Dunk Island

Our attempt to sail to Dunk Island was thwarted when the wind completely died, so we turned into Goold Island.  It was a nice calm anchorage with a long beach walk around the sand spit.  Just a few red-capped plovers on the beach and some remains from previous human campers, which we collected. 

As soon as the wind returned at noon we set sail for Dunk on main and genoa, but the wind eased again and we switched to screecher and main.  This gave us 6 to 7 knots on one tack, a serene sail on calm seas.  Bedarra Island has a small resort and quite a few houses, but Timana Island has only one house near the beach – lucky people!  Big signs warn not to land, “Private Property”.

Dunk Island seems quite nice and being close to Mission Beach, has many tourist boats and dive tours.  You’d hardly notice that the resort has been mothballed, apart from a few missing roofs and the pool needs cleaning, it looks almost operational.  The jetty is still being used by the tour boats and there seem to be caretakers doing maintenance.  The camp ground, which is now run by Cassowary Coast Council, is pretty flash with a large amenities block, gas cookers and BBQs, picnic tables and a palm frond Happy Hour shelter on the beach.

The walk to Muggy Muggy Beach passes through lovely rainforest with cool gullies of ferns and some amazing trees.  A brush turkey coming along the track just strolled past and ignored us, used to humans, I guess.

Brush turkey demands right of way.

The big walk around the island goes over Mt Kootaloo then down to Coconut Beach and back around the Non-functioning airstrip.  Most of this walk is through wonderful rainforest with many varieties of fruits and nuts.  

You can hear Noisy Pittas, fruit-doves, scrub-wens, honey-eaters, monarchs and grey shrike-thrush calling, though the scrub is too dense to really see them.  A rufous fantail popped out to show off his perfect match to the colour of the fallen leaves.

Scrub-fowl chose to build his mound across the track!

The tracks are well maintained and easy, the scrub-fowl and brush-turkeys have done their own form of maintenance and one mound is even built over the track near Coconut Beach. 

We expected the last few km to be out in the hot sun but it is still quite shady with a thinner forest canopy.  All beautiful bushwalks!