Leaving our campsite early we made our way south along the track, which in places was pretty poor with corrugations and rocks. Some of the river crossings were quite bad too, in places over the wheels, but as usual Betty coped.
At one point we crossed a river with a huge bull with very large horns watching us intently- I don't think we would have had the nerve to stop had he not been a little away from us. He was almost pawing the ground- we were ready to take off if he had moved towards us!
Further on we came to Old Laura Homestead, a historically significant site through it's association with the establishment of the cattle industry on Cape York Peninsular in 1879.
The lease was granted to a young Irishman for the princely sum of £8-15 for an area of 50 square miles, and by 1894 the area catered for 8000 cattle.
The present buildings were renovated in 1986 similar to the buildings which were there in 1908, and many old photographs show the buldings as they were.
Apart from the main house, there are the aboriginal quarters, a large workshop and a meat store protected by wire gauze.In the middle of the yard was an old vehicle almost rotted away, this was purchased new in the forties, the first vehicle on the station. North of the station were the stockades for the animals, and the river running close by provided the water for them and the human occupants alike.
Tonight we are in Cooktown, and from what we have seen already we will enjoy tomorrow looking around before we move on to the Daintree forest. I'll leave you with a sign seen on the road today.....
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