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An outing to Cooktown is planned this year with the daily program to be finalised at short notice according to the prevailing late wet season road conditions. Potential local outings are: the Botanic Gardens, Mount Cook National Park, Keating's lagoon, Kings Plain Lakes, Shipton's Flat, Elim Beach and McIvor and Normanby Rivers. Lakefield National Park is another possibility, but the Chief Ranger has indicated that it, closed because of the wet season, is unlikely to be open by Easter.
Dinner at a local restaurant is proposed for Saturday evening and local BANQ regional contact Kath Shurcliff (07 4069 6595 note change from no longer used mobile number) has invited us to their place (Kath and Dave's) for a barbeque on Sunday evening.
Possible sightings on the weekend, with luck, include Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo, Black-winged Monarch, Tropical Scrubwren, White-streaked Honeyeater, Black-backed Butcherbird and Bennett's Tree-Kangaroo.
Black-winged Monarch
(Courtesy Ian
Montgomery, Birdway)
There are two van parks located away from the Endeavour River mangroves: Cooktown Caravan Park (tel. 07 4069 5536, email) offers camping and van sites only while the Peninsula Caravan Park (tel. 4069 5107, email) offers cabins, camping and van sites. Consequently, we are recommending the Peninsula Caravan Park. Cooktown Caravan Park is the first one on the way into town while the Peninsula Caravan Park is at the southern end of Howard St. For more luxurious accommodation check the Cook Shire website.
