The Cape
One of the questions most frequently asked as I pitched this novel to publishers and agents was “Why have you chosen this book to write” or variations, such as “Why are you writing about this place?” or “Why are you the person to write this story”.
The simple answer is: because The Cape, or more specifically, Cape York in far north Queensland, is one of the most unique geographical regions in the world, it is right on our doorstep, and outside of the people who live there, it is almost unknown to the rest of Australia. Yet two UNESCO World Heritage sites abut where the Great Barrier Reef meets the Wet Tropics rainforests of the Daintree, and a third UNESCO nomination for the Cultural Landscapes of Cape York Peninsula is pending.
It is oppressively hot, crocodile infested, floods every monsoon season, is bone-dry brown in between, is 1000km from north to south and 700km across the base of the triangle, yet desperately isolated, with one town of 4,000 people, Weipa, in the whole place before a person finds Cooktown (3,000 population) in the south-east corner.
What better setting to cast a troupe of characters fighting for survival into?
It is a place I keep coming back to since I worked in the region in the late 1980s, never failing to be inspired, surprised, and entertained by the place, and impressed by the people who live in this frontier world.
I hope this book gives you a sense of the place and the people of the Cape.
Daintree swimming hole
Fan Palm Gallery
Cape Tribulation track
Noah Creek Estuary Daintree
