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Published: July 22nd 2009
We got away from Weipa by 7.30am. Well done we thought, seeing we had to fill the water tank as well as doing Kate’s hair. Her latest hair style is a pony tail with 6, yes 6 plaits coming out of the back. Saw an older girl who does this herself every day, and it look good and lasts a few days without getting knotty - just takes a while to do. Saw the ship being loaded with Bauxite at the Weipa wharf.
Made good progress up the Telegraph Road, took the Bamaga Bypass Road, it was very corrugated. Just after Captain Billy Landing the whip snapped off our aerial. It was broken so we didn’t bother trying to look for it. On to the OTT (Old Telegraph Track) to Eliot Falls and set up camp around 11.30am. Wandered around, no camp envelopes, no toilet paper and rather busy. Had lunch and went to see the falls. It was lovely. We all had a swim as we were rather hot by this stage. Cut my foot on a rock and it stung for a full day until the skin started to heal. Back to camp for journals & work sheets.
Kids went for a walk to see the other falls.
Next day we left late morning and headed south down the OTT - obviously without the camper. Less stress and easier we thought. Tour buses go along here so it can’t be too bad we thought. Kate decided early on that she would get out and walk across the creek and up the other side, not too keen on the bumpy tracks. Some creeks were deep, others rocky, steep and the likes of Gunshot Creek - vertical drop. That is why we took the “Chicken Run” at Gunshot. Otherwise I would have divorced Rod if he had damaged by baby. Saw some beautiful Ulysses Butterflies whilst deciding whether to attempt or not. Ducie Creek is very deep and it is deceiving where the drop-off is, so Rod deposited Kate on the ridge as a sign post/marker. She didn’t mind until she got splashed with the “wash” from the car. Hot weather she dried quickly. The last one was Palm Creek, well I just about freaked. Rod thought it was do-able, with a tree there to winch ourselves up. Kate, Alex & I walked and stood by to watch and
pray. Well Rod had 2 goes and thankfully had the presence of mind to give up and use the winch to get the final way to safety. There was a tour bus broken down near Ducie Creek - broken axle on the trailer. So damage does even fall on the professionals.
Well Sunday was a relaxing day, doing homework then up to the main road to watch the Endeavour Car Rally. Endeavour Foundation raises money for Intellectually Disabled People. They have traveled from Townsville through Cairns, up to Cape York (including some of the OTT) a day or 2 rest then back down through Atherton to Townsville. Some were done up, lots of air horns, sponsors and dress-ups. EH & HQ Holdens, Morris Minors, VW Beetle, and 4WD’s just to name a few. A couple stopped with giveaways, stubby holders & lollies for the kids. Back to Fruit Bat Falls for an afternoon swim. It is also lovely here. The kids enjoyed watching the fish swim around and tried to follow them. Our windscreen started cracking in both directions. We tried sticky tape but hasn’t worked. Just as long as it makes it home, or at least back to
the bitumen.
Well Kate got scared from the noises in the bush and came crying into the camper. Big softy Rod let her get into bed with us instead of calming her down and putting her back in her swag. Poor little me slowly got pushed out of bed and gave up and went to Kate’s swag. It was so hot that I rolled up the sides. Well we had a shower or two overnight, only a sprinkle, but it adds up when you are asleep, so Kate’s doona was a little damp. It soon dried with the warm weather. Very cloudy, but did some washing and it too dried quickly. Had a swim at Twin Falls and another shower came and the clouds came over. We stayed in the water, but amazingly the water turned milky whilst the clouds and rain was there. That night we saw a huge Green Tree Frog in the disabled toilets. It was stunning. Kate stayed while I went back to tell Alex & Rod to come and look. Alex took off running in the dark and Rod & I followed with the torch. As we stopped to fill the bucket with water,
we saw a 3ft whip snake casually slithering along the track. I don’t know how Alex missed it, but luckily he did. He went very pale when I mentioned it, so next time hopefully he will take a torch. Lots of people coming and going from Eliot Falls every day, it was very relaxing.
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