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Published: October 3rd 2009
Eandeavor River June 1770
Observed, Amazed, Described, Sketched, Shot, Eaten and Named Kangaroo!!DAY 330
Oh my that was really a bad nights sleep, apart from the constant noise of music that was drifting in through the air that kept waking me up, I woke up twice with a real thirst, I wondered if it was the bacon that we had for tea made me thirsty or was it the heat or both?
That said the night was a lovely temperature, we slept again under the blanket and sheet, there was no coldness about the night at all, but every now and again a nice cool breeze drifted over us.
I think the music carried on until the wee hours of the morning, it would go quiet and then it would all start again.
We both awoke before 7.00, Andy got up straight away but I felt more exhausted than before I went to bed, he made me stay in bed a little bit longer and brought me a cup of tea.
However we had not yet decided what our plans were for the day, we could stay in Cooktown and do some more exploring and thus stay here another night or we can get packed and hit
The Powder Magazine
Built in the 1800's the road again.
I hear Andy talking to Ian and Barb, they are off out for the day, on a walk somewhere to view some Aboriginal rock art. Andy then sits and finishes the blog for yesterday, I could not finish it as it was getting too late and we were tired.
I got out of bed at 7.30, Andy and I chatted about our plans, as much as it would have been nice to spend a day by the pool, reading and of course seeing more of Cooktown we chose to move on and get a little bit closer to our goal of reaching Cape York.
I arranged a late checkout, we had a few things to get sorted and wanted to make sure that we were both showered, the water topped up, sandwiches made, drinks made and of course one more cup of tea for the road.
While Andy uploaded the blog, I made breakfast and afterwards just got on with packing up.
We pulled offsite at 10.30, so not too late, we drove into Cooktown for another look around, what a great little town and very quaint, of course founded by Captain
Cook on June 17th 1770.
We find the gunpowder magazine built in the 1800’s for use in the Goldfields. We see the Captain Cook Monument and nearby we see a musical ship, the ship is for kids to play on and being Saturday morning we cannot get a photo without children playing on it.
Our exploration finds a sign that tells us this is where the first Europeans spotted the Kangaroo back in 1770, observed, amazed, described, sketched, shot, eaten and named Kangaroo!!
After a while we decide it is time to head off, so we topped up with Diesel (we will now need to at every opportunity) the price was not too bad $1.29 per litre, the lady behind the counter asks which way we are heading, I tell her and then she says it will be more expensive, we guessed it would be but it will be no surprise I am sure!
We decided not to do the Battlecamp Road, again just one of those decisions, right one or not who knows, so we drive to Lakeland and then turn up onto the Peninsula Development Road, which actually is a good bitumen road to
start with, we knew it would change and it did eventually turning to dirt, but on the whole not too bad, every now and again we would come onto stretches of bitumen which were a welcome relief.
The road varied in condition, some of it was smooth, other bits were mildly corrugated with just one or two sections that were quite rough.
We stopped for our sandwiches outside the Hann River Roadhouse, we topped up with fuel at $1.55 per litre, we did not need much but worth the top up for peace of mind. It is a very hot day today shade would be valuable today, there are two motorcyclists sat under a tree, I would hate to be dressed up in leathers today, not so bad when you are riding along, but stationery is a different story.
Not long after we got back on the dirt we see a car on the side of the track, at first glance we think it is an old bunger, in other words an old car that broke down that just got abandoned on the side of the road because it is not worth doing anything with. However I
went to take a photograph of it and we realise that it is, or should I say was, not an old bunger but a modern Toyota Prado, did not look very old and did not look as if it had been there for long but it was completely wrecked, it looks as if it rolled several times before coming to its final resting place.
Of course by now anything worth saving was actually removed from the vehicle, there were no seats, no radio, the front wheels were missing, the rear two were completely ruined and the spares had gone along with other bits and pieces, oh yes and the engine was completely gone.
The reality of it is that it serves as a reminder to us how easy it is to lose control of a vehicle on these roads, it is not like driving on bitumen.
We drive on, fairly uneventful except that I manage to fall asleep while Andy was driving, I rarely sleep in the day let alone when we are on the road, so perhaps last night was catching up with me and even the constant bumping on this road did nothing to keep
me awake.
We see several motorcyclists on the road today, personally I cannot think of anything worse than riding a motorbike on this surface but Andy feels different, he thinks it would be great.
We stop when we see a man with his pushbike on the side of the road, he explains that he is ok, “Just stopped for a drink”. We drive on but it is not long before we see a car stopped on the side of the track, the contents of the car on the ground and a man bending over the rear wheel. He clearly has a flat, we stop to ask if they need help but he says they are fine so we carry on.
Eventually we make it to Coen, where we planned to stop for the night, it is a small, um, town, or maybe village, I have no idea what the population is but it is a small place, there is a campsite here so we drive round to find it, the place looks deserted but find a small sign over an open gate, it does not look much like a campsite, but I pop in to investigate and
the guy tells me “$20.00 including power, pay me in the morning we open at 7.30.” Ok, but I am sure we wont be ready to leave by 7.30.
We find a spot, Andy backs in under my instruction, we open the trailer, I expect to find a ton of dust inside but it is not too bad. When we pull the chairs out they are covered in dust, but I find myself thinking “oh well” just like I did last night, I wonder if I am just getting used to the dust and think that there is nothing I can do about it just put up with it or does it not really matter as we are dusty too and the clothes we are wearing have been through every kind of dust already and will probably only last until the end of the trip, I don’t know.
We are soon set up and I get the potatoes peeled ready for boiling, Andy then takes over and finishes preparing the vegetables while I start to type the blog.
I find our friends Gary and Karen on Skype so have a quick chat with them, then listened to
Cook Town
Cook Town Discovered in 1770 a couple of Skype messages, messaged another friend and Mum and Dad, started the blog and then dinner was ready.
Steak, sauté potatoes and vegetables, washed down with a beer, what a great meal.
Andy is reading while I finish typing the blog, I will have a read before bedtime, again we wont be late to bed tonight.
I find it strange, there are no other campers here, I did expect to see one or two others stop here to break the journey North, but then the busy season is coming to an end, so there are not so many heading North right now.
Until tomorrow, good night bloggers!
xx
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Gary
non-member comment
On the Road
Glad to see you are on the road again. I missed all of the adventures while you were on the move. Cairns and surrounds were interesting, but you are now in unknown territory to us. Take care and ENJOY.