PK's Jungle Village

This was an amazing place, a real Bali feel. lots of people coming and going from all over the world. The food was great, the staff couldn't be more helpful, and yes, we did drink the bar dry.

The Lions Den Hotel

Laura

Archers River on the return

Sasha made a great dinner in the camp oven at Archers River as it was the last as a group, we were splitting up after Laura. We also made popcorn in the camp oven and it tasted amazing.

Weipa's Fishing Tales

Weipa

Its amazing to see the sunset over the ocean.

Croc Tent

The photo shows a life size model of the croc which walked into the Croc tent many years ago. The croc was shot and killed by the woman who owned the Croc tent.

Thursday Island

Now rain...

So, the couple of days planned as relaxing tropical coastal have been shelved due to the south easterly traded winds bringing rain. So it's a pleasant inland road, now in Emerald, busy with traffic.

Townsville, forecast windy!

Windy day of driving through the cyclone battered coastline between Innisfail and Townsville. Plenty of evidence of the devastation inn the form of broken fallen trees damaged buildings. Townsville is an interesting city with plenty of appeal. The Castle Hill is a an amazing geological feature in the centre of the town, with extensive views all around, out to Magnetic Island and the mountains inland. The marina and town centre is vibrant (even on a Monday!) and we enjoyed a superb steak and boutique beer at The Brewery in the old Post Office building. Weary travelers we are though... SJC

Atherton and ...rain??

Yes, the holiday is well and truly over, and it is back to long pants, closed in shoes and jackets. We arrived in Atherton after our best day at Jowalbinna to find it cold and raining around 7.30. Dinner at the Barron Valley Hotel, an art deco pub in town was well needed. The cooler weather has made us both feel slightly weary, but really satisfied with our adventures so far.

Jowalbinna

We missed out on Jowalbinna on the way up because we were running out of time and needed to get back on schedule if we were to make some of our other bookings, so John and I decided to go there on the way back down whilst the others returned to Cape Trib. What a revelation. We had a true 4wd adventure.

We arrived in Laura to find the Laura Races and Rodeo weekend in full swing, so decided to go out to the picnic races for a look. It was a true country experience. About 1000 people were camped in the grounds in festival style. R M Williams boots, hats mingled with little dresses and fascinators made up the good humored crowd. We watched Race 2 and then decided to place a bet on Race 3. Number 4, Malakai came in first at 4:1, paying for our entry and drinks for the day. Nice result and a fitting thing to happen towards the end of a great holiday. At around 3 pm we set off for Jowalbinna, 36 km or one hours drive away from Laura. Some sandy crossings and one reasonable creek coupled with some long steep hills found us at a well organised, cleared camp ground where we were the only people. We quickly set up our camp and then settled in to enjoy the quiet and the pretty view of sunset over the creek. There are a group of people camped on the other side who are mustering feral cattle on the property, and they have had a fire going under the boiler so we had hot showers as well. Scotch fillet steak for dinner with chocolate and hot drinks after and the stars on show. Thick and bright.

Midst morning, the tent was heavy with dew, a first for our trip, and we had had to use the sleeping bag for the first time. Our host, Steve Trelize, arrived to say g'day and we agreed to meet him at the homestead. Half an hour later we were chatting about aboriginal art and Australian pre-history in his open walled shed that is his home and studio. Steve is also a painter, as was his father, and he had many fabulous pieces around the shed. We took some pics, and then crammed into his 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser to drive to the start of a 5 hour bush walk to view some of the Quinkan art sites on his property. The drive itself was exciting, very slow in places as we crawled up deep rutted hills and across rocky outcrops. At the top of a spectacular escarpment, we could view a pristine valley, trimmed by sandstone features. At the base of the gully, a creek like something you would find In Middle Earth, bubbled away around twisted tree roots and reeds. We came to the first site, a single mans camp site, where men and boys were depicted with a dingo. At the second site, a wallaroo being chased by a pair of dingos, their tails erect, really strongly suggesting the relationship between aboriginal people and dogs around hunting. At the next site, we saw male and female figures, anatomically correct, hinting at the use of this site in sacred coming of age rituals and knowledge. Also eels, echidna, crocodile are depicted. In the third site, probably the main camp, the wall was literally layered with images, some clear and vibrant and very well preserved.

The experience of this walk and these image was breathtaking, and more impressive than we could have imagined. Steve has been guiding people here for over 30 years and is a really interesting character. Very knowledgable about the art, history, flora and fauna, and we had a great chat. The drive back was equally thrilling in the old tray back at 1.30, and now hot too. A highly satisfactory day, we thanked Steve warmly and set off for Atherton 270 kms south. And we FINALLY had a chance to wear our boots!

Driving and Laura

We packed up early and set off for the last big push South on the Peninsular Development Road. Today the bull dust seemed particularly bad, with not a breath of wind. Lots of school holiday traffic heading up the road also made for extra dust. We used our two ways really well and were able to get around some of the slower vehicles. A huge road train pulled us all up as the wall of dust that followed it made the road utterly impassable.

We did the kms quickly and arrived in Laura for lunch. The annual Laura races were on, so John and I decided to stay for a look before heading out to the rock art safari at Jowalbinna. Mark, Vance and Carsten headed off on their own way at this point to go to the Lion' Den Hotel on their way back to Cape Trib for one more night before they drop Vance back in Cairns for his flight. We had our photo taken around a replica of the first vehicle that ever drove to the tip of Cape York Peninsular. Very fitting! It has been great traveling with the boys, Mark, Vance and Carsten, as well as Walter, sharing our adventures, and getting to know them better. They are a great group of friends. Don't worry, they gave me heaps at times, but I think I showed I can handle it, and give it back (mostly!!) (except for the preoccupation with bums - god help me!). I have learned a huge amount from spending time especially with Vance. His knowledge of the land is pretty phenomenal, and he is a genuinely nice person. He has been looking after me like a big brother, and I've really loved every minute of it and I value the friendship. SJC

Weipa to Archers River

Cape roads, spectacular countryside covered in bull dust, corrugations and potholes. Fun. Archers River is an inviting, well set up camp site with plenty of water, and a pretty river close by. After setting up tents and lunch, we went in search of barramundi fishing holes. No such luck on that front, but an amazing walk on the bank of the clear flowing sandy fresh Archer River. Granite boulders have been shaped and tumbled by years of flood, and trees have other larger trees lodged high in their branches. Carsten even caught a yabbie. Back to camp where I cooked us a last night meal using Vance's camp oven over a lovely fire. Yum! We finished off with fresh popcorn popped in the camp oven. The end of a relaxed day. SJC

The one that got away...and then came back again! Vance's second miracle

This is the fishing story the boys told me in Weipa after they returned from the day in the yellow tinny.

Someone had told them of a great fishing spot a "pylon number 10", so they set off to find it. I think there was some consternation when they realised that they were starting at pylon number 32 and there were about 500 metres between the pylons. I've seen the photos, and there certainly was no sign of land, so far, far away! They each had a rod, but John decided he wanted to double his chances of a catch, so had two rods. Now, if you are busy with one rod, and a fish bites on the other rod and the rod falls, locking the line in, what do think might happen? Well, the boys will tell you, that when this happened to John's rod no. 2, chaos is generally what happens. The fish took the bait, the rod fell, John misses the rod, then bumped into Mark, who then trod on a lure. Valiantly, he then tried to grab the rod, bumped into Vance, who also tried to grab the rod, but missed by millimetres. The rod then sailed smoothly over the transom, over the motor into the inky depths of the Gulf of Carpentaria still attached to the fish. John said it was like watching Leo De Caprio disappearing into the Atlantic at the end of 'Titanic'. Vance laughed. Mark removed the lure from his foot, and John, yet again, had to bravely accept his losses. Carsten reckoned John said "I can't believe it" about 100 times in the next half hour.

And then ...
They continued to fish, getting a few bites, and small catches, and John still carrying on about not just the loss of the rod, the the way it happened. And then Vance got a big bite, and started to reel it in. All eyes were on Vance's line to see what he'd caught, and in the depths they could make out something long snaking through the water. Yes, Vance's second miracle was that he had in fact caught the line still attached to the fish still attached to John's rod. Vance had caught John's rod. Unbelievable, but true!! Vance handed John the rod, and then John proceeded to reel in the fish hooked onto his line a full half hour earlier, a Spanish Mackeral.Great story.

Punsand To Bramwell and Weipa

he trip down from the tip was much quicker than the journey up. Now seasoned drivers, we tackled the road quite comfortably, and made it to Bramwell Station with no incident. We rested and set off on the interesting Weipa shortcut, which took 1.5 hours off our journey. We call already feel a slight chill from the breeze, and no longer am I only comfortable in singlet and shorts - I've now progressed to wearing T shirts, but only just. Weipa is reknown for it's fishing, so whilst I did some catching up on washing and reading and photography, the boys hired a yellow plastic boat to bag a big one. Again, the tales they had to tell are too amazing for me to recount, but Vance performed his second miracle.

More later...
SJC

Roko island

Some days are just so awesome and magical that they really might be too special to share. This was such a day for me. Whilst the boys went on a fishing charter with local character called Bat (which was a whole other adventure which one of them will have to write about, as I wasn't there, but it sure was an amazing day for them also!), I got Bat to drop me out at Roko Island, just behind Possession Island, where there is a small pearl farm. The oyster lease, and therefore the land, is owned by a Chinese French Polynesian couple from Tahiti, Henrietta and Yves. Their 29 year old son, Jason runs the place. When arrived, they were just having breakfast of pancakes after a birthdaY party the night before. A very welcoming an warm group, we chatted away merrily. One of the boys, Lachlan, is studying to become a teacher and is doing prac at Bamaga High School. It sounds like an interesting environment to try and teach science in. There are many problems to overcome, but he seems to have a positive and relaxed attitude, without which I doubt he would survive. I found his take on things quite inspiring. After tes and conversation, the boys got on with business of building a shed, and Henriette took me for a tour around the island. It was more like visiting an old friend, and we discussed her children and grandchildren, pottered in her vege garden, hard won with home made compost in the sandy island soil, she me cuttings and showed me edible herbs, and we visited her little house where she showed me photos of her grandkids. Then she showed me the pearls the farm produces. Breathtaking. She also has imported Tahitian black pearls, something very hard to resist. We walked out to the old stone jetty, where the spectacular mangrove forest marches out to the water across the mud flats. We didn't see the croc that lives there, but he was around. She told me she fears for her boy and the other workers, as Jason had a face to face encounter with the animal in the water some weeks ago. Crocodiles are territorial, so it is a real dilemma as to how to deal with them. If you move one on, another will replace it. It is concern when water is the environment in which their main industry is made. We returned to the group to watch Nathan from Punsand Bay climb his first coconut tree. thrilling! Fresh soft coconut water and flesh was my reward for the visit, and then it was time to head back to the mainland. Lots of hugs, and grateful thanks for the hospitality. By afternoon, the water had whipped up, and the chop was plenty, but these guys are so at home on the water, that even in a broken old glass boat I felt really at ease. These people are truly blessed. SJC

Punsand Bay Paradise

With a few days up our sleeve a wind down was in order, so we headed off on a 6 km "shortcut" to 'The Tip' which is "impassable when wet", and crosses a croc infested creek twice. It took one hour to drive, but what fun we had! The Tip is the most Northerly point on the Australian mainland and is reached by a short walk over some rocky spectacular coastline. It really is a point, which is kind of cool. We took our shots, marveled at the speed of the current around the point, and then noticed some big fish swimming around nearby. So, the boys threw in their lines, I hunted photographs, and managed to befriend a turtle, who came up a few times to get his picture taken. We went back to enjoy the rest, and watched a spectacular sunset from the beach. Plenty of gorgeous shells and hermit crabs, as well as the thrill of waiting for a croc to show himself. A full moon topped off the feeling of achievement of the long journey undertaken.

Saturday we took a ferry out to Thursday Island and learned about "island time" which basically means "it will happen when it happens". It can sometimes be a difficult concept for people who expect things to run on time and on schedule to master. We wandered though the pretty small town, enjoyed the best coffee since Sydney, and then grabbed a ferry to Horn Island to see the impressive little museum there. Horn Island had been highly strategic and very important in WW2 and the locals are proud of their contribution. The museum also revealed information about Torres Strait Islanders, who used to be headhunting tribes until Christianised by Missionaries. They are beautiful, open relaxed people, and felt like after this day I'd met just about everyone on the island. We met Thomas the ferryman, his dog Buster (what a great dog!!) Jacobea the cray fisher man, Susan the housewife and her kids, and everyone was keen for a chat. Pearls, girls, pearls also, aplenty. Local pearl industry produces creamy white glowing pearls for sale and export. Lovely. John and I also found the incredible cultural centre, a vibrant and fascinating building with outstanding cafe and celebration of local craft and culture. Beers at the Torres Hotel, the most northern pub in Australia, And NO DUST!!! I loved this day... SJC

Captain Billy to Bamaga

After leaving the fresh waters of Elliot Creek, we made a day trip to Captain Billy's Landing. We arrived just as the tide was running right out, and were able to walk along the spectacular cliff faces to see the bat caves. They were full of colonies of small bats, chattering and fluttering away. Disturbed by our noise, many took to the air and emerged in a flurry, one connecting fully with John's face. He described the experience as being hit in the face with a wet sponge. We saw crabs here a plenty, and a shark in the shallows. Sausage sandwiches for lunch and then back on the road to the top!

The Jardine River ferry costs $90 and is worthwhile, as the river is wide with a sandy bottom and is crocodile infested. Happy to be transported across, we the drove the worst part of the main Bamaga Road. Shocking corrugations, soft sand in places, wildlife, oncoming traffic and unbelievable dust were all significant hazards of this short drive. We were all glad to make it to Bamaga for a brief supply restock, and then on to Punsand Bay, the top of the tip, a sigh at the apex of our long journey. Bring on four nights of R&R! I've said before, this trip is more of an adventure than a holiday, but Punsand Bay was definitely the holiday of the adventure. SJC

Elliot Falls

In the middle of the top of Cape York, a place generally pretty hostile and rugged, is a fresh water paradise. The mighty Jardine River is fed by fresh water that oozes and sometimes rushes out of the sandstone from the fill of the big wet. Elliot Creek is major tributary, and the Elliot, Twin Falls and Fruit Bat Falls are features on this river. Camping there is like being on another planet, as the air is dry, and the ground is dry, and yet beneath your feet mega liters of fresh, clean water. We bathed and swam and drank without restriction here, massaged by the pummelling water of the falls, snorkeling to see the hidden submerged world of fallen trees and rocks, saw birds and pitcher plants lined the water ways. Carsten managed to lose one of his earrings in about 6 meters of water, and then Vance managed to pull off the first of his miracles by recovering it from the cool depths. I discovered that riding the rapids is not as soft as I might have hoped, and jumped off a cliff into the current below. Such fun! A truly magical place. SJC

Bramwell

After leaving the home that had become Chilli Beach, we again headed inland onto the Penisular Development Road, a dusty, potholed track that passes for the main highway in these parts. At first drivein on the Cape is quite terrifying, especially the complete blindness that ensues after you passes another vehicle in the billfish, but it a amazing how one acclimatises to the prevailing conditions one is faced with. We used handheld radios to alert the other two vehicles following as to any hazards and managed to climb up to around 100kms and hour for most of the journey. It's a good thing, too, as most distances between stops are extensive. This was just a short drive of around 210km. We arrived at the wonderful Bramwell Station around 1.30 and the boys settled themselves in to and afternoon of drinking, charging batteries, washing and relaxing. John, never one to sit still for long, decided he'd prefer not to waste the day, and so set off to bag himself a big Barra! One of the locals gave him a tip for a good fishing spot, a mere 32 km of diabolical track away, and off he set. At around sunset, I was beginning to wonder whether a search and rescue party should be organized, when I heard the familiar growl of the little Pathy on it's way back to camp. John had triumphed! He bagged himself a good sized barramundi, and was really happy. He'd had a proper adventure, and it was a well deserved drink for JC that night.

Other highlights of BRamwell were the hospitality of Kalina and Dick, the horseshoe game, cold beers, camp showers with cane toads, washing machines, termite mounds, Birdy the brolga and donga accommodation. SJC

Laura and Chilli Beach

John and I went to visit the Split Rock aboriginal art galleries just outside Laura and had a fantastic day. The art consists of animal and human and spirit figures painted on the open cave walls painted in natural dies. It was a real highlight of the trip. Then we drove on to meet the others who were in a pub a Coen having lunch.

We then continued on to the incredible Chilli Beach. On the north part of Lloyd bay, Chilli is within the Lockhart river community area in the Iron Range National park. We self registered for a campsite, and set up in a shaded and sheltered space 20m away from the beach. The beach, which is often very windy, was calm and clear and beautiful. We were able to walk extensively at low tide, and enjoyed a day of fossicking on the island that appears at low tide. I have never eaten oysters fresh off the rock before, and these were fresh huge black lipped oysters, slightly salty from the seawater. Yum!

Vance also managed a good haul of fish spearfishing around the large granite boulders that make up the island, and we feasted on fresh fish barbecued in the coals of our own fire. This, accompanied by fresh coconut milk and coconut completed the tropical island fantasy. Such a paradise! SJC

Where when...

Ok, let me think, where was I... When last I updated I think we had just returned to Cooktown after Carsten had a flat tyre and we had a flat battery at Elim Beach. Elim is a beach run by an incredible aboriginal man called Eddie, who, at 85 was fitter than any of us. He told us the story of how he got rid of a nuisance 18 foot croc that had started to use the sandbank just off his beach himself, first with a .303 and then a chainsaw and a big fire to dispose of the body parts. Some people might a exaggerate a story like that, but I believe every word of Eddie's story. He also told us how he had personally filled in the swamp with sand to make the beach. Lovely guy. He and Vance also worked he knew some of Vance's telos. Nice.

The intention of a blog is generally to keep a regular, ideally, daily record of things that occur. I sit now in Weipa on the Gulf of Carpentaria, enjoying my first reliable access to Internet since Cooktown and ponder not only how can I reasonably update this blog adequately, expressing my amazement at some of the things I've seen and done, but also the profound remoteness of this place. Telstra 3G is the only network that covers this part of the world, and even then only intermittently. In many ways I've experienced the lack of ability to communicate with the outside world as a major aspect of this trip. What sheer lovely relaxation to be out of contact! No phones to answer, things to worry about, unaware of what day of the week it is, what doom and gloom is in the headlines. To me this is a real holiday.
SJC

Cape York ( The Tip )

Cape York

Punsand Bay

Jardine Ferry