Australian_Geographic_-_August_2015_AU_.

YOU R AG

126 Australian Geographic

LINCOLN HALL

Blasted Tor,

Frozen Tarn

by Tony Brown

One day in early May

we headed up the

road to the top of Mt

Kosciuszko and then

to North Rams Head.

All the rocks were

covered in rime and

the wind howled

making it hard to

even stand up.

YOU R

PHOTOS

HINCHINBROOK MEMORIES
I was delighted to see the article on
Hinchinbrook Island’s Thorsborne
Trail (Trekking the tropics, AG 125). It’s
an area for which I have many fond
memories. In 1987 I was a planner
with the Queensland National Parks
and Wildlife Service based in Towns-
ville, where I prepared a management
plan for the island.
At that time there were three small
vessels operating out of Cardwell,
which took visitors to Ramsay Bay on
Hinchinbrook. A number of rough,
informal trails headed out from there

• one ended on top of a cliff and
  others just petered out in the bush.
  The visitors, many of whom were
  backpackers, were inexperienced in
  tropical Queensland conditions and
  regularly got themselves into bother.

One option to solve the problem

was to prohibit access, the other

• much better option – was to
  develop a marked trail. So, I pro-
  posed a trail from Ramsay Bay to
  George Point on the south of the
  Island, a place where there was boat
  access from Lucinda. Approval was
  given, provided the expenditure was
  minimal. A small group of staff and
  volunteers mapped out a route, and a
  year or so later the trail was opened.
  Initially it went only as far as Zoe
  Bay, but within a year extended all
  the way to George Point. The
  complete trail was opened in
  1989, at that time known as the
  East Coast Trail. In February 1991
  the name was changed to the
  Thorsborne Trail, a fitting tribute to
  Arthur and Margaret Thorsborne.

I was pleased to read that the limit

of 40 people is still being maintained.

Increasingly, there are few places on

the tropical Queensland coast where

a visitor can enjoy a spectacular

wilderness experience without crowds

of people. During the preparation of

the Hinchinbrook Management Plan,

I was fortunate to spend a day touring

Hinchinbrook Island with Dick Smith

in his helicopter (Hinchinbrook, AG 25).

DR BILL LAVARACK, BUDERIM, QUEENSLAND

DA R K DAYS

The article on light pollution in AG 126

got me scribbling. Here’s a copy. I don’t

know if you’re into poetry...

THE LOSS OF STARS

We’ve come far

Since those star-decked nights

When ancestral man sat hemmed

By hulking shadows, comforted

By the precious fire’s glow.

Distant generations fashioned

Tales of heroes, gods and deeds

From those luminous seeds of light

Cast over that fertile field of sky.

Those brightly blazing lights

Guided their ways and days,

Illuminated their imagination

And kindled that which made apes man.

And still, today, we love things bright:

Abhorring darkness, we throng to light.

But the fruit of the tree is bitter-sweet

And gain brings loss, I fear

And bright lights steal what we held dear.

The more the night sky drowns in light,

Those nurturing jewels are veiled from sight.

OTTO FISCHER, ADAMSTOWN HEIGHTS, NSW

Trailblazer. Reader Bill

Lavarack (second from right)

helped create the Thorsborne

Trail, and featured in this

photo from 1992 (AG 25).