As we near Cooktown the rocks of the Black Mountain National Park tower above the road.
“The rocks are covered in black algae and rock wallabies live in the gaps underneath them,” our driver informs us.
The wallabies stay hidden, but further up the road some of their bush cousins spring from the side of the road in front of us, narrowly avoiding an accident, before scattering back into the bush.
Cooktown's buildings look much the same as they did 100 years ago, apart from a few recent coats of paint. It was a boom town during the 1870s gold rush on the nearby Palmer River. Later the pearl industry kept the town going as helmet divers worked the coast. Once the pearls were gone the town settled into the quiet atmosphere that exists today.
The beach at Cooktown looks inviting for a swim, but a sign “WARNING, estuarine crocodiles inhabit this area” changes our minds. We aren't keen on checking out the mangroves either, preferring to stay on the open beach instead.
A lighthouse above the town gives us the same spectacular view that explorer James Cook saw over two hundred years earlier. Out to sea is the Great Barrier Reef and below us the Endeavour River, where Cook beached his ship, HMS Endeavour for repairs.
