21/09/2026
10 keen walkers met at 5.30am at Alligator Creek for car pooling for our big hike to Cape Cleveland. From Cocoa Creek Road we turned north and followed the 4WD track until we got stopped by a small spot of mangrove swamp. Leaving the vehicles there we began our hike along the continuation of the motor bike/quad bike track to Launs Beach. Following the beach we continued to the hut at White Rock Bay and began our rock scramble over and around a number of rocky headlands. As the tide was almost full, wading around the rocks wasn't an option, we had to climb high and/or squeeze through gaps between some of the big boulders. After a short break on arrival at Long Beach Bay we had an easy beach walk until we hit the mangroves and had to go inland behind the mangrove swamp to get to the end of the bay. After climbing over a ridgeline we dropped into Red Rock Bay we continued to the next bay and picked up the old telegraph track which took us all the way to the bay at the base of the cape. A short walk up the concrete path had us at the light house for a well deserved rest, lunch and the great view over the ocean, four foot and twenty foot rocks and the turtles feeding on the sea grass beds off the point, some people even had a refreshing swim in the bay. It is rather depressing to see the Queensland Heritage Register listed buildings in such a derelict state and no attempts being made by government departments to stop the deterioration of this wonderful natural and historic site.
The return trip was much easier, as we had a 0.7m low tide, which allowed us to skirt around the front of the rocky headlands that had given us trouble on the way out. We also followed a quite distinct quad bike track that ran on the inland side of the full length of Long Beach Bay, saving us having to navigate through the bush behind the mangroves. The only delay we had on the return was when we tried to take a shortcut along Launs Beach, but had to backtrack when we hit a mangrove covered inlet, thankfully a phone app showed a non existent track through the swamp, which took us back to the track we had come in on. We were all glad to see the vehicles to take us home. During discussions on the drive home it was decided that next year we would have our annual whale watching trip in August again, camping on the sandy beach at the base of the cape and walking in on a low tide, spending either one or two nights there and then walking out on the same low tide.
- Wilfred
