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Lakefield to Iron Range


FNQ Marcus

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Claire and I went on a long overdue holiday up to Cape York this July. So did evryone else in Australia who owned a four wheel drive!

Good thing was, we had pre-booked private camping spots in national parks, so we could avoid the bogans and grey-nomads.

As a resullt we had a great week and saw lots of amazing stuff. Some of this stuff was palmy.

First stop was Lakefield National Park.

Lots of Corypha utan. They were everywhere - on the edges of lagoons, in rainforest, in open forest, swamps, grassy plains. Still didn't get bored of seeing them though.

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Next stop - Oyala Thumotang National Park.

I think we were the only people here. We drove around for an hour checking out other canping sites and found no one. Not a soul. So we had the whole place to ourselves. Can't complain about that.

Only saw one species of palm here. A Livistona.

And as I can't tell the difference between a L. jonesii and a L.smithii I'd say it was probably Livistona benthamii

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Most Northen stop was Lakefield national park

Lots of plant stuff to see here, and I'll have to sneak in a couple of non-palm pics. :)

My favourite ( I have 11 of these planted in the garden) Caryota albertii (C.rumphiana)

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Lots of Calamus warburgii.

It one of the best looking calamus in Australia, and thi species only bit me once during our walks. So it has a better manners than most.

The Pandanus is pandanus zea. The big specimens had amazing stilt roots.

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Then there was this thing.......

It's probably something obvious, but I'm blank. Calamus?

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www.sheoakridge.com
Our private nature reserve in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Too much rain in the Wet season and not enough in the Dry. At least we never get frost.

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Okay, a couple sneaky non palm plant pics.

Ant plants were everywhere at iron Range. We got all excited when we saw the first one, but soon got over the excitement.

However Claire got this nice shot of two species together. Myrmecodia sp.

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And at Chilli Beach we found this monsterous tree that not giving up even thoug it had fallen and a few roots were still in the sand. From memory it was a Calopyllum inophyllum, but then again, it's late...

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There were also Cocos palms

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And finally a typical view over a lagoon in Lakefiled national park during sunset.

No people, but lots of crocodiles and birds. Just the way we like it.

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www.sheoakridge.com
Our private nature reserve in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Too much rain in the Wet season and not enough in the Dry. At least we never get frost.

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Fabulous Marcus, hope to see lots more. I think that Livistona may be meulleri. More Corypha pics please.

Happy Gardening

Cheers,

Wal

Queensland, Australia.

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I agree, look forward to more pic's!

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Yes. Looking forward to more pics. I've always wondered what's up there in Iron Range etc.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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I only looked at these pics last night (in the middle of the night, bad sleep) on my mobile, now I can view them enlarged on my computer, oh my, I reckon these belong in the main forum , that tree on Chilli beach is unbelievable, look at the Cocos nucifera all around it as well, I hope you don't mind I'd like to share this photo and use it as my desktop, what a cracker !

Happy Gardening

Cheers,

Wal

Queensland, Australia.

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We don't hear much about what the Cape York Peninsula is like, so I'm really enjoying this post. How far north from the Cooktown area did you drive? How far can one drive? Is there a decent road all the way to the north tip of the peninsula? All photos and comments appreciated.

Hawaii Island (Big Island), leeward coast, 19 degrees N. latitude, south Kona mauka at approx. 380m (1,250 ft.) and about 1.6 km (1-mile) upslope from ocean.

 

No record of a hurricane passing over this island (yet!).  

Summer maximum rainfall - variable averaging 900-1150mm (35-45") - Perfect drainage on black volcanic rocky soil.  

Nice sunsets!

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Judging by the number of cars on the road, I kind of thought everyone from Palmtalk was up there last week.

No worries, I'll put up more pics tomorrow morning seeing as people are keen.

Wall, I don't mind where these pics end up as long as no one tries to claim them as their own.

And I was going off the National parks species list when I id'd that Livistona, but I'll double check that I was using the right list for that park.

Al, There is a dirt road all the way to the most northern tip, but you need a 4x4 or a borrowed 4x2. We stopped about one days drive south of the tip at a National Park called Iron Range because we only had 6 days to do the trip, but to see the whole area I would say you need at least two weeks and a very reliable car. Claire and I only called this a "recon trip"

Okay, more pics tomorrow.

zzzzz. zzzz. zzzz

www.sheoakridge.com
Our private nature reserve in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Too much rain in the Wet season and not enough in the Dry. At least we never get frost.

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Okay. Part two of our cape york trip.

Firstly some more Corypha pics ( As this is a palm forum and I don't want any warnings yet)

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I was amazed to see them growing so out in the open.

This pic was taken in an area called the Nifold plains in Lakefield National park.

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Good bird life. These are Brolga.

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You can only get to some places in the dry season, because the ground is too soft to drive on in the wet season.

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I like dragon flies,

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Both these were from the same national park.

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www.sheoakridge.com
Our private nature reserve in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Too much rain in the Wet season and not enough in the Dry. At least we never get frost.

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All the national park camping sites are close to water, this mkes for some very nice pics. This was our view from our lone camp site on Horseshoe lagoon.

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Like these waterlilies at sunset.

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Only Problem is you can't get too close to the water because there are Crocodiles everywhere. Some are the freshwater species, these are okay to hang out with, but then there are also the "salties" which also live in freshwater and will eat you if given a chance. We love em both.

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In the sandstone country around Lura there is also some excelent rock art. It's good to have a look at and remind yourself that this place has been home to people for a very long time. Not just the last 200 years.

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www.sheoakridge.com
Our private nature reserve in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Too much rain in the Wet season and not enough in the Dry. At least we never get frost.

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We spent a day at Oyala Thumotang National park. I think we were the only ones there!

The road in - note the Palms on the road sides.

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Once again an exclusive waterfront camp site. This time at the racist sounding "Chong Swamp"

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There was some nice bird life here - Blue Wing Kookaburra

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And Lots more drgonflies.

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www.sheoakridge.com
Our private nature reserve in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Too much rain in the Wet season and not enough in the Dry. At least we never get frost.

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This is the Travel Logs area Marcus, no probs with non palmy pics, in fact all your good palm photos deserve to be in the main forum they are superb. That camp spot near the crocs could be a little worrying for some, like me. :D

It's great reading, this is a recon I would gladly undertake, and I know some other friends of mine would also be interested in a palm tree mission up there.

Thanks for the effort of posting, much appreciated, can never get enough of NQ.

Happy Gardening

Cheers,

Wal

Queensland, Australia.

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Our Destination was Iron Range National Park.

Some people didn't make it all the way. (Near Archer River Road House)

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We had no problems,

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It's a very interesting place. Lots of dry heath country on the hills and luch rainforest in the valleys. Such contrasts.

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Even found a pitcher plant in the dry heath on a ridge. And I thought they only grew in moist areas.

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Chilli Beach is at the and of the road at Iron Range. Lots of Cocos, and international rubbish washed in from the Pacific.

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You can take a long walk south from the Camp site and get away from the few people that are there. Pheww.post-6760-0-12527900-1406247927_thumb.jp

Sorry if I sound a little antisocial sometimes, but we have no neighbours for 2km where we live, so when we go camping we often feel a little crouded.

www.sheoakridge.com
Our private nature reserve in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Too much rain in the Wet season and not enough in the Dry. At least we never get frost.

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Thanks Walter.

It took us 14 years to get off our arses and drive north, instead of flying somewhere.

Anyone going up that way should pic up a copy of the Hema Maps - Cape York Atlas and Guide. It was worth every cent.

Also - and I can't stress this enough, - book and pay for private camping sites within the National Parks. We felt so sorry for the people using the free road side ones, they were so crowded and there was so much rubbish ( and used toilet paper) laying around that I could'nt even eat my lunch there. Yuck!

When we have time Claire and I will include more details of this trip on our website, but who knows when that will happen.

There's something special about pumice. A floating rock!

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www.sheoakridge.com
Our private nature reserve in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Too much rain in the Wet season and not enough in the Dry. At least we never get frost.

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Marcus- Thanks for posting your great photos...do you have anymore of the sandstone drawings?-Peter

The weight of lies will bring you down / And follow you to every town / Cause nothin happens here

That doesn't happen there / So when you run make sure you run / To something and not away from

Cause lies don't need an aero plane / To chase you anywhere

--Avett Bros

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  • 2 weeks later...

Been many years since I was up that way..........a very special place in the world. I spent time as a Police Officer at Lockhart River (Near Iron Range), Aurukun and Kowanyama.

Andrew,
Airlie Beach, Whitsundays

Tropical Queensland

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As per request, here are a couple more pics,

Peter, One of the great things about living in FNQ is the amount of rock-art. This is more from Laura, to the North. However South of us we have some at Davies Creek, and to the West there is some at Chilagoe.

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Ken, I know the quality ain't great because both pics were taken in very low light without a tripod, but here are two of my favourite birds from the trip.

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This azure kingfisher was at 15mile creek at Lakefield National Park

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I've been wanting to see a Yellow-billed Kingfisher for many years now. Then on dusk this one landed infront of me in the rainforest at Iron Range National Park.

www.sheoakridge.com
Our private nature reserve in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Too much rain in the Wet season and not enough in the Dry. At least we never get frost.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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