Cape York Report August 2012

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

We found our campsite which was site# 2, and before we set-up camp we drove to site# 1 a little further down the end to have a look at it first. All the campsites were very private and spaced between 30 and 100m apart approx. There was thick bush in between and only one track linking them all as it ran past each campsite. The view from site# 1 was way better than the camp site we booked which just had a little bit of a clearing in between the vegetation on the bank. There was nobody else camping in the entire area of all 6 sites yet either when we arrived. It was a top spot, and after we saw all the sites, I'd recommend site# 1 as it was offering the best view from your camp chair. There was also a very shallow stream just below the campsite, some distance from the waterhole to collect water from safely as well which is handy for washing clothes and collecting for showers. If you have a spotter you can also lay in it for a bit to cool off but we never did that.

Camp site#1 had both a great view and also a high bank to keep you safe from those snapping lizards. Plus a little play area in the shallow creek to get you out of your campsite.

[Mark from Brisbane Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark from Brisbane]

Nice....we stayed at Kalpower Crossing....THREE Crocs there, two males (one each side of the concrete crossing) and another one (a female) that we didn't see. There was a guy camping there that had been there for about 6 weeks, he had some amazig photo's of the Crocs....nice spot, good roads in and out...well worth a visit!!

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

Good on you, Mark. Kalpowar was a nice spot with the showers and tap water being nice additions as well. I remember you mentioning in your trip report that you stayed there. Can you post some pics of the crocs that you might have. You've got to bein the right place at the right time get pics of the crocs because what we realised was that you can see a whole heap surfaced on the water as soon as you walk over the crest of a small hill or something when walking closer to the water, but the moment they spot you or hear you which is straight away, they disappear under the water instantly and do it so smoothly they don't even disturb the water. And the buggers stay submerged for ages probably hoping you'll come to the water's edge for a drink. I guess they don't eat by being spotted do they. They're very cunning, that's for sure. But I'll comment more on the crocodile behavioh we noticed while staying at 12 Mile shortly.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

This was our campsite at site# 2.

The information in the campsite folder at the ranger base said it was suitable for two vehicles with camper trailers. This site was suitable for 6 with camper trailers and at a stretch you could fit 8. It was a large site. Plenty for two cars anyway. Site# 1 was a good size as well and so were the other 4 sites. Some slightly smaller than others, but all were generously sized.



The next morning the ranger dropped in to check our camping permits. He asked how we were going and we mentioned we were trying to spot crocs from our campsite through the clearing but hadn't seen any. He said a 3m female frequently patrolled the area we were camped at, and if we taveled back down the track for a bit to where the large bank was we'd see more sunning themselves, especially in the afternoon.

About half an hour after the ranger left I walked over to the clearing to have a quick look at the water. Just through sheer luck with the timing I saw the 3m female swimming past slowly on the surface of the water. I yelled out to the others and they came running over. As soon as I yelled out the crocodile very calmly disappeared under the water and barely disturbed the surface. We gazed on the water for a little while and I stayed there watching for another 20 minutes. Small bubbles that weren't surfacing at all previously were making their way to the surface in a zig zag pattern for close to 20 minutes. The zig zag pattern began in the middle of the river near where the croc went under and made their way over to the bank towards us. You could see at times the water was being slightly disturbed by something just under the surface. We had a steep bank nearly 3m high at our camp site which you had to constantly be mindful of. It was easy to get too close to the steep bit when looking hard for something, and if you slipped down it was going to be difficult to get back up to say the least. After not seeing the croc again for 20 minutes, I lost interest and moved away from the bank.

[Mark from Brisbane Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark from Brisbane]

No photo's Brett (yes those big suckers move quick don't they)......the long term camping guy (opposite us) had a heap though....he went down everyday to catch fish (we all thought he was crazy BUT he's still there)....and reckoned he knew their habits to a tee. He said he never went to the same place twice at the same time of the day (that I know is well known). He was certainly gamer than any of us who just walked down to near the crossing and took a few photo's. As I said above he did have many photo's to prove they were there as he had a digital camera full of shots.......there were two 3 and 1/2 metre males (we assume given their size) and a smaller female (given it's size) that he had photo's of.

There was certainly no way I was going to walk across the crossing that's for sure......great spot, and yes sounded like a few more facilities than where you stayed.

Sadly we only had one night there, when I go back I'll plan on more as this whole area is a great part of the Cape!!

I know they have to survive as well but it's somewhat of a pity that so many nice swimming holes (and fishing holes) are pretty much "no go" zones because of the Crocs...we would have loved to have a swim at Loyalty Beach (35 degree daily temps when we were there) but sadly...no go.

As a result it was only Twin Falls / Elliot Falls where we were able to have a dip.....apart from some spots on the OTT but we gave that a miss as we found those streams a bit too cold for our liking.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

I wouldn't walk that crossing either. You might get across to the other side but I'm sure your chances of getting back in one peice would be somewhat shortened. It's too long and you'd be crapping yourself the entire way if you valued your life. It would've been very interesting talking to that guy. He would've had some stories to tell, that's for sure.

Yeah we had no facilities where we stayed. Which is what me and my friend preferred anyway. We preferred it primitive. The girls liked Kalpowar because of the showers.... I know what you mean about the swimming. The creeks along the OTT are freezing cold and it's got to be a really hot day or you've got to be pretty thick skinned not to get cold. And all the water the crocs inhabit is a nice 26 or 27 degrees... Perfect for swimming, but unfortunately you can't go in.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

The first pic here was a view of the water from our campsite, but at a slightly different angle to the one taken above. We had a pretty good view of the water when we got closer to the bank, but at that point the bank was starting to slope down, so not really suitable for placing a camp chair there.

We then decided to go for a walk back down the track to explore the area a bit. We had a better look at some of the other campsites and a better look of the crocodiles where the large bank was that the ranger spoke of.





On the way we saw this large fallen tree. The amazing thing was it looked like this tree fell quite some time ago, maybe the previous wet season, but some of the root system was still in the soil which was enough to keep this tree alive. The hottest days we experienced on the whole trip occurred while we were camped here. The days were about 34 degrees. And the leaves on the fallen tree hadn't even wilted, so they were still getting plenty of moisture.



This is the bank of one of the camp sites and we didn't think this was a very safe campsite to stay in with tents or swags. The bank only had a short slight slope down to the water, certainly not enough to deter a croc wanting to do a little tent spotting during the night in the campsite above. When we walked over the crest here we saw a 2/2.5m long crocodile sunning itself on the bank for a split second before it flipped 180 degrees and disappeared into the water so fast if you blinked you would've missed it. The sound was amazing when it took off into the water with a crash, bang and massive splash. We weren't expecting to see anything here and were talking all the way through the vacant campsite. I'd say we woke the croc up from its mid morning nap, and then when it saw us it completely shat itself and couldn't get into the water quick enough. This picture shows where it laid. So it was pretty good to have seen that. It was a pretty up close and personal experience.



This was the start of the large bank which was about a 1km walk from our campsite. As soon as we laid eyes on it we saw what looked like a log near the water, until the log knew we were there and it took off into the water. This croc was just over 1m long we thought.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

We croc spotted on the bank for about half an hour. My friend got way better pics than me because he had a pretty high end camera. He got a great shot of a croc's head in the middle of the river facing directly at us. Going by the head size the croc was at least 3m long. It was facing us and when we zoomed in on the photo on the laptop you could see it looking directly at us and watching every move we made. To look at it with the naked eye you couldn't really see much. It was hard to tell what it was in the water. But my friend did well to spot it. He was pretty much pointing his camera at anything that looked suspicious and taking close-up photos so he could examine them afterwards on the laptop and zoom right in on them. There were probably half a dozen crocs in the shallows just off the sand bank. Nothing that would show up on camera because they'd disturb the water surface in an unmistakable way and then go under again, the same process repeating the whole time we were there. You'd have to be fast to get the photos but then they wouldn't have shown up as much. They didn't look too big from what we could make out. Babies at a foot long up to maybe 1.5m long crocs. There were some larger ones cruising up and down the waterhole if you were good enough to spot them before they went under.

The crocs well and truly knew we were standing here at this point because we were easily visible where we were and they didn't make themselves too visible once we were spotted earlier on. They just surfaced quickly from time to time to either mark our position or for them to find a better hiding spot in the shallows in the hope we'd go to the water and then they disappeared again. It was really quite amazing to watch. It was like the larger ones were all positioning themselves for the possible ambush opportunity. There were plenty of pigs and cattle getting around the area so they'd know the drill if a decent sized meal presented itself near the water. And there was plenty of competition for food lurking in the water that was for sure. When my friend and I do eventually swap each others pictures, I'll replace some of these photos below with the ones he took on his camera that show crocs more clearly.



You'd probably be fairly safe standing within 3 or 4 meters of the water so long as you weren't there for too long (not that we did), but if you actually walked a little bit into it it'd be lights out I think. You be drowned or have a limb twisted off your body pretty quick.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

On the sand bank about 1m from the water was the remains of a large camp fire.... We laughed too.... They must've been chasing that next big rush haha (not pictured though).

The 2nd picture shows a crocodile 2.5-3m in length on the other side of the 2nd bank jutting out into the water. At first we thought it was just a bit of exposed river bank, but we zoomed in on the photo on the lap top and you could clearly see it was a crocodile. Once again, my friend's camera brought it up so much clearer.

We then made the 1km walk back to our campsite and in the photos you can see how dry and black & white looking the landscape is. The grass is tall but so dry it's pretty much dead. The serious dumpings of rain in the wet season help it to grow rampart until there's no moisture left in the soil in the dry season.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

We stopped in at some of the other "not so safe" campsites on the way back to look at the water again.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

The pig story Part 1:

We had lunch back at our campsite and then decided to go for a walk back to the sandbank afterwards to have a better look around. It was boiling hot, building up to 34/35 degrees, and we felt like doing something other than slumping in our camp chairs sweating, plus it was amazing down at that sandbank and we wanted to see more of it. So up we got and we started walking. We only got two hundred meters down the track when a big black male pig crossed our path 10 meters ahead. He dashed across the track 10 meters ahead of us, stopped and growled at us and man was it scary. Even though they're big and black, you'd think they'd stand out, but they can camouflage so well once they a meter or more into the dry grass, then you can't spot them for the life of you. We got the BIG don't argue from this pig and I was convinced without a doubt if we kept moving towards it he would've hit us and hard. In about 3 seconds flat I gave the others a quick run down of what a wild pig can do to you. We turned around and started walking back... And fast. I was at the back of the group and scanning 360 degrees because I couldn't see where it went. We got back to the campsite pretty fast and the adrenalin went down quickly enough.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

The pig story Part II:

After a few hours when it cooled down by 2 or 3 degrees, me and my friend decided to resume our walk. The girls weren't keen and you couldn't blame them. I was convinced the pig would've moved on well and truly by now. It would've made its way to the creek bed and followed that on. I poured a large cup of cold soft drink, my friend grabbed his camera and we headed off, a little nervous too. We both knew deep down we were going to encounter trouble again, but were optimistic at the same time. We got near the same spot and once again got growled at loudly at by the same pig. And again, it was scary. It's a sound I can't describe. The growl doesn't sound like any growl from another animal. What was worse was we couldn't see where the pig was. We only sort of knew the direction the sound came from. We were frozen stiff momentarily. The pig was behind long grass to the side of the track ahead of us and we were expecting it to come running out at us any second. We backed up 10 meters half decided whether we'd walk back to the campsite or stay put. I convinced my friend to stay put for a few minutes and wait it out. We quickly found two trees with fork trunks perfect for climbing to get over a meter off the ground and we stood next to them waiting, nutting out a plan. Now the pig hadn't gone anywhere for hours and why I thought it was going to disappear in 5 minutes was beyond me. This thing twice, let us know there was a thin red line and that we were about to cross it. I wasn't too keen on having my leg ripped open and bleeding out on the track from being rammed by a massive boar, but after a few minutes we edged forward step by step. We were nervous but after gaining enough distance to be level with where the pig was a meter or two off the track and realising it wasn't there anymore we kind of picked up our normal walking speed again. But we were still walking from tree to tree, pausing at every tree and scanning ahead, to the side and behind us to make sure a pig wasn't nearby. We started deliberately walking very loud and talking loud to give away our position well in advance so we wouldn't startle any pigs when so close they'd react in a defensive manner. It was a long walk back to the sand bank when scanning 360 degrees around you at all times and pausing at some trees (the stretch with no trees and just tall grass 2m high was nerve racking because there was no protection for us and heaps of hiding places for the pigs) when we got to the bank we only stood 2 meters beyond the bush sideline on the bank for about 30 seconds. When I looked further up to where we were standing hours earlier I saw a little black piglet (20 meters away). It was 2m clear of the bush as well and had its nose flat to the ground picking up on our scent of where we had been standing hours earlier. It was walking in small 360 circles, nose planted to the ground, tail wagging. Then it looked up and spotted us. It took off into the bush like lightning back to mummy. My friend was able to get two quick snap shots of the piglet, one blurry and one clear picture just moments before it ran back into the bush. So it's mum would've picked up on the fact it was frightened by something and would be on high alert now.... Great!

The bush sideline just before the stepping onto the large bank.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

The pig story Part III:

We didn't hang around see mumma. We took one look at each other and both knew what each other were thinking.... Run!!! We bolted back up through the bush for 20m, ran down a 4 meter embankment (dry creek bed) and back up the other side as a bit of a shortcut. We got back onto the isolated track and then had to reluctantly work our way back towards to the pigs on over 200m worth of "S" bend on the track. The heart was racing at this point because we knew she'd be very protective of her young and would think we were stalking them if she saw us. And if we accidentally got too close due to the poor visibility of the 7 foot tall roadside grass it wasn't going to end well for us. We could've cut through the thick dry grass for 50 meters to avoid the "S" bend but didn't know what we'd encounter in there with 1 meter's worth of visibility max, not to mention the snakes. So we started pacing along the track and while we were doing that we heard rustling on the right hand side approx 20 meters away in the long grass and it was getting louder at it got closer. We stopped momentarily to work out the exact position of the pigs and which direction they were most likely heading... It was towards us! I couldn't believe how fast they made their way here from where they were (even though we did have to double back in their direction on the track). I then noticed my mate was already 15 meters away from me, 20m, 25, 30m. He was running off the bugger haha! He was the smart one haha. I froze and didn't move! I just stayed put. I didn't want to run incase that spurred the pig on to chase me. I had no tree to climb for 100m that I could see with a quick scan around. Only a big one behind to me, but the trunk was too wide to climb up. I was repeatedly whispering as loudly as I could to my mate for him to wait up, but he couldn't hear me. He got to approx 50m away and waited. He signaled for me to make my way up but I couldn't as I'd frozen. I was standing with my back to the large tree, in a position ready to run with my hand on the tree so I knew exactly where it was. The rustling was really loud now and the pigs were going to be visible any second.

If the mother pig charged me, I imagined I was going to have to run behind the tree really quick and time my jump perfectly over the pig hahaha. But in reality I knew that wasn't going to work. I then saw the big mother pig through the grass as she walked under a shrub. I saw her side on, and amazingly she hadn't spotted me yet and had her head turned away attentively watching her young as they caught up. She was only a few meters away from me. I then made a snap decision and bolted fast, but as quietly as I could up to there my friend was while looking behind me almost the whole way. I was bare footed so was able to do it quietly thank god. Man it felt good to be up where he was and it was such a relief. I thought I was screwed there for a second with no options left. But we weren't out of it yet.

Reenactment photo the next morning of the exact spot where I had my back to the tree while the mother pig was within approx 6 or 7 meters of me just in the edge of the grass on the opposite side of the track. I think my khaki shirt saved me then by helping me to blend in at a glance. My friend was 50 meters further up the track just up around the bend at a T junction in the track. We had to take a left up there and had the pigs cross our paths again.



And this was my view of where I saw them. They came in just under that tree in the small clearing. Lucky for me the mother was turned away slightly to her left away from me and hadn't spotted me by the time I decided to quietly run away. At that stage I was pretty concerned.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

The pig story Part IV:

We took a left at the T junction and made our way down the track pretty quick, but the pigs were moving fast too, cutting through the long grass and in a direct line with us. We didn't even get 100m down the track before the rustling in the grass on the left was converging on our position and getting louder. Luckily we had two perfect trees for climbing to get up into on this occasion. But before I climbed up I had to urinate quickly by the trunk as I didn't want to piss myself in the tree, not knowing how long the pigs would hang around for. My friend was having a good laugh at me at this stage & I was laughing at myself in the process because I had no notice whatsoever before I had to go. I put my cup of soft drink down on the ground and then started to climb, but debris was falling towards my drink so I jumped down quickly and moved the cup further away and then climbed up again. I would've been spewing if the pig knocked it over haha.

My friend was having trouble getting up into the tree with his camera in his hand. I told him to leave it on the log at the bottom and climb up without it so that he didn't fall. We were over a meter off the ground and the rustling got very close, then it'd move away, then get close again. The little piglets must've been moving here there and everywhere and mum just followed, still unaware we were close by. We were stuck up in the trees for 10 minutes, but it literally seemed like for ever. The pigs still came close and then walked away and came close again. They didn't know if they were coming or going, but eventually they moved on further into the long grass and until you couldn't hear them anymore. We climbed down and made our way back to the campsite over 2 hours after we first left and had a good laugh about our pig encounters for the next couple of hours. As it turned out the girls were very close to jumping in the car and searching for us just in case something had gone wrong. Unfortunately we didn't get more photos of the pigs even though my friend had his camera on him because we were more concerned with our safety than taking photos of them.

Reenactment photo taken the next morning of the actual trees we were stuck up in for a while until the pigs left.



While we were camped at 12 Mile Waterhole, during both nights we did hear constant pig noises & squealing not too far away, cattle making what sounded like disturbing loud cries in distress approx 500m away as though one had been taken by a crocodile or something. It definitely sounded like a distressed mourning type of cry/moo that went on for ages in the one spot and it sounded like it was near the water. It was pretty eerie. On the 2nd night we heard a crocodile that was at the bank just below our campsite. It was making that trademark barking type sound when they communicate. It was communicating with another crocodile that was a fair distance away as I could barely hear it.

But I have to admit, it sucked sleeping in a tent on the ground here because I was lying awake at night for hours half expecting a big animal to come crashing through the tent. That's what it was like at night in this place. There were animals and sh*t moving about and making noises everywhere & communicating with each other and you're just hoping that a big pig didn't run right over the top of you or rip your tent apart haha. Even my mate's girlfriend was worried at night because of the non-stop freaky wildlife noises going on and they were sleeping in a rooftop tent. She got very little sleep as well.

Would I camp here again, yeah, definitely. Would I walk that track again....? No way. I'd drive instead as it's much safer.

I was so glad we stayed in Lakefield NP. We had some great experiences there (some I won't forget in a hurry). The landscape was beautiful, the wildlife plentiful and it was true untouched, rugged far north Qld. I'd love to come back to Lakefield NP in the not too distant future for longer and explore more of the place.

Below is an interesting link to a newspaper article about Barry Jefferies who was killed by a crocodile in August 2005 in a Lakefield NP waterhole when he was fishing in it from his canoe. It's an interesting read.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/b...435138606.html

[Mark from Brisbane Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark from Brisbane]

You mad bastards.....in a '"former life" I lived in western NSW...I have seen first hand what a wild pig can do...when they growl at you it's time to move on.....certainly you are gamer than me!! (unless you had a very big gun you weren't telling us about)???