Mapoon and Penefather

Johanna had to spend Tuesday at the Mapoon clinic and we all went along. Mapoon is an extremely small settlement about 80km north of Weipa. This makes it about 120km short of the tip of Australia (click on the map to enlarge it).The trip is along a well maintained dirt road through scrub which is very similar to that of the Northern Territory.


After dropping Johanna at the clinic we drove a short distance to a very beautiful point where the kids and I spent a great few hours. This was what we thought the Cape would look like with tropical vegetation and blue seas.


On the way home we took a side trip to Penefather (everyone seems to pronounce this penny-feather). It is " probably the place where, in 1606, the Dutch yacht Duyfken, commanded by Willem Janszoon, after a voyage from the Dutch East Indies, made the first authenticated landing on Australian soil by a European."

It was incredible, pure white sand, crystal clear water and our first clear view straight across the gulf. The water was extremely inviting and because it was so clear and visibility was good we considered ignoring the no swimming rule but eventually decided to just dangle the kids at the waters edge.