Outback Billy

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DAY 337


I hear Andy moving around outside it is before 6.00, I try to get back to sleep but cannot so I give in and get out of bed, I think Andy is again surprised to see me awake so early in the day. Not long after we see Billy and Jeanette appear, they also wake up early as the daylight encroaches the inside of their tent.

We have a cup of tea and discuss our plans for the day, soon I get toast on the go using up the last of our strawberry jam, that is one luxury we will do without until we arrive back in Cairns and of course well stocked supermarkets such as Woolworths.

As if on cue the dog arrives to see if her breakfast is ready, we think that she may be expecting some puppies, she has definitely had puppies before but her tummy looks swollen, she is not fat, the rest of her carries no fat at all, but she looks a very healthy dog apart from the awful limp that she has from her front right paw.

“You will never make it in the Outback Billy”, he was trying to open a green coconut, it was nowhere near ripe, and was all mushy inside Billy asked if we thought it was to soft and we both did, there are plenty of ripe coconuts lying around on the floor just outside the camp site.

Billy tells us that he was stopped for speeding in his Kenworth, however he is limited to 102kph, he was stopped apparently doing 114kph, he even produced the GPS data showing that the speedo reading was only 102 kph, however he still has to go to court to prove his innocence, that means a day off work and the cost of a solicitor.

We explain to him that providing he can provide the courts with the suitable calibration parameters for the GPS equipment then it should be a breeze
It seems simple if he can prove he was doing 102 KPH, and the GPS tracking equipment is calibrated correctly then he is telling the truth, Billy had said that three other cars were over taking him at the same time, but the Police didn’t want to know.

The trailer is all packed, I just need to pay the Telstra bill on line and do a couple of e-mails, we have a quick look at our blog site and its has exceeded our wildest expectations.

With everything packed up the last job is we need to both go and get a shower, as if we are Bush camping tonight then I doubt if we will have one.

We eventually hit the road at 10.10, we need to stop at the Supermarket for necessary supplies, for the journey back, Bread fresh milk and emergency milk all for the journey back ,
The cash point is not working, the lady tells us that she is low on cash in the till and the best place to try is the supermarket in Bamaga we try Bamaga, so we put our new groceries in to the truck and set off.

Bamaga’s ATM is also out of action well it will not work with my card, so we will have to hope that all the roadhouses have eftpos working on the way down. I do have some cash reserve.

We arrived at the Jardine River ferry, and saw two 4wd’s waiting ahead of us Andy commented, “it is gridlock out there!” The ferry arrives after the short crossing the first two get on, we are not certain that we will fit, however the guy operating the ferry today beckons the second 4wd to move forward and pull up alongside the other allowing us to fit tight to the back of them with the Patrol and trailer.

About 1 minute later we are getting off the ferry, we didn’t have to pay as we already had a return ticket .

At Jardine River crossing we fill up with diesel, the eftopos is working fortunately, we didn’t need a lot just to really top the tank up.

We arrived at Canal creek, we just needed to cross this to get to Elliott falls bush camp ground, several people have told us that this is spectacular and a “Mustn’t Miss” place to go.
Edging down to the waters edge, the Hema map says its is a clear creek with a sandy bottom beware large pot holes.
I walk across the creek in my thongs, as I need to find the shallowest place, the water has come up to my thigh which is worrying as I think this creek may be to deep for the Patrol as we do not have a snorkel fitted.

As we had past a couple of vehicles coming the other way they had obviously crossed the creek as the water had been stired up and we couldn’t see the bottom.
Andy easing the Patrol in, the off side front wheel is going in and is nearly covered so we reverse back and try a different route and about a ¼ of the way in Andy say’s that he is not happy as we are getting really deep and he is not prepared to make a bad decision that jeopardises our safety.

We were very disappointed that we could not get to the falls or the camp site, it is supposed to be an excellent swimming hole.

Turning the truck around we only have about 7 k’s to go to get to Fruit bat falls which is only a day rest area.

We park the truck and walk down the boardwalk to the falls and they are absolutely magnificent, so pretty.
It to have good swimming holes and there are no Crocodile signs, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services maintain this area, and we are sure that a sign has never been put here, and “Removed” by idiots.
We sit at the picnic table and contemplate our next move, Andy is all for parking here tonight, even though it is only a day rest area, but I am not happy to do that.

We push on further south and pick up the old Telegraph track and find Sailor Creek, which is shown on the map and a nice little camps spot in the bush, just before sailor Creek.

The position where the trailer is to be site is picked carefully, not to close to bushes, and where we have a good 360 view, there is what can only be described as an old tin “Humpy” that we think was erected by Australia Telecom, for there Survey teams as there was a sticker on the inside of the iron corrugations.
We would suppose the survey teams just roll there swags out at night.

It provides us with some shelter, and as it gets dark Andy unhitches the Patrol and Brings it as close as he can to the Humpy so w can plug our 12 Volt light in.

As we had such a late sandwich for lunch, we decided that we only wanted a tin of soup for our evening meal, we had a tin of Campbells condensed chicken soup and it just hit the mark with “Arnotts Shapes” as make do croutons.

We are sat quietly reviewing the photographs that we took at Fruit Bat Falls today, and we both hear a vehicle coming, it sounds as if it is a motorbike, but it takes a while to come into vision, we hear it crossing the wooden bridge over Sailor Creek.

We see a man sitting on this beast, it was a huge quad, we thought he would go past but saw us we waved and then he came round into our camping area and stopped for a chat. “Have you seen a couple of horses?” “No” we reply, he then went on to explain that he lives just down the Telegraph track, I remembered seeing a homestead when we came over Cockatoo Creek earlier in the week on Monday. This chap explains that they moved in last year, they have 40 horses and it seems that two of them don’t know where “home” is yet.

The homestead used to run horse trekking adventures, but they have too much work to do to get this place back up and in running order, he says for now they may be able to offer 2 hour treks for people who are interested, but in time they will be able to offer treks lasting a day or two.

He used to live on a station at Lockhart, opposite the Croc Tent (remember the souvenir tent we visited a couple of days ago?) he says that he is told it is all burnt up there now, the land was handed back to the aboriginal people but he feels that they have not looked after it, pretty much the same as the tip of Cape York, it is in a state of disrepair and looks untidy, which has also been handed back to the aboriginal people.

I carry on editing yesterdays blog, but the sun is going down and we will need to have some light for the evening, so Andy unhooks the trailer to bring the Patrol around to the shelter which in turn will give us light when we plug the 12v in.

Watching Andy reverse back toward our shelter, I suddenly feel a great affinity with this Nissan Patrol who has brought us so far on this journey and has done everything that we asked and expected it to do. Amazing really as I never thought this was the one that we were going to buy and then we did and even then it never really felt as if it was truly ours, that may sound strange but in a way it seemed only a temporary measure for our journey. We sat in our Humpy, the sun had gone down and it was pitch black, the stars we were out and it was really a clear night, we played cards for a hour or so and I whopped Andy big time

Soon it was time for bed the evening was cool and still, with a lovely breeze, we check the ground as we walk back to the trailer as Andy has made sure I keep a torch in my pocket at all times.

So until tomorrow bloggers we will bid you a good night.

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Photos

The Powells
Billy & Jeanette Powell

Grid Lock
At Jardine Ferry