Cape York to Thursday Island
Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 09:28
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barkerj
My partner and I will be starting our
Cape York trek on Saturday. After making it to the top we are planning to stay on Thursday Island for a week. Are there any vehicular ferries from
Bamaga or
Punsand Bay? If so, what are the costs? I have a sinking suspicion that there is no such thing as I have only seen mention of passenger ferries from my research so far. If we can't take our 4WD over on to the island is there a safe place where we can store our vehicle on the mainland? I am a bit worried as I have heard stories about things being stolen up there ( as can be the case everywhere I suppose).
Reply By: Gazza - Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 09:38
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 09:38
We are taking 5 vehicles and occupants from
Cairns to TI and
Seisia on the MV Trinity Bay departing on 4th July with a seven Hour stopover at TI. I've heard that seven hours are sufficient to see TI but a week might get a bit boring??
I'm not sure that there are any vehiclular ferries from
Seisia to TI and it seems from my research that TI is small enough not to require personal transport. I'm told there is a very good resort at
Punsand Bay which should be secure for vehical storage for a price. I hav'nt researched passenger
services to and from TI.
Gazza
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: barkerj - Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 09:49
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 09:49
Gazza,
Are you saying that MV Trinity Bay takes vehicles? If so how often does it leave and from where. I have a couple of friends on TI whom I wouldn't mind seeing so that's why I am hoping to be able to wrangle a week on the island. The problem about putting our vehicle in storage is that we have a fridge which will most likely drain the battery before we get back.
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Follow Up By: Gazza - Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 09:55
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 09:55
It does take vehicles as deck cargo in containers, with the fridge power issue to contend with. Fridges will be need to be off with cold stuff in the ships chiller. You need to book 12 to 18 months ahead as spots are limited but you might get lucky with a late cancellation see Sea Swift on www.seaswift.com.au.
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Follow Up By: barkerj - Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 10:01
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 10:01
Thanks heaps for that Gazza. I hope luck is on our side. :-)
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Reply By: Tony - Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 09:38
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 09:38
If you go from
Bamaga you can leave it in the Police Compound and this is proberly the best solution. There is no secure place at Punsand.
You don't need a vehlcle on TI or Horn Is for that matter, take a bus tour or walk.
AnswerID:
23346
Follow Up By: barkerj - Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 09:50
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 09:50
Thanks for your suggestion Tony. I will follow up on that if worst comes to worst ie if there are no vehicular ferries.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: GUPatrol - Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 13:33
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 13:33
When I was there in 2000 there was a vehicular ferry from
Seisia to TI, in fact we watched two trucks being loaded onto the ferry.
I am not sure I would trust them with my 4wd though.
As a previous post mentioned, we stayed at TI for a day with plenty of time to
check everything....
Will
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Follow Up By: barkerj - Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 15:41
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 15:41
I wonder if they are still running? But given that you seem hesitant on trusting them with your 4WD they probably don't get my vote of confidence either. I'll look into it anyway though. As I said to Gazza we have close friends who live on TI so by the time we catch up, have a few cold ones, do a spot of fishing, do some boating etc etc etc I'm sure the week will fly by all too quickly.
3 more days to go to our
Cape York Adventure :-)
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: GUPatrol - Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 17:07
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003 at 17:07
With reference to leaving the car back on the main land, the people at
Punsand Bay were excellent while we were there, I am sure that for a fee you could negotiate to leave your car by their house (or garage) with a 240V lead connected to your fridge.
Good luck and have a good time!!
Will
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Follow Up By: barkerj - Wednesday, Jun 25, 2003 at 08:05
Wednesday, Jun 25, 2003 at 08:05
Thanks, GUPatrol for your help.
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Follow Up By: barkerj - Wednesday, Jun 25, 2003 at 08:06
Wednesday, Jun 25, 2003 at 08:06
Thanks, GUPatrol for your help.
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Reply By: Patrol22 - Thursday, Jun 26, 2003 at 09:39
Thursday, Jun 26, 2003 at 09:39
During our time at the 'Tip' in Sep 2001 we spent 6 days camped at Seisa. This was an excellent
home base for exploring the surrounding area. I don't recall there being a routine car ferry from the mainland to TI although there are periodic deliveries of vehicles to both TI and Horn. Given the limited time we had we just did a day trip to the Islands - bought the ticket (I think it was $45 each) at the park office. The boat left at about 0900 and returned at 1630. The ticket price included a bus tour of TI, a water taxi ride to Horn, lunch (and what a top lunch) at the See Kee's motel on Horn and a tour of the WW2 sites on the island. We also had access to the excellent War museum being put together by the See Kee (spelling??) family. On a scale of 1-10 I'd rate the day as a 9.9 and
well worth the $45 ticket price.
The boat will also pick up at
Punsand Bay which is also a very
nice camping spot. We are heading back up again in Jul-Aug 2004 and this time will be spending at least 4 weeks on the cape.
The drive is taxing, especially from just north of
Coen to the
Weipa turn off - and then from the Wenlock to the
Jardine. The OTL is shorter and slower but much more pituresque and comfortable. The by-pass roads -
well to give an example of the effect of the corrugations - we carried 3 x 30 packs of Carlton mid-strength beer in cans. When we got to Seisa an opened these - most of the cans were just polished aluminium all but a few spots of colour had rubbed off.
If I was to make one suggestion to others with a Patrol (or any vehicle with
barn doors on the back) it would be to take a good feather duster to get the dust off before opening the doors. This will keep 80% of the dust out of the cabin.
Be careful of some of the gooses in hire vehicles - they'll be the ones coming around the corner at 100 plus on the wrong side of the road.
Enjoy the trip and let us have an account when you get back.
Regards
Pete
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: barkerj - Thursday, Jun 26, 2003 at 10:21
Thursday, Jun 26, 2003 at 10:21
Pete, Sounds like it was a great trip to TI and Horn. I think we'll be avoiding the Developmental road. Not too eager to have my kidneys shaken up. It will be the OTL up and back for us. Have a great time on the Cape.
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