Cairns to Helenvale

There were seven of us on the tour (Patrick, Neville, Ivan, Jemma and Ron, Barrie and Joy). We had two OzTours staff, Wayne and Peter, to drive the Australian made, 13 seater Oka, prepare our meals, act as tour guides and generally take care of us. The first section of the road was very close to the coast with views along sandy beaches. At Ellis Beach the caravan park between the road and the beach was reminiscent of the parks along the Nepean Highway. Sugarcane is grown around Mossman and further north. The beautiful Mossman Gorge has spectacular boulders in the river. The Daintree National Park is the most visited national park in Australia. After morning tea, boiled over a fire beside a crocodile infested river (no crocs on display today), we headed north into the Daintree National Park, crossing the Daintree River on a flat bottom barge.

The Cape Tribulation section of the Daintree National Park involved a long, steep climb up with a very steep drop on one side of the road. The views from the top were fantastic. Beyond this were the Daintree tea plantations, then more rainforest. Scientists have studied the local cassowary pairs, and determined where they are most likely to cross the road. At these points are warning signs and speed humps. Our driver, Peter, tells us that the dead cassowaries that he sees indicate that the birds have not yet learned where they are to cross. At one hump a cassowary sign was attached to the pole beneath the edited hump warning.

We crossed Noahs Creek, with its beautiful, clear water. This was one of many similar creeks crossed during the day. Cape Tribulation had some very pretty views. As Joy reached the lookout she exclaimed 'This is pretty!' Barrie, face to face with a very attractive young lady in a yellow bikini at the time, managed to keep his mouth clamped shut. The native wildlife was very tame as one young man discovered when he left his lunch for a short time. When he returned he discovered a lace monitor on the table devouring it. He decided the monitor was probably hungrier than he was.

At Imogen Creek we drove through the water, rather than over it, for the first time. Coming down from the first very steep climb for the day over Donovan Range, in 4WD and low gear (and we thought the Musso was slow on hills) we had a magnificent view down through the rainforest to the sea. At one point Peter remarked that 'Even the dust is moving faster than we are', as our dust moved in front of us. In addition to the lace monitor we saw a frogmouth in a tree on the edge of the road, bush turkeys, and several dead wallabies.

We detoured off to the Wujal Wujal falls on the Bloomfield River. Given that this is the dry season, the falls were quite satisfactory. The rainforest areas around Cape Tribulation get about 4 metres of rain per year.

Lunch was by a river crossing. During lunch we were entertained by a large group of trail bike riders as they rode past one by one and crossed the river (one didn't make it all the way across). Lunch each day was to be cold meat, bread and fresh salads. In the afternoon we travelled through Cedar Bay National Park. The latter part of the day we drove on unsealed roads.

We had an afternoon stop to collect fire wood to cook the evening meal. This was a routine to be followed each day of the tour. All of the cooking was done over open wood fires.

Our overnight stop was at the Lions Den Hotel in Helenvale. This hotel has been operating since 1875, always with a female licensee. Helenvale is a small town where everyone knows everyone else, and most of them are in the Lions Den on a Sunday afternoon. Strangers are welcomed in the pub, which closes when everyone goes home for dinner, about 6:30.

Technology failed us again. The invertor which was to recharge our batteries, made a horrible whining noise when we plugged it into the cigarette holder. Wayne said that the truck amp output was too high. Susanne, the present publican, offered to charge our laptop and camera behind the bar for us. Joy sat in the bar and enjoyed the delightful company of the local population (as many women as men) until charged.

Dinner was chops and vegies, cooked over the open fire in a beautiful glade near a river that we had to ourselves. For our first night we were able to sleep in tents that were permanently erected on the site.

Helenvale to Mary Valley Station

Up early, we packed up before breakfast (tour rule). Patrick substituted a swim in the river (he really can swim!) for a shower. We were on the road at 8, first stop Black Mountain. Black Mountain was formed when a volcanic core pushed up under the earth. Over time the earth above has eroded away, and wind and rain have broken up the core and rounded the boulders. These boulders, actually grey in colour, are covered with a black lichen.

On the way to Cooktown we crossed the Annan River, one of the larger rivers that we saw. Our first stop in Cooktown was the Grassy Hill lookout. This lookout gives 360 degree views of Cooktown, the ocean and the entrance to the river. Captain Cook repaired his boat at Cooktown, and climbed Grassy Hill twice. He charted a course out of Cooktown from this hill, looking out at low tide so he could see the reefs. Grassy Hill was very windy, the first wind we have encountered since leaving home. It was a cloudy day, also unusual.

We walked around Cooktown, a well spread out township, while Wayne and Peter shopped for us. Cooks Town was established in 1873. In its heyday it had 92 establishments selling liquor. There are now four, plus two clubs. It also has two butchers, two art galleries, two museums, plus an internet cafe with six computers (much better than we found locally in Cairns).

On the next leg of our our trip we passed several road trains. The dust that they kick up is so thick that we have to stop. There are short sections of bitumen where trucks enter from a side road or outside a station entrance. The luxuriant rainforest vegetation changed to spindly trees and the only animal life we saw was Brahmin cattle. Entering Lakeland there was evidence of agriculture. Sugar is grown here, also coffee, mangos, bananas, sorghum, maize and peanuts.

We stopped at Split Rock to see ancient aboriginal paintings and to have lunch. The paintings were found by a pilot who flew over the rocks and returned in his free time to explore the area. They are on the underside of huge rocks at the top of an escarpment, a 15 minute walk up a 'staircase' of rocks. The walk was not too strenuous, but the individual rock steps were quite high. The huge rocks on whose underside the paintings have been done were very impressive. We stopped at the Laura rubbish tip to dump our rubbish, another daily routine. Well, we had come to see 'the tip', as Peter pointed out to us. Termite mounds had started to appear.

River beds today have been dry. It's been cloudy most of the day and there's been a sprinkling of rain, enough to stop the dust when we pass someone. We spent the night at Mary Valley Station. Like many of the stations up here they take campers to supplement the station income, however we were the only campers. We learned how to erect and take down our own tents. The amenities block was fairly primitive, apparently intended for the hired help during mustering, and frogs hopped out of the way as we walked back and forth. We saw several wallabies just beyond the camp boundary. The lights in the toilet block were kept on throughout the night by a generator, which didn't help send us off to sleep. The stars here were magnificent, and the Milky Way was a pale, continuous band across the sky, far more extensive than anything we can see at home.

Mary Valley Station to Weipa

After breakfast we followed Russell, the station owner, along a track to a lagoon where we were able to see, at a considerable distance, several crocodiles. It was a very pretty drive, part of it through some of the tallest timber on the Peninsula. Growing under these trees were shrub high eucalypts. Further on the trees were lower, with grass trees (formerly known as blackboys) growing beneath them. We passed several lagoons, and saw a large flock of pelicans and two brolgas. At one lagoon a solitary pelican floated on the water, and a jabiru stood on the bank. Everywhere we saw termite mounds — 'magnetic' termite (wood eating) mounds, grass eating termite mounds and bark eating termite 'mounds' on the tree trunks.

Morning tea (including huge lamingtons) was at Musgrove, the only telegraph station building still standing. North of Musgrave we crossed the Bamboo Range, travelling along the ridge of some of the distance. There were lots of dips in the road — water courses when it rained — rather like humpty doos in reverse.

Coen was large enough to have a 'Business Centre' according to the sign. After a look at their museum, put together by the townspeople themselves, and having our photos taken outside the 'S'Exchange Hotel (in that hat Barrie looks like he's already had the sex change), we drove out of town and lunched on the banks of the Coen River.

Next stop was the spotlessly clean and tidy Archer River Roadhouse, run by Sherrill (it's amazing how many businesses up here are run by women). Nearby was a monument to Toots Holzheimer, a legend on the Peninsula. Toots had five children by her first husband, married again after his death and took up a long time ambition to drive a truck. She delivered goods across the Peninsula, loading her own trucks, including 44 gallon drums of fuel. She had another three children. On one occasion, between trucking duties, she made her daughter's wedding dress and dresses for the three bridesmaids. She died when pylons she was loading onto her truck slipped and crushed her. From Archer River Roadhouse it was a 2 1/2 hour non-stop drive to Weipa through Savannah Plains, monotonous when there's 2 1/2 hours of them.

Weipa was hot and humid. We were expecting to get a powered site, but someone beat us to it. Joy did a load of washing and drying and sat in the laundry charging camera and laptop batteries. When the weather is hot and humid the laundry is absolutely the last place to spend an hour. Weipa is also extremely RED. Our group numbers swelled by two here. Dallon and Jai, students at the local secondary school, joined us for a week of work experience. They travelled with us to Thursday Island and returned to Weipa with the group going south.

Weipa to Morton Telegraph Station

We took the optional Mine Tour. There wasn't much else to do anyway. Weipa is one of the last true mining towns — families live here and are not just flown in and out. Before going to the mine, we drove around the town, and saw along the way a rare palm cockatoo. Houses are very expensive in Weipa as they have the highest cyclone rating and all materials must be shipped in. Weipa gets 2 metres of rain each year.

After the mining is completed in an area Comalco 'regenerates' the land. The golf and bowls clubs are on regenerated land. The results of regeneration are very impressive, with the land restored to its original state. Before mining, the top 10–30 centimetres of soil are removed and stored. Seeds of the types that were growing are collected from various sources. When mining of the area is complete the soil is put back and the seeds and fertiliser are sprayed over the soil. 300–500 hectares are regenerated each year at a cost to Comalco of about $8000 per hectare.

Our tour driver was a fountain (some of the sightseers would have preferred a tap) of facts and figures. In 1965 a geologist looking for oil and gas in the region sent some of the pisolite pebbles (bauxite) that were lying everywhere off for analysis. Four tons of bauxite makes one ton of aluminium. 11–12 million tons of bauxite are shipped out each year. Bauxite is an extremely common mineral, with at least traces being found over 90% of the planet. We had expected a deep open cut mine and were surprised to find that the mine is very shallow. Mining continues 24 hours a day every day of the year. The excavators and the trucks are huge, and very expensive. The bridge over the Mission River is 1.4 km long. The rivers and creeks around here are home to many fish, also sharks and crocodiles.

We left the bus tour at the Cultural Centre, an amalgamation of the historical, cultural and environmental features of the Town. After lunching nearby, overlooking the bay, we started out for Morton Station. Along the way we passed fires burning along the side of the road. The station owners/managers burn off the undergrowth to promote fresh growth and to herd the cattle together for mustering.

We took the short cut through Batavia Downs to Morton Telegraph Station — along a single lane track with plenty of corrugations. We completed our first real river crossing, very steep and slippery on the descent into the water but not too bad after that. Along the track we disturbed a wedge tailed eagle trying to feed off a dead animal on the track.

As we crossed the Wenlock River beside Morton Telegraph Station Peter pointed out a sign high on a tree by the bridge. The sign had been placed there from a boat during a flood earlier in the year. Morton Telegraph Station is an overnight stop for several tour groups with varying accommodation arrangements. We were the bottom level, in tents that we set up ourselves. Next were the group with the 'chuck wagon', which went on ahead and had the food prepared and tables and chairs set out when the group arrived and the tents up in the evening. At the top were the accommodated group, housed in permanent tents at Morton and with all meals provided in restaurants. Angela (the co-owner) met us when we arrived. She is raising an orphan joey.

Morton Telegraph Station to Twin Falls

Clearly this is mustering season. There were fires still smouldering along the roadside after we left Morton. There were also more termite mounds — they're getting bigger as we head north — and more trees. We started out on a reasonably smooth road, particularly when compared with the corrugations of yesterday afternoon. The undergrowth includes more palms (cycads or leopadazimia) according to Wayne and Peter. The road was very red, indicating lots of low grade bauxite. We stopped atop a hill to enable Wayne to use the radio. Peter showed us a view through the trees created as a track by seismologists searching for oil and gas. There are many of these across the Cape. Although the undergrowth is thick, with the right vehicle they can still provide a path to areas of the Cape that are not normally accessible. While stopped we were passed by three motor cyclists, part of a motor cycles adventure group. They had been held up for two days waiting for a part for their support vehicle.

We took the single lane Old Telegraph Road rather than the Bypass Road which was created when microwave towers replaced the telegraph line in 1986. The telegraph lines were in use for about 100 years. The telegraph poles are still alongside the Road but most have been bent over and the insulators taken for souvenirs. The soil on the Road on this day varied from bauxite red to coastal sand (although we were up to 70 km from the coast) to yellow clay to grey sand. The Old Telegraph Road, which runs in an almost straight line, has not been maintained since the microwave towers were put in. However, stopping to take a photo of a particularly large termite mound we were passed by 2 4WDs and the three motor cyclists. At Palm Creek we were all asked to walk across the creek, with Peter driving the Oka through alone. Prior to that Joy had enjoyed the experience of being in the Oka when Peter very competently forded the rivers. While we were stopped at the crossing 2 4WDs crossed heading south and 2 4WDs and the three motor cyclists crossed heading north. Despite the road not being maintained there is plenty of traffic along it. Our second river crossing for the day was at South Ellis Creek. This was a wide water crossing with a very steep climb at the end. We had a short stop to change a wheel on the wagon.

Occasionally a tree falls across the road. When this happens the first vehicles to reach it try to drive around it, creating a new section of road. If there are too many trees to permit this a section just wide enough for vehicles to pass through is cut from the obstructing tree. Most common is the bypass. Bypasses wide enough for most 4WDs were sometimes a tight squeeze for our Oka and its wagon. We stopped at Bertie Creek for lunch with most of the group taking the opportunity to swim while lunch was being prepared. Facilities were primitive and a roll of toilet paper was used to indicate when they were occupied.

The opportunity to ride in the front seat next to the driver was a privilege to be rotated around the group. After Neville, Patrick, Joy, Barrie and Ron had each ridden in the front for half a day, only Patrick and Joy were interested in a second turn. There are no steps up to the passenger seat and it's quite a climb.

In the Heathlands Reserve the trees thinned and eventually disappeared completely, quite a different environment to everything we had seen prior to that.

We stopped for the night at Twin Falls. Before driving to the camping ground Peter drove to the Twin Falls. All of the passengers disembarked here and went for a swim. This is a national park, the only running water being the Eliot River. The other group in the camping area were a level below us in creature comforts, sleeping together under a tarp as it looked like rain. When dry they slept under the stars. This was the third successive night that one party of eight Tasmanians had stopped in the same camping ground as us for the night.

Twin Falls to Punsand Bay

We left an hour later than usual giving us the opportunity to walk along the river bank from the camping area to the Twin Falls, and Patrick the opportunity to swim a mile back and forth in the river below Eliot Falls. The first section of the road was very slow going, deeply rutted and with trees touching the sides of the Oka. On a couple of occasions termite mounds were within easy touching distance of the window. Passing another vehicle involved finding a vehicle sized section beside the road with no trees and flattening the undergrowth as one vehicle waited for the other to pass. We passed one of the 'huts' used as shelter by the Old Telegraph Line workers.

It costs $99 per vehicle to cross the Jardine River on the ferry. Most of the creeks and rivers we have passed recently flow into the Jardine. Wayne told us of a truck transporting a 23000 tonne drum of unleaded petrol becoming detached from its trailer which then slipped into the river. It took three days to recover the trailer, fortunately with its load of petrol still intact.

The land north of the Jardine belongs to the Injinoo Aboriginal Land Trust. Later in the day we passed through the Injinoo Community. It is an amalgamation of the remaining tribes in the area. Just beyond it is the Umagico Community, moved here in the 1960s from the swampy land near the Lockhart River that they occupied previously. There are five Communities in close proximity here. Bamega, the most northerly town in Australia (so they say, it doesn't look to be the most northerly on my map), is a Torres Strait Islander community. The population moved here after WW2 from an island just south of New Guinea.

We stopped for meat at the Seisia (pronounced Saysha) Island Council meat processing plant, and for some other items at the surprisingly well stocked supermarket (who would expect to find broccolini and baby fennel in such a remote location?) Lunch was by the wharf, a popular fishing spot. Ivan, a keen fisherman, tried without success.

We stopped for souvenirs at the Croc Tent, a little more substantial than a tent but with its own 'croc', before continuing with the last leg of our journey to the most northerly point of the Australian mainland. Once again we travelled through rainforest, with trees, vines and palms (but no ferns) on a very narrow track. We had a near miss on the narrow, winding road. As we approached a turn, a 4WD came around it travelling in the opposite direction. Wayne reacted instantly, swerving off the road and into the undergrowth, missing the other vehicle by inches and stopping just short of a tree. The other driver, whose reactions appeared not to be as instantaneous as Wayne's, managed to pull up on the road about a foot from the side of the Oka and about half way along. 'Beautifully executed' he said to Wayne.

The final 800 metre walk from the car park to the most northerly point was over volcanic rock. We arrived about 3:30, relatively late in the day, and found only the four motor cyclists, one with a golf club, and a young couple, the majority of the tourists having left already. The golf club was used for the most northerly placement of a golf ball from the Australian mainland. We all had our photos taken, and group photos of everyone, although our work experience boys weren't around for most of the photos. Patrick braved the sharks and the crocodiles and had a short swim. We walked back across the beach and found the motor cyclists opening a bottle of champagne in the car park. They didn't seem inclined to share it around.

A 7km (as the crow flies) drive along a very narrow 4WD track put us at Punsand Bay for our last night of camping. On this drive we saw a feral pig with a litter of piglets. At the Punsand Bay hotel Joy was able to recharge camera and computer batteries. We were able to enjoy the last of the sunset from the beach as we had our pre-dinner nibbles. After dinner Wayne awarded us with our 'We made it to the Top' certificates.

Punsand Bay to Cairns

We woke everyone at 5:45 with our alarm. We were all on the beach at 6:45, in time for the sunrise and the ferry to TI (Thursday Island). Before we paddled into the water and stepped into the small boat that was to take us to the ferry we said our goodbyes to Wayne, who remained at the camp to prepare for the group arriving from Cairns that day to travel south. The ferry was ready to leave at the scheduled time of 7:15. Unfortunately, one of the boat's engines wasn't cooperating and couldn't be started. Even so, we arrived at TI at 9:35, only 20 minutes late.

We took the optional tour. TI, a formerly uninhabited island, is now the most populous in the group, and the administrative centre (Commonwealth, State and Torres Shire) for the Torres Strait Islands. First stop was the fort, built as a defence against Russian Invasion (just like Queenscliff back home) and now incorporating a military and maritime museum. Next, we were driven around the town, with buildings of interest being pointed out to us. We stopped at the cemetery to view the memorial to the many Japanese who had come to TI as pearl divers and had died there. We walked along the main street and visited the churches. Lunch was on the veranda of the most northerly pub in Australia.

After lunch we caught another ferry to Horn Island as TI does not have an airfield. Once more there were farewells at the ferry as we said goodbye to Peter, Jai and Dallon, who were escorting the newly arrived group back to the camp. Our 36 seater QantasLink plane was easily the largest of the commercial planes at the airfield. As we flew back to Cairns we were able to identify some of the places we had seen close up a few days before. We arrived back at our caravan at 7, very tired after a week of long, interesting days and a very early morning, and spent a couple of hours on domestic duties and checking email before bed. We enjoyed it all immensely and consider that we received value for money. We are pleased that we left our Musso in Cairns and travelled in OzTours' Oka.

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