Hinchinbrook Island 4 Day Hike

With only a few days to get organised, we figured out what we needed for a 4 day hike on Hinchinbrook Island National Park. We packed a tiny 2-person hiking tent, 2 sleeping bags, home-made muesli bars for breakfasts, tinned tuna and wraps for lunches and dehydrated meals for our dinners. Plus about 3-4 Litres of water each, sunscreen, one fresh set of clothes, PJ’s and the cooking equipment. I also packed a book, which I am very happy about (Dan didn’t have room in his bag for his book, and regretted it).

We organised our boat ride from the sleepy fishing town of Lucinda through a great local company called Absolute North Charters. John, the owner, was a wealth of knowledge and gave us a few tips and tricks for the hike. The boat ride took a bit over an hour ,including a 5 min delay to watch a lone Dugong happily bobbing above and below the gentle ocean ripples. We arrived at the beginning of the hike after John expertly manoeuvred his custom made boat through a series of mangrove motorways, giving us some final tips on where to find fresh drinking water and where we can find mobile phone reception in case of an emergency. “See you in a few days,” he said as he rounded the boat and disappeared into the mangrove maze.

Hinchinbrook Island looks just like a movie set from Jurassic World, with huge jutting rocky mountains surrounded by pristine beaches with coconut trees fringing the edges of thicker bushland. Then, out of nowhere, you find yourself surrounded by lush rainforest and the sunlight turns from harsh and bright to a gentle trickle through the canopy. The birds, the butterflies and even the snakes were around to help us feel fully immersed in this beautiful, almost un-touched, patch of nature.

Day 1: We hiked from the Northern point of Hinchinbrook Island to Little Ramsay Bay and set up camp by lunchtime. The hike was nice and easy with beach walking, bush walking on a clear well marked trail and a bit of rock hopping.  About 6kms in total. The ‘easy’ day. The beach was beautiful and if it weren’t for the “Danger, Crocodiles” signs located all over the island, it would have been perfect for a cool(ish) dip in the ocean. We found a creek with fresh running water where we could fill up our water supplies and have a rinse off in the fresh water.

Day 2: This was a bigger day. We hiked about 10-12kms today. We took a detour to check out Banksia Bay before getting back on the main path and continuing on to Zoe Falls. The constantly changing and super diverse landscapes were stunning. Within a 50m length of walking track, you would experience a mangrove swap, a dry and arid bushland and a full thickness rainforest. I’ve never experienced such natural diversity to this extent before. There is a similar feeling on some of the hikes on Magnetic Island, but this was taking it to the next level! We clambered over rocks, dodged our way through “wait-a-while” vines and eventually reached Zoe Bay. We set up camp at Zoe Bay then walked a little further along the track to reach the waterfall. WOW! Zoe Falls was such a surprise. The perks of not looking into this hike at all before we decided to do it, meant we got to experience Hinchinbrook Island with no pre-conceived ideas of what to expect. Therefore, I won’t elaborate here, and will let you choose to experience Zoe Falls for yourself, or google it if you’re curious.

Day 3: Zoe Bay to Mulligan Falls. The third day was also a harder hiking day with some quite steep areas, some thick, boggy areas and some creek crossings to navigate. We continued through the amazing array of landscapes, constantly in awe and always pointing out things that caught our eye. When we reached Mulligan Falls we jumped in for a swim and lay on the rocks, warmed by the sun, until we dried off. We bunkered down after another very average dehyrdated dinner and revelled in the fact that we’d had no phone reception for 3 days and what a wonderful feeling that was. Our friends, the Native Rats, came to visit us that night and chomped a little hole in my tent because they could smell some muesli bar residue inside the tent! (Each camp site has rat proof food boxes that I highly recommend you make use of).

Day 4: We were actually really sad to be leaving the island today. We both felt so happy immersed in so much nature, fresh air and wildlife. Living so simply (even more simply than living out of our car for 6 weeks) is something we have grown to love so much. Being grateful for everything we have, being mindful and present in these magical moments and being able to share them with someone special is how we want to travel for the rest of this adventure. The hike on day 4 was very easy, and mostly spent walking along a very long beach before reaching the pickup point at George’s point. John was there to pick us up at the time we arranged and then it was only a short 15min boat trip back to civilisation.

We can’t wait to go back and do the hike again, though this time I think we’ll make 3 changes. (1) We’ll attempt it in 3 days instead of four. (2) We’ll both be packing books next time. (3) Be organised enough in advance to make our own dehydrated meals to avoid the plastic packaging and preservatives of the store bought ones.

For more info about Hinchinbrook Island and the hike visit;  https://www.npsr.qld.gov.au/parks/hinchinbrook-thorsborne/about.html