RED BEACH, MOVIE STARS, CROCS AND TOURISTS
by Troppo
June to September is the peak tourist season up here in the far north. And, no wonder -- the weather is beautiful, with the temperature usually hovering about the 25 deg mark, and the humidity at a very tolerable 40-odd percent.
My riding mates and I often head up into the Atherton Tablelands for our weekend blasts, however this time a change of scenery was called for -- time to go tropical, rather than temperate.
Points north, principally the Daintree National Park, were the order of the day.
After agreeing on a sensible start time, the good Doctor and I headed off up the Captain Cook Highway, past Port Douglas to the quaint little sugar town of Mossman for breakfast.
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Not much happens in Mossman on a Sunday morning.... |
One does tend to get blasé about the superlative roads, the stunning scenery and the complete lack of traffic in FNQ.
It seems that Steven Spielberg, that rather well known yank film chap is making a movie up here. Apparently, the movie is intended to be the Pacific version of the very successful WW2 epic Band of Brothers.
The good Mr. Spielberg is using beach and jungle areas north of Mossman for much of the location shots.
Guadalcanal was one of the most well known Pacific battles of WW2. The campaign lasted some six months, and involved vicious fighting between the US Marines and the Japanese on land, the US, Japanese and Australian navies at sea (where we lost the cruiser HMAS Canberra), and the US and Japanese air forces in the skies above.
The name Guadalcanal became synonymous with the US Marines, and effectively marked the turning point in the Pacific war -- from then on, the Japanese were on the retreat.
As US Admiral "Bull" Halsey said: "Before Guadalcanal the enemy advanced at his pleasure -- after Guadalcanal he retreated at ours."
US Marine legend Chesty Puller (the most decorated US marine in history) won his third navy cross during the Guadalcanal campaign. The Mossman locals told us that one of the beaches here was to be used as a stand in for the famous Red Beach on Guadalcanal, scene of the US landings.
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Cooya Beach, near Mossman 2007, looking south |
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Red Beach, Guadalcanal, 2003, looking south |
Looks pretty similar, I suppose -- although most tropical beaches do look alike.
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Cooya Beach, looking north in 2007 |
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Red Beach, looking north in 1942 |
After that bit of sightseeing, we headed off for the Daintree River crossing. This is a very popular tourist spot, as it is the main route to Cape Tribulation and the coastal road to Cooktown.
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Waiting for the ferry -- note dopey tourists looking at croc sign in disbelief |
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They never listen, do they! |
