Spring is a wonderful time to visit Cooktown and the Tropical North as there are birds galore with orchids and flowers blooming everywhere.  And of course its great fishing!

Keen anglers are taking advantage of increased sunny days and lower wind conditions. You will see many locals and visitors alike at the  Cooktown wharf.

Cook Shire is such a diverse and widespread landscape with natural beauty in abundance.

The legendary Crocodile Trophy MTB stage race commenced for the 17th time this year in Australia.  After ten days racing, participants will finish their race for the first time on Grassy Hill in Cooktown, on the 27th October 2011

Experience 1 or 2 days tours to Cooktown with Adventure North from Cairns and Port Douglas  via the 4wd only Bloomfield Track through the heart of the World Heritage Daintree National Park.REturn journey is via the Great Dividing range, Mulligan Highway which is the outback of Far North Queensland.

We are delighted to announce that the Tablelands branch of Hire For Baby will open on Monday!  Juanita Hunter (nee Paronella) is a born and bred Tablelander and is looking forward to assisting with all your baby equipment requirements!

Phone 4091 1047 or email  tablelands@hireforbaby.com

We are delighted to announce that the Tablelands branch of HIRE FOR BABY will open on 1st August 2011.

This is a fantastic opportunity for people living in or visiting Atherton, Mareeba and the surrounding areas to take advantage of HIRE FOR BABY's fantastic products, fantastic prices and fantastic reputation! 

Contact cairns@hireforbaby.com for more information!

20th June 2011

It's always worth repeating that 4x4 travellers can cross over the Bloomfield River. Work continues, of course, but it is proceeding well, and there have been absolutely minimal delays to traffic.

The concrete slab decking has been fully installed. Drilling to anchor the 1 metre blocks has been in progress for over a week now. Importantly, the drillers' work still allows plenty of room for vehicles to pass safely.

The Track from Cape Trib to Wujal Wujal, however, is still pretty awful with small boulders at Collins and Thompsons Creeks slowing down 4x4 travellers to a crawl. Just keep gritting your mouthgards, book the physio and hope that Cairns Regional Council is able to start maintenance work soon.

Cairns Council informs us that the CREB Track is also now open, so this provides a serious 4X4 option for people travelling from Daintree village.

At the top end of the Track, the Cook Shire has gone all out to make sure the road between Cooktown and Wujal Wujal is presentable to traffic, and it was in pretty good condition last weekend. They are also working hard on the road out to Archer Point, so it is becoming less harsh on tyres!

This week's happy travellers along the Track are Russell and Roseanne Wolfe from Christchurch.

Russell pointed out " the scenery is reminiscent of the West Coast of the South Island, which we love, but the green, lush growth along the Bloomfield Track, and the leafy tunnel-like avenues are breathtaking.

"Then the contrast and diversity as you get up towards Cooktown is brilliant. Suddenly, you're travelling on red, dusty roads among eucalyptus trees.

"The Black Mountain is awesome. It looks like a big coal dump left over as a legacy from the Maggie Thatcher era in the UK".

Well, I hope that Maggie isn't offended by the comparison! We certainly aren't, Russell. But then again, the Iron Lady always gave her opponents that big crocodile smile!

Around here, winter also brings out the best in our local crocs, as they look for sunny river banks and even rocks to warm themselves...and smile.

The Bloomfield River is undoubtedly the best spot in the whole region for the passing motorist to see crocs in their natural state. There are at least three vantage points, including;

• On the sandy bank at low tide at the river lookout on the Bloomfield Track from Cape Trib
• From the embankments or the Boat ramp on the Bloomfield River drive from Wujal Wujal towards Ayton
• Lying on a warming rock on the other side of the river about 60 metres down from the Wujal Wujal waterfall, during the day or even late in the afternoon - rocks keep their heat for a long time!

So, take your cameras, but don't even think about swimming in the Bloomfield River.

Always plan your travel with a tide chart. This weekend and the next week will see low tides in the middle of the day, which will give great colourful scenery and beach access.

Cathy Wharton, tour guide for Adventure North Australia has won the prestigious Cairns Tourism Association Award for 2010.

Cathy pictured with her award, Mayor Val Shields and far right owner of Adventure North Australia, Maryanne Jacques.

The Weekend Australian has featured Cooktown and Guurrbi Tours, Saturday 26th February 2010 

The Bama Way Discovery Tour combines three Aboriginal tours into a unique three day journey. Small group departures from Cairns and Port Douglas on the Bama Way Aboriginal Journeys with Adventure North Australia including Willie Gordon of Guurrbi Tours.

Come on out to the Daintree and join our tree planting celebrations. Help Rainforest Rescue plant 1000 trees and create a rainforest. An activity suitable for all ages. Bring the family. Help restore the natural environment.

Where: At Lots 21 & 28 Ironbark Rd, Diwan (off Cape Tribulation Road)

When: Tuesday to Friday 22-26 February 2010

Time: 9.00am - 12 noon

Cost: FREE

The Daintree Rainforest is the most significant tropical rainforest in Australia and sustains a unique range of flora and fauna. over the past 100 years parts of the Daintree hve been cleared to create land for farms that are no longer in operation. Replanting these cleared areas with rainfroest trees provides important habitat for the endangered Cassowary and 100 other rare and threatened species found in the Daintree.

Rainforest Rescue is a not for profit organisation commited to protecting our rainforests forever. For further information, please visit rainforestrescue.org.au or phone 1300 763 611 or email info@rainforestrescue.org.au 

Published results of a survey conducted in 2007 by Galaxy Research found that nearly $1Billion is spent on unwanted Christmas gifts each year. In a bid to rescue rainforests at the same time as Christmas, not for profit organisation Rainforest Rescue is running a ‘Rescue Christmas Campaign’ offering unique Rainforest Gift Cards, targeting those 'difficult to buy for' friends and loved ones.

Right now, rainforests and their inhabitants are under greater threat than ever.

In the Daintree of far North Queensland, large areas are situated on freehold land and laws and regulations to prevent development are inadequate. Securing and protecting rainforest habitat for the endangered Cassowary — of which only 1,000 remain — is urgent.  Meanwhile, only 1% of the most diverse ecosystem in New South Wales — The Big Scrub — remains. Planting and restoring this area is vital to the survival of over 38 threatened species of flora and 61 species of threatened fauna.

Rainforest Rescue are protecting rainforests with projects that re-establish habitat through planting, maintenance and restoration programs, as well as purchasing and protecting high conservation value rainforest. Amongst other project outcomes, this year Rainforest Rescue successfully planted over 10,000 rainforest trees and acquired their 11th property in the Daintree.

With their 'Rescue Christmas' Campaign, Rainforest Rescue are promoting Rainforest Gift Cards devoted to a range of projects that allow purchasers to nominate number of trees planted, or square metres / hectares protected. For example, $25 will save five square metres of the Daintree Rainforest which Rainforest Rescue will purchase and protect on the Gift Card recipient’s behalf. Each card details the gift with a special front cover photo or exclusive Leunig cartoon along with an inner description of the project outcomes achieved.

“Gift Card sales will make a significant contribution to both our Daintree Buy Back and Protect Forever Project and the Plant a Rainforest campaign. This year more Australians are recognising how we need to make a difference when it comes to our environment.” Said Kelvin Davies, CEO of Rainforest Rescue.

Rainforest Rescue Gift Cards can be sent directly to a recipient anywhere in the world with a personalised message inside or they can be sent to the giver's address for personal delivery.

Critically endangered species like the Daintree's Southern Cassowary and Indonesia's Orangutans are among many who have little to celebrate this Christmas. And with deforestation causing 25% of global emissions, protecting rainforests is really a gift for everyone. Through their 'Rescue Christmas' campaign, Rainforest Rescue urge all those concerned for our planet to consider this easy and affordable way to find the perfect Christmas gift for everyone.

Orders can be placed online at www.rainforestrescue.org.au or by phoning 1300 763 611.

Tuesday's event, held where Captain James Cook beached his damaged ship Endeavour in 1770 and later made peace with local Aborigines, carried a reconciliation message and provided the opportunity to reflect ahead of next week's Australia Day festivities.

In Cooktown, Gilchrist also made time to learn about local culture and visit Aboriginal rock art with an elder, Willie Gordon.

Gilchrist described it as a moving experience that had also shown him how little he knew about indigenous culture.

Walk with the traditional custodian Wilfred (Willie) Gordon of Guurrbi Tours. On this magical Cooktown tour Willie takes guests to his ancestral rock art sites, set in stunning countryside high in the hills outside Cooktown. The sites are not open to the general public and cannot be visited unaccompanied. Willie's Rainbow Serpent Tour is now listed as One of Australia's Ultimate Must-Do Experiences, both by American Express (2006) and Australian Traveller magazine (2007).

Rainforest Rescue announces the purchase of a tenth property through the Daintree Buy Back and Protect Forever Project.

This is extremely good news for the critically endangered Southern Cassowary. It prevents another housing development with all its associated dangers – dogs, loss of corridors, traffic and road kills – from destroying the delicately balanced habitat of this “keystone” species of the rainforest. Property No. 10 is essential habitat for this fabulous big bird, whose numbers are far fewer than the already low previous estimates.

The vegetation type is described as wet to very wet vine forest with emergent large-fruited red mahogany, having a rainforest understorey merging into simple to complex mesophyll to notophyll vine forest. The biodiversity values of this latter ecosystem type are described as being “very species rich”. Lofty clumps of locally endemic fan palms and black palms grace the northern sector of the property whilst two species of cycad and numerous ferns abound in the denser southern part. These include the King Fern, which, with fronds up to 5 metres long, is reputed to be the largest of all ferns. It is as a primitive plant, very similar types having been around for 300 million years.

The process is now underway to have to have the land protected in perpetuity by an Act of the Queensland Parliament by having the property declared as the Tree Friends Nature Refuge.

In announcing this major step forward, Executive Officer Kelvin Davies was especially proud that it has been achieved without any government funding. “It’s a significant achievement for community conservation, proving that donations from individuals and businesses make a big difference,” said Kelvin.

Equally exciting is the news that Rainforest Rescue is now on the verge of buying an eleventh property. Property No. 11 is located less than a kilometre away and is just as critical for Cassowaries and other rare and endangered species, like the Bennetts Tree-kangaroo. It will provide a vital corridor through the rural subdivision from the Daintree National Park on its northern side to two declared Nature Refuges to the south.

“We only need to raise $85,000 to complete the purchase of this next vital property – such a small amount to preserve forever another slice of the irreplaceable Daintree – and we call upon concerned Australians to contribute to this campaign,” Kelvin adds. “The current owner is committed to conservation and is offering the lot to Rainforest Rescue at less than market value, so we have taken an option to purchase.”

With the end of the financial year looming, Rainforest Rescue is now seeking tax-deductible donations from the community or business sponsorships to protect this two hectares property to establish and protect forever the wildlife corridor that it offers between the Daintree National Park and the Perna Greene Nature Refuge.

David Suzuki, the internationally acclaimed broadcaster, journalist and biologist is making his voice heard as a spokesperson for Rainforest Rescue.

"Come on Australia" said David Suzuki. "This is important work. All Australians should get behind Rainforest Rescue and support the Daintree Buy Back and Project Forever Project" David Suzuki said;

The Daintree rainforest is currently threatened by rural residential development" 

Make a difference with your tax-deductible donation today!

Or order a Daintree Gift Card for your friends and loved ones

You can read the full article on David Suzuki's Daintree message in the News section of the Rainforest Rescue Forum. David has also recorded two radio announcements for Rainforest Rescue. You can download MP3 audio tracks of David's 30 second spot (469KB) and 60 second spot (941KB)