Cape York - We did it - To the Top of Australia.
We
left on Monday 28 June, 1999 with the Ballarat group that consisted at that
time of 9 adults and 9 teenagers (ranging in ages from 14 to 21 years).
Our first adventure was the CREB track, which stands for Cairns Regional
Electricity Board. This track crosses the Daintree River
then traverses very steep terrain and through very simple creek crossings,
compared to what was to come further on in the trip. There was some
spectacular rainforest areas and some interesting track conditions. This
track passed through the Wujal Wujal Community and onto Helenvale and the
Lion?s Den Hotel where we camped for the first night. A sign on the pub
door greeted us saying ?You keep your dog outta our pub, and we?ll keep our
bullets outta your dog? . A quick set up and a trip in to Cooktown to
pick up another teenager finished our first day. Cooktown is quite an
interesting place. One highlight was seeing where Captain Cook?s
Endeavour was beached and had to be repaired. There is also a fantastic
lookout with a 360 degree view.
Next day we travelled through Laura, Musgrave and on to the Stewart River where we spent two days camping on the
sandy river bed. Here the scenery was beautiful. Can you imagine
white sand with the Stewart River flowing through and tall silvery grey gums,
some growing straight up and some bent and leaning over. Just a very
peaceful place to spend two days.
A trip into Coen the next day via the old road was taken by the
guys. Instead of a quick trip it ended up being a very long one due to
the very poor condition of the track. This was Scott?s (our son) first
experience behind the wheel of a 4 WD and he did a great job. We
finally reached Coen after a hair raising trip so our first stop was for
medication at the local pub, the ?Sexchange Hotel? (previously the Exchange
Hotel) where we met with an aboriginal named Kevin, who was quite a character.
After celebrating a 50th Birthday that day and a superb birthday dinner that
night, it was time to move on along the Peninsula Development Road to Weipa where
our final passenger was arriving at Weipa
Airport. The roads
so far were very dusty, with many corrugations, unfenced cattle and many dips
in the road to let flood waters through. People have named all the dips,
which make the trip very entertaining and certainly help with CB communication
in the convoy as many are close together. (e.g. DIPtheria, Cheese DIP,
DIP Stick and so on). The rough roads meant that if you had anything
loose in the back of your vehicle it would rattle and rattle and drive you
insane. So you made sure that everything was well packed. You had
to be careful of bulldust and especially oncoming traffic, which could cause
you to be blanketed in dust. This is where the UHF CB radios were very
good, as all potholes and anything of importance could be relayed between the
five vehicles.
We reached Weipa, which is a big bauxite mining town run by Comalco and is a
great spot for good fishing. Set up camp in the Weipa Camping
Ground, a very nice green park with hot showers and a laundry. A shopping
spree in Woolworths (yes Woolworths) was done and a mine tour then it was
time to move on.
We
came to the Wenlock
River and it was here
that the fun began. A Nissan Pathfinder at excessive speed and without a
radiator blind had tried to cross and became stuck right in the middle, so our
guys did the job of towing him out. It took two 4WD?s in series to pull
him out. It was then on to ?Bramwell Station?. A huge cattle
station run by a woman by the name of Therese Heinemann. What a
remarkable woman ? she has lived there for 50 years staying on even after her
husband died. She lives there for 6 months of the year and when the
wet season comes she moves to Cairns,
but doesn?t like the ?big smoke?. She made us most welcome and told us of
her life. She was originally from Thursday Island
and ended up marrying a cattle grazier much older than herself. She is
now 70 years old.
Our
next day was the start of the Old Telegraph Track and our first creek crossing
was the Palm River. Shallow creek but very
muddy and steep entry and exits to the creek. On arrival there we were
met with a young couple trying to get across and up the steep wheel rutted
northern bank. After some advice and help it was our turn and we all tackled
it. A lot of time is taken crossing the creeks and rivers. Sometimes
there could be two or three vehicles on either side waiting to cross and if
there are any problems in a vehicle crossing, it all adds time onto your trip,
but it also gives the men the added thrill of winching or towing a person to
safety.
A lunch stop at the Dulhunty
River. With this
river crossing no problems were encountered. It was a river with little
waterfalls and crystal clear drinkable water. Gunshot Creek was the next
crossing but because it has become an environmental disaster, only the real
foolhardy attempt to cross it. We took the bypass road but ventured back
to see what it was all about. There would be no way we would subject our
vehicle to this crossing. It was then onto our destination for the night
, Eliot Falls, however, en route we suffered a
short delay as we became bogged up to the top of the bonnet in a large mud
hole. This meant being towed out backwards by one of the other vehicles.
Cockatoo Creek required all the kids to stand on the protruding rocks and
identify the deep holes to guide the vehicles through the creek. Time
consuming but done properly led to a safe crossing in a creek with many
obstacles.
Eliot Falls,
and Twin Falls
were a highlight of the trip. We set up camp in near darkness and spent a
night around the camp fire. No it wasn?t cold, in fact the opposite but
the fire was essential for cooking. The next day was a
relaxing day swimming in the clear running water with no worries of crocodiles,
even though a sign warns you of their existence. You could stand under
the falls and it was like a massage or you could sit in the fast running water
and it was like being in a spa bath. The younger ones used their lilos to
ride down the river and others jumped the ledge into the deep water below,
about a 4 metre drop.
Unfortunately we had to move on the next day with more of the Telegraph
Track to follow and more creek crossings to reach the Jardine River.
The road is just a one way dirt track, with huge washaways, potholes, some very
sandy driving conditions, together with very dusty conditions. At times
you travelled at 10 kph and then you could increase your speed to up to 70 kph.
The
two most challenging creek crossings lay ahead of us. The first, Crystal Creek was made out of fallen logs with a
bit of metal grating thrown in. This meant nearly a 45 degree turn to
line up and then slowly being guided across by the men. We all managed to
cross without any mishaps. The next one was even more challenging.
The creek was too deep to cross so the alternative was to turn back or cross
over on two logs tied together with wire with a gap then another three
logs. The wheels of the vehicles had to balance on the logs, and if you
came off, it was a fall into deep crystal clear water. Much time was
taken to ?inch by inch? guide the five vehicles across. Again we all made
it.
We reached the Jardine River Crossing where we waited for the ferry to take
us across to the other side. It is not very far at all but you pay $80.00
for a return ticket and it allows you to enter the land of the Injinoo
people. You also receive a handbook, a rubbish bag and permits you to
bush camp and fish. Bamaga was where we did a big food shop in the local
supermarket. A very interesting place. Vic Bitter cans were $48.00
a slab and the pub had loud music playing as if it was a nightclub operating
during the day. We were quite happy to move on.
We were nearly to the top. We stayed at Punsand Bay,
arriving late and unfortunately being in the back blocks of the so called
?resort?. It was a bit of a hole and the rain and drizzle did not help
the situation. The beach was another beautiful one, but you could not
swim due to crocodiles and death adder snakes in the sand at night. We
had been advised to take care at night as death adders could fall out of the
trees at night and of course the unpopular cane toads. But we were nearly
there.
The
next day saw us actually make it to Cape York (Pajinka) The
most beautiful beach called Frangipani
Beach with its clear
bright blue water, clean white sands and nobody in sight has left an indelible
print in our minds. It was so pristine, it was unreal. Through a
rainforest boardwalk and up a rocky climb saw us all reach the tip. It
was quite windy but very sunny and you could see all the outlying
islands. There were lots of photos taken and a bottle of champagne drunk
to celebrate this trek.
It was all down hill from here. We were all experts at creek crossings
so we came back to Eliot
Falls for another
night. A broken windscreen, and a leaking radiator caused some worry for
one of the vehicles so our return trip from here meant a little bit of nursing,
as the windscreen could not be fixed and had to be taped quite heavily to stop
any bad vibrations doing more damage. We camped on the Wenlock River, and if a crocodile was going to
take you it would be here. The camp spot was well back from the river on
the embankment. A head count the next morning signaled we had survived.
We were on the homeward run. Lunch was a quick stop at the Archer
River Roadhouse and then onto a night at Musgrave Station. The next
morning it was via Lakefield
National Park, which is
Queenslands second largest national park. It is a popular wetland fishing
area and home to many wildfowl. Our final stop was at the Endeavour River Caravan
Park, which was a little
oasis out of Cooktown. It was a big clothes washing and clean up
for the Ballarat group as some were flying home and some were driving back to
Ballarat.
Next day was the Bloomfield Track which turned out to be a ?piece of cake?
compared to what we had done up north. The scenery through the
rainforests was spectacular and it would have been nice to have spent some more
time there, but time was beating us. A quick stop at Cape Tribulation
and then onto Cairns.
We have so many fantastic memories of this adventure. No real
mishaps occurred amongst the five vehicles and 20 adults. Two punctures,
one broken windscreen, one radiator, one bent bullbar, an air conditioning
breakdown, a broken handbrake, and one dislocated shoulder and torn ligaments
for one party member who was having fun at the time, a couple of leg
lacerations plus a few midgee, mossie and sandfly bites. Not too bad considering
the number in the party.
Liz & Rob
This
page last updated on July 14, 1999 - No more updates to this page.