Is one week to short for the cape?

i did cairns the cape cairns in 17 days and saw most of it but always on the move. in 8 days you could do the drive but not much of the interesting side trips. its 1000km from cairns.

regards peter

post a seperate question on the winch.

Rich,

I personally would think that 1 week is not long enough to have even a quick look a the Cape.

Check the distance Cairns to Weipa, according to Google it is 802 km. Cairns to Bamaga is another 347. Sounds like two days up and two days back and that is just driving. Doesn't leave a lot of time for stopping to check things out.

If it was me I would find somewhere more local where I could have a good look and save the Cape for a later and longer trip.

By the way Rich, I am not afraid of driving long distances, I regularly do 1200km in a day with the family on board and have done much more. But that is not a holiday.

Duncs

I wouldn't bother with the whole cape. Not enough time. You would curse the corrugations which would be the only trip highlight.

Consider spending a week north of Cairns in the Daintree, Cape Tribulation, Cooktown, Hopevale, maybe Lakefield,Old Laura, Laura and return.

As a suggetsion
Up to Cooktown ,over to Lakefield , if time permits head over to Cape Melville,return to Lakefield,than return via the main road around to Tablelands and back to Cairns
as an ption you could take the road from Cape Melville through Starky station and the sand mining country and come out at Cooktown or visa versa
Check with National Parks in Cooktown - we found then very helpfull

With that time frame you'll be tempted to travel way too quickly on very poor surfaces and run the risk of coming to grief, especially on corners.
Sorry, but I wouldn't attempt it. My five trips have all taken at least 2 weeks ea from Cairns, and even thats a bit fast.

Richard, with brief stops at a few of the popular destinations the trip could be done in 7 days by taking the most direct route. I know of a group that did the Cape from Victoria & return in 14 days so it is possible. It would however not allow very much time for sightseeing or a breakdown. A flying visit just doesn't do the Cape justice.

As for water getting into winch solenoids, there is rarely an issue when driving through creeks & bogholes but later on corrosion can cause some problems. There is no winch fuse to disconnect as they draw over 200 amps. If the Solenoid box is under the winch I'd consider relocating up higher or under the bonet. Simply opperating the winch regually keeps the gearbox lubricated & solenoids free.
Water in the lights doesn't normally occur if you keep the vehicle moving through deep river crossings. If you do stop for a length of time the lights can 1/2 fill with water which should be removed quickly & rinsed out to avoid the reflective surface deteriorating. Water in the electrical system (engine computer) can in a modern car stop it dead & not much to do but pull everything thing apart & dry it out. Older diesel cars normally keep going although often dash lights come on until it dries out. Petrols may have issues with water in the spark plugs, distributer or coil & other than the thing firing on 2 or 3 cylinders can be simply dried out.
All this however is not normally an issue on the Cape unless the rivers are extremly high (over the bonet).
Where to go ex Cairns for a week exploring in a 4x4? I'd suggest the Plamer river goldfields up to Musgrave, through Lakefield National Park via Bathurst bay & Cape Flattery (if you have a well prepared vehicle) down to Cooktown, Daintree Forrest & return.
Cheers Craig.............

Hi Richard
When we went first time to Cape York, we went for one week only. Yes, it is very very short time, but can be done. Sorry to disappoint you, but one week for us, two people was not enough….Is it worth to go?, yes and no……you will want to go there again to look at place properly……….. As we did……..
Good luck and no more unforeseen circumstances……..OK…..

I'm budgeting on 11 or 12 days from Cairns- The Cape- Atherton.
It's gonna be a tight schedule, but I've done a lot of planning to fit in as much as possible.
BTW- the road conditions at the moment are good= with few patches of corrugations.

How about just going part of the way - say to Chilli Beach. I have allways wanted to go there and heard that it is great for a couple of days stay. If you do go there let us know what it was like.

Karl

It is possible to do in 7 - 8 days. You will need to pick your itinery carefully though. Much will depend on your intrests. For example I am not in to mines so could live without Weipa though others love it and is the highlight of there trip. Many things are on the way like the Archer River Roadhouse (Get an Archer Burger if there near lunch!). If you don't want to travel every day then you could head for the tip and do day trips from there. With 7 days and 4 for travel you would have time to go to Thursday Island, Sommerset beach and the tip (Croc hut on the way) without killing your self. In reality 2 - 3 weeks would be much better but I would treat this as a scouting trip. Have a good trip.

Steve

Hi Richard
When Leigh and I went up the cape we had about 3 weeks from brissy. We took about 7 or 8 days from cairns and went up the OTL and back the same way yes we missed a lot of things and wished we had of gone here and there but at the end of the day we enjoyed the trip and still talk about it now but we don't kick ourselves that we didn't do other things while we were up there. It is up to the individual on how they wish to do it only you no what your vehicle is capable of. So if you only have 8 days make the most of it and remember you are on holidays and enjoy it.
The best thing about going to the cape is you can always go back and our next trip back will take in all the places we missed. When you do it again if that is your wish you will know what to expect will be a lot more confident in yourself and your car.

I also have the solenoids on my winch down low and if you are worried drill some drain holes in the cover (dust cover not solenoid)

Enjoy your trip
regards ross

Having read the replies so far, they all have valid points. If you really want to say you went to the top, drive straight up there in two days from Cairns camping at Coen or the Archer River. Then look around the top as much as you want and decide if you want to see anything else on the way back, or save it for another trip.
On the way back you can cut across to the Weipa road around 20km south of Moreton at Batavia turnoff, if you want to see Weipa. Weipa is around 12 hours from Cairns, so you could do that in a day with an early start. If travelling South you would be on bitumen from Lakeland if you don't like driving on dirt in the dark.

I'm going up to Bamaga during the week for seven or eight days, but I have family there so won't spend much time looking around this trip.
The locals do the trip in one go, around eighteen hours timing it to reach the Jardine Ferry while it is running. But I personally think that is suicidal and always camp. There are enough rollovers every year and I don't want to be one of them through fatigue, forgetting to slow down for that corner that has unexpected corrugations.