Cape York Trip Log

1^st – 31^st August 2007

Trippers

Adrian & Sue - Nissan Patrol

Phil (hands so-low) Dalton & Ken (the invisible man) Clarke - Holden Jackaroo

Cathy (tupperware queen) Stokes & Lyndon - Landrover Defender

Day 1

Spend the morning packing the car and making sure that we had everything. Left home at about 1:30pm and headed towards Narrabri. Took the route up through the Hunter rather than directly up the freeway, it was a much more pleasant drive. Arrived in Narrabri and checked in where they said we hadn’t booked, fortunately they had a room. Dinner was at the local club and then back for a good night’s sleep.

Day 2

Started early left Narrabri about 7am and we headed north to Emerald. We always knew that it would be along day on the road but it wasn’t as bad as we had originally thought. We’ve tried contact Ken & Phil a few times but they’re out of range, we think that they are at Undarra. Stopped at Roma for fuel and we had lunch in a rest stop about 10klms north of the town. We came up through Carnarvon Gorge and the scenery was really good. We made excellent time and arrived here at about 5:30pm. We are staying about 20klms out of Emerald overlooking Fairbairn Damn.

Day 3

Left Emerald just after 7am heading to Townsville. We went out to Clermont and then headed north on the Gregory Development Road, 360 klms of nothing. The only traffic around were the grey nomads with their caravan and the road trains. We stopped at Belyando Crossing to fill up ($1.46 per litre) and to stretch, we talked to one couple who had been travelling for 3 years and didn’t know when they were going home. The next stretch of road was then a single strip of bitumen down the middle of the road with dirt either side, Sue was driving and fortunately we didn’t meet a road train on this stretch. Safely arrived in Townsville and went and had a look at the markets, lots of nice craft things but no room to carry them, shame! Met up with Tony & Alison Magner (Jackeroo Club) and had a few beers with them.

Day 4

Left Townsville about 8am and headed north to Cairns. The roads were really busy with caravans and trucks. Lots of activity in the cane fields and some spectacular scenery along the way. Arrived in Cairns at about 1:30pm and met up with Ken & Phil with Cathy & Lyndon arriving later in the afternoon.

Day 5

We left today to travel from Cairns to Cooktown. We did some last minute shopping in Cairns before heading towards the Daintree. The Daintree was spectacular in it’s scenery and we stopped at Jindalba for lunch and went for one of the walks through the rainforest. We then continued north to through Wuju Wuju to the Bloomfield track which was our first taste of the high quality dirt roads and river crossings. Through this stretch we gave Ken & Phil a rest from each other with Ken in the Patrol and I travelled in the Jackaroo. Parts of the track have concrete strips similar to driveways obviously for when it is wet. At the end of the Bloomfield track we rewarded ourselves with a nice cold beer at the Lions Den Hotel where each of the couples had their pictures taken and we left a Camp Cobark cap as a memento. We then came through Black Mountain NP which was really quite strange to see the black rock covered mountain with no flora growing on it.

We arrived in Cooktown at about 5pm and set up camp prior to happy hour and dinner.

Day 6

This was the day when I had to do my exam, I met the guy who was supervising at the Library and then went through 3 hours of brain ache. Ken and Sue went for a walk into town and had a look around. Phil and Lyndon went in search of new seats for the Jackaroo and scored a new set of front seats at a bargain place. The Jack has also developed a bad whine from the diff and we attempted to change it but the diff from the other one was a different size and ratio, if nothing else we got practice at changing rear diffs bush mechanic style. The boys (K&P) are still talking and we now think that they are like the odd couple although there are discussion over which is Oscar and which is Felix and we haven’t heard of any goings on from the honeymoon suite. The girls stayed in camp and did girlie things which we shall not go into.

Day 7

We were still in Cooktown as Phil had tried to get his diff repaired but to no avail. It was decided that we would go out to Elim Beach and have a look at the coloured sands. It’s so we rearranged the Patrol and 5 of us set off. We got to Hope Vale about 40klms from Cooktown where we had to buy a pass to access the beach. Hope Vale is an aboriginal community and this was our first experience of the alcohol restrictions so probably a good job Phil wasn’t with us. The sands were beautiful and we spent some time exploring before heading back to Cooktown.

Once back in town we went up Grassy Hill which Cook had climbed as a vantage point to see the reefs, we think that he had better eyesight than us as we couldn’t see any reefs. The views from the top are quite spectacular and it is well worth the visit.

Day 8

Well we are finally leaving Cooktown and on our way to Hann River via Old Laura. The corrugations are the worst that I have ever seen and about 60klms from Cooktown the brakes on the Patrol feel decidedly spongy. We stopped for morning tea and checked them and found a brake line had sheared. We put a screw in it to limit the fluid loss and headed back to Cooktown to get a new one made. We got back to town and went to the servo and the guy told us to come back and he would have one made up for us. In the meantime the Defender decided to blow a uni joint and housing so we are back in Cooktown for another night while the parts are shipped from Cairns. Whilst this was occurring we fixed the Patrol brakes & all is OK again. Hopefully we will be on our way again tomorrow and we are planning to head to Laura via the Peninsula Development Road.

Day 9

We finally made it out of Cooktown and we headed south to Lakeland before heading north on the Peninsula Development Road. Ken headed home to Sydney today; he hired a car & drove to Cairns and was then going to fly back to Sydney.

We made really good time having left Cooktown at about 11:30am and we arrived at Musgrave about 4pm. On the way we stopped at Split Rock Aboriginal art site it was very interesting. The condition of the road was excellent and we managed to travel at about 90kph. Phil was supposed to be making dinner but after an aborted attempt it looks like we’ll be having hamburgers, fortunately the roadhouse at Musgrave sells food. Tomorrow we are heading further north and plan to be in Weipa tomorrow night.

Day 10

We left Musgrave at about 8:45 and headed north on the Peninsula Development Road towards Weipa. We were uncertain as to what to expect as we had received differing stories as to road conditions. As it turned out the road was in good condition albeit corrugated in places. There was quite a lot of bitumen road to be had and we found that even on the dirt we could cruise at around 90kph with slowing fro the dips and floodways. We made a couple of stops for drinks on the way and met a fair bit of traffic including a couple of trucks. The termite mounds have gotten bigger and as we came into Weipa the roads were predominantly red whereas they had been mixed colours up until then. The camp ground in Weipa is right on the water and we are a two minute walk from the shops. Price of beer is outrageous with VB being $55 a carton. We are staying here until Sunday when we are booked on the 8:30am mine tour and we will leave after that and head to Bramwell Junction.

Day 11

Well we had a day of rest today; we went to the local shopping centre and for a trip out to Mitre 10 where we provided entertainment & merriment. Excitement came when we had a small bushfire and the local fire service turned up, all 2 of them. Phil decided that he was going to get his last carton of beer which he did but then went back for another as they aren’t open tomorrow. 

Day 12

After we gave Ken his breakfast we went off on a tour of Weipa and the bauxite mines. It was interesting to see & hear some of the information such as that nobody is born or buried in Weipa.We left Weipa at about 11:30ish and headed back to the Development Road before turning off towards Batavia Downs. We continued through to Bramwell Junction and then turned off onto the Old Telegraph Track. We met up with a family from Victoria at Moreton Telegraph Station who asked if they could tag along with us. We continued through to Delhunty River were we have set up camp for the night by the river. Phil has been renamed hands so-low and lives in a 30 second tent.

Day 13

We travelled all of 63klms today as we headed further north along the OTL. There were a number of creek crossings but the water depth was nothing to worry any of the vehicles. We arrived at Gunshot and had a quick look before proceeding across. All vehicles made it safely and without any issues. We then went on to Fruit Bat Falls where we had a refreshing dip before proceeding to Elliot Falls where we camped overnight. Phil went swimming for the first time in living memory and then during evening conversation Phil decided that he needed a new body.

Day 14

We travelled today from Elliot Falls to Seisa. The campground at Elliot Falls was picturesque and had a couple of great swimming holes which we used this morning to freshen up before hitting the road. We continued up the OTL before joining the northern bypass road and onto the Jardine River Ferry. The ferry itself takes all of about a minute but you pay $88 for the pleasure of the trip. We then travelled onto Seisa where we booked in for three nights. Got the car serviced in the afternoon and Phil thinks he may have found a diff in Bamaga. We went for a walk to replenish supplies and were horrified at some of the prices ($8.50 for a block of chocolate) and I also filled up with diesel, the most expensive so far at $1.70 per litre although ULP is $1.75.

The last crocodile sighting at the campsite was 5^th August and we have been advised not to walk the beach at night.

Day 15

We went for a trip to The Tip. We headed north and our first stop was the Croc Tent. It was originally started by the lady from the Croc Shop in Cooktown and she sold t-shirts and souvenirs to pay for bullets and fuel. These days it is run by a couple who came to the Cape 3 years ago, they flew into Coen and then walked the rest of the way, we estimate that it is approx 400klms and they said that they had allowed 5 weeks for the journey but completed it in 18 days.

The Tip was absolutely stunning and well worth the walk. There is a walk through some rainforest and than over the rocky headland to get there. Phil spotted some fins just off the point and asked were they dolphins or sharks? It wasn’t long before they jumped and we had sighted dolphins off the Tip. We then continued around to Somerset Point.

We bade farewell to our new friends from Victoria and caught up some others that we have met along the way.