Cape York and so much more

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Cape York and so much more

All our friends at home that had been to the Cape told us to do the Thursday island and Horne island tours as they were great. So be booked onto the boat and headed even further north. The water was smooth and the trip to TI in the cat was good. straight of the boat and onto the bus, the tour around TI which is a very small island , only about 2kms across, included the old fort and the japanese cemetary both of which were great, unfortunately the lady doing the tour was boring, just pointing out "this on the left" "that on the right" she even threatened to come an whack one of the other tourists with her microphone if they didnt be quiet while she was talking. which is a pity because TI looked like a wonderful place and all of the islander people we met on the cape were all wonderful, and relaxed people.

After the TI tour we went to Horne island, the taxi boat across to Horne which is quite a bit larger than TI was and old boat that just seemed to fit into the relaxed feeling up here as it slowly chugged away. we arrived at Horne Island for lunch and then a look at the Museum dedicated to the island history with particular interest in the WW II history, the museum was fantastic and an hour was not nearly enough to take in all the history. we then boarded a bus and our guide for this part was the total opposite of our TI guide. Liberty was his name and it was like he was showing us around a place that he had only just discovered the day before, he was so enthusiastic about everything (this was all about the war history) he had photos, and pictures of planes and more information than you could possibly digest. we thouroughly enjoyed our trip around Horne Island and would again highly recommend this.












Cheers Andrew

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Cape York and so much more

For the first time in a long time we were travelling in an unfamiliar direction, South. An overnighter in Weipa, which despite only hearing bad things about i thought was a pretty decent place for a mining town. The sunset here was awesome. we then travelled back to musgrave and fuelled up ready to head to Normanton. There is a fairly direct route to Normanton turning west at Artemis and then crossing the Mitchell river at Dunbar, even before we left home we had done some research and the river crossing here sounded a bit dodgy. After some advise from people in the know we met on the OTL, and the guy at Musgrave we decided we should do the extra 220kms needed to avoid this crossing as everybody was telling us "YOU WILL GET BOGGED IN THE RIVER". This meant a stretch of 770kms with no services of any kind, no towns, no roadhouses, no nothing. Gotta love 180ltr fuel tanks. This really was a lovely drive along mostly single lane dirt roads before meeting the Burke development road. Along the way in the middle of absolutely nowhere we saw some pushbikes that had been left on the side of the road with a please take me sign.











When we reached Dunbar it was only a few k's back to the dreaded Mitchell river crossing so we went to see if the extra 220kms was worth it. The water was about 20 metres wide and a couple of feet deep, the river bed however was several hundred metres wide, so nowhere to attach a winch if you had one. the sand seemed pretty gutless and we were discussing whether to try turning around on the dry part of the river bed to see how soft it was. well i had left the keys in the car and in the blink of an eye the missus was in the car, onto the sand and bogged. Maxtrax are really good










my advise "if you attempt this crossing you will get bogged in the river!!"

Cheers Andrew

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Cape York and so much more

Normanton is a quiet little town, The main claim to fame seems to be that the biggest croc ever recorded was shot near here by a woman in the 1950's. the replica in the main street is supposed to made to the measurements recorded in the guiness book of records, although it is hard to believe as it it absolutely enourmous :shock: The Barra Hatchery at Karumba is also worth a visit if in this neck of the woods.






We continued onto Lawn Hill National park where we camped at the main camp ground Adels Grove. Once again the camp groud was pretty pricey, but the sites were not marked so you could take all the space you needed and the facilities were of the absolute highest standard. and with the best swimming hole you could possibly imagine 20metres from your front door it was a great spot. The number one activity here is to hire a canoe and canoe up the gorge, you need to get out of the canoe and carry it around a waterfall at one point and then continue to the top of the gorge. Beautiful scenery and we saw a 2.5metre freshie sunning himself on the bank. lovely bushwalking as well. OH and did i mention that swimming hole. Fantastic and refreshing cause it was 38 degrees.












Cheers Andrew

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Cape York and so much more

The run Down from Lawn hill through Boulia and Bedourie to Birdsville is mostly single lane bitumen with the bitumen fading out towards Birdsville, Easy miles especially at the moment with the outback covered in water and birdlife and wildflowers.











Birdsville is the Iconic outback town, The pub provides a good feed, and we visited the working museum which sounds like it wont be there for much longer as the collection is being sold and will almost certainly be relocated, John Menzies who owns and runs the museum is a real character who demonstrates all sorts of things from his collection, talking at 100 miles an hour and hearding everyone round like cattle from one thing to the next. Apparently he has a buyer lined up for the collection and is only waiting for the money to come through. It will be a big loss to Birdsville i reckon.
We had intended to go and check out Big Red but between the track out there taking a very long detour around water, and the forecast of approaching rain we decided that Big Red would still be there next time we visit Birdsville but the Ferry crossing the Cooper may not. so we decided to run the Gauntlet as the track was open all the way to SA, and try and beat the rain. The first 80kms of the track was chopped up from the recent rains but a good driving line was there and as long as you kept on this the travelling was good. at about the 80km mark the first drops of rain started to appear and the speed needed to be dropped almost instantly. while the rain wasn't heavy at all, with the recent rains within a few short kilometeres the track had turned into a slippery boggy mess and i can assure you there is no fun to be had travelling sideways at 20km/hr towing a trailer. We had no choice but to turn around and head back to birdsville, fortunately the rain hadnt moved north and the track soon improved again. we then took the long way home through Quilpie, Cunamulla and Bourke adding at least 1000km to our trip. By the time we got back to Birdsville they had closed the bottom half of the track so had we continued we would still be stranded at Mungerannie.











Cheers Andrew

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

Re: Cape York and so much more

Great work on the Trip report Andrew
Fantastic pictures and interesting descriptions, will be a great reflection of a great journey and inspiration for many Pradopointers.
Cheers Troy

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Re: Cape York and so much more

But wait their is more, AJ one of the best i have read, maybe u should be writing for the mags, interesting everyone that gets stuck gets water in the drain holes, has anyone thought about plugging them before any major crossings??

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Cape York and so much more

Hutch wrote
But wait their is more, AJ one of the best i have read, maybe u should be writing for the mags, interesting everyone that gets stuck gets water in the drain holes, has anyone thought about plugging them before any major crossings??

Thanks for the compliment Hutch, I talked about getting stuck as a learning experience, It had crossed my mind before leaving on the trip to take some blue tack to plug those holes, one of the things i learned was to remember to pack blue tac and use it. I am pretty confident that had i had those holes blocked the car would have stayed dry.

Well in conclusion, the final run home from Birdsville really just involved 4 days of solid driving, the weather was getting cold and the rain was coming down so we didnt stop to look at anything much. Overall it was a fantastic trip, we could have spent twice as long as we did in almost everyspot we visited and we reckon we will be back to the cape in 4 -5 years for a look at the things we missed and to do it all again.

For now its back to work for us and planning has already started for our trip next year, where i plan to tow the camper the entire length of the Canning Stock route.

Thankyou for all the positive comments both on the thread and in PM's, and all i can say is that there is so much to see and do out there start as soon as you can and enjoy.


Cheers Andrew

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Re: Cape York and so much more

Funny you say that, Bluetac was my exact thought as well!!!

[luked Member Find all posts View Profile Close luked]

Re: Cape York and so much more

Great report, keep up the good work.

Heading further on our round oz trip this week going from Rockhampton to Birdsville for the races via Canarvon Gorge. I'll be taking your advice. "Mountain High" private camping area iin Emerald will i find it? any tips? sounds like you stumbled across it so maybe i will too as I might not get onthe internet again before Emerald!

Cheers and thanks as the cape is also on our route eventually!

Luke

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Cape York and so much more

Mountain High" private camping area iin Emerald will i find it? any tips

On the Fairbairn dam Rd. We actually went looking for the campground / caravan park but that just looked to "resort" for my taste. Signs on the side of the road wich is how we stumbled upon it. Lovely lady that runs it, a bit nutty maybe, but lovely none the less.

Cheers Andrew

[JPM21 Member Find all posts View Profile Close JPM21]

Re: Cape York and so much more

Excellent trip report Andrew thanks for taking the time to write and share.

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Re: Cape York and so much more

Very entertaining trip report AJ... great read. Looks like you had a great time!! How's life back at home now

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Cape York and so much more

Snaga wrote
Very entertaining trip report AJ... great read. Looks like you had a great time!! How's life back at home now

Thanks Snaga, glad you enjoyed the report, definately had a great time.

It was actually really good to get home, after 8 weeks camping you really appreciate the luxuries of your own home. It was good to finally be able to attack the Prado with a bucket of water and a soapy sponge and turn it back into a respectable vehicle. Gotta say though going back to work is highly overated

Still, 8 weeks and no pay (casual) best i keep going until the bank account looks healthy again.

Cheers Andrew

[weasal4x4 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close weasal4x4]

Re: Cape York and so much more

Excellent trip report Andrew!! Not long being back from a 4 week trip with the family from Melb to Alice i'm not sure how the wife would handle 8 weeks? :lol: but when reading yours and other peoples trip reports and looking at all the great photo's from the cape there's something inside that says "I've got to get up there!"
It sounded like a great trip with plenty of memories!

Cheers,
Mick

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Cape York and so much more

Weasal4x4 wrote
but when reading yours and other peoples trip reports and looking at all the great photo's from the cape there's something inside that says "I've got to get up there!"

Thanks Mick. Certainly some great memories and some fantastic 4 wheeling up that way. Cant wait to get back there myself. We missed doing a few things due to weather conditions, CREB track was closed, Frenchmans not passable, 5 beaches run and Cape Melville (ran out of time), already trying to work out a time to go back. The Canning SR beckons next year and i'm itching for a simpson adventure but after that i reckon we might head back.

There is something very special about the cape, You know you want to, so just do it

Cheers Andrew