Cape Tribulation
Cape Tribulation is 110 kilometres north of Cairns in the Douglas Shire, in Kuku-Yalanji country, within the Daintree National Park. In 1988, the surrounding forests were listed as World Heritage Sites.
James Cook named the cape on 10 June 1770 (log date) after his vessel ran onto Endeavour Reef northeast of the cape at 10.30 pm. The Endeavour was severely damaged, but after desperate measures prevented the ship from foundering, it was refloated the next day.
Cook's name for the landmark came because "here begun all our troubles".
The Bloomfield Track enters the locality from Thornton Beach to the south and exits to the north en route to the Bloomfield River, Wujal Wujal, and Cooktown. The road was sealed as far as Cape Tribulation in 2002, and the last bridge that delivered year-round, all-weather access was completed in 2011.
Loggers and timbergetters were active in the area during the late 19th century. Settlers began arriving in the area in the 1930s, establishing fruit and vegetable farms, fishing, grazing cattle, and continuing to log the rainforest. The area remained relatively inaccessible, with weekly barges as the only transport option until a rough track was bulldozed in the 1960s.
Government attempts to upgrade the road north of Cape Tribulation in 1983 saw environmentalist protesters try to stop the bulldozers, which attracted significant media attention. Although the road was completed after three weeks of confrontations, it remained a four-wheel-drive track until the early 1990s.
Links to add:
Daintree National Park
Endeavour Reef
Thornton Beach
