Submitted: Thursday, Aug 06, 1998 at 15:42

We did not change convoy order today and traveled only 35km so as no one was assigned the trip report Michelle (trip editor) recorded the day’s events.

We left Lion’s Den at 8.30am prepared for a short 35km trip into Cooktown. For those of us who were interested Collyn suggested a climb up Black Mountain. David and Michelle, Jeff, Collyn, Bonnie, David, Tony and Oliver all started the walk. The walk to the base of the mountain was overgrown with vines and the odd stinging nettle. Once at the mountain you can see why it has earned its name. Black Mountain is composed of enormous boulders that are in fact grey but appear black because of a covering of blue-green algae. The boulders are all piled upon one another in some precarious ways with some dauntingly large caves and cracks between. Michelle attempted the climb wearing a short sundress which made things a little uncomfortable when sliding down the sharp rocks upon descent. Jeff thought my legs were too short to make a particularly wide jump and attempted to buffer the rocks by placing himself in a deep hole. Unfortunately he slipped and suffered a few nasty rock bites. Once the first aid kit was put away the group continued on into Cooktown. But the 5km trip was not without incident. Oliver and Tony called in a message that they had a broken window. So our 1 hour trip to Cooktown was most eventful.

The Pennisula Caravan Park costs only $5 per head and the camping ground is superb. All campers had private rainforest frontage with soft leaf litter underfoot. The highlight here are the tall melalucca trees that give a cool canopy all day long.

Tags: Travel Journal
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