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DAY 26 Tuesday 18th August 1998

(Day 15 TLCC Cape York Trip)

(Iris & Donald)

We set off again and Trevor called over the CB that they had to turn around and go back to camp because Josephine had left her handbag on the table – another fine! We all waited for Trevor and Josephine to catch up with the convoy again and then headed out towards Punsand Bay which was a dump. The people running the place were not at all friendly and so we cut our stay short to only 20mins. Again, we left to go to the tip which now wasn’t far away. The track from here on was very bumpy. When we arrived as far as the road would take us we still had another 20min walk to get to the tip through a rainforest walk and over rocky mountains. When we all arrived we took photos and video, cracked open our bottles, swam in the ocean and just relaxed for about 2 hours. Lunch was in the run-down carpark. We then drove to Somerset to see the ruins which was a homestead established run by the Jardine family and later belonged to Herbert Graheme Vidgen. It was finally burnt down in 1960. After that we drove down the eastside to do a short beach run. These beaches were beautiful and inviting. Poor Trevor got stuck again and had to be rocked out of a sand bog. Donald told Tony he didn’t have to get his truck fixed because he was doing fine without his drive shaft. When we all got back to Bamaga some made different tracks before heading back to camp. The day was really great – something my Donald has wanted to do for 2 years.

DAY 27 Wednesday 19th August 1998

(Day 16 TLCC Cape York Trip)

(Josephine and Trevor)

All up at 6.00am to leave camp at 7.45am. Our first stop was the Bakehaus in Bamaga. After everyone had bought their last goodies we left Bamaga not at all feeling disappointed. Only a few kilometres out of Bamaga we stopped to have a look at a DC-3 which left Brisbane on 4/5/45 and crashed 5/5/45 killing all on board. We felt sad to think they died when the war finished only 2 months later. We moved on towards Muttee Heads which was an army radio base during the war because of the deep water for landing. Before leaving Muttee Heads we had a look at the gravesite. The graves are of the pioneers of Saibai Island who formed the exodus to the Australian mainland and established a temporary settlement in 1947 before moving to the present site of Bamaga. We left here at 9.25am with the intent to arrive at Fruit Bat Falls again for morning tea. It was interesting to see that a Bailey’s bridge was still in use on Muttee Heads. They were used during the war as a reasonably quick, strong and transportable bridge. On arriving at the Jardine Ferry for our return journey we found a different driver to the one who took us across the first time. The Aboriginal driver on the North bound journey was not interested in talking to us but the Caucasian driver on this trip was over-brimming with information which our tail-end-charlie Bill listened to with great interest. It takes just 40 seconds to make the crossing by ferry and it takes just 6 cars at a time so the front of the convoy had to patiently wait for the rear to catch up. We had a situation with broken convoy procedure over this event which confused things for a while but was soon resolved.

Car 3 nearly drove into the back door of car 2 but avoided the accident by steering the vehicle up alongside car 2. Josephine tells us this was because her driver slowed to avoid a bumpy section jarring her bad back and then suddenly Tony and Oliver were upon them. This was not the first time they had received a warning about close driving! Even though there was a slight drizzle this morning the driving of this trip has been extremely dusty making necessary driving distances between the convoy quite large. Thankfully the rain ceased before we arrived at Fruit Bat Falls so we stopped for a combined morning tea and lunch break. After stopping for about an hour we moved on towards Captain Billy’s Landing. We traveled through yet another of the many burn-off areas that we’ve seen this trip. Apparently, the burning is done at this time of year not only to reduce the bush fire hazzard but also to assist in cattle spotting from helicopters during round-up times.

At 1.15pm we heard a call on the C.B that Tony in car 3 had engine failure. The timing belt had broken. We stopped for 10 minutes to assess the situation and it was decided that Tony’s car (the four-runner that had proudly proclaimed Na-na-na-na-na on Day One when he snatched out the jeep) should be towed by Jeff’s 80 series into Captain Billy’s Landing.

Arriving at Captain Billy’s Landing turnoff at 1.45pm with 30kms still to go, Collyn asked Bill to take the convoy into the site whilst he travelled with the towing pair. The convoy all got confused with the change of order and Josephine placed fines on car 5,6 and 7 for jumping the queue. Arriving at Captain Billy’s Landing at 2.30pm it was decided that it was too windy down on the lower level, so we drove up to the top and set up our tents amongst the trees. After setting up it was a lovely spot with a cool breeze coming through the trees. The only problem we encountered was the green tree ants but with what we’ve endured they are the least of our problems. Trevor once again removed and cleaned the carburetor of the jeep. Tony too worked on his vehicle to see if he could work around the broken timing belt. Everyone else took advantage of the low tide to inspect the bat caves. After dinner a few of us called it an early night while the rest had a late happy hour. The evening was cool with a lovely sea breeze making it pleasant for sleeping.

This being my second and last trip report I’d like to thank Collyn Crowhurst for a wonderful trip and the rest of the group for their terrific company.

DAY 28 Thursday 20th August 1998

(Day 17 TLCC Cape York Trip)

(Thelma and Jeff)

It was a cloudy morning as we left Captain Billy’s Landing. Tony’s (Na- Na’s) vehicle was made road worthy but he was apprehensive about the trip ahead. We stopped at the Wenlock River for morning tea and a group photo was taken in the river before turning onto Frenchmans Road. At this point we all stopped and got out of the cars to partake in a Kangaroo Court where no appeals could be entered into and once convicted, one is guilty. Tony, Oliver, Josephone and Trevor paid their fines and a generous donation from Trevor for the Children’s Christmas Fund was received. We said our goodbyes and then headed down Frenchmans Road. We stopped for lunch at the last part of the Wenlock River and then continued towards Chili Beach. We passed through numerous dry and wet crossings and enjoyed the views of the Great Dividing Range. Chili Beach is located within the Iron Range National Park and as it was after 5pm when we arrived at the Ranger station we used the self-registration for purchase of our camping permits. Chili Beach is renowned for its windy conditions and for us this proved to be the case but it was definitely not chilly.

DAY 29 Friday 21st August 1998

(Day 18 TLCC Cape York Trip)

(Jan and Dave Marsh)

At 10.15am we had morning tea by a creek and then made the famous crossing of the Wenlock River which is no longer deep due to recent gravel fill. Jan and Dave had another flat tyre – this time on the development road just 10km before reaching the Archer River Roadhouse. We set up camp at 12.30pm and had an easy, relaxing afternoon.

DAY 30 Saturday 22nd August 1998

(Day 19 TLCC Cape York Trip)

Today’s events were recorded by Michelle, as Dave (alone) Darke chose not to write his report.

We planned to leave the Archer River Roadhouse around 9.30am but at 9am Bill noticed he had a semi-flat rear tyre. After yesterday, advising Swampy that he should switch to tubeless tyres, Bill had to eat his own words. The culprit was found to be a tent peg. On the road towards Coen, we were stopped by the DPI Northwatch Quarantine centre for a check of all fruit and vegetables. There was no confiscation – they were ultimately screening pawpaw and bananas. After an outdoor slide show and video lecture from a Quarantine representative on the amenities block walk at Seisa we were all a little more appreciative of the importance of the DPI inspections. We stopped again just before reaching the township of Coen at the Coen River for a leisurely morning tea. Apparently, camping is allowed in the sand of the river but there are no facilities. Coen is a small town with a big Gold Mining history. We took a breif look through the shops on the main street and marvelled at the "Sexchange Hotel". We continued on to Musgrave where camping is free unless you require a shower and then it will cost you $2. There are no laundry facilities but food is available from the restaurant/shop from 7am – 12 midnight. There is a bar and pool table and 10 rooms for more civilised accomodation. While we were here the place was up for sale at A$1.25M.

DAY 31 Sunday 23rd August 1998

(Day 20 TLCC Cape York Trip)

(Michelle Jacka & David Martin)

Our trip today was to be a little adventurous with Collyn leading us along tracks he had not previously traveled. Armed with a Hema map, a set of topical maps and a GPS unit in David Martin’s troopy we were sure to get to our destination of Palmerville. We set out from Musgrave Station heading south for 30km. Turning right off the Development Road we journeyed through cattlefarms and numerous sets of gates – some to be closed and some to be left open. After a number of sharp, steep dips into dry river crossings we came to a sign post clearly showing Dixie Station, Crosbreck, Oroners, Sefton, Koolatah and Normanton. Here we turned right and tracked west. We passed Dixie Station and a few large lakes and noticed some interesting wildlife hanging like white plastic shopping bags from the trees. Our resident biologist Bonnie suggested they might be ant nests or even spider’s nests. Upon hearing this Thelma quickly threw away the specimen she had collected. We found a beautiful lagoon with lilypads and birdlife and guessed it was part of the 8 Mile Creek. From here we found the roads a little difficult to locate and started to confirm tracks with the GPS. Further along we discovered a new fork in the road to Dixie and then observed two men draining fuel from an overturned tank. Collyn stopped to talk a while and learned there had been a recent Gold discovery in the Dixie area and so a new road was being built. We pushed on towards Kimba and the track became narrow and faint. The cars were making new tracks over tree saplings. This was a little-used road but Collyn managed to find the only rutted section and caught his left wheels in a long deep rut which twisted his steering wheel 90 degrees. We must have snagged a tree root which pierced the back left tyre of our troopy and so the convoy stopped for another roadside wheel change. Bill had been complaining the whole trip about the unsafe use of the highlift jack for wheel changes and his worries rang true when the troppy fell off the highlift jack and slipped around the front wheel. The job was completed successfully with the bottle jack.

DAY 32 Monday 24th August 1998

(Day 21 TLCC Cape York Trip)

(Jan and Dave Marsh)

We departed Laura at 8.15am but after approximately ½ hour Jeff and Thelma had to return to Laura. They had a shock absorber problem, which meant we were down to 5 vehicles for the trip to Maytown as David Darke is traveling with Donald because Iris is having a rest day in Laura.

We traveled several kilometres alongside the little Laura River, which is one of the very few that has water due to the dry season. We are in bulldust country, dry creek crossing, scrub country and more bull dust. We traveled over some small rock steps and then onto the Logan Jack Memorial at the site of his North Trig Point which he surveyed during 1895. We then progressed down some interesting rock steps known as Hellfire Pass and onto the Old Range Descent Hotel site. We crossed the North Palmer River and onto Maytown. Maytown is the site of an old gold mining town with interesting history. In the replica hut, Bill was reading an interesting entry written by someone from Melbourne who had been to the cemetery and found a relative’s grave.

On the return trip, everyone got up Hellfire Pass, no trouble at all however earlier, when Jan Marsh was driving, a walking tree ran at her and broke their CB aerial – well that’s her story, so we all believe her.

Going up from one of the creek crossings Dave Marsh made some exciting viewing – his HJ61 looked like a bucking bronco not a sedate 4WD vehicle.

After a long day we returned to Laura all covered in bulldust and probably a few bruises after all the bouncing around and ready for a few drinks at Laura pub. Overall, a top 4WD day with no damage to vehicles.

DAY 33 Tuesday 25th August 1998

(Day 22 TLCC Cape York Trip)

(Thelma and Jeff Webster)

The Development Road from the small town of Laura to Lakeland was in very good condition. We said "Goodbye" to Donald and Iris and we traveled onto Lion’s Den where Jeff spoilt morning tea by finding a puncture. We continued onto the CREB track, which proved to be good four-wheel driving, slipping and sliding due to a few showers the previous day. We stopped for lunch at Roaring Meg Falls and then headed back into more slipping and sliding. There were a couple of pullouts and then a real bit of show when David and Michelle’s Troopy got stuck and almost slid over sideways. This was the one time of the whole trip I didn’t have the video going. Due to the expertise of Collyn and all hands to the deck they were pulled out successfully. The scenery traveling through was spectacular and all reached the Daintree after an exciting final day of our ’98 Cape York adventures.