User talk:BRMcCarthy

Block quote My name is Barry McCarthy I live in a town called Port Douglas. The place was first named ( white man ) by Captain Cook a few days be for he ran a ground off Cape Tribulation, he named the place Island Point. "Port" as the locals call the place is a tourist town, but the money from tourists has been put in to the protecton of the area. I belive it's the only place in the world were two World Heritage meet. Port in the middle of both. The add's say were the Reef joins the Rainforest. Australia first World Heritage Listed area in 1981, The Great Barrier Reef.It is the largest natural feature on the planet stretching 2,300km ( 1430 miles ) along the Northeast coast of Australia. Then theres the Daintree / Cape Tribulation Rainforest. The Wet Tropic of Queensland was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1988,covering an area of approximately 894,000 hectares ( 2,209,098 acres ). We at Port sit between both of the two world heritage areas. Some of the locals make a living out of tourists and all care is taken to care for both areas. Port is the closes place to the outer reef, there are two reefs the inner and the outer. The opperators are given one moring where they have large pontoon, thats the only place they go to so all care is taken to look after the area around the pontoon. Most take out several marine biologists, some to help the tourists to tell the whats what, but a lot of the biologist are there to work on projects. In the past 20 years 4 to 5 universitys have open a long the lenth of the reef, again the income from tourism. Queensland was a cattle and cane state. Very large cattle stations ( ranch ) that are large in area 1000's of miles square, they are over the coastal mountain range. the sugar cane is growen a long the coast strip, 100 hectares about as big as they get. the only universitys were in the south east of the state, round the capital Brisbane, there were agriculture collage in some large country towns. So the reef and rainforsts have open education right along the coast, with out the need to go to Brisbane. The universitys teach most things like medicine, engineering etc. A lot of reserch in the animals and plants on the reef looking for compound to make new drugs to help fight cancer etc. Then some in the rainforsts plants and fungus again looking for plants to be used in medcal things.When the work day is over they go home. No camping in the jungle.Some say the Daintree Rainforest area is 140 Million years old. Part of the Daintree is next to the town up the coast about 20km. It's name is Mossman, it's were the sugar mill is. 5min drive east into the foot of the moutain range is Mossman Gorge again people say it's 60,000 years old. It's the southen end of the Daintree / Cape Tribuation World Heritage park. There is a aborigine community that lives at the entrance to the Gorge. The commercial activity in the Great Barrier Reef region is generating over A$4.228 billon per year. So you can see the need to protect it. This is aplace were you let the people see the beauty of the area, the 1000s of colour fish, and the 100s types of coral on the reef. And the plants and animals of the rainforest like our Second largest bird the cassawary ( the emu is our largest ) a tree climbing kangaroo, yes thats right a tree climbing kangaroo. I'v seen them normaly by them self and only of a night with a spot light, and you must be quite, I gess thats true for most animals. Both of these animals have relatives in Papua New Guinea, there smaller and all but wiped out, with the removeal of their rainforests and as bush tucker. (food) Aids is hitting the whole area and the men can't hunt with their bow and arrows. Home made guns made out a piece of water pipe and a 12 gauge shot gun cartridge not only kill what they aim at but ever thing in the area. The cassawary has mainly black feathers so there not used like the bird of paradise for it's feathers.The cassawary is hunted for food. The Cape Tribulation National Park was in sevral sections broken by private land, the Bouncing Stones on the edge of the private land. A private and goverment buy back of the land was started some years ago, I first saw the stones in about 1990 when I moved up from Sydney. You had to have a 4 wheel drive with low range,( SUV ) the track was unsealed most of the way to Cape Tribulation, after the cape you were on the Bloomfield Track. And you needed to be a expert driver most of the time, but in the wet you had to know what to do, creeks to cross with fast runing water and at the end a river to cross. You had to work the tides as the Bloomfield river is tidal. The hight of the water was over a metre deep, ( three feet +) at good times, but I did get water over the Bonnet ( hood ) at times.There were some large rocks placed in the river, and with know how you used the bloders as a guide, to the left of one to the right of a other. It was a bout 100m across then you had to climb the earth bank. The Bloomfield River is the northen boundry of the Daintree / Cape Tribulation National Park. One thing I must point out, National Parks in Australia are State Parks. Only when they get a World Heritage do the Fedrail Goverment have some control, but the Queensland Goverment still have a say on what happen in the park. The Queensland is controling the buy back of land, the Fedrail Goverment puts up the money. Land that has no building plan in before local goverment will not be able to build. I think some warning was given, but I don't know. The Daintree river on the south side of the park has a car ferry to cross the river and no electric power will be install north of the river. It's alternators ( generators) and solar panels. In the Wet season most of the day is cloud, in the Dry you still have to get the sun light to the panels with 150 to 200 feet trees round your home. And LPG used for cooking. The Daintree is about 16.30degree South, and about 145.40degree East. That about the southen end of the park. When I first saw the Bouncing Stones in the early nintys there was a beach of stones about 50 metres long, fully coved with stones.The stones are a little bigger than a base ball, but side on about 60 to 70 % of the diameter of a base ball. Then I'd try to skim the stone along the stones on the beach of stones. One in four say will hit two or three stones and when you think its about to stop it flys up in the air. Its like magic. I saw some people throwing the stones out to sea. When I first went there the beach had a retaining wall and a set of concrete steeps. Mid to late nintys most of the stones had gone, the steps had fallen down, the bush round the area had been flatten by parking cars to trying to get some shade, Its only a few Minutes from The resorts at Cape Tribublation and the first time to get a photo of the cape. It's the first time your on the coast as the road go's in land to miss the mangrove swamps and the creeks are smaller in land, there near small rivers near the coast. The main thing is the road is now sealed from the ferry in the south and Cape Tribulation, before that the only rent car had to be a 4 wheel drive to cross the river, the others went with a guide, so there was some control on what went on at the stones. There were no controls at the stones. The things I told frinds that I took on the round trip from Port Douglas to Cooktown that it was bad luck to take a stone from The Bouncing Stone. I was told this by a aborigine elder I met when I was in hospital, this man was a gentieman, he said it was bad luck if you took a stone, so I alway mention that. I did get six sent back, one from the UK asking to return the stones to were they belong. I'd not been there for some time and this trip going to what we call the tip. It's the most northen part of main land of Australia, and take some mates or lead a grop of real off road 4 wheel drives. Ten days to two weeks gives time to go to some of the island in Torris Stright. Because of the stingers that are in the Sea In the Tropics camping and off road driving are common pass times, Swimming in fresh water you only have to keep a eye out for crocodiles, so you camp in safe areas, but you still treat all water as croc. places. As we passed the stones the place was a mess, we did not stop and now there is a ford to cross the Bloomfield River I wanted to get the fist night of camping set up. Some had never put up their new tents. No much radio on Cape York. We taken a RFD radio. ( Royal Flying Doctor radio ) as one person had cancer and all his life wated to do the grate adventure. To the Tip. I'd have a private lissen on the short wave, mainly bad new so told no one. On the return trip at Cooktown the first place with a radio station. It mention that the Bouncing Stone was a sacred site for aborigine woman, it was a place for woman business. It's been closed off, all signs removed, the bush cleand up and trees planted to repair the damage done by fools. The Layland Brothers went there years age. A maping firm was on the radio about a year ago and was asked about the Daintree, and he mention the Bouncing Stones, it was live radio saying how its a grate place, in all of the 2,000,000 acres he premoted the place that you shough not go.I got on to the radio station, I don't nomaly do that and asked when he as there, he mention this trip, I ask him what did he see, because there are Few Stones there, He then backed down, it had been some one that maped a trip etc for him, when I told him what I new about the area being closed to all he recant on air the story he was telling was wrong. About a month later I was sent some art work, prints and maps with all reference to the stones Removed. Fair and Ok by me. Over the Bloomfield river is the aborigine town of Wujal Wujal, I been told thats were the woman came from that claimed the Bouncing Stones. They saved what was left of the stones. I hope this fills in the Daintree area. THESE ARE PERSONAL COMMETS. The buy back of land is to make passages for animals and replanting has hidden homes that are there now, that make the owners happy, they live there to be with one with nature. Since on new homes will be built the value of their homes has gone up. I feal sorry for the owners of land who did not have permints to build. I was buying a home in Sydney at the time the people were buying and the intress rates went so high, Sydney is the highest price for property in Australia124.179.128.159 10:32, 7 May 2007 (UTC), but the land in the Cow Bay area, a beautyfull place with the most Beautyfull Beach that I've seen on Cape York if not what I've seen in the world, so meny people were unable to build. Some were for retirement and were will people find a block of land like Cow Bay. I have no personal involment in property or do I have personal frind that do. WHY DO SOME STONES BOUNCE. There are a lot of mountains in the farnorth, some are made with rocks the size of small cars. The hills are cone shaped. The rocks Black, there are several Black Mountains with in a 100k's of Port Douglas. There is a big one just out of Cook Town. The area is called Black Mountain Nation Park. It joins to a second moutain made of the same size Rocks.The road to Cook Town go's between the mountains. In 1992 some one blow up one of the Car size rocks, It blow in harf. Snow white in side the Rock. The Black on the out side was lichen a type of moss. Thousands of years old and as hard as rock. That blow the theory number on on the bouncing stones. The stone are very dark I'd say near to black, when there wet their black. And smoth, when wet they shine. Lots of storys why some Bounce. Cape York is the final place were volcano were active on main land Australia, there are still hot springs near the Undra Lava Tub, the longest in the world, many km long. So I got onto a volcano man. He told me that some of the stones are hollow and under pressure, he had several stones with numbers on then and a permit to have them, he ask me to pick two that looked the same size. When thy were put on a scales, one was much lighter than the other. A bout 30% lighter. Thats the best reason yet given why the Stones Bounce 124.179.128.159 10:32, 7 May 2007 (UTC)Barry McCarthy ±The Daintree/Cape Tribulation World Heritage Listed area In 1988. And the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Listed area in 1981. These World Heritage meet, and the town in the middle is were I live Port Douglas. 25 years ago Queensland was Cattle and cane. (sugar) Tourism change the State. Four to five universitys built out of the captal city of Brisbane, massive income from the Grate Barrier Reef region, generating over A44.228 Billion per year, making the marine tourism industry a major contributor to the local economy attracting approximately 1.8 million visitors each year.