Hinchinbrook Island is a national park just off the coast from Cardwell in north Queensland. It's almost totally wilderness, and the walk along its east coast, the Thorsborne Trail, is absolutely fantastic and an Australian classic.

The pictures here are from a walk I did in 1994. Some things may have changed since then, but hopefully not too much.

You can do the walk in either the north or south direction, and it's pretty easy to catch a boat out and arrange for another to pick you up at the other end a few days later. The typical northern starting point is Ramsey Bay, on the north-east coast of the island. The ferry from Cardwell actually approaches this beach from the western side - a network of mangrove lined estuaries run almost all the way across the island, and a landing at the end of one of them leaves you with only a few hundred metres of boardwalk to reach the east coast.

Nina Bay makes a good campsite for the first night. Or the rest of your life if you are so inclined. It's only two kilometres or so from the start of the walk, but you might find that a good part of the first day is taken up with just getting to the island.

Just around the corner from Nina Bay on the morning of day two.

A convenient and appealing campsite for the second night.

On day three the trail leaves the coast and heads through the rainforest, then back to the coast again at Zoe Bay.

A view of Zoe Bay from the top of Zoe Falls on day four.

Day five - a little bit of trail walking, then a long beach walk down to George Point to catch the boat to Lucinda.