Day 19 – Cape Hillsborough – Thierings on Tour

The morning brought an early start, as Cape Hillsborough is renowned for its wallabies on the beach at sunrise. So I dutifully set an alarm and then managed to wake all the troops for our early morning adventure. As we left our campsite daylight was barely breaking and I did question my sanity as to why I was dragging 3 kids out in the dark to look at an animal they had seen (and even fed) many times before at our local Symbio. We walked down to the beach to see that there were already many other likeminded fools there waiting patiently with a local guide and of course, the wildlife!

As daylight started breaking more the local guide spread some pellets of grass and grains in strategic spots along the stretch of beach to ensure that all observers had a good view and a great photo opportunity… then the sun did its magic and it truly was a beautiful morning and sunrise. So excuse the ridiculous number of photos, but it’s hard to choose and limit the snaps we got.

With happy hearts we plodded back to camp to have breakfast and to get ready for the day. There was a little family of kookaburras perched up on the tree next to us just observing. I love seeing all the local wildlife on this trip!

Cape Hillsborough has a number of walking tracks and lookouts around camp, but some of them require you to walk on the sand, so again you have to be tactical with the tides. The lady at reception said that around lunchtime would be best, so we used the morning to crack on with work/meetings for me and homework for the girls. The only annoying thing was the bush turkeys roaming our campsite that kept bothering the girls.

Once the tides had gone down, we set off on our circuit around the cape. We started along the beach and it was cool to be able to walk past all the volcanic looking rocks and caves. It felt a bit like we were in the Moana movie.

Jazzy once again took the role of leader and guide, something she thrives on and we firstly headed across the sand to Wedge Island. It was really cool seeing the bay from the other side.

Scarly had prime realestate in the hiking backpack this time and it was very good exercise indeed! Poor Chris also had his work cut out carrying his and Izzy’s backpacks for the most part filled with everyone’s water and yes, ALL the snacks.

Then it was back across the low tide rocks to the rainforest and up and up and up many stairs to reach the first lookout – Andrew’s Point Lookout. From Diwaia Lookout we could see turtles popping their heads out of the water. The views got better and better with every lookout we visited!

Scarly was very tired from being carried 12,000 steps and had a nice nap in the backpack, but the other girls powered through the whole time!

When we got back it was time for a well-deserved ice cream followed by a dip in the pool. Even though it was pretty cold, it was so refreshing after our long hike. Chris and the girls stayed there a while while I finished my work, the girls would certainly be tired tonight after all that walking and splashing…