Complete beginner questions about Cape York

Gday.

Nov getting pretty warm, bit thundery in the afternoons.
Prob not raining though.
PDR is dirt road which is fine when travelled solo so long as you drive to the conditions.
There wont be much water around to drive through.
If you took the OTL you may not see too many if any other travellers if you get into the poo....
If you follow the PDR you will find fruitbat falls and elliot falls which are both worthwhile stops.
Chilli beach is worth a look.
Optimal time to go is now up till sept/oct.

Go for it, whilst you will miss out on a lot of the fun getting there on he OTT it is still a worthwhile experience

The PDR is easy. Just a long wide, maintained and corrugated road. Corrugations can be big so you may want to drop the tyre pressures but not too much. We found 70 to 80 was comfortable but we have upgraded ths hocks.

Time: You could drive Cooktown to the Tip andback in a week. But try the OTL and I would not do it in less that two weeks.

Foer conditions search Youtube. Try searching for "telegraph track" and "frenchmans track". Look for things like "cape york development road" etc for the development road.

I hope that helps. It's a bloody long way back to see it if you miss it.

Thanks for those replies - much appreciated!

So it sounds like I'm pretty safe to go up - which I'm really glad to hear. As said, it really is a bloody long way back - which is why I'm looking into this... and formed part of the nudge for me to get the 4wd in the first place.

@PJR - thanks for the timing info. That's helpful to me. I will ensure I build in a week for the tip and back (PDR route). With a large, young family and no experience (yet!), I'll grudgingly steer clear of the telegraph track (though I suspect I'll get bitten by the bug once I've seen a little offroad action).

@Been-Everywhereman - You've touched on one point that I'd been pondering ... when the rain and conditions really start to turn. I've looking up seasonal climate information which breaks things up into months.
The trouble is, when I see this info, I see dry conditions before Nov and torrential rainfall totals after Nov.... with Nov listed as something of a 'ramp up' month in between.
I would be there at the start of Nov ... would the weather typically have already started getting uglier by then? (ie - is it only in the latter half of Nov that I'll see lots more rain/afternoon thunderstorms ... or for the whole month?)


Three more q's (not sure if I should really start another thread for this but....) :

a. I recognise the need to get some experience before then. Is there any training courses or other activities which are not too far from Melbourne that you'd recommend?

b. On the way, we also pass Fraser Island. Is that also something a novice could easily take on (so long as they're sensible)? What are the conditions like there?

c. I'm looking into gearing up before the trip and paid a visit to Opposite Lock (was looking at the costs of snorkels, dual battery, air compressors roof racks etc). Any advice on what is essential (for the PDR & Fraser Island) and where you'd recommend I go to buy? Would hate to find that I got ripped off because they saw a green driver walk in the door.

Cheers!
Chris

Hi Chris.,
Welcome to the Forum.
We're almost in the same boat but we're seasoned travellers. Mainly Dry land & Desert.
If health allows we hope to leave late August when we usually take our annual leave & hope to be away from there in late Sept.
We aren't adrenalin junkies & we travel alone. We hope we can go via the P.D.R. & get to Weipa as well.

Myself, in particular am worrying about an early wet season, the heat at that time of the year and the Insects, Midges & Sand flies make a real mess of me.
We've done up to the lakes area & Bloom field track then we ran out of time & had to get back to work in Vic.
We've been though some deep water & a snorkel & a Bra (for your car) are very important., or a good Tarp.

I don't like the idea of walking the River & creek crossings because of crocs.
We've been told that Nolan's, can be a troublesome crossing. I' glad you put this post up cos I'd like to know some of the answers too.
I'm looking at our plans now. I reckon Nov is getting a bit risky for rain.

Driving to the conditions makes it hard to plan ahead you have to book ahead for camps in the national Parks now.
What have you got to camp in?
A reliable insect repellent & some Paraderm cream are essential.
Take care, safe travels,Bye Ma

Hi Chris,

The 4x4 club will give you a great base, however driving to the Cape can be easily handled by a novice in the dry season, just take it easy on the PRD, it's a big wide dirt road and you will be tempted to sit on 100k, (at your peril). I bought new tyres and ran 30psi on the dirt.

You will find Fraser Island a beautiful holiday spot, I drop my tyres to 25psi and travel 2 hours either side of low tide so that the beach is like a highway. If you travel near high tide you will be travelling much slower in the soft sand.

Before you cross any section of soft sand select a lower gear so you can keep the revs up for the duration of the crossing.

Do your own research on the tyre pressures as everyone has their own theory. Those pressures are simply what I use.

Regards

yes Chris, I'd definitely join a club. They'll take you out on sand where you'll drop pressures to maybe 15 psi and show you how to get unbogged and they'll show you some bushwork and creek crossings too. Really enjoyable stuff and well worth it. If any of your family are interested, take them along too.

On the firm sand, Frazer is like a freeway but watch your speed (cops patrol) and try to avoid the soft (deep) sand generally but if you have to go through it you'll need those pressures down.

As previously mentioned, the PDR will tempt you to do 90/100 kph despite the corrugations and then you'll hit a pot-hole. Bang! Just keep your speed down - it takes a bit of discipline with a big, straight, open road in front of you but you WILL hit a pot-hole or wash out and you'll wish you'd kept your speed down.