Motorbikes, roads and thieves
2022 Review
When my wife Marion and I arrived in Port Douglas almost five years ago, the idea of working as a journo for Newsport never entered my head.
Sure, I’d worked in a press role before, having written a column for Sydney’s Daily Mirror back in the ‘Jurassic’ period. It was called ‘Makin On The Move’ and I churned out column after column for just on two years.
But after that ended, radio and tv took up the bulk of my time, SO to get back into harness as a writer for this great online community paper has really been a treat and my first year with Newsport was filled with interesting Douglas yarns, all 123 of them.
2022 was, in the main, a pretty good one. While Covid is still an issue, it’s not dominating our lives daily as it used to in 2020 and 2021. To me, 2022 was the year of smelling the roses and realising just how blessed we are to live in the Douglas Shire with some amazing people.
Like all Shires we have our issues and some in the community who seem to do nothing but winge. But those naysayers are in the minority and on the whole, we’ve found Douglas a welcoming community and we’ve made some lifelong friends. Ok let’s look back at February my first month behind the typewriter for Newsport.
February
My first story was a matter of life and death. If one life was saved by the article it achieved its purpose. Motorbike safety. Queensland Police, in conjunction with Port Douglas and Mossman Police, launched an awareness campaign, not only for bike riders, but motorists as well. This was a two-pronged message because cars and bikes often don’t mix. Port Douglas local Peter ‘Cards’ Cardilini is one biker who gave the campaign the thumbs up.
The 63-year-old former train guard and tourist wrangler on the Bally Hooley cane train is a poster boy for motorbike safety and he takes it very seriously. “Awareness around you is paramount’ says Cards “knowing your bike and it’s power and how you use that power is the difference between life and death” he said. If we saved one life or serious injury with that story, it achieved it’s objective.
But the tragedies continue with a man and woman being killed following a crash at Lower Daintree on the 10th of December. It happened on the Cape Tribulation Road and involved a motorcycle carrying two people and a tractor. There was also the untimely death of local lass Shanti Wren, 27 after she came off a motorbike in Port Douglas this year. It shocked the whole community and reminded us just how fragile life is.
Daintree danger
The road dangers in the Daintree was another story I tackled in February. Newsport had identified some sections of the Cape Tribulation Road, Alexandra Range as being potentially dangerous. While the Newspaper highlighted these spots, our observations were backed up by people who live in the Daintree and visitors who travel the road.
While locals and even tourists during the day might navigate around the suspect spots with a touch of good luck, it’s when nightfall comes that unsuspecting motorists may come to grief. Grant Renshaw from Cow Bay told Newsport at the time ‘I think the road is in s**t condition myself and sometimes as you make a turn you can see on the left-hand side where the road has eroded underneath and it’s dangerous”.
Since our story was published the Council has repaired a lot of the dangerous edges on the up track from Cow Bay to the lookout. However, one of the worst spots is on the ferry side, down from the Alexandra Lookout where a large tree has been cut down with a knife like pointed stump remaining above the steep incline.
Since I photographed it in February a large tree trunk has appeared in the cavern (check out the two pics) Council solved the mystery when Mayor Michael Kerr told us that a tree fell onto the road from the uphill side “Council moved the tree off the road to ensure vehicles could travel on the road” he said.
Betty’s beef
Retiring Cow Bay businesswoman Betty Hinton recently wrote me an email about this dangerous section of roadway, where she said “Thank you Newsport for your part in instigating repairs to the Range Road, the section with the stump is locally known as King Fern Creek, there is one growing beside the stump, anyway I was caught there by a large truck and trailer and it’s impossible for large vehicles to negotiate the tight bends without crossing the (imaginary) double white lines” she said. Betty doesn’t mince her words “Although I drive a small car it was a very tight squeeze, one I don't want to repeat, that corner is in urgent need of attention and it's only a matter of time before there is a disaster at the location” she said.
Maybe next year
Council has confirmed they didn’t attend to this corner or other dodgy corners on the down track to the ferry, while doing their recent repairs. Mayor Michael Kerr told Newsport “No, Council will not be repairing these sections this year, the infrastructure team is currently sourcing funding and reviewing the design for the location with the distinctive tree stump” he said. The Mayor went on to say that this repair project will be added to next year’s budget for Councillors to consider for inclusion in the 23/24 Capital Works Budget.
Edwina the forgiver
Back in February, Four Mile resident Edwina Kramer went through a terrible experience. She, her husband, and their daughter were robbed in their own home while they slept. Phycologists will tell you she should feel a sense of anger towards the thieves, but Edwina felt the complete opposite. She forgives the young men who broke into her home in the early hours of the morning and stole two cars and wandered around the house searching for keys to those cars and looking for other valuables. Edwina says, “I feel very sad for these people who would sink so low to do this to ordinary people, they must have had a horrible upbringing and need professional help, I hope they get it”.
The culprits, from out of the area, stole a Subaru Outback and a Suzuki Swift, handbags, and cash.
Edwina told Newsport the thieves broke in through a kitchen window by cutting the fly wire and were so quiet, no one in the house woke up. Edwina’s car was in the garage and her daughter’s vehicle was parked on the street, but the thieves had the keys, so it was an easy heist. It’s thought they entered the family home between one and three am. Even her guard parrot Honey Blossom was in a deep sleep and failed to squark a warning. “I think we need a guard dog” says Edwina.
Police found Edwina’s badly damaged car in thick bush at Yarrabah, her daughters car located close by with handbag inside, complete with credit cards but minus her cash of over a hundred dollars. It’s thought her vehicle was also used as a getaway car in thefts in Edmonton. Officer in charge of Port Douglas Police Sgt Damian Meadows told Newsport four juveniles were arrested and charged over the matter. “Their ages range from ten up to seventeen says Sgt Meadows. The top cop says residents are still leaving keys out where anyone can find them, leaving front and back doors unlocked with cash and valuable lying about. “We are the soft underbelly for these criminals, it’s time we got a lot smarter” Sgt Meadows said.
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