We are currently sitting by Lake Tinaroo, it’s rainy and
sunny, it’s cool but humid and we are finally relaxing after a non-stop week or
so around Far North Queensland, sipping on a cup of tea. I’ll go back to where
we left off though in Atherton.
We found a nice free camp in a War Memorial Site and ended
up staying 2 nights. We explored around the area and saw a ginormous Curtain
Fig Tree, a lovely new memorial called Avenue of Honour to remember all the
soldiers of the war in Afghanistan in Yungaburra, stopped at a nice
waterfall/pool in Malanda and bought some special treats from Gallo Dairyland
(a nice wedge of Gruyere cheese and some specialty chocolates). We were very
indecisive about where to go next but over the Ranges we went and found
ourselves in Cairns.
A beautiful memorial in Yungaburra
The Curtain Fig Tree
We checked into what sounded like a lovely caravan park from
the book and relatively cheap as well, to be slightly underwhelmed and
realising why it was so cheap. Mainly just run down and a permanent resident
telling us it wasn’t in the best area haha. Rest assured we locked everything
up and headed into the city centre and reminisced on the Esplanade about our
two previous trips to Cairns, one being our schoolies trip in 2005 and another
to celebrate a large portion of our friends turning or about to turn 21 at the
end of 2008. Although slightly foggy in the memory from copious amounts of
alcohol on both trips, walking down the main street and driving around had us
saying ‘oh shit remember this place?’, ‘oh look that’s where we danced on the
tables’ laughing and recalling fond memories of the place. This is where we also
hunted for some facts and details about taking the 1500km return dirt/gravel
track to Cape York and it is the last major city with cheaper supplies if we
needed them. No one seemed to be too sure how the track was or if we’d make it
and had us thinking we probably weren’t going to make it. We still wanted to
see the Daintree and Cape Tribulation so north it was and hopefully to find
people that knew more about the track or someone who had just done it.
Cairns Esplanade, a bit overcast and wet
There was a ‘Big Barramundi’ at the Daintree which Ash gave
a nice kiss, to then be followed by a lovely sunset by the river looking over
the meadows and hills. We made this our base for the next few days and our
first visit was to Port Douglas where we drove through the town and up to the
lookout which gave great views back down the coastline. We then headed to
Mossman Gorge where they have recently built a new Visitors Centre. We decided
to book a tour with a local guide that showed us around a hidden part of the
Gorge, told us a dreamtime story and we got to have damper and tea at the end
of our walk. Ash even got a rainbow serpent painted on her arm in ochre by the
river bank. We went for a very refreshing dip in the rapids nearby too before
heading back to camp and having a nice big feed of fish and chips from the
local café. Some fellow travellers arrived at camp that night covered in red
mud so we asked how the track was to the Cape and they seemed to think we could
do it, just to let our tyre pressure down and don’t go too fast or we’ll
overheat them. We were back on the ‘Were going to Cape York’ bandwagon. The
next day was over the river by car ferry to Cape Tribulation. We guided
ourselves along the coastline of this beautiful area, going on a rainforest
walk along the boardwalks, beach hopping, a snake crossing our path, a picnic
on a washed up log on the beach and a short gravel road drive to Cape Kimberly.
This is where we met another couple who were again covered in red mud head to
toe, rooftop to under carriage so we asked again and they were like ‘it’s rough
and corrugated but yeah you’d do it fine’. We got in the car, looked at each
other and said ‘let’s do it!’
The 'Big Barramundi'
Sunset on the Daintree River
Ash getting her Rainbow Serpent painted on
Our refreshing swim in the gorge!
View out to Cape Kimberley and can just see the Lowe Isles to the left
Low tide at Cape Tribulation
We packed up hesitantly as we didn’t want to pack up Carmen
wet because we were putting her into storage while we did the Cape York leg. We
got a long enough break in the showers to dry her off and fold her away. We
found a storage shed in Mossman to lock her up in and started to make our way
on our big adventure to Pajinka (The Tip). We made it to the end of the bitumen
road by sundown to a town called Laura and set up Rhonda there. A friendly
local called Milton joined us for a chat by the table for an hour or so,
sharing stories of how he lives off the land in the bush close by and how the
new bridge recently built allows them access in and out of the town in the wet
season. Before he disappeared into the night he welcomed us to come and visit
his town again and to come to the Laura festival in 2 years. Not sleeping too well
we were both wide awake at 6am and decided to eat, pack and start driving. The
corrugated road was definitely something we hadn’t experienced before and it
was really rough in patches. This outback area also brought out lots of wild
animals too. We saw pigs, cows, horses, goannas, vultures, dingoes, snakes,
kangaroos, and lots of birds and butterflies. Although slow and rough in
patches there were actually smooth and fast sections on the track too. We made
good ground north and found ourselves at Moreton Telegraph Station by late
afternoon, a very nice campground and friendly/helpful owners. Unfortunately we
were kept up by the Backpackers in the staff quarters drinking, laughing and
DNM’ing all night though. Another early rise from camp, we took the Old
Telegraph Road bypass to get to the Jardine River ferry crossing. The dodgy
little barge, that looked like it was nailed and hammered together from used
wood and timber squished a trailer, a caravan and 4 cars onto it and charging
$130 return per vehicle. Not to mention the price of petrol at the river too,
$2.40 per litre haha. We pushed on and found ourselves at Bamaga (the main town
in the far north) around lunch and had a look at Seisia too, a town not too far
on the coastline. Having the whole afternoon free we decided to do the 30 odd
km’s to the tip which took us just over an hour on a very bumpy, narrow, tree
root crossing, windy, winding track. The tide was low so we walked nearly all the
way around to the tip with just a bit of rock climbing at the end. We had made
it to the sign, ‘You are standing at the northernmost point of the Australian
Continent’! We met a friendly young couple from Warrnambool at the sign, Chris
and Courtney, who were travelling around Australia too. We coincidently met up
again which I’ll talk about in a bit. It was back down the Tip track and to a
camp spot we found at Punsand Bay, a beautiful big campground right on the
beach. A sneaky full strength beer by camp (only light and mid strength are
allowed in most towns up north) and then to watch the sunset where we also spotted
a 15 ft. crocodile about 100m offshore, our first for the trip. Although 32◦ by
day and 26◦ by night some showers set in overnight and we decided to be safe
and start making our way back the next morning in case the rain got worse or
rivers rose. We stopped at Fruit Bat Falls for a swim on the way back where the
water was heaven, we could have stayed much longer except it would have got
dark. We made it to Bramwell Station by late afternoon which is where we ran
into Chris and Courtney. We put Rhonda up under a nice shelter next to a table,
collected some firewood and had a few beers, dinner and good yarn with our new mates.
Another big day of driving on the corrugated road saw us make it to Hann River
Roadhouse, again meeting up with Chris and Courtney. We all searched for crocs
by the river to no avail and got a nice home cooked meal from the roadhouse
with a bevy to wash it down. Lots of animals around this place too- an emu,
peacocks, roosters, turkeys, hens, cows and dogs all just roaming around our
camp. We exchanged numbers with Chris and Courtney here as we were going
separate ways for now but were sure to meet up again somewhere.
Bob's lookout where we tagged ourselves on the guardrail
Cooking lunch by the river just out of Coen
Approximately 3m+ ant or termite mound
Our set-up at Moreton Telegraph Station
A wild pig
Just your regular fuel prices up at The Tip
Squeezing onto the barge at Jardine River
Look at little Gina next to all the monsters up at Pajinka
We made it to the sign
A nice panorama at Cape York
Our sneaky full strength beer in the new stubby cooler
Fruit Bat Falls
The friendly emu at Hann River Roadhouse
Captain Cook Statue at Cooktown
It was the last 70km of corrugation today and back onto the
bitumen!!! Although the trip up and back to The Tip was well worth it we were
very thankful to be driving on smooth, bitumen road again. Before heading back
to Mossman to pick up Carmen though we decided to drive to Cooktown passing
Black Rock Mountains and then to a lovely bush camp just north of the airport,
Endeavour River Escape. We again hunted for crocs unsuccessfully, gathered some
firewood, made a fire, played some Frisbee and celebrated Ash’s dads (Big Pa, Big
Wayne, Lucky Wayne) bday with some nibblies and a couple of Canadian and dry’s.
Keen to get back to Carmen we drove into Cooktown early and had a look around.
Lots of Captain Cook memorabilia and statues around of where he first made land
and a drive up Grassy Hill to the lookout (extremely windy and cool today, not
good visibility either). We found a prawn trawler selling prawns in the harbour
and decided to get a kilo before we drove out of town to pick up Carmen.
Captain Cook Statue at Cooktown
All in one piece still, we hooked her onto the towball and
drove towards Cairns where we camped at Palm Cove. Although we were given a
tiny corner block a friendly grey nomad helped us make her fit, we devoured our
prawns and had a good sleep on a proper mattress. Our battery had finally run
dead too after 10 days without recharging, so off to a caravan park that could
power it and any other flat electronics we had. After setting up and doing some
groceries we caught up with an old friend of Ash’s from Evans Head for a beer
at a local watering hole. A night alone tucked in the back corner of the
caravan park was nice, trekking in our gumboots to the bush toilet and having a
late dinner (8:30pm) and an even better sleep in until 8:30am (7am is usually a
sleep in). We’d booked our car in for a look over after going to The Tip but
couldn’t get in until late next week so we decided to come and have a few
relaxing days fishing, crabbing, blogging, photo uploading and breathing in the
serenity of where we are now, Lake Tinaroo. Happy reading!
Our camp spot and view for the next few days
