Hi all, as sir kev posted earlier we made it to the top.
The reason I haven't posted is cause our laptop died as we left
cairns. We have a new laptop now. Now for the trip run down. We had swivel hub seals replaced and bearings checked in
cairns. From
cairns we went to
cape tribulation along the coast (creb was closed). Planned to stay at Noah beach but it was packed so went to cape trib caravan park. From there we went to
Cook Town. Saw some good queenies caught. Then we went to Elim beach. Nice spot planned 2-3 nights there. Discovered Front dust seal missing and circlip missing off axle. Back to
Cook town for repairs.
From
Cooktown we headed up to
Coen. Camped in the free site just north of
Coen called the bend, really nice spot. We had passed a
young couple (Nathan & Taryn) a number of times on the way up and ended up camping near them at
coen. When we got to Bramwell
junction we stayed on the main road they did the OTL. We headed for Ellioit falls. They arrived at about 5 pm. They had puntured a tyre so from here up we decided to travel together. We planned to do the OTL on the way down as with the car trouble we have had we wanted to get to the top. Elliot is a very nice spot with great swimming.
From Elliot we headed to
Punsand bay. The road was in such good condition we sat on 80-100 kmh most the way and made really good time.
The road up to punsand was good but a little rougher. On the Pundsand bay rd we hit a crossing a bit hard and snapped a fan blade off which went through the radiator which was only 6 months old. Nathan towed us into
Punsand bay camp ground so we could unload. It was actually his fault as he had just said we could walk to th tip from here so it doesn't matter what happens now then bang LOL. Got the car towed to
Bamaga for repairs so now we were stuck in pundsand waiting for insurance to sort it out. Oh
well there isn't much to do in punsand except FISH. So starts the fish count sir kev. Nathan had a tinnie (highly reccommended up there). Over the next 10 days the fish count was 4 mackerel, 2
coral trout off rocks at summerset, 2 riibbon fish & 6 barrcutta which we used for bait to catch 1 - 6ft bull nose & 2 - 5ft bronze whaler
sharks off the beach on hand lines. We got big eyed cod and got bitten off several times. Will post fotos in profile when i can.
Then we went out on the fishing charter. Nathan, Taryn and I went as
well as Julia my 7 yr old. We got 5 Tuna including a tripple hook up. 9
barramundi (julia hooked 2 barra) 4 trevally, 3 estury cod and 5 queenies. Also got to feed a 300 pound groper.Punsand was a great
camp ground and very friendly atmosphere.
We got the car back and headed to
Seisia for 2 nights. I have never seen so many bait fish. It was so good I even caught a small queenie in the cast net. We got smashed on mackerel but did land a couple. I caught a 3ft ribon fish which got slammed by a 7-8ft mac at the base of the
jetty. All I got was 2inches of its head. I snappd the 100pound hand line on something big. Got 2 small queenies.
Left
Seisia and headed for the OTL. We decided to only do the southern section as while we were in punsand 2 cars were waiting for replacement engines and 1 was drying his car interior from Nollens brook. The northern section is quite deep.
Most of the southern crossings are very easy except for gunshot and palm creek. We spent 2 hrs in gunshot winching out with the trailer. When we got to palm creek we dropped the trailer off, drove up then winched the trailer up. There were a lot more people heading up as we came down, it would be very busy up there now.
We stayed at bramwell then headed to
Weipa. Fished off the
jetty and caught heaps of tarpon, no good to eat but great fun to catch. All were over 600mm long. Also got a 5ft shark and got busted off by a groper. From there it was south to Tinaroo
dam then on to
Cairns.
It was an amazing trip and am already planning another one back up there. Don't leave it too long before you go.
Now it's back to reality and work for awhile, as the weather cools down heading south before hitting the
gold coast.
Sorry it's so long but that's what happens in 4 weeks of fun.
Josh, Maree, Julia and Jasmine