Cape York Peninsula

Rugged, remote Cape York Peninsula has one of the wildest tropical environments on the planet. The Great Dividing Range forms the spine of the Cape: tropical rainforests and palm-fringed beaches flank its eastern side, and sweeping savannah woodlands, eucalyptus forests and coastal mangroves its west. This untamed landscape undergoes a spectacular transformation each year when the torrential rains of the monsoonal wet season set in: rough, dry earth turns to rich, red mud and trickling creek-beds swell to raging rivers.

Generally only possible in the Dry, the overland pilgrimage to the Tip is an exhilarating 4WD trek into one of Australia’s last great frontiers, but if sticking to the main track, anyone with a 4WD and a sense of adventure can travel to the Tip.

Large areas of Cape York are Aboriginal land, almost half under Native Title, with more than 40 traditional tribal groups represented across some dozen communities.