Cape York
29 September 2020
I’ll commence this trip from Mt Carbine van park, about 70 K’s inland from Pt Douglas.
Rated the best hosted van park in Australia by me. Cost was $20/night and they store your van as long as you like at no extra charge, not only that they have freezer and fridge storage so you can empty out your van fridge, plus they are super friendly. We all really enjoyed this park and there was lots of birdlife around and great sunsets.
I am storing the van here and I have set up a bed in the back of the car so I’ll be pretty mobile.
Check out my new addition in the photos. Its a rechargeable light/bug zapper, works fantastic, great in the van and now in the car while sleeping.
As I mentioned last episode I am travelling with Drew and Neene, and their dog Jypsy. They are from Melbourne, so you may see and hear a lot about them in the episode.
This trip I thought would only take about a week, but the feedback I’ve received it maybe three weeks. But as usual I'm in no hurry and I really have no plan, so we’ll shoot the breeze and smell the flowers and make it up as we go.
The photo’s are in their proper sequence and sometimes I show photo’s with the road or a walking track with the surrounding country. I do this with the intention of hopefully giving you the feeling of being on this trip with me and experience the country as I see it (if that makes any sense, probably not).
Just remember this takes a bloody lot of hours to put this all together, and I think of all of you as I’m travelling, so my thanks go out to the very few who message or phone me saying how much they enjoy the blog, you know who you are and it means sooo much to me. Thank You.
The first night we arrived at Laura about 200 K’s and stayed in the van park, lots of stops and a lot of photos taken of some great lookouts and sightseeing along the way, plus the usual cuppa stops. (maybe at this rate it may be months not weeks).
Friday 2/10/20 we took the Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park via Old Lakeview road. All dirt mostly from now on.
I was informed that this is so much nicer than the main road, not to sure about that as there was a lot of nothing, but as always there are lots to see. The road wasn’t to bad, especially the last half, as it was the best dirt road I've been on.
We finished up at Coen and camped behind the pub. The next day we travelled a hole 3 K's to a sandy river and had a lovely R&R day, much needed I think. There was a Bower Bird with an interesting nest on the ground next to our camp with what looked like a pebble garden front and back (note in photo's). She was very proud of her garden and would do a little dance around the nest. I wanted to get a good photo of her but she alluded me every time, but I managed to get a not so good shot of her in the trees, actually it's a really bad shot, but that's all your getting.
This section took us through some awesome scenery of the Desailly Ranges. We were surprised by this type of country as we all commented that we didn't expect it to be like this.
I was also surprised at the condition of the roads. I thought it was all dirt from Laura onwards, and pretty rough. But here we were travelling on really good sealed roads. No doubt there is worst to come.
There is plenty of fuel stops along the way as there are very interesting roadhouses spaced out along the way, with fuel prices being around $1.80/ltr.
Bramwell Roadhouse is the start of the adventurer 4x4 track. I didn't take on this track as I was told it is very hard on your vehicle, and Drew and Neene didn't want to do any of that. I would have been on my own and I don't think that would have been such a good idea. But later on I was talking to others that did it, they all agreed I would have been fine. All the river crossings were low due to the dry seasons, and where there is really challenging stuff there are "chicken tracks around them", I was talking to a group of young blokes (see them in the water at Fruitbat Falls) just after their trip through and one bloke had a standard Hi Lux and he got through without any issue. Would have been nice to do it with someone. (Should have bought Bruce Ryan with me, hell, he would have taken his caravan through it).
The road around this section is something like 120 k's and the best dirt road you will see. We were travelling around 110 most of the time as there isn't much to see, but we couldn't believe how good it was. They are doing up a lot of this whole road and they really know how to make dirt roads up here.
You are probably thinking all the roads are great up here and they are certainly a lot better then I thought they would be. But there is a real mixture. You'll be driving along a wide dirt road covered in corrugations and on these sections no one uses the road but drive in the table drain instead, they are always better and I have to laugh when I do this but everyone does and there are a lot of sections like that. But suddenly you'll come across a sealed section that is a really good road but only last 2-5 kls, then more corrugations. Then suddenly there is sections that are basically just a rough track, much like I expected it to be like the whole way.
Someone asked me when I completed this trip if I regretted not taking the van.
The answer is yes and no. If Kay had been with me, yes I would have taken it for the comfort factor, and Drew and I both agreed we would have been ok taking the vans. But I was on my own and as I said to you before, I'm over doing bad dirt roads (XX) and it's a long way to tow a van and then turn around and come back. But I'm getting a lot of experience and I know how to prepare the van. Besides, I have travelled on a lot worse than what I have seen here. Under the current situation, I'm glad I didn't take it, I think.
While we were travelling along this good section at 110 (well I think Drew was as I started to loose sight of him) Drew had a camp site in mind and I was just following him but it was getting pretty late and I started to think I may have missed him somewhere, so I just kept driving and when I came to the Jardine River Ferry I knew I had lost them or maybe they lost me!
In fact I did loose them and it wasn't until the next afternoon that I ran into them on a back road. We stopped and exchanged all what happened, and I told them that I would keep going on my own as I had seen a hell of a lot that day and being very mobile I covered a lot of ground.
So thanks Drew and Neene for the great time together, I hope to see you again sometime.
The Jardine River Ferry. I was told about this in Darwin so I was not surprised. They charge you a fee to travel across on the ferry and that includes a return. It also gives you free campsites in the northern parts of the cape, but. That doesn't include Parks or commercial parks but just bush camping. (woopie duck)
I googled ferry crossing fees in Australia and all of South Aust. ferries are free. There is one Nth of Cains somewhere that costs $31 return. The Sydney Harbor Tunnel cost about $4.
But that don't matter at all to the enterprising Koories running the show up here, they came up with a neat $100. Talking to some of the locals and they said, "it's a bit of a rip off".
I had to laugh when I first sited the ferry and how small the river was. I thought if they would just put a couple of planks out we could just drive through as it were a bridge. I would like to know how much their annual take is. They have got you, as there is no other way through.
Oh, and they have fuel sales there as well, and even that has broken my fuel price watch on this whole adventure, $2.05. 30 k's up the road at Bamaga I fueled up at $1.63.
I arrived on the west coastal town of Seisia and stayed at a van park right on the beach with a real south seas feel. There are so many islands around the Tip, it's a really lovely sight. I was up early next morning and did a bit of fishing along the beach and as my old man would have said, "I nearly got a bite today". There was a shark wallowing around the shallows in front of me, but he wasn't interested in my lure.
I was all excited today as I was heading out to 'The Tip'.
It's just a dirt track out to it through some lovely rain forest. A lot of people come here and it just doesn't seem to cater for anyone as the carpark is pretty small and there is no designated track.
It's around 500mts walk to the actual Tip and you can either take the beach track at low tide or over the top (about 700mts), I went both ways.
There are huge mangroves that I had to go around on the rocks, you just had to find your own track. Coming back over top the views were great but once again I lost the 'track' a couple of times.
To be fair it was really windy and rain started to fall, RAIN. That's the first rain drops I have seen since I left Tumbarumba some four months ago.
I bought a souvenir T shirt from the Crock Tent and that got really wet, didn't last long though.
I drove out to Sommerset and checked the view out and once again misty rain and really windy and lovely rain forest road to get there.
There are graves there of a family that had a station here. It amazes me how hard people did things back then. Imagine telling the wife "hey Honey, I've found a nice secluded spot to call home, pack your bags".
God knows where the nearest settlement was. And there was only horse transport. That's another interesting fact I came across was the Cape York went from horse to plane, mainly due to WW11. Cars came later.
I had seen a lot that day and decided to head back across the ferry (he asked for my ticket. To bad if I had thrown it out)
I headed South and called into Fruitbat Falls and enjoyed a swim and the water was fresh and cool, not what I.ve been used to, but great all the same.
It was getting pretty late and there was no where to stop, until I finally found a small road and just off the main road. It was a little clearing that the roadwork gang would have set up a smoko area with a dozer. Nice flat hard clay and thick bush all around, best spot, maybe I should put it on Wiki Camps.
The next day I drove straight to Weipa. I's an unusual town and hard to take photo's of. It's a mining town and a lot of the place is stained with red dust from the mine's and wind. There is no main street, (not that I could find anyway) But you wouldn't believe it but I came across their golf course (or maybe you would). I had no clubs so I didn't play, but it looked good.
I was mainly keen to find a nice coffee shop and enjoy a nice coffee. There is a little shopping complex with Woolies etc. and I found one there only it was closed for a couple of days. I drove around and asked in the golf club do they do coffee, "No". He said the coffee shop is the only one around, but there is a mobile one getting around and he gave me directions, that sounded to hard, so I pulled up under a tree and boiled the billy, again.
As I said, I didn't take too many photo's but I now wish I did, even though they may have been uninteresting, but it would let you get a feel of Weipa.
I really didn't mind the place. Never the less, I hit the road again and ended up back at Coen River again, still couldn't get a shot of that Bower Bird.
The next morning I headed for Cooktown via Battle Camp. Once again I expected a rough road only to find great dirt followed by a good but hilly and windy road and then suddenly coming to green grass as high as my waist, full flowing rivers and peaky mountains, welcome to Cooktown.
Nice place, even has some nice coffee places. There is a lovely high lookout right in the middle of town and you'll see how high in the photo's.
I'll leave the photo's to tell you about the place. Except, you wouldn't believe it but I drove out of town and down this out of the way place and I came across Cooktown's Golf Course. How lucky was that?
Further out I found the most amazing Black Mountain, just a very big pile of big black rocks, amazing sight.
Further along on a side track is the historic Lions Den Pub just sitting there out in the bush, but pretty popular. I enjoyed a cold beer before camping by a river at the foot of Black Mountain.
I headed for my home the next morning and was really happy to be back with my van and Wilson. I'm sure if I had taken the van I would have still been up top still. So good to be home.
I drove the next day back to Mareeba and had my power checked out and the sparky found a loose wire that was causing my shortage of power and now it's working as it should be.
I went to Coles and did a big shop until I came to the check-out and was told that all the tills are out so we can't serve you. Doh! They told me to leave the trolley and they will but it all back. Apparently it was a National problem.
So I went and played golf instead, can't have problems like that there.
When I arrived at the club there was a lot of kids there having some sort of comp. I asked "looks like it's a bad time to play?" The Pro said, " If you play the 10th you'll have no problems". I said, "are you sure, I can come tomorrow?" He said, "You'll have no problems today mate".
Goes up the back to the 10th and there's kids everywhere, Doh!
I gave that away and came back to the Pro and told him he sold me the Harbor Bridge. He apologized and gave a refund and when I said I'll come back tomorrow he told me, "good idea, it's half price then" DOH!!
Well I've prattled on enough, so I'll leave you to check out the photo's while I contemplate my next move over a couple of bourbons.
Thanks for following my blog, and I would love to hear from you.
I wonder if I can break the record of 8 followers, probably not.
Well at least I enjoy it..
Regards to you all
Doug
