Advertisement
Published: April 16th 2009
673
Yorkeys Knob (leaving)Days 71=>73: (s of) Yule Pt. (20 miles), Weary Bay (50 miles), Cooktown (36 miles)
The upcoming stretch - Cape York, there won't be much opportunity to top off the water bottle. I'm figuring it's about a 2 week paddle (last time I think it took me 11 or 12 days - but that's because I wanted to get out of the rain, and my last 'day' (24 hours) was typically a 3 day paddle (90 miles) ).
So, if I use 1.5 liters a day (I think I've been averaging just a little over that), I should make it (if not - we are still in the rainy season, or - there is a little community of Portland Roads about halfway where I can 'water up').
The 1st day out of 'Yorkeys' I stayed at a nice beach - with a good campsite just inside the trees. Unfortunately - this spot also is accessable to the road (Cook Hwy). A couple of 'ute's pulled in, full of happy revellers who were quite noisy all night (they were still at it when I got up to take off at 2AM). Somehow I did manage to sleep through their partying.
674
Buchan Pt. The paddle that night (early morning) was across a long bay (Port Douglas inland). It wasn't too long after my last trip (in '06) that Steve Irwin (Croc. Hunter) was killed in the area. I remember - at the time - reviewing my route - and it was at a reef just west of my path. I'm not swimming with them, but whenever in shallow (particularly - cloudy) water, I carry a paddle with me and disturb the area in front of me as I go - to flush out sting rays (or whatever).
It's been rainy the past few days - but it's the type of rain that comes and goes - nothing to compare with the near continuous rain I had on my last trip - especially in this area.
I can usually tell when it's about to come down - and, when on land, avoid packing or unpacking at that moment. (when at sea - it's no problem - especially with a gps.) I did get caught a couple of nights ago at Weary Bay - I had all the gear out from the forward bulkhead - and all of the sudden a HUGE downpour came
675
(s of) Yule Pt - campsite down. (freshwater on gear drys out much more quickly than seawater on gear).
Tomorrow, off to Cape York.
(BTW - I think I've mentioned it before (especially with respect to units of measure - miles/km), but, apologies for (mis)spellings of words to the Ozzies throughout this blog (eg: liter Vs litre, etc.)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.137s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 10; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0929s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb
