More Girramay Country
Hinchinbrook Island is the back drop to the beautiful beach. October 2021
I am really starting to love this area that I thought was boring for so long. As you head north past Cardwell on the right side is a turn off to Edmund Kennedy, Girramay National Park. Set aside 3 or 4 hours or more and go for a walk, sit or whatever and really enjoy this spot.
One of the bridges over the mangrove creeks.
From the main carpark you can walk directly onto the beach or make your may along the coast by way of a track through the mangroves. You can access the beach at many spots along the way and there is lots to see on the mangroves walk.
Lace Monitor, October 2021.
As you walk along the path you will hear a lot of rustling in the bushes and also notice a lot of snake like tracks on the path. Goannas are everywhere and if you are quiet enough you will get to see them. Too loud and they will quickly disappear.
Lace Monitor, October 2021.
This one checked us out for a while before making his way off into the bush. The main food source for these reptiles is also in abundance in the area.
A juvenile Figbird, Girramay Country, October 2021.
There are a lot of birds in the area that I guess provide a steady food source to the Goannas in the form of eggs. You have to be patient to get good photos of birds and my wife who was with me on this day does not have the patience. I spent little time hunting birds with my camera on this day.
If you are into birds then there are hundreds of different species in this area. The only photos I got in the mangroves were of this young Figbird.
Falling leaves, October 2021.
If you visit and want to see birds try the cooler parts of the day like early morning or late afternoon. On our visit in October 2021 it was very hard to be quiet on the path as it was covered in fallen leaves dried out in the intense heat. It was a very hot day.
This spider was larger than my hand.
As you walk along the path searching for things of interest don’t forget to look straight ahead as well. I nearly face planted this huge spider who had set up it’s web right across the track.
I do not want that on my face.
I have no idea if this spider is harmless or not. Any spider the size of my hand is enough to put me off so we very quickly walked around that web.
The walk along the mangroves provides a bit of shade so that is how we made our way in during the afternoon heat. Once the sun dropped a little we headed out onto the beach and walked back to the carpark along it. The beach was littered with washed up jelly fish.
Red-capped Plover, Girramay National Park, October 2021.
Also on the beach late afternoon there was plenty of birdlife to see. Birds like the endangered Eastern Curlew were present and above in the sky Terns were making their way out to the islands.
My wife was patient enough to let me try to get close to a pair of Red-capped Plovers but after that she was ready to go.
On the beach there were plenty of tracks for Goannas and Wallabies. It was time for us to go but I plan to return and spend more time there.