Car all packed, roof top tent all set, we’re off to the northern most tip of Oz.

We had a variety of food, drinks, water and spare fuel, ready for the journey.

We departed Peeramon, (our friends’ place),  and headed out through Mareeba, Mount Molloy, Mossman, onto the Daintree ferry, $14 one way,  and to Cape Tribulation. From there we continued along the Bloomfield track, (4WD access only).

Encountered a 4WD rolled over on the track, steep section which was concreted with a hairpin bend. The Police were on the track advising drivers of the issue. No one hurt thankfully.

From there we continued along the track into the Aboriginal settlement of Wujal Wujal and stayed a night in camp grounds at Ayton. Good camp site, weather was ordinary, overcast and showery.

16 july

From there the next day the track was all sealed so through to Cooktown with a stop at the historic Lions Den Hotel, (too early for a beer). Did feed a camel across the road though.

Arrived Cooktown and had a look around at the monuments, some history and the lookout. No free camps in Cooktown so headed out of town to a beachside camp at Archer Point, very nice spot, the local kids were snorkelling around the bay, still think they’re crazy swimming out there.

Archer Point camp

Cooktown from Grassy Hill lookout

17 july,

We then headed off from Cooktown through “Battle Camp” road, through “Old Laura” and through the Lakefield National Park to Musgrave Roadhouse.

It was here a lone traveller by the name of Victor approached us as he had seen our vehicle in Cooktown and recognised it at Musgrave. He was telling us he had been up in 2015 and asked if we were heading to the tip. We said yes and he asked if we wanted to travel together for company and safety. We agreed and continued along the Peninsula Development Road, (PDR), north to Coen.

Shortly after leaving Musgrave Roadhouse, we came across a triple road train which had rolled on a corner, again no one hurt.

 We stopped at the Coen pub had a look around and decided we would camp behind the pub, ($5 per person/night and $5 for power). Naturally, we had a couple of beers, went and cooked dinner, then headed back up to the pub for couple more.

There are some “colourful” characters there to say the least. That is, not only the pub patrons but the locals as well. The pub owner actually breathalyses the locals when they come in for a drink as they are often over .05 before they get to the pub, she then has a list at the bar and records their names and readings, wouldn’t see that anywhere else! So as the night went on, some of the “locals” were out the front trying to start their vehicle, eventually got it going. As they started to drive off the Police had been waiting in the shadows and with flashing lights, pulled them up in front of the pub and proceeded to check them out, and the car was left sitting as it couldn’t be restarted, even after the Police tried to jump start it, (this was after taking some of the occupants away in the paddy wagon, was entertaining at least).

18 july,

Victor decided he was going to head east of the cape to Chilli Beach as we said we were going to Weipa to have a look. So we ended up heading off to Weipa on our own. It really wasn’t too much of an issue as there is a lot of traffic on the roads.

Sunset from the beach at Weipa

Camped at Weipa Van Park for the night. Not much to see around Weipa. We saw the mine road on the way into town and passed the RAAF Base Scherger entry.

As we were unfolding the roof top tent, one of the ladder brackets had broken due to the corrugations, so ended up using the welder in the van park workshop to repair, they were very helpful.

19 july

Departed Weipa with intention of camping somewhere along the way but couldn’t find anywhere suitable and continued on until we eventually got to the Jardine Ferry. The ferry only operates from 8-5 daily and we arrived at about 4.15 then had to buy the ticket, $99 for the return crossing. It normally is the only crossing across the Jardine these days, although there had been little rain during the wet and apparently the river bed had to be dredged some to allow the ferry to operate.

·         We also heard rumours the locals had been digging the original 4WD river crossing to ensure travellers would have to use the ferry.

This is where the signs are more prevalent regarding the alcohol limits in the Bamaga region, IE one carton of mid strength beer, (or one carton of pre mix drinks), and 2 litres of wine. We thought we would have used more of ours by then, but when reading the sign at the ferry, the penalties were heavy. We decided we would have to leave some of our alcohol behind. We left 4 litre cask of red and a bottle of scotch we had, (the scotch we ended up giving to some travellers camped at the ferry as there mates had broken down back down the track).

Note: the 40 odd klms of “road” to the ferry was absolutely shocking with corrugations and most of the driving is at 30 klm/h in the table drain, was very nasty.

As we moved down to board the ferry at 4.45pm, they decided it was time to refuel the ferry.

Once across the river, we headed to a campground towards Bamaga. We had been told about Alau Beach near Umagico. We spent 3 nights here, very reasonable cost, $12 p/person and $5 for power. As we were driving around looking for a camp spot, our fellow traveller, Victor, called out as he had already set up camp, so we joined him once again.

Whilst here Les was going around checking wheel nuts, other nuts etc to ensure nothing had come loose. When the front wheels were being checked, one wheel nut stud broke off as soon as tension was put on it. This then meant we had to have this repaired. Whilst Victor was there we went into Bamaga to check where we could get it repaired, the mechanic at Seisia was not helpful and we ended up at Cape York Spares and Repairs in Bamaga, where they were very helpful, but had to order wheel studs from Cairns, this was the Wednesday and the parts wouldn’t arrive from Cairns on the plane till about 10.00 am Friday. We asked if they could do the repairs on Friday which they could. They advised repairs would be at $150 p/hour plus parts, so were hoping the job wouldn’t take too long. The car was repaired and finished by 3.00, $151.00 all up not too bad considering.

We had a drive with Victor around Bamaga and found the two old plane wrecks from WW11. 

DC3 wreck near Bamaga Airport

Graves of the Jardines at Somerset on the eastern side of the tip

22 July

This was going to be our first night camped at Seisia camp grounds as we had heard about the Fishing Club had burgers, drinks and the footy on the big screen on Friday night. Victor had helped and we dropped the car at the mechanic Fri morning, had a run up the road to the “croc Tent” towards the tip. 

By the time we had got back the car had been finished. Thankfully only cost $151.00 total, so wasn’t too bad. Some of the vehicles in their yard had been there for days waiting for parts, repair etc.

We decided we would do a day trip to Thursday Island whilst up this far.

This involved a ferry from Seisia to the island and a bus tour around the main highlights of the island. This was completed by 1.00pm so headed to the Torres Hotel, (the most northern pub in Queensland).

Whilst there we were talking to a woman who was the owner, she was telling us how short staffed they were and asked if we wanted a job at the pub?

                                               

 WW11 gun emplacement and museum on T.I.

Our little Pearl below  

Had 2 nights at Seisia, not as nice as our previous camp ground.  The woman who was the “site allocator” was rather rude and told us where we would be camping, not as casual as Alau Beach. When we booked out of there, we headed on the trip to the tip. 

Had a couple of detours along some tracks and made it to the tip. One stop was an old lodge which had been given back to the locals, “Pajinka Lodge”, Pajinka is the aboriginal name for the tip area. This originally belonged to one of the airlines and was close to the tip, however once the locals had taken it over, it was left to ruin, totally unusable now.

Palm Cockatoo

24 July

We decided we would try camping at Punsand Bay and took a back track through the scrub and had some 4Wding along the way. When we arrived at Punsand Bay, we booked in with power, $17 p/person and $16 for power as they were on generator. When we had a look at our allocated camp sites, they were very ordinary and our leads wouldn’t reach the power. Very nice location with a new swimming pool, but the manager/owners attitude when we went back for refund was not appreciated.

 We decided we would get a refund and head to Loyalty Beach instead. This was much more relaxed and no allocated sites, just find your own spot and then check in. Same price as Alau Beach and very comfy. Had 3 nights here as it was a great spot. Whilst here we also met up with another friend, who is a tour guide/hostie with Oz Tours, doing camping trips to the Cape.

27 july

From here we separated from Victor as we were going back to Seisia as we were catching up with our friend John Warren who is a tour guide with Heritage Tours to the Cape. We have been using John and Diane’s house as our base in Peeramon, on the Tablelands.

We didn’t really want to go back to the camp grounds and we wondered what the reception would be like this time, it wasn’t any better, as we had a walk around to have a look at a spot in the sun for the solar panels, but were advised by the same woman, “you don’t get to pick your sight here”, then proceeded to take us down the end beside a camping group.

Anyway caught up with John that afternoon and headed off the next day.

28 July

We then headed to “Bramwell Station Tourist Park”, which is an operating cattle station, but they have branched out and cater for tourists with camping facilities and also have a new dining and bar area which has only been completed in the past few weeks. We decided we would have dinner there as we had heard good reports about it. Great meal, all the meat, salad and veg you could eat for $35 & entertainment.

Had a good night here and continued on the next day south again.

29 July

We found a free camp south of Hann River Roadhouse for the night. Met with some travellers from Sydney who were on their way to the tip, so gave them a run down on where to stay etc.

30 July

From here we decided to continue along the main road through to Mount Molloy for a free camp for the night.

31 Jul/1 Aug

As we hadn’t seen much in the way of crocs, we did a Daintree river cruise, looking for wildlife, birds, snakes, crocs. Was a one hour cruise and saw birds and crocs, particularly one large 4.5m croc on the river bank. They advised us he was the “No 1” on the river and the dominant male. Also smaller male and females, also some young ones, only few months old.

We decided we would give ourselves a treat and booked a room in Port Douglas for the night. We actually liked it so much we spent a second night there also, (Mantra on the Village in the main street). We then headed back to John and Di’s to repack and reorganise to continue on.

Left their place Sat 6 Aug and free camping at Rocky Creek War Memorial Park. Very busy spot.

So, the next leg/s of our journey to date.

We moved on from Duaringa into Emerald, having discovered some friends we made working at Dubbo and Adels Grove were meeting up in Emerald, so arranged to catch up with them there.

Spent three days there camped in the showgrounds with them. We had a day trip out to the gemfields, Sapphire and Rubyvale. We bought buckets of “wash”, (basically diggings from mine claim sites), 3 buckets for $40. We were shown how to wash the rocks to search for gemstones, so we all had a go and came out with shining examples of gems J.

Our camp at Emerald Showgrounds

One of the local markets at Rubyvale gemfields

Gordon and Marees new Patrol :)

Sifting through the buckets of "wash" for the all elusive gems

Managed to find some rather small stones, nothing to exciting.

Susan coming out of "Pats Gems" in Sapphire, couldn't find anything she liked?? believe it or not!!

Friends departed and headed on their way, the couple were heading south to head back to work south of Tamworth.

We then made our way back out to Rubyvale with the van and caught up with Liz and Al’s relatives, Clem and Linda, who have a claim out there. They have 900m2 block which they have been mining/digging for a few years now and have dug up some very nice gems, a large yellow sapphire is just one of their finds.

Couple of pics below of their home away from home at the gemfields

The weather was very ordinary, rained/drizzled all night and still the next morning, so we headed off again. If the weather had been better, we probably would have stayed longer and done some fossicking, maybe next time.

Mural train wagons in Clermont

One of the big buckets outside Clermont

We continued out through Capella, Clermont and towards Mackay.  We discovered a free camp at the back of “The Retreat” hotel outside Mackay. Had free hot showers, toilets and of course meals and beer at the pub. Would be a good little spot to stay for a few days, also had the option of power for $15/night. We only stayed the one night there. The car was meant be broken down there for a day or two as we discovered they had “Cheeky Tuesdays” and “Topless Thursdays”, but Susan said the car was working fine!!. There was also a dancing pole in the bar J. Couldn’t get Susan to try itJ.

From there we moved north, stopped at a little town called Dingo Beach which is near Airlie Beach. Not much there, fishing village mainly, no free camps out there though. Continued on to Home Hill which has a free camp advertised as the “Comfort Stop”. Well, it had the facilities but also had probably at least 30 vans, motor homes, backpacker vehicles all parked up along the roadside.

The location was great, right in town, good facilities, however, the vehicles were all parked in one long line as it was a street right beside the main rail line, opposite small businesses and the highway the other side, so was very busy place. We checked on the way through initially, but decided not to worry because it was so busy, basically no spots left, so went on to Ayr, not far up the highway, couldn’t find anywhere there, so went back to Home Hill. We managed to find a spot for the van.

Must have been meant to stop there because the next morning when Susan was doing some washing she started talking to this chap and he asked where we were heading, Susan explained we were making our way north to eventually do the Cape. This chap was form Cape York, worked and lived up near Bamaga and was out and about visiting friends. He started telling Susan all this stuff, so Susan said he would be better to talk to Les.

"comfort stop" at Home Hill

Les then went down to his bus and sat for an hour and a half talking about the cape, the tip etc, very informative and helpful.  We had also paid a visit to the new IGA in town also.

We decided to move on the next morning and travelled through Townsville, had gas bottles changed over at Bunnings, cos it was close to the highway and then went just north of Townsville to a free camp at Saunders Beach for 2 nights. Right on the water, nice spot, but small. Had couple of nights there.

The camp area at Saunders Beach

Red tailed Cockatoos at the beach, feeding on the Sea Almond nuts.

At this point we had heard of another rain event on its way over the weekend and due to batteries being very low because of lack of sun, we decided to book into a caravan park in Ingham and spent three nights there to see it out. Nice town and nice little caravan park, We took a day trip out to Lucinda and some of the other beaches around there. By Monday the weather had settled so decided to move again.

The old Ingham Cemetry, mostly the old Italian settlers from the area, the first grave was dug in 1889

Lucinda jetty below, it is 5.7klms long to allow the bulk sugar ships to load. Low clouds over the hills with the sugar cane.

Hinchinbrook Island from a lookout 

Our camp at Babinda Rotary park

We stopped at Cardwell for a couple of hours, great little town beside the beach and opposite Hinchinbrook Island. Continued on had a drive through Mission Beach, weren’t all that impressed with it and continued to a free camp at the Rotary Park at Babinda.  Once again, very busy spot, barely found a spot, but had showers, toilets etc. The showers had hot showers for $2 for 4 mins, very nice. Once again though, the weather was crap so didn’t get enough sunshine, but managed to stay three nights.

The hotel we visited for the State of Origin and the caterpillar of the Cairns Birdwing Butterfly

The Babinda Boulders just 7 k's out of Babinda, worth a visit

We had been wanting to visit Paronella Park  for some years so decided to book in for the Thursday night. As we were pulling out of the camp thurs morning, the caravan brakes were not working very well, after a check with the mechanics and a fabrication place in town, we realised the caravan coupling was coming apart and would not have survived too far down the road. It was strange that it hadn’t been a problem till we left Babinda. So we had to go back to the free camp and remove the coupling, take a trip to Cairns to buy a new one and of course fit the new one, whilst in Cairns, we also purchased a small generator to help keep the battery/s topped up  as we have had the unusual rains and overcast weather.

Subsequently, we had to rebook Paronella Park for the Fri night. Thankfully, the new coupling sorted the problem.

Well, Paronella Park is an absolute eye opener and a very interesting place have a variety of pics here for you, have a look at the website also, amazing story about a young Spanish gentleman who came to Queensland, started working in the cane fields and eventually bought the 5Ha property at Mena Creek and transformed the property, including the first hydroelectric scheme in Queensland which provided all his power for the property.

The current owners have refurbished the hydroelectric system and now feed power back into the grid. It provides 13Kw regularly as it is set up beside the waterfall.

Here are just a few of the Paronella Park pics, amazing place

After we departed Paronella Park, we had booked in for the MaMu skywalk on the way through to Peeramon, which was a 1100m walk through the rainforest and along the tree tops, and a 37m high tower. Needless Susan wasn't keen to try the tower.

A park in Milaa Milaa not only with a statue of Christie Palmerston, an early settler in the area, the local cenotaph, (also proudly flying the QUEENSLAND flag), yeah baby.

We left there Sat morning and headed to our friends, John and Diane at Peeramon on the Atherton Tablelands. We have settled here for now and probably for a week or so, then head back to Townsville for the V8’s.

From there back to Peeramon and get organised for the Cape, can't wait.

QUEENSLANDER!!