Introducing Lakeland & Laura
The Peninsula Developmental Rd turns off the Cairns–Cooktown Mulligan Hwy at Lakeland. Facilities here include a general store for stocking up with food, petrol and diesel, a small caravan park and a hotel-motel. From Lakeland it’s 734km to Bamaga, almost at the top of the peninsula. The first stretch to Laura is not too bad, just some corrugation, potholes, grids and causeways – the creek crossings are bridged (although they flood in the Wet).
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About 50km from Lakeland is the turn-off to Split Rock (Guguylangi) Galleries (Split Rock/entire trail $5/10). Pay in the honesty box; no photography is allowed. The galleries contain the best surviving examples of Quinkan rock painting, one of the most distinctive styles of Aboriginal art, and depictions here date back approximately 14,000 years. No-one has been able to fully interpret these paintings, as the tribe who painted them were all massacred or killed by disease during the 1873 gold rush. For more information, visit the Quinkan Regional Cultural Centre (07-4060 3457) in Laura.
Last updated: Mar 2, 2009
Thorn Tree forum discussion
Recent posts
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RE: Things to do/see: From Cairns to Cooktown???
by chrisj 12 September 2009
The Bloomfield Track, Roaring Meg Falls, Lakefield National Park, Quinkan Rock art gallery near Laura, Palmer River Goldfields / Maytown.…
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RE: FNQ - North of Cooktown.
by chrisj 26 April 2008
Lakefield National Park http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/projects/park/index.cgi?parkid=187 Laura (Quinkan Aboriginal rock art) http://en.…
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Queensland in May
by chrisj 14 March 2007
By May, most of the crocs will be pretty quiet. They're a lot more active in the summer months & wet season. Having said that, I was…
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