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NORMANTON - CAPE YORK - WEIPA
1.6.10
Crawled out of bed about 7.50 this morning, a quick look at the
weather on Fox and also the Weather Bureau on the net, and the
decision was made to do a day trip to Karumba, a fishing village
on the Gulf of Carpentaria, 75 kms away. It seemed we were just
one of a battalion of caravans heading to the coast. When we got
there, we noticed that all 3 caravan parks were packed, and confirmed
our feelings about free camping wherever possible. We are doing
this to get away from city living, having left the sardine can
nature of metropolitan living behind us. We have no desire to
replicate the experience in a caravan park, being parked on top
of each other. We also noticed that the guy who arrived into Karumba
ahead of us fronted up to one of the parks, only to be spotted
towing his van around town a bit later - obviously didn't pre-book.
The town is in two parts. We went to the boat ramp in the town
proper, and noted the plethora of 4WDs and boat trailers parked
in the car park and up and down the street. A bit later, we went
to the Karumba Point locality, and found as many, if not more
cars and trailers parked around that boat ramp. We don't fish,
so we purchased a kg of fresh cooked prawns, and then of to the
cafe for a feed of Barra and Chips for lunch.
Then it was time to head back to Normanton. A chopper buzzing
overhead caught our attention, and while Lesley was hanging out
the window trying photograph same, I noticed a herd of cattle
on the road heading towards town. We had noticed a ute rounding
up cattle on the roadside as we arrived in Karumba. Now it seemed
that they were being driven back towards town........ but wait,
what was helping with the muster, a helicopter. so we parked on
the roadside, grabbed the cameras, and filmed the action until
the cattle were all past where we were sitting on the side of
the road.
There are a number of lagoons beside the road, and these were
well populated with waterbirds of all types. And so we spent time
recording the images, as we took our time returning to Normanton.
We are now looking forward to our trip on the Gulflander tomorrow.
2.6.10
Up at sparrow f..t this morning, to get to the Normanton railway
station to catch the Gulflander train to Croyden at 8.00am. The
first rail on the Normanton-Croydon railway was laid in 1888.
To lower construction costs and to defeat the termites of the
Gulf, steel sleepers were used, designed by George Phillips. The
sleepers were packed with earth when they were laid, giving extra
weight and stability, and the rails were bolted to the sleepers
which meant they could not move nor work loose in the same way
as dog-spikes used in timber sleepers. In flood time water simply
passed over the top despite the railway carrying normal rolling
stock over some of the most flooded and rotten country in Australia.
The initial train service was worked by steam train four days
a week, being reduced after 1894 to three. The last steam train
ran in 1929. Since 1930, the service has been exclusively run
using railmotors.* (taken from Gulflander Website)
The trip started out in great fashion, and then the interest started
to wane as it became another rail journey, albeit on a historic
rail motor. We stopped for morning tea at Blackbull Siding, where
we had a muffin, and a cuppa in our souvenir Gulflander Tin Mug
(which you can only obtain by doing the trip and purchasing morning
tea. 4 1/2 hours after setting out, we arrived in Croyden, some
160kms from our start point. Because of the age of the track,
the journey is not quick, maximum speed being attained occasionaly
being only 40 kph. Because the Train is owned by Queensland Rail,
the (sheduled) service runs during the season regardless of the
number of passengers. The train was due to start running in February
after the wet season, however subsequent rains and floods have
delayed the return of the service until just a week ago, when
the first service for the year resumed. We had elected not to
do the return trip by train, and so we arrived back in Normanton
by bus just after 5pm, having had an enjoyable trip on a grand
old lady.
3.6.10
We had a leisurely start to the day, filled the water tank in
the van, took some photos around town, and then hit the road around
midday, heading for Croydon. We figured that the Gulflander would
be returning from Croydon about now, and so we set up beside the
line and waited for it to appear, so that we could film the train
from the outside. And then having achieved that, we moved on to
Croydon, where we had a bite to eat, and then drove up to have
a look at Lake Belmore, and on the return, had the added bonus
of seeing the town and district from a lookout. We then took a
look at the old Police Station, Watch house, and Court House.
Now here is a statement. I have seen some museums around the country,
and they seem to get a heap of old stuff (the same stuff as every
other museum) and dump it in a room for you to look at, or they
set up a room as it would have looked a 150 years ago, and then
don't come back and clean it, so that it genuinely looks 150 years
old. The exhibits in the Courthouse Museum at Croydon, have come
from Hospital, Dentist surgery, Courtroom, etc, and have been
displayed in a manner that makes you feel that you are in a real
life situation........ and they are clean. AND they have been
selective on what they have on display. It is probably the best
rural museum that I have seen. And yes, I know that is a big statement.
Congratulations Croydon. Croydon owes its existence to Gold, and
at one time had 7000 people and 34 Pubs in the town. As the gold
ran out, the numbers dwindled until the town was virtually deserted
by the late 1950s. It has recovered to a degree, and currently
has a population of around 260 people. It is the destination for
the once a week arrival of the Gulflander Train, which despite
nearly being axed a number of times, has survived to be a major
attraction for tourists to the area. And now, we are camped about
15 kms out of Croydon on the road to Georgetown, struggling to
get signal, and fighting over the antenna............
4.6.10
We hit the road early and arrived in Georgetown about 10.15am.
As with Normanton and Croydon, the town was spread out, ensuring
a healthy walking exercise if you chose to walk between the few
stores to do your shopping. We somehow managed to spend a couple
of hours in the town, before we again hit the bitumen and headed
for Mt Surprise. The road is narrow, a bitumen strip down the
middle and gravel aprons which drop suddenly off the side. A fairly
spirited discussion was exchanged between myself and a Road Train
driver, who felt that he didn't need to surrender any of the bitumen,
despite us having half a tyre hanging on the dropoff and a white
post lining up the centre of my bullbar. I feel that he eventually
maybe thought he may have been a little over the top when he suggested
we settle down and forget it....... no apologies tho. In the main,
these guys are great. But you do get the odd cowboy. We again
managed to spend a couple of hours in Mt Surprise, after taking
advantage of their free under car wash. This is set up to encourage
you to not carry seeds under your vehicle into their shire. We
had three practice runs at it before doing a serious pass. Mt
Surprise is just a couple of shops, a pub, 2 caravan parks and
a large common, where we parked and caught up with emails and
the like. We eventually found a spot to spend the night just 10kms
shie of the Undara lava Tube turnoff.
5.6.10
We arrived at the Undara Lava Tubes reception desk ariund 9.30am,
only to find we had missed the 10.30 tour cutoff. And so we bought
tickets to the 1pm tour, and then set off on a 3.2km round trip
walk to Atkinsons Lookout. On our return, we took a look at the
unique design of the resort. They have converted about 14 old
railway coaches into top class accomodation and service areas.
The restaurant area is superb, and is named after a former Helicopter
Pilot, Heather Mitchell, who had worked for the company, and was
murdered in Papua New Guinea in July 1987. !pm, and we boarded
our bus which took us out to the Lava Tubes. 190,000 years ago,
volcanoes erupted in the area, and molten lava flowed freely down
any contours in the land. As the outer crust cooled, it solidified
and formed tunnels (or tubes). When the eruption stopped, the
lava flowed out the end of the tubes, leaving these huge tunnels
in the goround. As rains came, the rock began to erode, and in
places, the roof collapsed. Rainforest sprang up in these deep,
dark, moist depressions. It is unbelievable, that you can be standing
on a Savannah Landscape, and find yourself descending into a tropical
rainforest and these huge tubes. It is an amazing experience.
Back into the car, and at 4pm, we found a spot beside the road
that was just begging for someone to stop and spend the night..........
How could we refuse?
6.6.10
First stop this morning was Mt Garnett. Interesting little place,
reminded me a little of Ravensthorpe in that it is built on the
side of a hill with the highway running through the middle. Not
much there but we managed to waste half an hour without any trouble.
We passed through Innot Hot Springs, and pulled into Archer River
Rest Stop to grab a cuppa, running into a couple we had met a
couple of days before at Mt Surprise. Next stop, was Millstream
Falls National Park. This area was a Demob area for the troops
during the war, and these days is a beautiful recreation area.
The walk to the falls was naturally downhill, altho tarred. Would
have been a great wheelchair track if the corners had been banked.
It was a fair gradient. The walk back was it's fair to say, energy
sapping (for this guy at least), but well worth it. Finally, the
run into Ravenshoe, and what a delightful little town. Again reminded
me of Bridgetown and some of the timber towns in the West. No
surprise to find out that the town was built on the timber industry.
Leaving Ravenshoe, we called in at the Windy Hill Windfarm, before
continuing on in search of a camp spot for the night. A community
hall on the side of the road at Evelyn Central offered us the
best choice, and so we settled down amongst the green fields,
hills, fabulous views, and mobs of cattle for the night. Set up
the dish, after all, Nascar was on at 2am. had to record that,
didn't I?..............
7.6.10
The old Tyredog did it's trick again this morning, alerting me
to yet another tyre losing pressure on the van. This is getting
a bit tyresome (sic). Am not looking forward to replacing them,
but they are wearing, and it will be a 4 tyre exchange, and probably
something a little more heavy duty. We set sail for Atherton,
calling into Mt Hypipamee National Park, to have a look at a volcanic
crater and Dinner Falls. Spectacular. We did another downhill
walk to the falls (this time on a narrow track on the side of
a steep hill in a rain forest) So the humidity was a great help
- not. Then onto Atherton, a town surrounded by mountains, and
at an elevation of about 850m. It's a much bigger place than I
expected, and with a Mcdonalds, I guess would qualify as "civilisation".
We did some food shopping, and not having done any washing since
Winton, we were running out of clean clothes, and we had already
run out of water, and so decided to actually book into a Caravan
park for the first time since 17th May at Longreach. We have been
on the road for 59 days, and have freecamped for the last 20 days.
Total freecamps so far have been 33 nights, which have saved us
a fair whack. I have booked the van into Cairns Caravan Repairs
to have some minor (but necessary) jobs done to the van. And so
I think that we will book in for a few days, freshen up abit,
and then tackle what we came here for, Cape York.
8.6.10
We got away from Atherton, and headed towards Cairns. We were
travelling along the Gillies Hwy, and it didn't take long to get
into the hills. We pulled in to the Crater Lakes National Park
and had a look at Lake Barrine. It has been managed by the Currey
Family since the 1920s, except for a period during WWII, when
it was used for Servicemen R&R. It is serviced by a beautiful
Tearoom, and boat tours around the lake happen 4 times a day.
Then, on to Gordonvale, but not before we crossed the Gillies
Range, and descended on a winding road (there are 263 corners
in the 19km stretch with an elevation change of 800m) overlooking
some awesome mountain countryside - well, who was looking - not
me - before finally hitting the floor and arriving in this lovely
old town which STILL has it's old buildings. The place is green,
and surrounded by mountains. Absolutely gorgeous. Finally, we
hit the Bruce Hwy, and arrived in Cairns about 2pm. We found where
the caravan repair place was, and then did a tour of the town,
taking in the wharf area, esplanade and general environs, before
settling down for the night.
Croyden
to Atherton Pics
9.6.10
We dropped the van off at the "doctor", and not having
made a decision as to what we were going to do, found ourselves
heading around the bay to Yarrabah. We passed a couple of delightful
little residential areas ala Frenchmans bay in Albany, before
climbing the Yarrabah Range, and emerging above the cove that
is the Yarrabah Community. Unlike a lot of aboriginal communities,
this one is open to the white folk, and we found ourselves talking
to a couple of the locals for an hour or so, learning about the
history and culture of the area. These guys are almost totally
sufficient, living off the ocean, and consuming the likes of Goanna,
cassowary, Wild Pig, Wallabies and the like. There are something
like 7000 people living in the community, it has it's own primary
and high schools, and reecently, a new hospital was opened. We
were encouraged to have a look around, and we found it interesting
that there were those who chose to live in our type of housing,
and there were many who chose to live around the bay and in the
bush in Shantys. And we saw none of the destruction of property
that we have come to expect. These people have lived in this area
for over 60,000 years, and we were told about sacred sites and
aboriginal artifacts that lay in the heart of the range. Truly
an inspiring few hours, and a little trip into paradise. We then
found aur way down to Gordonvale where we indulged in our second
pie from the Pie shop (we had discovered the shop the previous
day), before receiving a phone call to tell us the van was ready
to be picked up. We had decided to stop for a couple of days and
catch our breath, and so we found a beaut little caravan park,
and set up for our stay.
10.6.10
This was a real rest day. We did nothing. Lesleys' cousin Craig
visited, and I had to duck into town to attend to some bank business,
and that was essentially the day.
11.6.10
We woke up with no set plan for the day. I extended the van site
for another night, and we decided to jump in the car and see where
we wound up. It happened to be Kuranda, a village in the hills
sort of like Kalamunda in WA, but totally touristy. It was probably
a mix of Kalamunda and Fremantle markets. We wandered around for
a while, then headed for Barron Falls. The amount of water going
over at this time was a bit disappointing, but in full flow, it
is spectacular. Not diminishing the sheer spectacle of the place
regardless. A dam has been created at the top of the falls, and
a hydro electric scheme has been engineered into the place, which
provides power to Queenslands power grid. We wound our way up
to Wright's Lookout, gaining a view straight down the gorge to
the plain below. Back into the car, and we descended the winding
road back towards Cairns, taking a detour into a delightful area
called Lake Placid. This is towards the mouth of the Barron River,
surrounded by steep hills, and is a lovely water playground. I
have to admit that I wondered with all the warning signs about
crocodiles inhabiting the waters around Cairns, why this was not
a habitat. Back in the car, and we wound our way around to the
Lower Power Station complex, where we saw a video on how the river
raged through the gorge when Cyclone Steve struck in 2000. Amazing
stuff. Everything is historic on this side of the world, none
more so that the Freshwater Railway Station. There is a museum
located within the complex, with a model of the mountains and
the road and rail paths cut through them. The railway was built
to open the coast to the riches being mined and cut in the Atherton
Tableland. There was some amazing engineering skills employed,
as the railway was built by hand in the late 1800s. Cairns at
the time was broke, the population had dwindled, and the town
was about to go under. The railway it is said, saved the town,
and today, it is huge metropolis. It was getting late, but we
thought we would have a look at the Crystal Cascades, and so another
trip into the base of the range to the carpark, where we discovered
a young mum and her kids and mother, were about to take a walk
up the river. I noticed that the tyre on her Landcruiser was almost
flat, and having had experience with split rims and tubed tyres,
knew that whatever I did, it would go down again slowly. And so
I told her that we would pump it up when we returned from our
walk, so that she could get home. As it turned out, the problem
appeared more serious than that, and so A tyre swap was done,
and the spare fitted. The Crystal Cascades were not a waterfall
as we imagined, but a series of small rock pools with the the
stream cascading over the rock outcrops. Back to the van park,
and get organised - early start tomorrow. Have decided to replace
the worn road tyres on the van with off road tyres, before we
do the Trip to the Tip, and they want the van at 7.30am.
12.6.10
Awake at six, and out of the van park and at Bob Jane at 7.15.
Still nowhere to park the van - the idea of doing it early was
to get to the parking area outside the shop before it got clogged
with cars - that was where they would do the tyre swap, but the
traffic beat us. Didn't take long and the van was parked, and
the job done. We then headed north, calling in at Yorkies Knob
on the way, before winding our way up the coast to Port Gregory.
The road runs up the coast along the base of the hills, and affords
some lovely views. We arrived in Port Douglas, and I have to say,
for me, I wonder what the attraction is. The place is touristville,
has pubs everywhere, souvenir shops, and food venues. I guess
it's fine for the drinking, eating set, but we took in the scene,
took some photos and video, and departed, heading for the hills,
but not before dropping into Mossman, where if I lived in that
area, I would probably drop anchor. Another steep winding hill,
and we climbed into the heavens to cross the Great Dividing Range
I believe it is, and a turn right just north of Mount Molloy.
Just through Mount Carbine, and a police prescence on the road
with a group of bikies and a couple of 4WDs. They weren't interested
in us, and so we proceeded. The road undulated between a couple
of mountain ranges, a hill called Lighthouse Mountain (which has
a lighthouse built on top of it), and then some fairly flat country
before another steep climb off the floor of the tableland to a
lookout called Bob's Lookout, which afforded one of the best views
we have had of recent times of where we had just come from. We
have found the lookouts tend to have been created years ago, when
the view was speccy, but then trees and shrubs have been allowed
to grow in the line of view, rather obscuring and thus spoiling
the experience. I guess the greenies have something to answer
for, or the respective authorities just don't care. Tourists are
a growing part of their economy, and a few bushes ain't going
to make that much difference to global warming. Uh oh, shouldna
said that.......... We found another roadside camp near the St
George River, which afforded us with some privacy. Looking forward
to tomorrow.
Cairns
Pics
13.6.10
We left our site and headed for Palmer River Roadhouse, at least,
that was the first habitation ahead of us. We crossed the river,
and then wound back on ourselves to enter the roadhouse, and what
a surprise. This place was one of the best I have seen in a long
time. The building is made of rock and stone, and it's design
and general appearance make you want to stay. It has a small museum,
and a history of the area. Palmer River was a goldfield in the
late 1800s, and it was because of this, that Cooktown became the
port for the area and actually became a major town in the district.
Onward through rolling hills and then a descent from the plateau
we had been travelling on since Bob's Lookout yesterday. Some
flattish ground, and then we were through Lakeland and on the
road to Cooktown. Back into hills, and the curiosity that is Black
Mountain. It looks just like a huge pile of Black and Grey Rocks
with the odd patch of green, which are fig trees. All sorts of
legends emanate from this place - storys of horses and herds of
cattle disappearing, strange noises, bad smells, pilots complaining
of turbulence over the hill, and so on. We arrived in Cooktown,
only to find that the town is in the midst of celebration as it
holds it's carnival remembering Captain Cooks arrival and beaching
of the Endeavour on it's shore on the 18th June, 1770. We took
a wander through the town, taking photos and video, and finally,
after exhausting all attempts to find somewhere to park the van
- "Not tonight mate, maybe tomorrow night as the crowds leave"
- that's helpful, as it's illegal to camp within 15kms of the
town, and so tonight we sit in our camp some 25kms away from Cooktown
on the banks of the 14.6.10 We decided to backtrack a couple of
kms, and visit the Lions Den Pub. This is at the end of the Bloomfield
Track, and the CREB track runs here as well. The pub had celebrated
the weekend with bands and an Open Mike night was planned for
tonight. We had the time to stay and drag the keyboard out, but
the decision was made to continue to the "Tip". Our
idea is to get the Cape York experience completed, and then take
our time coming back as we then have a time frame to get back
to Sydney by October. We returned to the Lakeland junction, and
turned North up the Peninsula Development Road. Split Rock Art
Gallery loomed on our Port Bow, and so we called in to have a
look. A climb of about 300m took us to a gallery of Aboriginal
Rock Art which is decidedly different to what we saw at Carnarvon
Gorge. There, it was mainly stencil art, wheras here, the depictations
were definitely drawings of animals, spirits and people. Laura
was the next roadhouse we pulled into. It being a long weekend,
traffic was plentiful, and the roadhouse had sold out of food,
drinks, ice cream and fuel. And so we moved on and found a spot
beside a stretch of bitumen, which enabled us to have a sleep
without the piles of dust.you would normally expect. The road
since Lakelands, has so far has been gravel with sections of bitumen
laid for overtaking areas, floodways and hill climbs.
Little Annan River.
15.6.10
Our first port of call was Hann River Roadhouse, where we decided
to refuel, not knowing what the supply was like further up the
road. We were about lineball on getting to Weipa on what we had
in the tank, and needed some insurance. After making friends with
a very photogenic emu, we once again hit the road and headed for
the next roadhouse some 67kms away, that being Musgrave Telegraph
Roadhouse. The road to now has been through undulating. hill country,
with long stretches of gravel, and short bitumen stretches for
overtaking out of the dust. The road seems to constantly run thru
steep dips, many with water in them. This road is impassable in
the wet season. And so we arrived at Musgrave Telegraph Roadhouse,
so named, because the homestead/store was once one of the Telegraph
Stations along this famous piece of road. The Station used to
be fortified to protect it against hostile aborigines. It is built
on stilts some 7' above the ground, and the undercroft has been
furnished as a dining area. There was a flood some years ago,
that more than drowned this part of the building. An airstrip
runs alongside the place, and the road runs alongside the strip,
thus plumes of dust drift across the landing area almost constantly
as traffic approaches or leaves. We had 109 kms to reach Coen,
and this was achieved without drama. Coen has a population of
around 250 people, Coen came into being first as a small fort
built by gold miners and prospectors in May 1877 but this first
gold rush quickly came to an end, and the settlement did not recover
until 1883. It became a centre for several small goldmines in
the region but, in 1893, the rich Great Northern mine boomed and
the town became a more substantial place. It has an airstrip at
Coen Airport (24 km north of the town), hotel/motel, guest house,
two general stores and fuel outlets, hospital, post office, police
station, camping grounds, primary school kindergarten, ranger
base and more. In the run from Musgrave, we had passed a tour
of cyclists travrlling north, and while we were in Coen, they
began arriving into town. A tour operator supplys the bikes, and
these people pay a healthy sum of money to ride them from Cairns
to the tip of Cape York. I think I'll do it my way. We left Coen,
and drove for another couple of hours looking for somewhere to
stay the night. As we approached a particularly tight and potentially
nasty dip full of water, I was just moving and about to take a
run across to the right hand side of the road where the track
seemed to be a safer bet, when a moron in a 4WD came screaming
past us from behind, hitting the obstacle at about 60kph, drowning
our car with spray, before disappearing into the distance. I don't
know whether he had his radio on, but he didn't reply to my wishing
him a pleasant day. The video camera happened to be running, and
made an entertaining piece of footage. Not long afterwards, I
spotted a communications tower, and having camped near these things
in the past, we found a gravel pit at that exact spot that suited
our needs perfectly.
16.6.10
Refreshed, we drove the 13kms required to reach the Archer River
roadhouse, where 3 guys I had let go past in the dust came over
and expressed their appreciation. We now had a couple of hundred
kms remaining before we hit the West Coast mining town of Weipa.
Once we crossed the Archer River, the road altho dirt, was beautiful,
and allowed us to travel quite comfortably around 80kph. We arrived
in Weipa just after lunch, and set about getting settled into
the camp ground. What a shemozzle. You pay your $28 for a powered
site, select your own, and fight for a power point. There are
few watertaps and you are not encouraged to hook up to them, quite
the opposite in fact. It was pointed out that this was a camp
ground rather than a caravan park........ When in Weipa.... We
managaed to find a spot in amongst the million and a half camper
trailers (who brings a caravan up to these parts..... well there
are a a few of us). Then a quick run around town, and surprised
that apart from the lookalike units, didn't look like a mining
town. Mind you, Newman was the last mining town I was in, and
that is underground mining. This is above ground, and the abundance
of vehicles with safety flags is not apparent. Weipa is a port,
which exports Bauxite and cattle. It has a population of just
under 3000. It had its beginnings as a Presbyterian Aboriginal
mission outpost in 1898. The present town was constructed mainly
by Comalco (now called Rio Tinto Alcan), a large aluminium company,
which began making trial shipments of bauxite to Japan in 1962.
A railway was constructed to transport the ore from the mine at
Andoom to the dump of the export facility at Lorim Point. The
bauxite mine is the world's largest.
Cairns
To Weipa Pics
17.6.10
Today was one of those days when ya jest does nuthin ' And that's
what we did........ Well I did update my diary, and uploaded my
pics, and uploaded some videos to YouTube........ but that was
it ...... Jest sat back and did nuthin' .......…
18.6.10
Another lazy day as we set about getting the Cruiser ready for
the next week of camping. A bit of shopping, stocking the car
fridge, and organising with a friend to leave the caravan at his
place whilst we did the trip to the peninsular.
19.6.10
The big day. We dropped the van off, set up the dish, programmed
the motor racing from Darwin and N ASCAR (gotta get the priorities
right), and set sail for the Tip.The road to Batavia Downs was
supposed to present a challenge or two, but for some reason, the
road is being upgraded ...... damn Then onto the Telegraph Road
proper, and our first destination at Moreton Telegraph Station.
It is that in name only these days, as most of the infrastructure
and telegraph building have been removed. A very presentable camping
spot and stopover, nonetheless. Then on to Bramwell Station, where
the main road veers to the East, and the Old Telegraph Track commences.
THe roads to now had been in very good condition, and in my case,
were becoming boring. Prior to the trip, we had decided to bypass
the Old Track, because we were travelling on our own and didn't
have a winch, but by now, I needed a challenge. WE were told that
the first creek was the most daunting, and the second creek had
a big hole in it, and to keep to the left of it, and.............
And so we opted to go and have a look at the first crossing, and
decide from there what we would do. And so 4kms later, we were
standing looking at this almost vertical drop into a mud pit,
and a river full of water. We decided to camp the night, and see
how we felt in the morning. By then, a couple more guys turned
up, and decided against going further. Then Troopy appeared from
the other side, splashed through the creek, and ascended the wall
like spiderman. Having seen that, my confidence was renewed, and
I figured that despite my lack of water experience, that I could
do it. We set up camp and slept on it.
20.6.10
Lesley had the video camera in her hand for only the second time
in her life, and had been despatched to the far bank of "crocodile
infested waters" to film the impending attempt on crossing
the obstacle. I sat in the car with the nose hanging over the
edge of this sheer drop (about 1.5m and angled in reality) into
the mudpit. It was time, i selected low first, and moved forward.
The nose dipped, and the mudpit approached the windscrenn, and
then I was levelling out, and then crawling over logs placed in
the mudpit by previous drivers, and now i was in the river, and
the exit chute was in front of me as I gunned it up the slippery
slope to safety. I had don e it. I hit the horn, screamed out
a Yee Ha, and was happy. Sadly, the video shows a fairly ordinary
descent into a small chasm, and the vehicle passing quite sedately
thru the stream...... sigh. Now my more extreme 4wd mates will
wonder what all the fuss was about, but this is adrenaline pumping
stuff first time out. There was no turning back. And so on to
the crossing with the deep hole. Once again Lesley walked the
creek and showed me where to go, and again took possession of
the video camera, as I edged into the water, and skirted the black
hole near the exit, which was about 90 degrees to where we entered.
So it meant driving around and along the water to do the crossing.
And so it continued, until we reached the Gunshot Bypass. There
was no way I was goping to attempt this demon, and so we headed
off around the bypass. On reaching the old Track again, we turned
back to the Gunshot to have a look at what it was all about. There
were a number of people camped there, watching the fun as more
adventurous tyupes attempted the challenge ...... over and over
again. We arrived as a friend we had met in Weipa was being towed
out of the boghole at the bottom of the 15' drop into the creek.
There are 2 or 3 more "chicken run" areas to cross the
creek, with their own challenges, but these guys needed to prove
something it seems. We filmed an attempt by another of these guys,
including the recovery process, before continuing our trip. WE
rejoined the Main road for a few kms, before turning into Fruitbat
Falls. This is a picnic area, day use only, and a beautiful spot
for swimming and marvelling at the way the river has drooped a
level to create the waterfall midstream. We then headed for Eliot
Falls campground, where we found ourselves a spot, and whilst
eating tea, watched thousands of bats circling over the camp area.
Spectacular.
21.6.10
We had breakfast, packed up camp, and then walked down to have
a look at the Twin Falls, Eliot Falls, and the Saucepan. The Twin
Falls are on Canal Creek, which joins Eliot Creek a few metres
on, and then runs into the Jardine River. They are delightful,
a beautiful swimming hole, and created a lovely setting for a
photographer, who was standing waist deep in the water with his
camera on a tripod, taking photos of the scene, with his crew
standing by waiting to take the camera as he finished his shots.
We then followed the track around to the Eliot Falls, and then
further to the Saucepan, another smaller waterfall in the river.
Walking back to the campsite, we passed through a grove of trees,
where the colony of bats from last night were just hanging out
of the trees. We had decided not to continue the Old track, as
it now meant fording rivers bonnet high with water, and I wasn't
prepared for that experience just yet. You only get one chance
to get it wrong and destroy the engine. We had spent the best
part of a day doing next to no kms yesterday, and so the trip
up the main road passed fairly quickly until we reached the ferry
at the Jardine River. In the past, people travelling up the old
track have forded the Jardine downstream, and many have lost their
vehicles trying to avoid the $88 charge for the ferry. It is believed
that the local community blew holes in the river at the old crossing,
making it now impassable. We parted with our hard earned, and
continued up the road to Injinoo, Imagico, and finally Bamaga,
the main town at the top. We decided that we would continue to
the Tip, calling in at the Croc Tent on the way. The area main
Information Centre closed some time ago, and the Croc tent is
the main source of infop in the area. We now found ourselves wending
our way along a narrow, but very pretty road covered with foliage,
until the Ocean appeared in front of us, and we were there. We
had made it to the northern most point of the continent .....
almost. We now had to negotiate a walking trail over a hill for
about 500m to reach the signpost stuck in a rock on the ocean
edge, proclaiming our achievement. Photos and videos done, we
decided to camp on the beach for the night, and with the wind
blowing a gale, hoped we wouldn't end up in the Torres Strait
overnight.
22.6.10
We left the Tip and headed back to Somerset, the ortiginal homestead
of the Jardines who opened up the area in the late 1800s. There
not much left there now, but there is a nice little camping beach,
along with the graves of the Jardines and some of their staff.
There is a cave around the point with some aboriginal rockart,
that can be accessed by walking around the point at low tide,
howev er the tide was in, and that option wasn't open to us. We
then travelled back to the Croc Tent, nd turned toward Punsand
Bay Resort, which was to us, a major disappointment. The facilities
and grounds seem run down, and the laundry and toilets were attrocious.
We did partake of a Rum and Coke to celebrate our reaching the
Tip, before jumping back in the car and heading up a bush track
which would take us to Roonga Point. There are no signposts up
here telling you where to go, and so a mud map, and the Outback
Explorer mode in my GPS was holding us in good stead. There used
to be a sawmill in this area, but all that remains now is the
remnants of a jetty. I think most people turn back before they
reach this destination, as the track could be daunting to someone
who is not used to these conditions. We drove back to the Croc
Tent, and asked about the best way to get to Loyalty Beach. We
were given a shortcut which proved to be a pretty drive with a
couple of creek crossings, before reaching the camping ground.
By comparison with Punsand Bay, this place was well presented,
well organised, and the facilities were much nicer. Then on to
Seisha, which is a port. What we found amusing, was the number
of horses just wandering around these towns as you would see dogs
nosing around. There are a few plane wrecks from WWII in thearea,
and so we headed off to have a look at the remains of a DC3 which
crashed in 1945 (just left as it landed), and then into the scrub
to find a Lockheed that had come down near the current airport.
It was now getting late, and we decided that Loyalty Beach was
the place to stay, and so we returned to the camping ground and
booked in for the night.
23.6.10
We were leaving town, but wanted to have a look at Muttee Head,
and so we drove out along a well made road which ran along a ridge
line for much of the way, affording some beautiful scenery along
the way. The road was built by American Servicemaen during the
war, and the Beach was used by Australian and American forces
as a camp. After checking out the campsite, we again headed into
the scrub, and up a track surrounded by tall grass to find an
old Radar tower from the war days. We also found some graves of
people who had come to the mainland from a nearby island. Back
on the road, and we crossed the Jardine, and made our way back
towards Eliot Falls where we planned to spend the night. The road
was fantastic, smooth dirt, good for 100 clicks, and then a horror
stretch of some 20-30kms, with corrugations that would test your
dentists ability at fixing permanent fillings in your teeth. We
eventually arrived at our destination, and settled down to decide
where we would go tomorrow.
24.6.10
The weather had been dodgy for the past couple of days, and we
were tossing up whether to go to Captain Billy Landing. It was
just 30km off the main track, and according to our bible, "Cape
York, an adventurers handbook" by Ron and Viv Moon, the road
was good (at the time of writing - all things change from season
to season up here), and it was a very picturesque drive. We figured
that we probably wouldn't be up here again in a hurry, and so
it was decided. Captain Billy, here we come. More of those corrugations,
and then a narrow track similar to the one at the tip - one car
wide and an avenue of trees and foliage. The drive was sensational,
breaking out to a lookout overlooking the plain stretching out
below us. then down a steep scarp, and our next surprise, a meadow
of green grass. before burrowing back into the trees and creek
crossings, and finally, bursting out on top of acliff overlooking
the sea and the cove that was Captain Billy Landing. We descended
to the camp ground, took shelter in picnic hut, and broke out
our lunch. The explorer Kennedy was led to this place by an aboriginal
who called himself captain Billy. Apparently later, Kennedy would
be speared by a party of natives led by said Captain Billy. The
shed and jetty that occupied the land for years has now been removed
by QWPS, and a picnic shelter and toilet have been provided. Time
to move on, and we reached Bramwell Junction Roadhouse (Where
the Old Telegraph Track leaves the main road) and set up camp
for the night.
25.6.10 Up early, and on our way, heading for the Batavia
Downs bypass, which would bring us back to Weipa, where we arrived
about lunchtime. We reaquainted ourselves with the Van, and started
the task of downloading photos, video footage, catching up with
emails, Facebook and writing our diaries and blogs. We had been
away a week, and what a week it was.
Weipa
To The Tip Pics
26-28.6.10
Just hanging around Weipa, resting, looking for crocodiles (found
a couple this morning - bit too far away to photograph - the shot
here has been severely blown up). Generally just chilling out,
getting the energy to start heading back south. We have been on
the road 11 weeks and done over 11000kms.
29.6.10
We decided to go back out and have another look for crocodiles,
check out the airport, and generally have look around the town
of Weipa itself. Caught up with some friends that we met on the
road to the Tip, and had dinner with them at the Bowls club. Becoming
regular socialites we are, dinner at the bowls club Saturday and
last night, and a BBQ on Sunday.......…
30.6.10
It's time to travel north to the sleepy little aboriginal community
that is Mapoon. In 1954, a decision was made by the Presbyterian
Mission and the Government to close the community, and move the
locals to Weipa, and subsequently to New Mapoon. The locals were
not happy, as they wanted to remain in their homeland, and it
took 40 years for the community to regain the right to move back
to Marpoon. Not an episode that the Church and the government
should be proud of. Our goal was to get to to Janie Creek, and
after arriving in the town, and visiting Cullen Point, we found
the sandtrack winding down the beach that took us the 9.4 kms
south to the mouth of the Janie Creek, where we found a number
of people camping, and a picnic table under a tree that served
admirably as our lunch table. We then returned to the town to
attempt to find other points of interest that had been recommended
to us, but with time getting away from us, (it was now 3pm) and
the amazing lack of signposting in the Cape, we found ourselves
heading back to Weipa, arriving back in town just after 5pm.
QUEENSLAND
TRIP VIDEOS 2010
Simpson
Desert In Bloom
Posted
17/9/10
Waterfalls
- North Queensland
Old
Telegraph Track - Qld
Gillies
Hwy - Qld
Cattle
Muster Qld
Gulflander - Normanton - Qld
Sheepyard
War Memorial - NSW
Back
O Bourke Hotel - before the fire
The Ant Ordeal - Bourke
Mt
Moffat - Top Shelter Shed - Carnarvon NP
If
you would like to contact me or email
your thoughts or comments, please feel free to do so. I would
love to hear from you
For
more photos, visit Lesley's site. Queensland,
Australia
Lesley
Bray Photography
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