The Bloomfield Track

Rover was needing a bit of a run to work off some energy, so we decided to treat him to the Bloomfield track, north of Cape Tribulation.  It is the wild coastal link road to Cooktown.  There is a more sedate inland route. Chatted with one of the laid back locals to get some inside info and learned there was a swimming hole not far along. You won't see any grey nomads, he assured us, they're gone thank God. We were relieved he didn't place us in this category. He went on, they were all through a month back, drivin' past here at a hundred or more with their camper trailers, comin' back from the Cape, her all dusted up looking like she's over it, him lookin' grim, racin' to get her home. He painted such a vivid picture, we had to laugh. What yer drivin', he enquired. Oh you won't have any trouble in that thing, he assured us. They always refer to Rover as "That thing".  What's that all about? Have we bought the world's most hated 4WD?

I can confidently say the swimming hole at Emmagen Creek is the nearest thing to Shangri La that we are ever likely to enjoy. Picture this, a little walk through pristine warm, shady rainforest alive with birds and you come onto a tiny sunny, sandy beach, with a big old dry log just there to sit on while you tear your clothes off. No one else is there. You hear the gentle tinkle of water over rocks to your left and to your right. In front of you is a large, deep, clear cool emerald coloured pool, sprinkled with yellow leaves from the rainforest trees arching overhead. Tiny fish investigate you while you sit in the shallows in the sun. Then you slip further into the water and swim over to the mossy, ferny green bank opposite, where there appears a small hole -  a platypus tunnel? The water is deep but there is a huge submerged log to stand on while you look above to the leaves and birds and blue sky. Patches of sunlight shaft through the water to the rounded stones of the bottom of the creek. If this sounds like one of those relaxation exercise scripts, then so be it. That's just what it was like. The camera had secreted itself in the car, of course, so we have no proper photos, just these mobile phone images.

As we were leaving a German group arrived.  We could hear them giggling unrestrainedly as they tore off their clothes.  It was that kind of place.

 The Bloomfield track was not nearly as challenging as a 4WD exercise as some others we have encountered. Just a walk in the  park for Rover. But we enjoyed climbing the steep Donovan Range and fording a few creeks. This one is lovely Tachalbadja Creek. Apparently they rise swiftly by metres in flash floods in the wet season.

By early afternoon we had reached Stingray Bay. This is the quintessential "rainforest meets the sea" kind of beach.

Coconut palms, hibiscus, all sorts of lovely plants, right up to the high tide mark.

The tide was just coming in and starting to submerge the stilts of the mangroves.

These coastal survivors are amazing plants.

The looping roots form a tangle that makes habitat for all kinds of baby critters. Seventy percent of Australia's fish start out in mangrove nurseries.

See the richness of the sand dwelling community in the intertidal area. You don't get this where beach driving is permitted.

Stingray Bay marks the northernmost point of our travels. At this magical place, we turned the vehicle around, and started back down the road, heading south.