Well as
Ross is no typist I am writing the account of the trip to the top.
Firstly,
Ross would never have made it without me as I was the navigator.
Brisbane to the Cape and back 6500 kms, 94 hours driving time, fuel 762 ltrs with 11.2 ltrs/100 kms – 8.53 kms/lts. Fuel consumption up a little as average speed up to compensate for slow spots. (also towing Aussie swag camper trailer)
Originally planned to leave
Brisbane Tuesday 23rd however when all was packed decided to take off straight away 3:45pm Monday. This meant good start and night driving through familiar territory and missing the tedious country through the Marlborough stretch. Unfortunately arrived
Airlie Beach 4:30am Tuesday – no self respecting van park would appreciate a knock at the door this early. Slept in the car above Shute Harbour – awoke to beautiful view and then the rain began. Only a short cleansing shower.
Caught up with relies and spent a day or so relaxing before heading to
Cairns our next overnight stop (Big 4 : Coconut Grove – south side off
Cairns) Our last visit to
Cairns was about 20 years ago - still recognisable but fair bit of growth. The van parks are full of Victorians escaping the winter. We did the usual sightseeing and visiting old haunts.
Headed off for the real adventure Friday 26th. Bitumen half way up the
Bloomfield Track – I suppose this meant we could pay more attention to the scenery – where the rainforest meets the ocean -however took the fun out of the drive. Lots of day trippers through here. Once we left the bitumen (only 4wd past this sign- small
creek crossing) the traffic lightened and we started to really relax. The roads were good – however would still be slippery in the wet with some fair climbs towing camper.
Lunch at the Lion’s Den – great beer and hamburgers. Seems the backpackers even find their way here for a little work experience. I forgot to mention Rossville – this amused
Ross for the next 100 kms. (actually not much to mention about Rossville)
It’s funny how differently you look at things when you are on holidays. All of a sudden everything becomes a photo opportunity, so I am sure we have a fairly good record of what was worth viewing. This becomes even clearer when we travel further north as every change in the landscape is commented on by both of us almost at the same time.
Black Mountain looms ahead as we leave the Lions Den and just before re-entering the bitumen. Some good pictures of the Annan River and then on to Lakelands – this is the last spot before fuel becomes a measure of wealth. ($1-34 per litre)
Lakelands to
Laura – the road conditions okay with a number of large bulldust holes which can catch you unawares. The corrugations felt endless on the way up however on the return trip we decided these were not too bad after we had been conditioned by other portions of the road north.
Laura to
Hann River Road House – again the road conditions okay however still brought us undone. 11 kms out of
Hann River a U-bolt on the camper snapped – that last floodway was the final jolt that broke us. Lesson learnt here to
check that all is tight every so often and also even with all the spares something as simple as a U-bolt can bring a halt to the trek. Bit of
bush mechanics (version one) got us on the way again. (always carry some fencing wire) We limped into Hann. Here we learnt about local humour – we were directed to the workshop – no one there – three locals having a beer at the back of a ute – just watching us wander and call for anyone there - no answer – so on the way back to roadhouse we stopped and asked if they knew where the workshop mechanic was – answer – Yeah.- question – Don’t tell me its you – answer – Yeah. I guess the tourists are the locals only sport. Anyway very helpful next morning armed with 4 x new U-bolts we set to work, fixed the trailer and headed off again. Note: If you order the works burger be prepared for a feast for two. (basically this meal is two burgers – one steak one hamburger without tops and drowned in chips)
Hann River was where we first ran into the
Heritage 4WD Bus tours – these haunted us all the way to the Cape. Large proportion of Victorians and more mature aged passengers. All in bed by 8:30pm. Actually thinking about it so were we.
Hann to Archer River – Road conditions very good no problems – river beautiful and great for a paddle and cool off. Great photo opportunities – also popular with the local lads who partied all night and all day and all night including the didgeridoos
Archer River Roadhouse facilities excellent and campsites grassed and staff very helpful. Don’t
camp up the top – as the big refrigerated road trains tend to stop there and the compressors run all night. Also the lads make their trips in current model troop carriers up from the river to replenish their party supplies. I wish we had photos this endeavour involved probably ten passengers inside, four on tail
gate and three on the roof racks. (Just a note further up the Cape –
Bamaga I think, there are yellow road signs with this pictured with a cross through it, prohibiting travel this way – very funny. Make sure you have a look at the photo album at the roadhouse as the photos of the floods after the last two cyclones tell a story.
Archer River to Bramwell
Junction - road conditions good – however we were told from Bramwell onto
Heathlands Ranger Station via the development road – was #@$%house (one traveller told us you could stand a coke can up in the corrugations and not see the can) – this was not a problem as we planned to use the old telegraph track from here on.
This is what we (
well Ross) came for – the adventure of the OTL – the I’ve been there done that – we have the stickers, stubby holders and photos to prove it.
Palm Creek – no water – just mud – good in and out.
Ducie Creek – murky, little deeper than expected – thigh deep – stay to the left hand side.
North Alice Creek – No problem
Dulhunty River – One of the prettiest crossings – walk it first – watch for
rock pools.
Bertie Creek – Same as Dulhunty watch for pot holes.
Gunshot Creek – Numerous choices here. Depends on the conditions – We choose the one on the left – no problems with the camper. Still good boast photos. Care needed as a few have left parts behind.
Cockatoo Creek- Another Pretty spot – large pot holes.
All the creeks had been good with no problems entry or exit.
Fruit bat falls- definitely worth a stop and a swim – beautiful – only a day spot no camping.
Twin Falls/
Elliott Falls – We camped here for the night great for an early pack up and swim in the morning. Our first encounter with the bike tours. This mob noisy and tended to leave their rubbish behind.
Canal Creek – Lovely spot to
camp – large
rock pools to bath in beside road.
Sam Creek – No Problems.
Mistake and Cannibal Creeks – okay going North steep climbs out – if South sandy exits may be difficult.
Cypress Creek – Log
Bridge – a must for boasty photos however beware if you are the passenger as all rests on you to guide the lordly driver over so any mistake will be yours. You also must take the best photos whilst making sure the lord does not miss his mark. He will then take all the credit when showing the resulting photos.
Nolan Brook –
Well, yes you have to do this one if you don’t want to revisit the log
bridge. Deep crossing with sandy bottom – some have got stuck here and have left holes to avoid. Worth tarping up. Walk the crossing (or swim) we stuck to the centre (deep here) as all wheels remained firmly on the ground. Others chose to the side however this meant their vehicles went through on an angle with all weight on one side. Good photo opportunities regardless of outcome. We took on a little water through door seals, nothing into camper (I think it floats).
Nolan Brook to
Jardine River Crossing – Back on development road – few roadworks – roads good – no problems.
Jardine vehicular Crossing $99 for 20 second crossing.
North to
Bamaga – wide roads no problems.
Continued to
Punsand Bay – stayed here for three days. Make sure you don’t
camp past C grounds as some travellers told us their facilities were very poor and shared with many. Ours were fairly good – clean – large showers (for showering with a friend) good pressure. Note; if you eat at resort make sure you ask what you will get as the meal advertised (
Barramundi or Beef) was not what we got (fish of the day from fishing trip and no meat offered) not happy as meals were $32 head and
Ross does not eat fish and I do not like mackerel. Also powered sites (which we paid for) seem to be first in first served whether paid for or not – long power cords a must as even people on non powered sites will tap in anyway and this can leave you without a plug.
Things to do at the Top: Make sure you visit
the Croc tent – the lady there will give you a map and local history and hot spots for spotting crocs etc. Souvenirs okay much the same as in
Cooktown Croc
shop. (the
Cooktown Croc
shop is run by the original Croc Tent lady – totally eccentric – she has a book for $20 about her time at the Cape) I think there is a little antipathy between the new Croc Tent lady and the Croc
Shop Cooktown (original lady) lady.
Walk to the tip is a must for photos. Make sure you carry a
rock to add to the pile – I thought these had aboriginal significance such as marked burial sites only to find the real origin was just a touristy thing. Walk is
well worth the
views and is probably not the 15 minutes they suggest but maybe 25minutes.
We decided also to take a helicopter trip (15minutes $99 each) over the top also – great
views and shots and sighted one large croc and pilot sighted one large shark. Pilot is ex musterer so I was a little queasy for the next hour or so.
Also did the expected trips to
Somerset ruins,
Jardine’s grave sites, freshwater spring – don’t know about the spring but the beach was lovely. Also Loyalty Beach, Seisa,
Bamaga and surrounds and associated tracks looking for Crocs.
Loyalty
Beach camp grounds
well maintained grass sites looks like mainly for fishing.
Seisa worth a look also for fishing.
Bamaga not my kind of town.
Trip
home
We decided to take the OTL track after Heathlands Station this avoided Gunshot and Nolan Brook and also meant we did not have to travel the worst part of the Development road.
Stopped at
Cooktown – windy but beautiful – not down town tourist ville yet. Probably won’t be long though. Day we were there, a croc tried to take a dog at the
boat ramp and the day before a taipan crossed the main road.
Next stop at
Cairns.
Ross had heard a great meal (beef) to be had at the Cock and Bull so he had to have a meat fix.
Then onto
Lucinda – very obviously a popular
fishing spot – every 4WD with tinnie must have been here. Also the sugar loading terminal. Camping Grounds – facilities good and grassed.
Airlie Beach- This is more like it. I feel clean again. Spent a day out at the outer reef snorkelling and then the following on
Hamilton Island sight seeing by golf buggy (great
views from the top) and then swimming off Whitehaven Beach.
Last Notes – I was surprised so many of the travellers (tourists mainly) on the road to the Cape do not observe common courtesies such as slowing down and moving to left when oncoming to avoid stone throwing. The other observation was some of the hostile hand gestures from the government supported locals. This has changed my usually moderate opinion of where I would like to see my tax dollars spent.
Regards
Ross and Leigh