Cape Tribulation is a headland and coastal
locality
Locality may refer to:
* Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England
* Locality (linguistics)
* Locality (settlement)
* Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...
in the
Shire of Douglas
The Shire of Douglas is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Far North Queensland, Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mo ...
in northern
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, Australia.
In the , Cape Tribulation had a population of 118 people.
Geography
The locality is north of
Cairns
Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
. It is within the
Daintree National Park
The Daintree rainforest is a national park in Far North Queensland, Australia, northwest of Brisbane and northwest of Cairns. It was founded in 1981 and is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland. In 1988 it became a World Heritage Site. The par ...
and the
Wet Tropics
The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...
World Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
area. It is within the
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
of
Shire of Douglas
The Shire of Douglas is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Far North Queensland, Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mo ...
(between 2008 and 2013, it was within the
Cairns Region).
The locality contains a small number of bed and breakfast eco lodges, tourism resorts and backpacker hostels. A few very rare plants can be found on Cape Tribulation.
History
''
Kuku Yalanji
The Kuku Yalanji, also known as Gugu-Yalanji, Kuku Yalandji or Kokojelandji, are an Aboriginal Australian people originating from the rainforest regions of Far North Queensland.
Language
The traditional language of the people is Guugu Yaland ...
'' (also known as ''Gugu Yalanji'', ''Kuku Yalaja'', and ''Kuku Yelandji'') is an
Australian Aboriginal language
The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...
of the
Mossman and
Daintree areas of
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...
. The language region includes areas within the local government area of
Shire of Douglas
The Shire of Douglas is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Far North Queensland, Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mo ...
and
Shire of Cook, particularly the localities of Mossman, Daintree,
Bloomfield River, China Camp,
Maytown,
Palmer, Cape Tribulation and
Wujal Wujal
Wujal Wujal is a rural town and locality in the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wujal Wujal had a population of 282 people. It is an Aboriginal community.
The community of Wujal Wujal is located in the Cape York r ...
.
''
Yalanji'' (also known as ''Kuku Yalanji'', ''Kuku Yalaja'', ''Kuku Yelandji'', and ''Gugu Yalanji)'' is an
Australian Aboriginal language
The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...
of
Far North Queensland
Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...
. The traditional language region is
Mossman River
The Mossman River is a river located in the Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia.
The headwaters of the river rise under Devils Thumb on the Mount Carbine Tableland in the Great Dividing Range. The river flows through a deep ...
in the south to the
Annan River
The Annan River ( Kuku Nyungkal: ''Yuku Baja'') is a river located in the Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland, Australia.
Course and features
The river rises in the Yorkey Range below Mount Romeo near , north-northwest of . The river flows ...
in the north, bordered by the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
in the east and extending inland to west of
Mount Mulgrave. This includes the local government boundaries of the
Shire of Douglas
The Shire of Douglas is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Far North Queensland, Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mo ...
, the
Shire of Cook and the
Aboriginal Shire of Wujal Wujal
The Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is managed as a Deed of Grant in Trust under the ''Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act 2004''.
Geography
It is on the east coast of ...
and the towns and localities of
Cooktown
Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...
,
Mossman,
Daintree, Cape Tribulation and
Wujal Wujal
Wujal Wujal is a rural town and locality in the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wujal Wujal had a population of 282 people. It is an Aboriginal community.
The community of Wujal Wujal is located in the Cape York r ...
. It includes the head of the
Palmer River
The Palmer River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The area surrounding the river was the site of a gold rush in the late 19th century which started in 1873.
Course and features
The headwaters of the Palmer River rise in ...
, the
Bloomfield River,
China Camp
China Camp State Park is a state park in Marin County, California, surrounding a historic Chinese American shrimp-fishing village and a salt marsh. The park is located in San Rafael, California, on the shore of San Pablo Bay. It is known for it ...
,
Maytown, and
Palmerville.
Cape Tribulation was named by British
navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...
Lieutenant
James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
on 10 June 1770 (log date) after his ship scraped a reef north east of the cape, whilst passing over it, at 6pm. Cook steered away from the coast into deeper water but at 10.30pm the ship ran aground, on what is now named
Endeavour Reef
Endeavour Reef is a coral reef within the Great Barrier Reef. It is within the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. The reef is about long and runs in an east–west direction. The center of the reef is located at . It is about ...
. The ship stuck fast and was badly damaged, desperate measures being needed to prevent it
foundering until it was refloated the next day. Cook recorded "...the north point
as namedCape
Tribulation because "''here begun all our troubles''".
In the 1930s some European
settlers
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
started arriving in Cape Tribulation, but they found the rainforest environment an extremely challenging one within which to establish a settlement. Various ventures such as fruit and vegetable farming, fishing, cattle, and timber cutting were started and abandoned over the years, and having weekly barges as the only transport in and out was another limitation. In the 1960s a rough track was
bulldozed
A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous tracks, ...
and the first vehicle access created, although the road remained a
four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...
track until the early 1990s. In 2002, the road was finally sealed all the way to Cape Tribulation and in early 2011 the last bridge was built creating year round all weather access to Cape Tribulation for the first time.
Protests
In 1983, Cape Tribulation became widely known because of the
blockade on the
Bloomfield Track
The Bloomfield Track, which is also known as the Coast Road or officially, the Cape Tribulation-Bloomfield Road, is a controversial four-wheel-drive road in Far North Queensland, Australia. The road's construction through untouched wilderness wa ...
. Local government had decided to bulldoze a road through the rainforest north of Cape Tribulation to complete the coastal road to
Cooktown
Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...
. Protesters tried to stop the bulldozers and occupied trees to prevent their destruction. While wild scenes with a large police and media presence ensued at the southern end, the road was completed in three short weeks as the road builders approached from northern end and flanked the protestors. By now the state and federal governments had started to realise the value of this ancient rainforest and despite protests from the local council the forests surrounding Cape Tribulation were given World Heritage Listing in 1988.
Climate
![Mount Sorrow, Cape Tribulation, QLD](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Mount_Sorrow%2C_Cape_Tribulation%2C_QLD.JPG)
The average annual rainfall for Cape Tribulation is 3,900 mm.
See also
*
Tourism in Australia
Tourism in Australia is an important part of the Australian economy, and comprises domestic and international visitors. In the financial year 2018/19, tourism was Australia's fourth-largest export and over the previous decade was growing fa ...
*
Cape Tribulation (Mars) Looking north at the southern end of Cape Tribulation (MER-B, 2017)
Cape Tribulation is a section of the Western rim of Endeavour crater on the planet Mars. The MER-B ''Opportunity'' rover spent 30 months exploring Cape Tribulation from 2014 to 2 ...
References
External links
Movies of Cape Tribulation and cassowaries
{{1stVoyageCookAus
Populated places in Far North Queensland
Tribulation
Localities in Queensland
Shire of Douglas
Landforms of Far North Queensland
Coastline of Queensland