CAPE YORK

DAY 20 – Fri July 9

• Up at 6am and took the tinnie 45km south to Dooral where the Mulgrave and Russel rivers meet and head towards the sea (a local gave us the tip to head there). Geoff caught an undersized queenfish which was released and a good size trevally. Manda caught a nice little flathead. WHOO HOO we caught dinner!! On the way back to the boat ramp we saw our first croc sunbaking on the sandy shore – we were pretty pumped and glad he was only a little fella.
• Before we left to go in the tinnie I asked Geoff if he wanted his raincoat… he laughed at me wearing mine and said “I wont need a raincoat – it wont rain!” quite confidently… Famous last words!! It rained alright and I was snug and warm in my raincoat!
• What a day! We caught dinner and saw a croc. Happy days.

DAY 19 – Thurs July 8

• Washed the desperately dirty car (Geoff was Mr Popular at the caravan park as all the old grey nomads realised we had been to the Cape due to the ridiculously dirty car and wanted to know all about it)
• We thought we would go exploring and check out a place called Yarrabah. However, the closer we got we realised it was an Aboriginal community in the middle of nowhere (the big Aboriginal flag painted on a rock near town was the final straw) so we did a u’y and headed back to Cairns. There are a lot of Aboriginals up north and unfortunately most we have seen have been blind drunk and seem to get a little violent and loud at times.
• Geoff did his first solo mechanical on the car replacing the radiator fan. Hercules! Hercules!
• Manda lovingly washed the tinnie (but im sad to say it will never be a shiny, fancy tinnie again. The red dirt has partially corroded the aluminium (Geoff says it has ETCHED not corroded)…

DAY 18 – Weds July 7

• We slept most of the morning as we both felt pretty lethargic and tired after the trip. Just managed a food shop today.

DAY 17 – Tues July 6

• Left Palmer River Roadhouse and made our way back to Cairns. (Daff and Helen had to stop along to way and clean their brakelights and indicators as you couldn’t see them at all through all the mud).
• We picked up the Van – Oh it looks so luxurious I had tears in my eyes!! Nothing like 10 days camping in the outback to make you appreciate and LOVE a caravan.
• We checked in again to a caravan park in Cairns and met up with the others at Outback Jacks Bar n Grill for a last dinner together before we all went our separate ways. Kind of sad to say goodbye after our 10 day adventure together. We met some great new people and had so much fun together.

DAY 16 – Mon July 5

• We checked out the Archer river and signed the visitors book at the roadhouse then hit the road again.
• We decided along the way that the caravan is our home and the tent is our holiday house J
• The boys all had fun driving on the muddy roads after some heavy rain

Keeping an eye on the radiator - it was all good tho :)

We pulled over along the way for this road train to come through

• The road between Laura and Palmer River Roadhouse was spectacular! 

• Camped the night at Palmer River Roadhouse.
• Felt a little homesick knowing we had no real home to return to (like the others) and it was back to a caravan park in Cairns. 

DAY 15 – Sun July 4

• Left Punsand bay and started headed back south again.
• Stopped at Bramwell Junction for lunch and took some car photos...

• Camped the night at the Archer River Roadhouse

DAY 14 – Sat July 3

• First launch of the beloved tinnie. There was gale force winds and quite choppy but no swell so we decided to brave the crocs and go for a spin. In the first five mins I caught a small spanish mackeral (which was too small to keep but died due to traumatic injuries sustained whilst undergoing hook removal). We then very slowly made our way up a creek called crocodile creek (for obvious reasons) searching for the 5m local resident. It was VERY quiet and eerie, then suddenly a few fish jumped out right next to the boat and we both nearly had a coronary! We bailed after that as it was also getting really shallow and we DID NOT want to get stuck there. We returned home absolutely sunburnt, windburnt, tired and without fish to keep but happy. PS> the boat motor started first go… phew!

This helicopter was taking people on joy flights and would land right on the beach in front of our camping ground!

 Geoff pulled out the car seats and lifted up the carpet to try dry out the car (from water getting in at GunShot)

DAY 13 – Fri July 2

• We did the last 15km up to the Cape York Tip which is 3670 kms from Port Macquarie! We made it!!! 

• It was a pretty lazy day with everyone being quite tired from all the long days driving.
• We all decided to go croc hunting on the beach that night but with only a couple of torches it was a little freaky and didn’t last long… still have not seen a croc (other the one from the bus window).

DAY 12 – Thurs July 1

• We jumped into this gorgeous waterhole between 2 waterfalls for an early morning swim...

• We continued our trip North bound for Punsand Bay (which is about 15km from the most Northern tip of Australia).
• We crossed the Jardine River Ferry at no small cost $88! Some photos from the day...

We had lunch in Bamaga and some of the local kids came over for a chat with Matt

• We arrived late arvo at Punsand Bay and the girls headed down to the beach for a fish… unfortunately with no luck. And the boys offered whatever support they could...

DAY 11 – Weds June 30

• We left the Dulhunty river campsite and headed over to GUNSHOT creek “just to have a look” says Geoff. It is a well-known near vertical drop into a muddy pit that only the brave (or possibly foolhardy) attempt in their 4WD’s.  Geoff decided he was up to the challenge, although I was a little dubious about the extra weight of the boat on the roof and possibly flipping the car. Once again, Geoff did a great job of driving (this time with a large crowd watching). We were all cheering as he safely made it down until he stopped moving right in the middle of the deep muddy pit… No drama’s he thought, we’ll just use our fandangle winch. Although we then discovered that the clowns who installed it forgot to tie the end of it up to the winch barrel so nothing happened. At this stage Geoff was getting quite a bit anxious as water was starting to creep in around his feet. However Geoffs support crew (Doug, Matt and Daff) were on the ball and managed to fix the winch and winch geoff out of the hole. Geoffs comments; “Its AWESOME! I never thought I would do it but saw 3 others with the same car go before me so…”

Gun Shot drop off..

A 4WD taking an alternate route to the gunshot which also looked difficult. This poor car had also hit a roo along the way...

Another poor soul who took another alternate route which didn't work out so well. They also had a camper trailer on and took a few hours to get out.

Here goes Captain Careful taking on the famous GunShot...

• Lunch at Fruit Bat Falls – so incredibly beautiful which was good as we just discovered as we pulled up that our radiator fan had lost two blades and damaged the radiator in a deep river crossing (we think). PRAISE GOD tho because the radiator was not leaking and the car was still OK to drive. 

• Twin Falls: Definitely one of the most beautiful places we have ever swam at...

Awesome photo of Daff under the falls that we had to include. Can you spot wally (aka Geoff) in the next photo?

Daffyd and Helen

Doug and Liz

Matt and Di

• From here, the girls declared it was “Girls Go Driving” time… it didn’t last very long as only a  few hundred metres down the road we all bailed!
• We popped one of the rear airbags under the car on a rough bit on our way to camp :( (They are more to support the car when towing the van so it wasn’t too much of an issue).
• Some photos from the days drive...

• Camped just north of Twin Falls and enjoyed happy hour by the water...

When we arrived at camp, I wondered into the bush for a toilet stop and was very carefully watching the ground for snakes. Problem was I wasn't watching head height and I came about half a metre away from walking face first into this beast of a spider... It gave me a SHOCK to say in the least!

DAY 10 – Tues June 29

• 8.30am we all did a Bauxite Mine Tour.  4 tonnes of Bauxite = 1 tonne of Aluminium. (Manda might have had a nap or two while Geoff’s nose was pressed up against the bus window)...

• On our way back to Weipa on the as the mine tour bus crossed a river, we spotted our first croc…

•  Yes there is a croc under this ripple of water (was a little difficult to photograph on a moving bus)
• Geoff and Manda are no longer friends as someone forgot boat fuel and we are headed into woop woop!
• We begun the Old Telegraph Track which is notorious for rough 4WD’ing. About 1km in we came across a massive drop, followed by a deep river crossing with a steep clay bank on the other side. After watching a few young cowboys very roughly attempt it we all decided it wasn’t worth it and took the bypass track. Much to Geoff’s delight we discovered the bypass track was just a dead end and the only way through was down the deep drop... This photo is Daff and Helen going through the deep river crossing in which they discovered their car wasn't watertight! 

• Geoff says he’s “too excited to fart!”

• Geoff and Doug randomly mounted this anthill as I was taking a photo of it - Classic.
• About 6pm that night we arrived at an awesome campsite right next to a bubbling brook of the Dulhunty River  i think). 

A late night wash down by the river - were all hoping it was too shallow for crocs.

Geoff enjoying a morning bath in the the bubbling brook... he found a deep hole to sit in :)

DAY 9 – Mon June 28

• We left Hanns Crossing and headed towards Weipa.
• We stopped at Musgrave Station for fuel (there was a long line of big 4WD’s). The fuel guy also commented on our shinny new rig… We need to get it dirty!

• It was a long boring red dirt road

• Manda says “I have LOTS of dirt up my snoz!!”…
• Arrived in Weipa just in time to have happy hour on the beach and watch the sun set over the ocean... Aaahhhhh

DAY 8 – Sun June 27

• We dropped the van off at a storage place just north of Cairns as we made our way to Lakefield National Park to meet our friends.
• It was a beautiful drive with the scenery changing from lush rainforest to dry, sparse, rocky bushland...

• We were referred to along the way as the “Landcruiser with the fancy tinny on top” over the UHF radio (they didn’t know we were listening)… Geoff was keen to dirty it up a litte.
•  I realised as we entered the campsite (Hanns Crossing in Lakefield National Park) that my freshly pressed skirt and diamonty thongs was not suitable camping attire! Minutes after arriving we were also greeted by a snake crossing the river and going up a tree near our campsite.  Welcome to the wilderness! 

• Matt and Di cooked an INCREDIBLE meal for us: rissoles with onion, baked pumpkin filled with veggies, baked potato, boiled veggies, garlic bread and warm homemade custard for dessert with banana – We were blown away! Camping is awesome!
• Around the campfire that night we told croc attack stories and matt and di shared all their recent snake sightings in the National Park…. I went to bed slightly petrified (I also need to mention here that all 3 other couples were sleeping in their cars and we were the only ones on the ground in a tent – was VERY grateful we had a new tent with no creepy crawly holes). 
• A couple of pics of our campsite...