For anyone considering going to Cooktown to see the gull, the roads
around Julatten and Mt Molloy are presently cut by floodwaters. (This is
the main road route to Cooktown - the coastal route is mostly closed
through the wet season and mostly 4WD at the best of times). I have just
been out to the highway to see first hand (7 am Monday) and there is a
fair amount of water there at the moment. The odd truck is getting
through but that is all. It takes about 2 days for water to get to Mt
Molloy and the Peninsula Highway from the headwaters. There was up to
200 mm of rain on Saturday night and falls from 100 to 200 mm about Mt
Molloy and Julatten and in the headwaters of the streams again last
night. This is still to come down so the road will be cut for 3 days or
so at least. The Weather Bureau is predicting more heavy falls tonight
(Monday). The road between Julatten and Mt Molloy is also cut. Even if
one got through at Mt Molloy, there are several streams to the north
which regularly cut the highway through the wet season. Cooktown also
had around 100 mm overnight (Sunday night) so there will be some
flooding there as well.
The monsoonal trough is sitting between Cairns and Port Douglas at the
moment so until it retreats to the north, conditions probably won't
improve although the Bureau is predicting the situation to ease later in
the week. However, they have been wrong a few times through this very
wet Wet Season with a very persistent monsoonal trough.
There is a regular air service from Cairns to Cooktown (probably MacAir)
but I don't know much about it. Cooktown airport is about 10 km out of
town but I don't know whether there is a shuttle bus service from
airport into town. Once in town it is only a short walk down to the
wharf/jetty where the bird is.
As one who lives locally, I would leave any visit until at least later
in the week if wanting to drive from Cairns to Cooktown. Regional ABC in
Cairns keeps a good track of current road conditions and broadcasts them
regularly. RACQ reports are often 2 days old and not current.
Lloyd Nielsen
Mt Molloy Nth Qld
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