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Published: August 21st 2011
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Well we made it all the way to the top of Cape York Penninsula! They say it is life changing to visit but I'm not to sure about that. Perhaps they should say you will never forget it. Those corrugations are definately unforgetable! We are glad we have experienced this remote part of Oz. We even drove a little bit of the Telegraph Track!..and our car lives to tell the story.
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The first leg of this journey from Weipa all the way to the Jardine River where the ferry crosses was a big haul in one day. Corugations starting to get bad now but nothing that a good coffee followed by a few drinks at the end dosen't fix. The Jardine River Ferry Campgroung was a very welcome site and was a great place to camp for the night. The fee for the ferry: $88 return. (trip takes about 1min) Also learning very quickly that this part of Australia is very expensive place to visit. Everything costs alot up here which is understandable. Also dosen't help when car just cost $1000 to tow and fix.
Once we crossed the Jardine River we had a stickybeek at the first creek
Palm Creek Crossing: Telegraph Track
There is now way I was letting Peter drive our car off that cliff into that stinking mud then through the water and up the other cliff on the other side. crossing of the Telegraph Track (Palm Creek). It's only 3km in and is the worst one this year. It has been one of the biggest contributors to the 40+ cars that haven't made it through this season. Plenty of cars do make it through the whole track though. You just need to be carefull and have the right clearance and winch etc etc. Also have to be prepared to have the water go 1/2 way up your windows on the Nolan River Crossing. We were quite happy just doing little easy sections. But I do think Peter would love to come back one day in a different vehicle with another car or two to share the adventure.
5 days camped at Cable Bay near the tip was perfect. We were completly on our own for most of the stay. Fishing off the beach was very exciting for Peter even though there was nothing to keep. So many turtles stuck their heads out of the water to have a look at us and a Dugong came to visit too. We also had a great low tide swimming gutter. Very hot up here day and night. The camping fee was only
$5 per person a night. There are no facilities at Cable Bay but for that fee they let you use the toilets and showers at Punsand Bay Resort. You can also have a roast dinner here for $35 per person. (we passed on that one) The water at the resort is also a bit scary, we had every intention to fill up our water supply untill we put some in Max's bowl. It was brown with sludge and floaties!
Our day trip to the Tip was fantastic and probably the highlight. Drive through a rainforest and a little creek crossing to get there and a short stroll across the whitest sany beach around to the sign post which marks the spot! Then we climbed a little bit of a rocky cliff to get back to the car and to check out the view from higher up. It makes all the red dirt and bumps worth it!
Heading back down the cape we did a little bit of the Tele Track so that we could have a look at Fruit Bat Falls and Eliot Falls. We had to have a swim...the water is so crystal clear and looks amazing.
Eliot Falls
Lots of crystal clear swimming holes here and camp grounds. One of the best parts of Cape York. It looks like I have the place to myself but there is actually alot of people here. Then we had to stop at Bramwel for the customary "Ant Hill" photo and to top up the fuel tank.
Definate deterioration of the road can be noticed in the 2 weeks since we started the cape, it just gets worse and worse as the dry season goes on. From the tip to Captain Billy Landing it is pretty bad. We have stopped just outside Coen again to re-tighten all the screws on the roofrack etc etc. Nothing that came on this trip will ever look the same again!
We didn't get far from Coen when we were flagged down by another driver as a vehicle had just rolled on a corner. It wasn't good. Driver was deceased and still in car, passenger was out and ok and camping gear everywhere. Not nice to hear about let alone see. Too many deaths on the roads up here! It's everday.
Thankfully we made it there and back in tact! It will be a very long time before we visit the Cape again. It will take a long long time to forget those corrugations!
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Nancy Dyck
non-member comment
YEAH!
I have been following your blog. We just left Australia after a month of travel from Sydney to as far north as to the Daintree. We loved it. Thanks for your blog I learned a lot.