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| replica of Krys 8.6m croc shot at Normanton 1956 |
After leaving Lawn Hill we headed north to Burketown. It's a small place, but it seemed even smaller as we arrived on the Sunday of the long weekend. Apart from the Caravan park only a little fast food place was open. The Pub burnt down last year and is still being rebuilt so no hotel and the servo and roadhouse were closed. It was good to get going the next day (everything was still shut) and head to Normanton. There is a bit of history in Normanton. Just outside town was Burke and Wills last camp only a few miles from the Gulf unfortunately they were unable to make it due to the swampy land. At one time Normanton was to be the site of the major port in Northern Australia. There are some very fancy buildings from this era still in use. These days Normanton plays second fiddle to the township of Karumba, a fishing spot on the gulf that attracts thousands of fishermen keen to catch barrumundi.
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| Palm Cove |
Next stop was O'Brien's camp ground, a picturesque spot in the gem fields where we had an overnight stop and then headed to Palm Cove where we booked into the campground. Palm Cove is very much a resort town situated between Cairns and Port Douglas. Full of upmarket eateries and accommodation and with a beautiful beach area. It was great spending a few days in civilization.
While in Lawn Hill our larger solar panel malfunctioned. We dropped it off at cairns to have it fixed, under warranty just. We don't expect to get this back until we return from Cape York. It is going to leave us short of power for bush camping.
It was time to head for the Cape. Our first stop was at Cape Tribulation Camp ground. A great looking beach (with croc's). It was well set out with plenty of room and was a great spot for families. It also had a little bar with great wood fired oven pizza's. I couldn't say no. Next day we headed to Cooktown via the Bloomfield track. It wasn't as bad as I expected, except for some real steep sections of dirt track. The poor old Nissan chugged its way up these. I think it would be pretty hairy in the wet. There were a few car carcasses at the sides of the track. The Bloomfield crossing was a bit of an anticlimax, only a few inches of water. All in all it was a nice drive through some great rain forest.
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| Lions Den Hotel |
As we approached Cooktown we stopped at the Lions Den hotel for lunch, another of the legendary watering holes. At Cooktown I discovered that the Andersen plug on the car was not delivering any power to the camper. So spent a couple of days finding an auto electrician to fix it.
We had decided to head up to the top as quick as possible, QLD school holidays were about to start and that was going to cause a few problems. First stop was Archer River Roadhouse campgrounds. It was a large camping area situated next to the archer river. It was pretty full, a sign of things to come. Next day we headed for Siesia Campground about 30 Km from the tip in aboriginal lands. You have to pay an $145 entry fee at the Jardine river crossing, this included the short ferry trip each way. The roads up here have been better than I expected, plenty of dust some sticky mud, a few pot holes and sections of corrugation.
We based ourselves at Seisia for a few days. It was a pleasant campground on a nice beach, we were told that 2 croc\'s patrolled the beach and that a couple of nights before the smaller one had ventured into the campground. I didn't see either of them, but I still didn't go for a swim.
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| Ruins of resort |
The road to the tip from Seisia was probably the worst section of road that we had been on. A corrugated, potholed and poorly maintained road through dense rain forest. It was great to reach the top of mainland Australia, it was pretty crowded up here with a couple of tour buses and plenty of cars. Just before the tip there are extensive ruins of a 1980's resort with the buildings gradually being reclaimed by the jungle.
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| Cath makes it to the tip |
On our return we stopped at Punsand Bay on the west coast for lunch at the little bar/cafe at the campground there. Then went over to Somerset on the east side. Somerset was the original town on the peninsula established by Jardine in the 1860's. There are a few Jardine monuments and ruins and some graves of pearl divers. Another crowded car park. The tour buses seem to be following me around very annoying.
There was a significant military presence here during WW2, we went out and had a look at a couple of plane wrecks. Along the track leading to the wrecks were old WW2 fuel dumps the rusty 44 gal drums still scattered around.
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| view of harbor from fort Thursday Island |
You can't come up here without taking a trip out to Thursday Island. We took the ferry out for a day trip. The island is a lot smaller than I expected, It is a neat place with friendly people. There is a large fort on top of the hill dating back to early this century (the Russian threat) and the view of the island and of some of the other islands are great.
I had left the decision about travelling the Old telegraph track until our return journey. After talking to travelers who had come up that way I decided to avoid it. While the track itself would present no problems, some of the creek crossings would require a winch to get up the banks. Like the Simpson desert the track needs to be done with the right recovery gear and preferably in a group.
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| State of Origin Bramwell Station |
The plan had been to stay at a couple of spots in the national park on the way down, however they are all booked solid for the next couple of weeks so we head to Weipa. On the way we stopped overnight at Bramwell Station. The campsite here was packed. It was state of origin night and the outdoor bar here had a TV. There was a big crowd at the bar cheering for the maroons who won easily.
The weather has been great while we have been up here, about 30 during the day and OK at night. We intend to prop at Weipa for a few days and then head back to Cooktown via Lakefield National park.
Some more photos
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