Saturday 17th July, 2021
Happy anniversary to us.
Three years of marriage in an amazing 29 years together. Yay us. David got up for sunrise this morning and saw a lace monitor up a tree and a magnificent sunrise. I was too scared to go out on the beach at dawn because of the crocodiles and prayed David would be safe. I really should have done some research on croc behaviour before we left. Oh well.
What an amazing day. We climbed over boulders, hopped over rocks, walk along the beach, up and down huge hills, crossed many creeks, DB fell in one, I tripped on a reed and landed on my hands and knees with my heavy pack on my back. Luckily I was not hurt. We walked through swamps, I ended up rushing in up to my knees after DB said there had been a recent croc sighting, we talked to some young girls (one a park ranger and the other a biologist) at the crocodile creek, went through rainforest, more swamps, passed amazing trees, through more creeks, then we finally made it to Zoe Bay camp site. We setup camp and then walked up to the falls, had a swim, walked up further and had another swim in an infinity pool. A big day with the most diverse range of track conditions and scenery. An awesome anniversary. 10.5km over 6 hrs. Another tough day at the office. DB had to carry my water today just to reduce my pack weight by 2kg as it was a struggle early in the day for me. We enjoy each day meeting new people along the track and at camp. It makes for interesting conversation hearing about their travels and favourite hikes, it is amazing how much you can learn about someone’s life in 30 mins. We are now over half way. 17km done, two more 7.5km days to go.

Day 2 – Track Notes
Little Ramsay Bay to Zoe Bay (Grade: difficult)
Distance: 10.5 km Time: allow about 6 hrs hiking time
From Little Ramsay Bay the trail proceeds south, crossing a tidal creek and continuing to rocks at the end of the beach. The next beach is then accessed by rock hopping around the small headland. At the end of this beach, the trail leads to the upper edge of rocks above a larger sandy beach. From the southern end of this beach the trail heads south-easterly through a small gully to the top of a ridge. At this point, a side path leads to Banksia Bay (600 m return) and a small camping area. This bay has spectacular fringing reefs and golden orchids can be seen growing on the beachside rocks.

The main trail continues south, descending to the Banksia Creek crossing and onwards south- east to the saddle between Banksia and Zoe bays. At the top of the saddle the trail then descends a rocky creek into the Zoe Bay catchment. Turning south-south-west, the trail travels to North Zoe Creek through a succession of vegetation types, from dry open forest to rainforest and mangrove swamps. The variation in rain, fire and drainage are the driving forces behind the distribution of these vegetation types.

The trail then passes through several palm swamps in tall rainforest between North Zoe Creek and Fan Palm Creek The trail may be less visible in these areas. Look carefully for the trail markers. The most reliable water sources in this section are found where the trail crosses Fan Palm Creek and Cypress Pine Creek. The rainforest here is ideal for bird watching and the deep ‘wallock-a-woo’ call of the brightly coloured but elusive wompoo fruit-dove can sometimes be heard from within the canopy. Look out for the hooked tendrils of the yellow lawyer cane and hairy mary C. australis. These climbing palms use hook-studded branches to support growth towards the canopy. Although not poisonous, these tendrils can take a firm hold of hikers’ skin, packs and clothing. Be prepared to get your feet wet as there are several creek crossings and swampy sections. The trail enters the beach at Zoe Bay with the mouth of South Zoe Creek about 400 m to the south.

The spectacular Zoe Falls are a few minutes along the track from the camping area and are well worth a visit. There is no camping at Zoe Falls please camp in the camping area. At low tide look for armies of small, blue soldier crabs on the sand flats near the mouth of South Zoe Creek. From the southern end of the beach the trail leads through magnificent rainforest featuring the orange trunks of alligator bark and the tall, buttressed blue quandong. The bright blue fruits of the quandong often litter the forest floor. Large eucalypts emerge above the rainforest canopy, suggesting that this has not always been a rainforest, but that over the last few decades, the absence of fire has caused the rainforest to invade open eucalypt forest.