THE TOP IS OVER THE TOP
Doing a little research I was able to come
up with a good cross-section of Cape York
Peninsula’s history past and present. It is
believed to be one of the largest unspoiled
wildernesses in the northern part of Australia
and one of the last remaining wilderness areas
on Earth.
I am not surprised, you would need to be
pretty tough to live up here all year round; while
there are some who do, a lot have packed up
and left or not packed up but just left. If it is not
hot and dry it’s hot and wet and, while it is very
remote, it is also isolated for months at a time
once the wet season closes the roads.
When we sailed close to the coast we were
surprised to see so much different f lora, in some
areas there were what looked like huge fields
of f lowers. Then in others the bush came rightdown to the water’s edge and it looked so much
different than the southern scrub. The landscape
was also amazing with rugged mountain ranges
and then enormous white sand dunes as a
backdrop to vivid white sandy beaches.
Indigenous history, while there are different
theories I have tried to keep it simple, it is a
widely held belief that the Aboriginal people
came to live in Australia between 30,000 and
120,000 years ago. They were thought to have
come across the land bridges that then existed
between Papua New Guinea and the tip of
Cape York.
While we talk of bridges they may not have
walked the whole way, there may have been
shallow channels to swim or wade across along
the way. It is also believed that the Torres Strait
Islander people arrived much later, maybe as
little as a 1000 years ago. They now mostly live in14
Cruising Helmsman July 2018DESTINATION
QUEENSLAND
Outside entrance: S10°40.864 E142°31.
Midway: S10°41.028 E142°31.
Inside: S10°41.113 E142°31.
Anchored here: S10°41.253 E142°31.
Be aware these waypoints may change.CAPE YORK ANCHORAGE WAYPOINTS
- Cruising the Coral Coast by Alan Lucas
- Aus292: Adolphus Channel to Prince of Wales
Channel Torres Strait
REFERENCES