Cape York Day 17 - Cairns to Weipa

(Oliver & Tony)

Our convoy departed Bathurst Bay at 8.30am after meeting at the garbage tip. After proceeding through a salt lake and creek we came upon a lake to the right which we hadn’t noticed in the darkness of our original arrival. There were 3 creek crossings in the next four kilometres, one reasonably deep but brought us no trouble. We passed the area where we had spoken to a group of quite elderly travelers on our way into Bathurst Bay whose Range Rover was suffering a broken diff. The faulty vehicle had been repaired temporarily and was being driven back out towards Kalpower. We went through a number of muddy bog holes and encountered a fair amount of smoke even though most of the fires traveled up the hills and away from the track. We came across a large number of "McDonalds all-beef patties still on the hoof". We stopped at Wakooka outstation for morning tea at 10.45am and a little further on we found the grave of a 14 year old boy who drowned in the nearby dam in 1961. We then came upon a water crossing which caused a number of vehicles to be recovered including the Jeep, which got water in the clutch. Bill in the 80 series towed the Jeep to the banks of the Barramundi River where we had lunch. We crossed the river without problems even with the Jeep in tow. The Jeep continued to be towed through Kalpower Crossing to the Ranger Office. Although the RACQ man was there to help another vehicle Trevor set about repairs himself. He returned to the convoy at our camping area under his own steam successfully about 3 hrs later. There was yet another fishing excursion at this site but still with no result so the group enjoyed a very warm and early night to bed.

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David (DM) & Michelle (MM) ------------------------------------------------ Always working, not enough travelling ;-) Lifetime Member: My Profile  My Blog  Send Message