Trip to the Tip

Leaving Cooktown behind the plan was to make our way to Cape York in just a few nights. It’s about 1000km, most of it on dirt roads. RED dirt that sneaks in every nook and cranny of the car and trailer and leaves you and your clothes red from head to toe. The road had just been graded so the corrugations were not too bad, we averaged 80km/h with a quite smooth drive (corrugations for those who don’t know are grooves and ridges on dirt roads formed by car wheels and make the car vibrate a lot). It’s probably going to be worse on the way down though as we’ve learned that they grade the road only once at the beginning of the season.

visibility after a car passes by

long red dusty road

                   

             

There are a number of stations for overnight stops along the way with a grassy area for camp, a pub and takeaway shop and fuel. We stopped at Musgrave and Bramwell junction for the first 2 nights and got a few more tips on good places to go to from other travellers while enjoying wine around a good fire. These were our first overnight camps and the camper trailer kept its promise of a quick and easy overnight set up, 10 min to open, 30 min to pack. 

                                                      

the packing process

The next night was spent at Elliott Falls: a bush camp 300 metres from a great little waterfall where you can actually swim in, guarantee no crocs!! After 3 days of being covered in red dirt, swimming in the surprisingly warm water was paradise. There is another falls up the road, Fruit Bat Falls (or as renamed by yours truly: Fruit Fat Balls ;-). This fall is bigger and a great spot for swimming as well. We did use and abuse these 2 spots and plan to do exactly the same on the way back down. These are some of the VERY rare swimming spots of the entire peninsula.

Elliot Falls

Fruit Bat Falls

Where is Pete

As we had followed the by-pass road so far to be on the safe side with the camper trailer (instead of the straighter telegraph road which offers som pretty hardcore 4WDriving) we decided to do a few km of the Telegraph track on the way out of Elliott. This involved 2 water crossings bigger than what we had done so far. Assessing the first one we were quite doubtful. Pete was still scratching his head and walking up and down the creek pondering the feasibility when 2 other vehicles pulled up, their drivers seemingly confident about the crossing (their wives not so much…) so we let them take a shot at it first. The 1st truck went through no problem but the second one just about rolled over into a massive hole and started to fill the passenger side up with water. Very close call. Although this didn’t fill us up with great confidence, especially towing a trailer, Pete didn’t want to be the chicken so off he went while I filmed the whole affair. Not sure who stressed the most!! He did a very good job, avoiding the hole and climbing out of a steep exit without breaking anything. I was breathing again. And him too! The second crossing was challenging as well but not as scary as the 1st one. It was reassuring to be part of a convoy for that stretch of road (heavily corrugated and very narrow, we’ve probably added quite a few scratches to the car). Overall it went ok, except we decided 15 km was enough time on the telegraph track (about 1 ½ hour!) and went back on the by-pass.

That same day we made it to Seisa, the northernmost town of the Australian mainland and set up camp for a week at Loyalty beach, on the waterfront. The sea is an inviting turquoise blue and the temperature is quite hot so imagine the frustration of not being able to swim!!! It would drive me absolutely nuts to live here. 

Frog mouth owl

Sunset at Loyalty Beach

                       

Overall we spent 8 days up there exploring the area and enjoying evenings by the campfire with our  friends from the telegraph track and other people we met there. 

The Kiwis we met on the Telegraph Track

After 1 day of well deserved rest at the camp, we set off the next day to explore the tracks surrounding the bay on the look out for a big salty. Pete proved his 4WD skills once more driving us on sandy tracks in the bush and not getting us lost, which is easy with the numerous choices of tracks everywhere. But no croc in sight, making us wonder if these big dangerous creatures are just a legend to keep the tourist out of those beautiful waters?! 

The drive to the tip is of course a red dirt road leading to a wide beach on low tide and then a little hike over a rocky hill covered with plenty of mini mounds where people have added rocks. We added ours too. And finally there it was, the northern most tip of Australia! Pete had a can of Bourbon ready for the occasion. We stayed a while contemplating the landscape and then set off to find a quite spot to mark the occasion our own way… only to be interrupted by a boat of local fisherman cheering at our bare asses!!! Hum, we ALMOST marked the occasion. 

Beautiful road on the way up to the tip

        

We made it!!!

Coitus interruptus...

Views from Cape York

Another memorable trip was the one to Mutee Head and the mouth of the Jardine River. Once again, bush driving on a very sandy track. This time we played the role of leader for a group that had been bogged. 

Pete always happy to help

After a couple kilometers through very soft sand we made the mouth of the Jardine River, this definitely looked like Crocodile habitat, but as usual NONE. The mouth of the river was quite wide and had plenty of mangroves around the banks. A few guys were hooking into a couple of nice Barramundi which made Pete very envious.

Jardine River mouth

                          

He finally got a chance to fish at the Seisa Wharf. I helped by jigging up little Herring to use as live bait. Not much action except a little Spotted Mackerel, and a few Wolf Herring (also known as snot fish, and fair enough Pete’s hand were covered in a snotty substance, berk!). Pete was hoping to get a big Queen fish or some Barramundi but that was not to be, at least he got to wet a line.

Seisa Wharf

Wolf Herring - Snot fish

Time to head back down the long dusty road back to Cairns, stopping along the way for a swim at Fruit Bat Falls and to check some Aboriginal rock art out at Laura.

Termite mounds

Rock art at Laura

At the end of the trip...

...the joy of cleaning