A Cape York Blog

Cape York paradise at Portland Roads

Portland Roads

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Identifying Bird sounds

We often hear birds but don’t always see them, so we are left wondering what they are. I was thrilled to find this site to help identify our local species, especially the night birds.

Bird sounds from Australasia and the Pacific is a site where people have submitted their bird recordings, it is also a resource if you have a recording of a call that you can’t identify.

Check out the sound of the Papuan Frogmouth found at Portland Roads – on our clothes line we still hear this regularly.

Check out the sound of the Blue-Winged Kookaburra found between Portland Roads and Lockhart River – Iron Range National Park

The birds spotted by Jun Matsui when he stayed here in December, we haven’t seen them yet but would love to. The Palm Cockatoo, White-faced Robin, Large-tailed Nightjar and the Eclectus Parrot.

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White Lipped Tree Frog – Largest tree frog

White Lipped Tree Frog

White Lipped Tree Frog in our yard

We spotted this huge green treefrog yesterday, here at the Portland Roads Beach Shack. He was perched in a tree just near the path to our house. He sat perfectly still while we photographed him. Notice that he has ear patches rather than holes. That is Seamus’ arm behind him holding down the tree branch so that we could get a better angle. It gives you an idea of how big the frog is.

According to wettropics.gov.au
The White Lipped Tree Frog is the worlds largest tree frog growing in length to 14cm. With a green body with white stripe on lower jaw, and a long flattened body and it has PROTECTED status.

Wikipedia adds that:

  • Females are larger than males;
  • The colour changes depending on the temperature and background – they are usually bright green but can be brown;
  • It has a loud, barking call but when distressed it makes a cat-like “mew” sound;
  • It’s diet is mainly insects and other arthropods;
  • It can live to over ten years in the wild;
  • It is distributed in Australia along the coastal areas of Cape York Peninsula and the wet tropics of north-eastern Queensland. It is the most widely distributed tree frog in the New Guinea region, spanning from eastern Indonesia, through the New Guinea mainland, to the Bismarck and the Admiralty Islands in the North.

Much of the wildlife of the Cape is not found anywhere else in Australia but is found in New Guinea.

White Lipped Tree Frog - Back

White Lipped Tree Frog – Back view shows the texture of its skin

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Portland Roads in the Wet

We are now experiencing “the wet”. It’s generally very humid but quite a few days are reasonably cool and quite pleasant. Mostly when it does rain it really pisses down, but we also get soft gentle rain.

Rain at Portland Roads

Rain at Portland Roads

Our daughter Zoe loves it when it does rain – it’s warm and fun and just fantastic just to play in. She found her own locally grown umbrella.

Zoe Water Nymph at Portland Roads

Zoe Water Nymph at Portland Roads

We have stairs up the side of our shack and then all the way up to the top shack (where our guests stay) – during a big downpour the stairs act as a wonderful waterfall.

The water just pours down the hill and then re-shapes our little front beach.

We also hear the frogs at night.

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Q. Can I visit Cape York in the wet season?

A. Yes, you can visit Cape York in the wet season.

Most people think that it is impossible to visit Cape York in the wet season. It is true that the major rivers flood, cutting off road access.

However you can still explore the Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park, Portland Roads and Chili Beach. Forget your vehicle and take a flight from Cairns.

1. Hire a 4×4 from Lockhart River Car Hire and stay at the Portland Roads Beach Shack, or

2. Hire a 4X4 campervan from Lockhart River Car Hire and camp at Chili Beach,  or one of the designated camping spots in Iron Range National Park.

Roads

The road from Lockhart River to Portland Roads does not cross any major rivers. It is graded and well drained, so the rains do not make it impassible. Occasionally Chili Creek may rise and make the crossing difficult, but it is tidal so will recede within an hour or two.

Flights

Skytrans flies in to the Iron Range Airport at Lockhart River 4-5 days a week.

Transport

Lockhart River Car Hire has a fleet of vehicles that are utilised by workers in the area in the dry season.
Paul and Laney Piva from Lockhart River run the local family owned business.

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Jun Matsui photos – Dec 2010

We had 2 guests stay for a week in December this year – a birdwatcher and a guide (Jun Matsui) from Sicklebill Safaris. They had flown in to Lockhart, hired a 4wd and stayed with us.

Jun (the guide) found a cuscus in one of our mango trees just up the road; came running back to tell us – of course we were all terribly excited and very thankful that he’d made the effort to let us know.

We watched it eat a couple of mangos for about 30 minutes. Thanks Jun!

He also sent us the following photos.

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Rodgo and the Muckle Dayley – Dec 2010

A tiny little cameraman sailed into our bay today.

The Muckle Dayley

The Muckle Dayley at Portland Roads

Our bay is approx 220 kms south-east of Bamaga at the tip of Cape York, and about 800 kms (by road) North of Cairns.

I was surprised – I assumed that it had been launched from the point just up the road about 250 metres, and I hadn’t seen a car and trailer drive past.
So I wandered down to talk to him.

I should say here that his boat is tiny – it is an eighteen foot (yes that is about 5.5 metres) catamaran called “Muckle Dayley” after his second daughter.

It is basically 2 canoes bolted together with bit of mesh between them and a mast.

He hadn’t actually come from around the point, but from Port bloody Morseby!

And that IS Port Morseby in New Guinea.

The Muckle Dayley is an eighteen foot two inch Prindle catamaran.

Prindles are generally very well regarded in the sailing world as rugged and durable cats.

Zoe and I stood with him next to the “Muckle Dayley”. You can see just how small his boat is.

Greg Seamus and Zoe beside the Muckle Dayley

Greg Seamus and Zoe beside the Muckle Dayley

That being said I wouldn’t do what Greg is doing. He told us about having crocodiles nudge him in the night when he was sleeping on the thin nylon mesh that is his deck.

This is 30 cm from the sea! My sphincter puckered as he told me.

He had many adventures along the way – met lovely, hospitable people living on tiny little islands just off New Guinea. On one of these a man swam out to pull the “Muckle Dayley” in to shore, then put him up for the night, fed him royally from their meagre food stores and sent him on his way again.

Greg's living space on the Muckle Dayley

He encountered the hugely strong tidal currants of the Fly River, met a lovely couple, Shelley and Justin, and their two boys on Thursday Island (coincidentally we also had met them a year or so ago).

His living quarters on his cat were tiny – I was gob-smacked at just how small a space he had on the boat. It really was tiny; he also had to tether everything or store it in the 2 waterproof bags he had. Water was stored in the hulls in 1.5 litre bottles.

He had a small dome tent, and a little folding chair.

Muckle Dayley - life boat

Muckle Dayley - life boat

Small solar panels powered batteries for his phone, GPS and UHF radio.

He did have a lifeboat, again just looking at that scared me.

(And, yes it is the surf ski!)

He left on a quite windy day and last we heard was on Lizard Island and was about to sail to Cairns where he planned to end his voyage.

Muckle Dayley leaving Portland Roads

Muckle Dayley leaving Portland Roads

I was very impressed with what Greg had done – it was a pleasure to meet him.

Muckle Dayley Sailing Out Of Portland Roads

Muckle Dayley Sailing Out Of Portland Roads

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Land Crab 25th Nov 2010

Boomer was barking ferociously at something behind the kitchen wall. I thought it must have been a snake, so very gingerly peered around the corner.


I caught it in a bucket – to give you an idea of it’s size – it only just fitted on the bottom of the bucket (about 200 mm in diameter)

Either it or it’s sibling lives in a tunnel under the main (only) Portland Roads road. This crab has at least one tunnel that crosses under the road. Earlier in the year a roadworks crew re-bitumen-ised the road and covered one of it’s entrances. Not discouraged in the least it just re-dug it’s way through about 40mm of compressed gravel and bitumen. Bloody impressive and you can bet I kept my fingers well away from it’s claws.

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Bloody big snail – 23rd Dec 2010

We saw, just outside our back door on the rock wall, a bloody big snail

Snail at Portland Roads

Snail at Portland Roads

– think it’s either Gnarosophia bellendenkerensis or Hadra webbi.

We have seen a few of these around the place (often at night) as well as discarded shells.

The shells are amazingly strong – you could probably break one with a hammer but not by standing on it.

We got Zoe (aged 6) to put her hand next to the snail – she was a little tentative as it is nearly as  big as her hand.

Zoe’s index finger is 55mm long.

Snail at Portland Roads

Snail at Portland Roads with Zoe's hand

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Portland Roads Beach Shack holiday accommodation

UPDATE 1st Jan 2016.
Portland Roads Beach Shack has been sold. The new owner is no longer running it as an accommodation business.

 

This is the place we are were caretaking. We have the cottage halfway up the hill, and this is where the visitors stay. This video shows the stairs, the deck and the view from the deck

This video shows the bedrooms, the deck and the view

The Beach Shack accommodates up to 4 people with a double and two single beds. It is self contained with a bathroom and cooking facilities for self-catering. The living area is on a good sized deck with great views looking out over the Coral Sea. The house is set back from the road for privacy and sits high on the hill to catch the sea breeze. Portland Roads is in the Tropical Rain Forest of Far North Queensland, 600kms North of Cairns. Portland Roads is a great stop if you

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Golden Orb Spider

Golden orb-web spiders belong to the family Tetragnathidae, subfamily Nephilinae. There are two genera: Nephila (Golden orb-web spiders) and the monophyletic genus Nephilengys (hermit spiders). There are three species in the genus Nephila: Nephila pilipes fenestrata (black-legged golden orb-web spider), Nephila senegalensis annulata (banded-legged golden orb-web spider) and Nephila inaurata madagascariensis (red-legged golden orb-web spider).
The genus Nephilengys consists of a single species, Nephilengys cruentata (white orb-web spider). These large, obtrusive spiders are one of the few spiders which can be identified down to species without the aid of a microscope and a fancy key. They are strictly web bound and find walking on the ground cumbersome. Nephila construct very large orb webs, often between trees or bushes from 1.5m to 6m above the ground. Their silk is golden in colour and extremely strong. There are trip lines around the web and quite often prey remains are strung up to form a line through it’s center. Their slightly angled webs are designed to catch large flying insects and small birds are occasionally snared, but rarely eaten. The female spider hangs inverted in the center of the web, while one or more males lurk on the periphery of the web.
Males are many times smaller than the females and can be distinguished by their swollen pedipalps which are similar to boxing gloves.

Nephila pilipes fenestrata has a creamy abdomen with a blueish marbling towards the rear and has tufts of hair on the first, second and fourth legs. It is widely distributed throughout South Africa, but absent from the drier western parts. Nephila senegalensis annulata has black and yellow abdominal markings with yellow bands on its legs. It has the widest distribution throughout South Africa. Nephila inaurata madagascariensis is more or less black, silver and reddish-brown with red legs, and may be found in northern KwaZulu/ Natal. Nephilengys
cruentata spins a characteristic white web with a funnel-like retreat and is distributed throughout the eastern coastal regions. It is generally blacker than Nephila and has a rounder, less cylindrical, abdomen with an orange/ red breastplate.

Reproduction is similar for all Nephila. As in the case of Nephila senegalensis annulata, the male spins a small sperm web onto which he deposits a drop of sperm which he sucks up into his pedipalps. He will usually only approach the female when she is otherwise occupied i.e. feeding. He descends towards her and inserts his pedipalps, one by one, into her genital opening which is situated underneath her abdomen. Copulation may take as long as 15 hours and afterwards the now exhausted male retreats to a safe place away from the female. When ready to lay her eggs, she selects a suitable site and constructs an egg sac using special loopy white silk. After a fortnight or so, the young spiders hatch inside the eggsac. At this time they are still embryonic living off the yolk. Their mouthparts, venom glands, digestive tracts and spinning organs are underdeveloped, and only after the yolk has been absorbed and their body parts are properly developed do the spiderlings cannibalise each other and must disperse.

Their life history follows a yearly cycle with the females living slightly longer than the males.

These large, shy but beautiful spiders may look formidable but are not aggressive, and even those who walk into their webs are unlikely to be bitten and although their bite is painful, it is not of great medical importance.

© 1997-2007 Martin Overton [arachnophiliac.info, .co.uk and .com]

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Out to the MotherShip – Sun 17th 2010

Beautiful calm morning- watched the local croc float lazily up and down in front of the house.

Crocodile at Portland Roads

The mothership had arrived so I bravely went out where no Seamus had ever trod before. Used Alan’s penis err outboard extender for the first time. This is a clever device (a bit of plastic tube) that fits over the throttle thingy of the boat so one can stand up towards the centre of the boat and thus keep the nose of the boat down a bit on solo trips. Works quite well, although I did nearly throw myself overboard at one stage. So I loaded up an empty gas cylinder onto the trolley, wheeled it down in the water to the boat and put the cylinder in the boat.

Then out to the mother ship, where I had to wait in queue (ya know there’s no fucken handbrake on a boat!) – anyway bounced off a few boats, talked to Ian from Wattle Hills then moored and asked what to do? I had to go up to the captain’s quarters, introduce myself to Gavin, ask about my account and what the usual protocol was. He did not have our account on his computer, but was happy enough to write it down on a post-it note and give me a new gas cylinder.

This all got sorted and I headed back to shore – and actually went fast – I think I even had full throttle for a second or two!

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Calm morning, bananas and coconuts – Sun 17th Oct 2010

Another beautiful calm morning – Geoff told me that this was a typical wet season day – sea as calm as a millpond in the morning and windy during the afternoon.

bananas in bunch outside kitchen

Had my bananas fresh from the bunch for breakfast.

Watched a coconut man trim all the coconut palms (part of the local council beautification scheme for Portland Roads)

It was fascinating to watch – he climbed up with sharp spikes on his boots and a rope around his waist, then clawed his way up the tree, carrying chainsaw, big pruning saw and a myriad of other weird and wonderful tools.

I later grabbed quite a few coconuts for us for later on!

Gregor told me that he always keeps one in a dinghy – good food source in emergency.

Our coconut stash

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Arrival Portland Roads – Tuesday 7th Sept 2010

The tow major rivers on the road in are the Pascoe and the Wenlock. These are impassable for much of the wet. The Pascoe is longer and often deeper than the Wenlock.

Pascoe River crossing on the Lockhart Road on the way in to Portland Roads

Pascoe River crossing on the Lockhart Road on the way in to Portland Roads

We visited Lockhart on the way in. I couldn’t work the diesel bowsers, so had to ask some aboriginal kids. The local store wasn’t too bad and did have quite reasonably fresh vegies. Cate talked to the manager, who knew Alan quite well.

We then thought we might try the local doctor/medical centre. We parked on the road outside and were immediately accosted by a woman who basically told us to fuck off – until we said we were about to start care-taking Alan’s place for a year. Then everything was OK.

We were told later by Alan that she was a very nice person who was the head nurse (and I think administrator) but that she was very protective of her medical centre – it has been set up for the local aboriginal community and apparently tourists do often become a nuisance there.

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Leaving Kuranda – Friday 3rd Sept 2010

We were, as usual, running late – it was after 6pm when we finally drove out of Kuranda. Cate was driving the Suzi, Zoe and I in the OKA. Boomer still had to be picked up from the refuge at Mareeba, and Cate had to drop off library books at Kuranda.

At about 9.30 pm we really, really annoyed the dog refuge woman as it was well past her bedtime. She angrily thrust a confused Boomer into Cate’s arms and stomped off.

Boomer whined continuously on the floor of the back of the OKA, until he had climbed up into Zoe’s lap where he fell asleep.

We ended up camping on the side of the road (I think where Col and Rees had camped) just the other side of Mt Molloy. Put the Suzi on the a-frame before heading into Mt Molloy for breakfast  – then off to Cooktown. I had expected it to be a bigger town; I was knackered and we needed groceries so we stayed overnight in the local caravan park and stocked up on food on Sunday morning.

Then headed off to Musgrave Roadhouse via Lakefield National Park. Stopped at Isabella Falls for a paddle – beautiful spot. Kept driving up through the national park until Kalpower where we stopped for dinner and a shower. It was very hot and very muggy – too hot for comfortable sleeping so we decided to keep on driving. The corrugations after Kalpower were the worst I’ve ever experienced. The second spare was on the tyre carrier on the back of the OKA – we just lost that in the bush somewhere.

Ended up camping on the side of the road on the other side of  Musgrave Roadhouse.

Had a great breakfast at Musgrave, then headed off to Portland Roads. The road into the Iron Range National Park was corrugated with a few tricky dips to negotiate.

We stopped for dinner and a camp on the side of the Wenlock

Boomer waiting for dinner

Boomer waiting for dinner

– beautiful spot although some-one had pinched the best spot before we got there. After dinner we headed off to the river crossing intending to have a swim, but saw a vehicle parked in the middle of the river with 2 people in the vehicle swinging spotlight torches vertically from the river surface to the sky and back again. We watched for 15 minutes but could not work out what they were doing. It looked a little as though they were fly-fishing with torches attached to their rods.