The Daintree Rainforest including Cape Tribulation National Park is the world’s oldest living rainforest estimated to be over 110 million years – it is the second largest tract of virgin rainforest in the World next to the Amazon. The Daintree National Park was protected by World Heritage Listing in 1988.

The Great Barrier Reef which was World Heritage Listed in 1981, is probably the most well known among the seven natural wonders of the world. It is the largest living coral reef on earth and the only living thing visible from outer space.
Stretching some 2,000km (1,240 miles) along the Queensland Coast in Northern Australia, the Reef comprises approximately 2,900 individual coral reefs and covers an area of approximately 350,000 square kilometres, making it larger than the size of the United Kingdom.

In 1770 Captain James Cook the discoverer of Australia, was on an exploration voyage up the north Queensland coast, when his ship the “Endeavour” went aground on a reef.

He named the reef “Endeavour Reef” after his ship.

The Cape adjacent to the reef he named Cape Tribulation and the mountain behind it he named Mount Sorrow – in all it was not one of his most enjoyable voyages.

The ship was badly holed and he made his way further north in search of an anchorage to make repairs.

He found an inlet that is now The Endeavour River and where is now located the coastal township of Cooktown.

Except for a large piece of coral, found lodged in the ships hull, this story may never have made the history books!

"I had ambition not only to go farther than anyone had been before but as far as it was possible for man to go" James Cook

The real history of Far North Queensland and its Gold Rush days when towns which now have only one or two hotels had over 30, goes back to one of the most ancient countries on earth populated by the oldest race on earth, the Australian Aborigine. The original Australians were a nomadic race and other than rock paintings, carvings, middens and burial sites they left the country undisturbed.

Unlike countries with ancient man-made buildings from which many of our visitors come, Australia has a different history – an ancient natural heritage. The Flora of the Daintree includes more families of plants with primitive flowering species than anywhere in the world.

For perhaps thousands of years, the Kuku Yalangi Aboriginal people lived along this section of coastline. For this reason, when whites arrived a well used track existed from Cape Tribulation to the Bloomfield River. As early as the 1880s a timber cutter called Hal Collins used it to search for Red Cedar.

First attempts to upgrade it came in 1968 when a privately funded group of local farmers bulldozed a ‘pilot track’. They perhaps felt that a coastal road link through to Cooktown would improve their land values.

The ‘pilot track’ was narrow, avoiding large trees, and not graveled, sections of it exceeded 33% (1:3) in gradient. It was open only a few weeks, the rain closed it. The harsh terrain won round one and it was some time before anyone bothered to reopen it. In 1978, a land developer reopened it but the end result was the same.

For 14 years it was essentially a walking track. In those 14 years a number of things happened. Ancient flowering plants were discovered in the Daintree Rainforest. Tourists began to visit in increasing numbers and the Daintree began metamorphosis from a farming area to a tourist area. In 1981, The Cape Tribulation National Park was gazetted.

Further south, Mossman, old plans for a widened, graveled Bloomfield Road were revitalized. The Douglas Shire Council began construction in 1982. Protesters tried to stop the road, leading to several arrests. In spite of almost no local support, the road was built in a matter of weeks. The protesters won in the end though, the publicity surrounding the issue resulted in the nomination and subsequent inclusion of the area on the World Heritage List.

Another interesting thing about the protest is that the protest leader, Mike Berwick, stood for mayor of the council he protested against and won! In 2003 he was still mayor. This more than anything else indicates the mood of the community and the change in people’s views about the environment at that time.

Currently the future of the road is uncertain. No decision has been make about the road but the high cost of road building and low population it serves means that it will probably remain a 4wd Track for some time to come.

On our tours we show you pictures of the protest and talk a little about the issues surrounding ‘the road’. The Mason Family were involved in the building of the initial pilot road, and later opposed the road in the 1980s. Hans, one of our guides, was a protester who took direct action to try to halt construction. There is not much we don’t know about the road or the area.

The Masons and the Bloomfield Track

Andrew Arthur Mason first settled in Cow Bay (then known as Baileys Creek) in 1927. after a failed farming venture there he moved to Cape Tribulation in 1932. At that time, he, his brothers and their respective families were the only whites in the area. On a seasonal basis, semi tribal aborigines inhabited the coastline.

In those days the old aboriginal road was occasionally used to transport livestock, this being easier than walking it south toward the Daintree River. Also the Masons grazed cattle at Emmagen Valley, a fact that many people are surprised to learn today. The grazing leases expired and the area is now National Park and World Heritage Area.

During the second world war years, the Masons kept a horse and saddle for each person on the farm, the plan being first to walk north along the Bloomfield Track, then west or south to escape invasion. In those days the Bloomfield Track would have been the easiest way out. Luckily the escape plan was never needed.

Over the years the Mason Family witnessed many changes – from walking track to road, from would be farmers and miners to Marijuana growers and from unprotected State Forest to National Park and World Heritage Area.