Cockatours

28/11/2024

A few years ago, we were blessed to have Linzi, an absolute legend of a guide, join us for a season. I was still learning the ropes of how to run a tour business and took her on a trip to Cape York in late April, to show her the ropes. We ran into a lot of rain, pulled a bunch of funny faces and had a great time. Unfortunately, on ANZAC day, we had to pull out and drove from Weipa to Cairns. The next day, the Archer River went over the bridge by 8m and stayed that way for a week!

07/11/2024

A sneak peak of one of the many wild places we’ll be visiting on the Kimberley tour next year. The cutest Little Rock wallabies live around here too!

I’m currently driving the new truck back from WA but not posting the story of it over here, so there aren’t too many spoilers for clients. If you want to see the epic places and hear the yarns along the way head over to to follow the adventure.

04/11/2024

It’s finally happened! We’ve bought ourselves a brand spanker! (Switch back and forth between pics 1&2 to see a comparison of old and new).

I’ve been driving back from Perth (to Cairns) over the past few weeks, doing a reccy of the Kimberley for our 2025 tours along the way. The new truck is brilliant and will certainly take us to incredible places in 2025! I’m heading to Darwin soon where Dad and a mate of his will join on the 2-3 week trip home through the Territory!

08/10/2024

After 10 years of gallantry with Cockatours, it is time to finally say hooroo to our beloved first truck, Zeus. The pics of him bogged at the end are worth a look! 😂

The OGs, Shane & Beck , acquired Zeus back in 2015 when Cockatours kicked off. In 2018, I took the reins from Beck. Zeus became our noble steed and came with buckets full of adventure! Since then we’ve done our Best of Cape York tours, free community tours for at-risk groups, charters for historians and engineers and some pretty shifty party & bucks events 😂 We’ve traversed the wild Queensland & NT outback on my favourite tour, the Gulf Savannah. He has given so many travellers, what I can only describe as a ‘life-changing experience’.

While he’s always had a strong heart (engine) he’s had a few moments with blown alternators, compressors, condensers and that cheeky relay! But over the years, we learned each others quirks and he just kept ticking along. As we branch out further and further remote, we decided to invest in a new rig and let Zeus rest in the greener paddocks of timeless adventure. Zeus has been purchased by a lovely bloke down in Adelaide who is going to kit him out as a motor home.

Zeus will always be our first love. Onya mate! Happy retirement!

04/10/2024

Motorbike, bus-truck, tag-a-long? Figuring out what type of Cape York tour to do is confusing! I wrote this article to break it down for those thinking about doing a tour and are a bit overwhelmed by the choices. All your options are listed in a concise table with cost (inc. $/day), number of passengers, Google rating and more.

We are sold out for 2025 so this is not me trying to sell more. It actually would do harm as it directs potential customers to our competitors. But, I think it helps those just wanting a good holiday, figure out which way to go. Happy travels!

Not sure which Cape York tour to do? We explain the options, and have a simple TABLE comparing the costs, days, vehicles and reviews!

03/10/2024

“Gabi, Fritz, go there and walk this way, it’ll be a great shot” I yelled from the top of the tour truck. They did, and so followed the rest of our guests because it was such a cracker of a shot!
Gabi & Fritz came all the way from Germany just for a tour with us this year. What a pleasure it was too! They were full of life, adventure and quality yarns. We loved having you both on board!

12/09/2024

Wild! We are officially FULLY BOOKED for all 2025 tours.
Butttt...there is still a year to go and there are often cancellations for various reasons. If you'd like to be put on the waiting list for an honestly life-changing tour, please shoot me an email ASAP!

29/08/2024

That’s a whopper! 🤯
Follow Sharks And Rays Australia if you want to learn more about these incredible animals!

20/08/2024

Great view up the estuary from a relic of a suspension bridge in Cape York 😍

16/08/2024

What is the ‘wet season’ everyone talks about in northern Australia? And was this year’s wet “bigger than average” like everyone was saying?

Let’s get into it. The best graph (third one) I’ll describe last. Some context first…

The wet season is also known as ‘the monsoon’ or monsoon season in northern Australia. In November, we have the ‘build up’. It’s really hot and throughout the day you can feel the humidity and temperature build. Sometimes, in the mid-afternoon thunderstorms erupt and soak the landscape with rain. In December, rain becomes more frequent and then in January the monsoon has usually set in. Generally, it lasts until April, sometimes into May. The landscape in northern Australia is defined by this monsoon system and is adapted to a seasonal drenching. Come May it gradually dries out (and travel becomes regular again). Northern Australian landscapes are so resilient to these monsoonal rains.

The first graph shows wet season rainfall (defined as rain from December to May) at 5 different locations across Far North Queensland, from when the station first started recording data. A basic trendline is fitted. So, was this year’s wet season bigger than average? Yep, it was a bit bigger than average in 4 out of 5 of these locations. Cyclone Jasper brought with it a tremendous amount of rain, the most of any cyclone in Australian history.

Next, the two Bureau of Meteorology images show roughly where the monsoon trough comes down to. You can ready plenty about this if you search “The Australian Monsoon BOM”. The colour map is a brilliant representation of rainfall in the monsoon season. This was from January 2006 and shows very high rainfall in Cape York, the Northern Territory and the Kimberley.

Now, the most epic graph I’ve seen this year! The third image represents our north Australian wet season perfectly. It shows monthly rainfall (stacked) between 2003 and 2023 for our 5 locations (see the map at the end if you’re not sure where they all are). Combining 5 locations over 20 years shows the trends a little clearer and absorbs some of the errors caused by missing values or outliers.

You can clearly see our build-up in November, rain setting in by December and the wet season in full swing January to March. In April, things start to chill out a little as we all get eager to risk camping for Easter long weekend. And then by May, our ‘dry season’ starts, lasting until October.

I hope this has been helpful or at least insightful and enjoyable. Share it around if ya like! Do it for the pretty graphs 😍
Cheers, Rossy.

Note: this is from BOM data that I have graphed myself. I only used data with complete years/seasons but did not remove sets that had an occasional missing value (due to equipment/recording error that month). I have watermarked anything I’ve produced. as I’ve had a lot of my images used without permission lately.

14/08/2024

Massive price drop! Tour bus-truck for sale!
This would make the perfect vehicle to fit out into a 4x4 motorhome. I dreamt of keeping it myself, but don't have the time to do it unfortunately.

We are finally at a stage in our business where we can buy a new vehicle and our reliable tour truck is up for grabs. This truck has been used for camping tours and has been maintained impeccably. After every trip the truck would go to the mechanic for a check up and ANYthing that needed doing was done, as we couldn't afford a breakdown on the road. It is a brilliant truck and these older rigs are renowned to run up to 1,000,000km. We have done several upgrades over the years.

Features include:
- Odometer: 350,164 km
- 18 seat capacity, 15 in passenger module, 3 up front
- 5-speed manual gearbox
- 4WD: 2 High, 4 High, 4 Low
- Increased GVM to 7,000kg and GCM 9,000kg with blue plate
- Big storage space up top
- Rear storage space for food etc.
- 3 side compartment bays
- 2x New Delkor Start batteries in August 2022 (24V truck system)
- 24-12V Converter behind front seat
- Amplifier behind front seat & improved sound system in rear module
- Alpine stereo & linked in PA system
- Tow-pro Elite
- New suspension in 2021
- New rear compressor, front compressor & condensor, alternator as part of lifetime part replacement
- Lightbar
- Bullbar
- Powerful A/C front and rear and both have been serviced recently
- Engine Guard (audible overheat warning system)
- Various spares
- $62,000

Comes with roadworthy and a new windshield. Has a complete service record. Has been checked at Transport and Main Roads every 6-months to obtain a Certificate of Inspection needed to run tours.

There are some improvements (blemishes and body work) that you could do if you really wanted, but it is all aesthetic. This truck is solid and has been an incredible vehicle for us.
Located in Cairns and stored undercover.

02/08/2024

Do business wisely, not how they tell you to do it...
Do you want to earn more interest on your large deposit than the bank gives you? Well, we are looking for a few small investors and would rather pay you the interest (at a higher rate than you're currently getting) than a bank. A little while ago I mentioned this, but since then I've looked at some of the offers from banks and I realised how well they get you where they want you. So...

We are looking for an investor...well kind of! It's time for us to buy a new truck...and if it's suitable, we could pay you more interest than your current savings account does. Read on if you're interested or want an insight into what the banks are doing.

I am not too proud of a business owner to ask for investment rather than play the game by the bank's rules. These days, banks charge an absolute fortune to have a loan and are especially inflexible when it comes to business asset loans. I'm a big fan of paying any loan off fast, so I give as little of my money to the banks and continue to support remote regions and my clients. As an example of how much banks take (that they don't make clear), for a $500,000 home loan over 30 years, they will charge you $700,000+ in interest on top of your $500k over the life of the loan. You will pay $1.2M for a $500k loan.

Interest rates for loans have risen 1.25% in the last year, but unsurprisingly, banks haven't passed this on to savings accounts. I would much rather pay my interest to a person, than pay it to a bank.

So, here's the proposition. I have been a good little saver and saved a substantial deposit for a new tour truck. This leaves us with the need to get a loan for the remaining $200,000. We are pre-approved for loans with a few banks, but I'm not a fan of their options or the interest I pay.

If anyone wants to invest in a pretty solid tour company with a great ethos, and get more interest than your current bank savings account gives, then please reach out via email or message me through here.

I forecast the loan to be paid out within 2-3 years. There will be a contract, security and a once-off bonus payment for your time.

On another note, if anyone that has made it this far wants a few tips on how to save yourself $300,000 in interest over the life of your home loan, please message me. I'm not joking, I've just done it myself and would be happy to help.

13/07/2024

Triple-fanged Taipan!
A few weeks ago we were heading into camp and found a taipan dead on the road nearby. Coincidentally, we had just finished listening to Brendan James Murray’s incredible podcast on taipans. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to show everyone the snake they’d just heard all about and highlight some of its features.

Measuring 7ft and having typical Cape York colours it was a spectacular snake. I started to show my guests the head, pointed out teeth first and then the sheaths around the fangs. I exposed one fang and showed everyone the pretty impressive fang of a taipan. Then I exposed the next fang and it took me a second to interpret what I was seeing! Somehow, this taipan had grown 2 fangs side-by-side on the left side, meaning it had 3 fangs in total! It was pretty bloody awesome and everyone was in awe of such a spectacular animal.

On tour, I do my best to give people different perspectives. I am passionate about snakes and love sharing my knowledge with guests. I love challenging many beliefs, especially the one that says snakes are aggressive and will chase you. Taipans are highly alert and incredibly intelligent and whilst this one wasn’t alive, I’ve seen many up close and when given respect, they will act pretty calm. To the point I feel you can see them analysing you as much as you are them.

I’ve added a couple pics in here so you can see their colour and scales from different angles. They generally have that creamy/pale snout and large supraocular scales that give them a mean appearance.

17/04/2024

Counting down the days to Weipa sunset dinners 😍

12/04/2024

Absolutely incredible! We've recently had solar installed at our depot and day 1 results are outstanding! Grey is what we sent to the grid and blue/yellow is what we used.

We are trying our best to reduce our carbon footprint and environmental impact in every way possible. We've decided to forgo becoming an officially recognised 'Eco Certified Tourism' provider, after seeing some operators that sport the Eco logo, do things we don't really see as environmentally friendly. We also couldn't justify the cost each year just for a badge. Instead we are putting that money back into our own efforts to reduce our impacts.

Last year we partnered with Reforest to plant trees to remove the CO2 equivalent produced by our tours. We planted 80 trees which contributed to the reduction of 18t of CO2 and repaired 719 square metres of habitat. This year we are looking to donate money to a new cause to reduce our CO2 impact. If you know a great, local tree planting group, let us know!

11/04/2024

After 16 months of not being able to advertise due to a system error, it's probably time to reach out via post for help. I've tried contacting all kinds of people, submitting forms and more, but nothing has fixed this yet. I need to speak to someone at Meta to remedy this it seems. If you can help, please please let me know. It seems to have been caused by taking my annual vacation from Facebook (I deactivate for a month most years).
Details below...