Cape Flattery

McIvor river... In ref to what Stu is saying, last time I was up there was talking to a local, a mate of his told him about a bit of a moment he had up a tribituary of the McIvor... was an almighty commotion from the scrub on the edge of the creek, next thing he saw was the biggest "snappy lizard" he`s ever seen, fly into the water... Needless to say he didn`t hang around. So be aware, even when you`re siting your camp.
Cheers Ron.

G/day Dusty, access to Cape Flattery is pretty well straight forward, it`s when you start straying off the main drag. Might be worth doing a recce over a w/end just to get a feel for the place before you actually drag the boat up there, excellent fishing can be had off the rocks just about anywhere around the Cape, not to mention the rock oysters. With a bit of luck I`ll be in the area myself around July/Aug, I have a hankering to explore further up around the Sth/Eastern side of Cape Melville.
Good luck. Cheers Ron.

I too have been eyeing off further north, but thought I would head there on the annual trip ( approx 2-3 weeks at a time). But I do take on your idea of a recon trip over a weekend, nothing like seeing things for yourself.

Yeh Bros, I was thinking of using Cape Flattery the same way you mention, ie short trips. Would you recommend heading to cape Melville via Starke or Lakefield Nat Park? Have read other threads on both routes, and it seems a fairly quick trip to Kalpower. I believe it's still 100 odd k's from there to Cape Melville, but it seems it's a slow trip once past Hopevale area coming from that way. I have heard the crossing at Barramundi Creek? is pretty bad/ deep. Are there any deep/ bad crossings coming up the coast track? ie via Starke?

Thanks heaps Bros, might bump into you up that way one day. I'm not sure if it will be this year though, head back to sea soon and won't be back till November. By then the rellies will want to visit the grand kids plus Christmas and all that. Might sneak away to Elim beach and Cape Flattery for a recon trip though.
Cheers Dusty.

G/day bros, as you have no doubt read my bit about exploring the bottom S/E side of Melville, looking at my map there appears to be a couple of beaches that may or may not be accessible, there are tracks marked on the map but they are very feint, sometimes it`s hard to make them out from the contour lines. Have you ventured off the main track system in that area towards the beach, I have a 4X4 Polaris quad bike which I cart around in a trailer, Just adds another dimension to the exploration thingy, plus I just love them oysters!!!! Cheers Ron.

Ron George,
You are probably talking about Ninian Bay. Been there a couple of times, but again, not for at least 5 years. The road in is not signposted but pretty clearly defined. I don't take a GPS so don't know exactly the co-ordinates. There is a pretty long beach just north of Ninian Bay that goes all the way to the start of the rocky headlands prior to Cape Melville. Been scavenging on a couple of the small beaches between here and the Headland at Cape Melville Our only access was by boat. Seen crocs on a lot of the ocean beaches along here as well as pig rooting up along the tide line. One small beach has the rear end of a trawler on it, with the motor, gearbox and winch gear just in the water. Certainly a wild place. Nearly all green area, so no fishing. Ninian Bay is yellow zone for fishing, as per the relevant zone charts. There was a turn off to the right just before you descended the hill into Ninian Bay, and this took you to the beach just below Ninian Bay. There is a creek at the southern end, but this is all green zone except for inside the creek i suppose. There is a fresh water lagoon at Ninian Bay that we used for bath water. The rule was, two blokes bathing and one on lookout with the 30/30. Seen plenty of croc tracks between the salt water and the lagoon. There is a shelter shed there now so i am told.
There are a couple of tracks going off to the east between Wakooka Outstation and the Ninian bay turnoff, but i have never been down them to investigate. Should be just the thing for the quad bike to investigate. Looking at Google earth there are plenty of tracks.
Cheers,
Bros.

Thanks for that very detailed & accurate report Bros, pretty much confirmed what I had in my minds eye, you`ve just whetted my appetite. What version of Google earth do you have, the freebie or the bought one?? I understand with the latter version the resolution is good down to ground zero, I`m going to down load the freebie any way so I`ll check it out.
Have you any aspirations of going back to that neck of the woods in the future??
Cheers Ron.

Ron,
Only have the free version of Google. Will probably be going to the Bathurst Bay area mid 2008 or thereabouts.
Cheers,
Bros.