferry of the day across to Thursday Island. It wasn’t busy; the only other passengers were an elderly man and a young mother with her child. The crossing was short and offered great views of both islands. Soon we were pulling into the pier at Thursday Island and I set out to explore. <\/p>\n\n\n As well as a general look around, my main target was to visit the old fort on top of Green Hill (imaginatively named, “Green Hill Fort”). I set off down the street by the waterfront of this little island, past a young family with children playing on the beach, and admired the old timber colonial-style buildings as I walked. I followed the road around the waterfront past the island’s hospital and Bach Beach, circling Green Hill Fort but with no obvious way to get up to it. Eventually I decided to head cross-country and followed a concrete drainage ditch up the hill; it eventually intersected with a gravel road which led to the top of the hill and the fort located there.<\/p>\n\n\n The fort was constructed between 1891 and 1893 in response to the “Russian scare” of 1885 where Britain and Russia came close to war, as well as to colonial expansion in the region by other European powers. Most of the Australian states, and Great Britain, all contributed to the project. The garrison was withdrawn in 1926, with the fort being briefly reactivated as the headquarters for Allied forces in the Torres Strait from 1942 to 1945. It has not been used for military activities since, and is now managed by the Torres Strait Regional Authority as an historic site.<\/p>\n\n\n I walked back down the hill, with the route being much more obvious from the top. I had planned to visit the Gab Titui cultural center near the ferry pier, but despite the published hours they had apparently decided not to open today. Instead then I went to buy a smoothie, and then ran for the ferry as they’d taken a very long time to make the drink for me! After a short ferry ride back across to Horn Island I walked back to the hotel and collected my bags, before being given a lift back to the airport.<\/p>\n\n\nKarumba<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Gulf of Carpentaria<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Coastal wetlands<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Normanton<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Gulf of Carpentaria<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Pormpuraaw airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nMural at Pormpuraaw<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Pormpuraaw<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Pormpuraaw has a pretty cool logo<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nQueensland coast<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Weipa airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Mission river<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Rio Tinto bauxite mines<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Rio Tinto bauxite mines<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Rio Tinto bauxite mines<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nCoastline north of Weipa<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Approaching the Torres Strait<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Parked at Horn Island<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Horn Island<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nHorn Island pier<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Boat ride to Thursday Island<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Thursday Island<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Thursday Island pier<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThursday Island turtle<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Thursday Island settlement<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Thursday Island settlement<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Thursday Island Harbour<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Thursday Island settlement<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>View from Green Hill<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nGreen Hill Fort<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Green Hill Fort<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>View of the settlement<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n