Gallery Release: ‘Queensland Part 1 - Hinchinbrook Island’

In June this year, I ventured to Far North Queensland for my first photography trip in this part of Australia. Having spent most of my focus on far more temperate environments over the last 10 years, the humid tropical landscapes were something entirely different for me. Everything from the mountains to the forests and the coastlines felt foreign, with different geology, plants and wildlife than further south in my usual stomping ground of New South Wales and Tasmania. Draping moss was replaced by creeping vines (some of which were spiked and determined to tear your clothes), igneous geology dominated the landscape, and - thanks to the crocodiles and jellyfish - all of a sudden it wasn’t safe to swim in any water that wasn’t fresh and safely upstream! After also seeing a wild cassowary on my first day of the trip, I think Australia definitely earns its reputation for wildlife in these northern regions (although I’d still take snakes and spiders over bears and cougars).

Hinchinbrook Island first came onto my radar a couple of years ago as I was browsing through the archives of Tasmanian landscape photography legend Peter Dombrovskis, which I am prone to doing every now and then. Whilst diving through the 3000+ images, I came across a frame of a mountainous tropical island paradise, the name of which was unfamiliar to me at the time. I instantly knew I had to plan a trip there, which worked into my plans at the time for a visit to the Daintree (which will comprise the second part of my Queensland gallery release to come). Access to the island is highly restricted for anyone wanting to hike, requiring tickets to be booked long in advance. I am encouraged by the way that Queensland Parks are managing access in this way, as such a place could so quickly become ruined by development and over-visitation.

Teeing up with good mates and fellow photographers Lyall Cuthbert & Michael Kenny, we spent five days hiking the island from south to north. A long-extended wet season made for a very rainy first few days; however, I was grateful for this, as it swelled the streams nicely and provided some great atmosphere for photography, even if it made for less comfort in the first half of the hike. A particularly lucky final couple of days provided us with beautiful light and several rainbows; a sweet by-product of running the gauntlet with such conditions. Thanks to these instances of light, rain and atmosphere, I felt I was able to do justice to the dramatic and wild place that this island is.

What I also found myself equally enthralled by were some of the smaller scenes to be found. Working with different plant life, geology and even wildlife presented new opportunities for me to explore in the quieter, passing-through moments of the hike. On the second day, whilst we stayed put at our campsite to wait out the rain, I spent some time exploring the forest floor and noticing the different shapes, colours and textures there. At several other points, I was highly engaged with photographing the sand for various reasons. A couple of beaches were full of sand bubbler crabs, which created fascinating artistic patterns that were a delight to explore; I wish I’d made even more time for these. Other beaches were filled with a wide variety of striking patterns in the sand - some caused by the receding tide, others from subterranean leakage from a nearby lagoon.

I have arranged the images in mostly chronological order, with some slight variances here or there for presentation’s sake. The one outlier image that sneaks in to this gallery is the picturesque waterfall right at the end, which was photographed on the mainland just after getting back from the island. With it not quite fitting into the Daintree portion of my trip (which actually came before my time on Hinchinbrook Island), and heavily associating it with that section of my time in Queensland, I figured I’d throw it into this release instead.

For those who are seeing this gallery and wanting to plan a trip to this beautiful part of the world - please be responsible and respectful. Book your place on the trail through the correct avenues, which supports local businesses and helps QLD Parks manage this amazing place.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time photographing in Queensland for the first time, and have many plans for my eventual return. Please enjoy these images while I continue to work on my rainforest images from the beautiful Daintree region, to be released in the coming months.