The Road to Kununurra

Clouds

We leave Darwin late after a visit to the doctors to get antibiotics for Daniel’s ear infection and an some essential trailer maintenance.  Luckily we are only travelling 100k’s or so to our stop for the night.  We’d made the decision to skip Kakadu NP altogether on this trip.  A big call but not one that we regret – not because we don't think that it's worth a visit (don’t believe the Kakado – Kaka-don’t mantra), but because we are conscious that we need to beat the rainy season to the Gibb River Road (and also because we are always happy to have another thing to add to our “Reasons to Come Back” list).  We're realising that even though being away for six months sounds like a long time (well, OK, it is), it’s a big country and we are constantly driving straight past some amazing places because it’s never possible to see everything.

So, instead of Kakadu, we head down through the lesser know Litchfield NP and Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) NP.  They suffer from being within an easy day trip’s distance from Darwin and so some of the swimming holes that we visit are busier than the Lido in Battersea on one of London’s three hot summer days, but don’t let the crowds put you off a visit.  On one day we swam in three separate spots – Wangi Falls (breakfast swim), Florence Falls (morning tea splash)  and Edith Falls (pre-diner dunk), and each one was a stunning combination of cool clear water, towering gorge cliffs and impressive waterfalls (even this late in the dry season).   If you want seclusion, do as one bloke that Jules spoke to at Wangi Falls did, and go for a swim at midnight to avoid the crowds.

We are starting to get a few clouds and a bit of rain now.  At first it was nice to enjoy a few clouds and the relief from the searing sun.  They also provided a bit of entertainment for the kids along the long, straight NT roads:

“Look kids, that cloud looks like an elephant”.

“Yeah, and look over there, a turtle.... and look, that one looks like a Death Star spaceship from Star Wars...”

“Yeah, yeah, and look at that one...exactly like that Grandpa dude from The Simpsons”...

However, we are now starting to eye these same clouds with a bit more suspicion.  A bloke I spoke to in Bamaga told me that they expect the wet season to come early this year as the mango trees are already flowering....  An early wet would have an interesting effect on our Gibb River trip...

Across The Gulf

The road into Lawn Hill is a lot easier than the road out...

Whoops – I’ve been pretty lax in my blogging of late.  I’d like to claim it is a natural consequence of this kind of a trip.  We are on Island Time now (albeit one very big island).  I stopped counting the kilometres somewhere in Far North Queensland and lost track of the days of the week not long after that, so how can I be expected to turn on a lap-top with any kind of regularity?

To bring us up to date:

After leaving Gregory Downs and the Scorpion incident behind, our Journey took us up through Boodjamulla ( Lawn Hill) National Park where we hired Kayaks and took a paddle down the gorgeous gorge and swam under fabulous falls and in, er, revitalising rivers.  The way out of the park was through creeks and rough tracks.  Always fun until somebody loses a rear windscreen.  I was actually glancing in my wing mirror as a lump of rock flicked up from our tyre, bounced off the half an inch of the trailer that is not protected by the stone guard and took out our rear window.  Several rolls of masking tape later we were back on the road again. 

The Southern Lost City

Initially, we made the decision to do the 1300k’s to Darwin as quickly as possible along the bitumen and miss out on the remote and rarely visited Limmen National Park, but we just couldn’t drive past the turn off without taking just a little look...   In the end, Limmen was well worth the journey , even though, without a rear windscreen the car was steadily filling up with fine red dust.  We camped all alone in the shadow of the geologically bizarre Southern Lost City rock formations and the next morning swam at the aptly named Butterfly Springs. 

Of course, as is the pattern with life; where there is Ying, there must also be Yang, where there is sunshine, there must also be rain and where there is a nice little creek crossing, there is also a brand new starter motor just waiting to fill up with water... So a big drive and an overnighter at the hot springs at Mataranka and we were in Darwin.

In the end we stayed here for 6 nights, which is the longest we have stayed anywhere on this trip.  Partly this was enforced for the fitting of a rear windscreen and fixing of a starter motor, again (interestingly, we are trying a new tack with the starter motor now.  Rather than trying to keep water from entering the unit, the auto electrician who cleaned it up has kindly drilled two holes in the bottom of the casing.  It won’t keep water out anymore, but at least it won’t keep it in either!) but we also extended our stay because Darwin is a great spot to spend a few days.  Jules loved the Mindil Sunset Markets, the kids loved the pool, the water park and fish feeding at ‘Aquascene’, and I loved the all-you-can-eat seafood and steak buffet at ‘The Jetty’ (four deserts might have been one chocolate cake too far however), and of course getting to meet so many more friendly mechanics.  Nobody was too keen on the ‘unusual’ level of mosquito activity or the ‘unseasonal’ thunderstorms that had us up defending the integrity of our home at 3.30am one morning though.  (Yang, again!)

And so, with that lightening tour of the last couple of weeks over, we are at the end of our Gulf trip and ready to set out again on the next phase of the trip.  Only a few more days before we reach the Kimberly...

Creepy Crawlies

Our first stop along the Savannah Way which runs from Cairns to Broome was Undara Volcanic National Park.  (We’d skipped the chance to stop at Innot Hot Springs along the way.  Apparently very good but the air temperature was something like 36 degrees in the shade and the idea of boiling ourselves in bubbling rock pools didn’t do it.  If they’d have been “Icy cold springs”, there might have been more takers).

 Undara is a great spot – well worth a couple of days visit and the guided tour of the Lava Tubes.  The only downside was that as we pulled in, the car began misbehaving again.  I know that we are supposed to be education the kids as we travel, but I’m not sure the new vocabulary that they are learning from us each time something new breaks is quite what the school had in mind...

Next up, we pressed on to Normanton.  Spent most of the time there with my head under the bonnet of the car so can’t say too much about the place. 

The next day we headed south to the small town of Gregory Downs.  Not much more than a Junction in the road, but it does have a pub!  Though really just a timber and tin shed, it had a great atmosphere, cold beer and good food.  That night we were quite sorry to leave it and shuffle back to our bush camp a few hundred metre’s down the road. 

Back at camp we got the kids to bed and settled in around the fire. Then came the first strange creepy crawly incident of the night.  My head-torch light picked up the bright blue glint of something shiny in a nearby bush.  On closer inspection, the glint proved to be the refection in the eyes of a fair size spider.  Just to side, another set of glinting eyes...  A further sweep of the camp perimeter and a quick count revealed 30 or more pairs of eyes surrounding us – in the trees, in the grass, moving in along the ground... closer and closer (OK,  I’m dramatising now).

Just as we were becoming slightly creeped out by these creepy crawlies, Daniel cried out from the trailer; “Ahhh, I’ve just been bitten by something.  Ah, ah, it really hurts!”.  Rushing in thinking, OK, don’t know what these spiders are but they are not funnel webs or red-backs, so it’s not going to be too serious.  I flicked on the light and saw Daniel holding his hand in pain and something disappearing under the bedclothes.  Pulling the sheets back revealed not a spider at all, but a scorpion!  So here’s the thing; when you travel in Australia, they warn you about snakes and spiders and crocs and sharks and box jelly fish and a whole host of other stuff that can do you serious damage, but I don’t remember anyone ever mentioning scorpions.  As it turns out (after a hurried satellite phone conversation with Deb and some Googling, Australian scorpions are non-deadly and so after a bit of local anaesthetic, some anti-histamine, and a good night’s sleep (for Daniel – we were obviously awake most of the night) and he was as right as rain and looking forward to telling his friends at school that he has been stung by a scorpion!

Ahhhh. Port Douglas.

So that's what the warning signs are for...

We spent the weekend in Port Douglas.  Pool.  Beach.  (predictably) Coffee Shop .  Restaurant.  Repeat.  

We went to the famous cane toad races for the second time, only to discover that it is not an event worth going to twice. (And twice now I have had to step in for the cane toad kissing when the kids chickened out).  I do recommend the cruise down the Daintree on the Lady Douglas, though.  Much better than you’d think and the spotting of a couple of big ‘saltie’ crocs (finally!) made the trip for the kids.  There was also plenty of amusement was had at the expense of the caravan ‘village’s manager (think a female Basil Faulty).

Unfortunately it was over all too quickly and we had to say goodbye first to Ditmar, Jo, Baily, Olivier and Sam and then to Deb and Gary.  Time to head down to Cairns for car and trailer repairs and then to head off across the Gulf of Carpentaria...

Some Random Cape York Photos

I thought my car needed some work...

Bush Pizza at Chili Beach

The most northerly termite mound on the Australian Continent

A log bridge on the way to Vrilya Beach

Another Termite Mound

South

The car and trailer behaved well on the journey back to Cairns – so much so that we decided to take our time and travel back via a couple of spots on the west coast of the peninsula. Glad we did because Vrilya Beach was one of the nicest camps of the trip so far. Directions: Take a left 30km’s south of the Jardine River Ferry, along another 30km’s of corrugated track with the odd log bridge crossing, drop down on to the beach for another couple of km’s (if the tide is on your side), past the ship wreck and then floor the accelerator to get through the soft sand at the rear of the beach to a beautiful bush camping spot. (...I said floor the accelerator... Floor it!.. Whoops. Done it again. Beached As Bro). OK, so once both the cars that were towing anchors (sorry, trailers) behind them were snatched out of the soft sand we were able to spend a very relaxing afternoon and evening fishing on the stunning beach. The highlight for Daniel was catching his first ‘proper’ fish – a nice Golden Trevally – which he (air) kissed and released.

From our all too short stay at Vrilya, it was down to Weipa for some civilisation and supplies. At Weipa we said a sad goodbye to Steve, Jen, Phillip and Amanda, who were staying for a couple of days fishing before making their way back home. All of a sudden it dawned on us that the Cape York section of our trip was coming to an end. Nearly a month down already!

For the rest of us it was a quick overnighter at the Hann River Roadhouse, before heading down to a weekend of rest and relaxation in Port Douglas (though not before, in a surreal moment, we were stopped at 9am, a few Km’s south of Hann River by a couple of troopies full of Queensland’s finest, including a detective, for a Random Breath Test).

We're there!

Friday 27^th August. Eliot Falls to Punsand Bay – 132km’s.

It was only a short journey up the OTT and along the development road either side of the ferry ride across the Jardine River until we reached our next and final camp before the tip of Cape York, so we were all looking forward to a nice easy day. A couple of km’s up the track we hit Sam’s Creek, which required rock crawling over an S-bend route through deep pot holes of water and underbody crunching lumps of stone. Both Steve and I managed to remodel our cars’ left-hand Side-steps into a fetching curve, which is sure to add to the resale value considerably. About half way through I recalled a passage from one of our Cape York guides; “...the Old Telegraph Track is not recommended for vehicles towing trailers above Eliot Falls due to the numerous difficult creek crossings and challenging terrain”. One more deep-ish creek crossing (navigated with much less damage – definitely getting eh hang of this now) and we were back on the development road, cruising northwards and only a few km’s away from the tip. It had been a hard few days, with lots of hard driving and plenty of adrenaline pumping moments, but we were nearly there and feeling very good about it. Rolling along, a plume of red dust bellowing out behind us and ABBA playing loudly on the stereo I had a strange urge to climb onto the roof wearing a flowing taffeta frock... I didn’t though.

Saturday 28^th August. Punsand Bay – KM’s none!

We are spending 3 or 4 nights at Punsand Bay. We’ve got a pool, showers and a bar. Happy. Our camp is right on the beach so we wake up with an view of the beach and the beautiful ocean (beautiful, but somewhat torturous as the temperature is mid 30’s and the aquamarine water is soooo inviting... except for the crocs and the stingers...) The kids happily amused themselves for 20 hours or so playing sand wars and digging to the earths core.

Gary and I realigned the axel on the trailer this morning and replaced all the bearings. (Clearly it was Gary’s expertise that made this possible. I was just the grease monkey)

Sunday 29^th August. The Tip!

Drove the 12km’s or so from Punsand bay to the tip of Cape York. We went late in the day and had the whole place to ourselves (often there is a long queue waiting for their photo opportunity next to the sign. Being there was actually more pleasant than I had expected. There were fantastic views along the beach and over towards PNG. It was a nice little walk up there too. We hung around until the light was starting to fade and then headed back along the rough dirt track...

About half way back as we dropped down a bit of a ledge, I heard a nasty crunch. A couple of hundred metres later we had to stop as we had picked up a 2 metre long branch, 20cm’s thick that had wedged itself up between a cross brace and the exhaust. No amount of pushing and pulling would shift it, and so scrambling around in the dark, we tied a snatch strap on and using another vehicle, pulled the thing out. Good. On our way again. We jumped back in the car, eager to get home before it was completely dark,, turned the ignition. Click. Click. Dead starter motor. Bugger.

In the end we towed the car to clutch start it, and then limped back to camp. As if we hadn’t had enough excitement for one day, as I drove into camp, a two metre long snake slithered right past the site. We all jumped out of the car (!?!) to take a closer look. Elliot’s Reptile Book paid for itself when we were able to quickly identify that it was a non-venomous Black Headed Python (in fact the kids have clearly memorised every snake in the book as they were able to identify it from 10 metres away in the dark...

So, to cut a long story short, that is how, the next day I ended up sitting in Cape York Spares and Repairs, which is an incredible place in itself filled with rusting old vehicles and parts for every vehicle know to man (apart from a small brush for the solenoid of a 2001 Toyota Prado) for four hours getting my starter motor patched up so we can hopefully make it down to Cairns for a replacement... fingers crossed...

To the Tip – The Cape York Adventure.

Thursday 19^th August. Cairns to Cape Tribulation – 147km’s

On Thursday mid-morning we packed up our soggy trailers and headed off from Cairns on the next section of our trip: Four cars carrying eight adults and seven kids, to be housed in two camper trailers, one rooftop tent and another tent on the ground, for a two and a half day off road trip up and down the Cape York Peninsula.

With the vehicles and trailers creaking and groaning from the quantities of food and alcohol that had been squeezed aboard, we set off on the first leg of our trip to the Cape. Our original plan was to make it up to Cooktown that evening, but a late start followed by an extended lunch at Mossman Gorge (used to be a beautiful spot, now you have to park your car in a hastily constructed dirt car-park a few Km’s up the road and get a courtesy bus down. Don’t bother. A bit like the Three Sisters lookout in the Blue Mountains, this tourist spot has been ruined by its own popularity), we only made it as far as Cape Tribulation. I had a bit of a nostalgic moment as we decided to stay at an old backpacker haunt - PK’s Jungle Village! Even the fact that our party most likely consisted of the oldest and youngest people in the bar didn’t stop us having a good time and making the most of the $10 jugs of beer. When we pulled out of Cape trip the next morning, a couple of the group were complaining of head colds.

Friday 20^th August Cape Trib to Endeavour Falls – The Bloomfield Track - 144km’s

Left Cape Tribulation by 9am this morning, in convoy with us in the lead heading for Cooktown via the Bloomfield track. Much of the track is now sealed, but the first section out of Cape Trib offers some fairly steep gradients. All was going well until we hit a particularly steep section which had been concreted. Chatting away on the UHF and not really concentrating on what I was doing, we found ourselves on something like a 50 degree gradient without the power to make it the rest of the way up and without the space to reverse the trailer down. Unfortunately I couldn’t even drop into low range due to the concrete surface and any attempt to get moving again was met by a screaming and foul smelling clutch and no forward momentum whatsoever.. Stuck before even reaching Cooktown! – not our happiest moment and of course fantastic ammunition for the three Nissan drivers, particularly when we decided that the best option was for Gary’s Nissan Patrol to tow the Toyota and trailer up to the top of the hill. Still, at least we got our bad luck out of the way early on... Nothing else would go wrong now... Oh, hang on; a call from Steve behind me... better pull over because it looks as though the wheel of you trailer is about to fall off... yes, ha, ha, very funny Steve...very...ohhhh.

A quick tip for anyone heading off on a trip around Australia in a new camper trailer; before travelling, check to see that the bolts that hold the axel to the trailer, the wheels to the axel and the wheel bearings are all nice and tight. If you don’t know what these things are, best to find out. Luckily, I was surrounded by enough people who knew exactly what all these things were, and how to jack them up, strip them down, repack, retighten and reinstall them, that after a dusty and sweaty 45 mins of spanners whirring, we were back on the road.

A few Km’s further down the track, as the corrugations started in earnest, we saw our UHF aerial fly off into the distance. They say bad luck happen in threes... Luckily Ditmar was on hand with a spare and we were soon back on the road again, again. These delays, plus a lengthy stop at the infamous Lion’s Den Hotel where I felt obliged to shout the rest of the group drinks as payment for mechanical repairs and patience, meant that we only made it to Endeavour Falls, just above Cooktown, for the night’s camp. The campsite has pretty good facilities and was a good chance to take stock after what felt like a very long day.

Saturday 21^st August. Endeavour Falls to Hanush Campsite, Lakefield National Park – 167km’s

After a good night’s sleep we wake feeling refreshed and positive. Driving through the stunning landscape of Lakefield National Park only improves our mood – pleasant stops at imaginatively names lagoons filled with white lily’s (White Lily Lagoon) and red lilies (Red Lily Lagoon ) and then into a great little bush camp called Hanush waterhole.

Sunday 22^nd August. Hanush to Port Stewart – 246km’s.

60Km’s or so west of the Peninusla Development Road is a mosquito infested mangrove swamp called Port Stewart. Someone said it was an old WW2 navy base, but I didn’t bother to read the pamphlet so don’t quote me on that one.

Our arrival there probably felt more of a disappointment because for most of the day we had been driving through some amazing countryside – first up through some very minor roads (some of which were nothing more than faint tyre tracks in the grass winding their way through clusters of trees and the almost alien landscape of thousands towering termite mounds stretching out in every direction. Then, once we emerged from Lakefield NP, came the long straight red dust Development Road that runs up the spine of the Cape York Peninsula which not even the infamously punishing corrugations could spoil because of the beautiful scenery we were passing through.

Unfortunately, today was Steve and Jen’s day for minor disasters. Firstly they took a nasty crack in their windscreen from a rock thrown up by a reckless dirt-bike rider on a charity ride (!) who tore past Steve and cut in front of him with only metres to spare. Then, on a deepish creek crossing, the force of the water pulled off a driving light cover. The water was too murky to retrieve the cover (Gary did retrieve it the next day on the trip back out, but unfortunately by then, it had obviously taken on someone else’s 4WD tyres and lost.

Stopping for a spot of morning tea somewhere along that long and dusty road I noticed that we had all taken on a strange orange hue which I initially thought was the start of my first ever tan, but soon realised that even though no amount of washing would remove it fully, it was still in fact, just ingrained bulldust... either that or the car and trailer have also managed to pick up a fetching tan too.

Anyway, back to the mosquito infested mangrove swamp – it really wasn’t so bad; it did give us the chance for a quick spot of fishing (no luck) and the opportunity to pass the time in the car the next day with a game of ‘count the mosquito bites’. Daniel won with an impressive forty bites.

Monday 23^rd August. Port Stewart to Chili Beach – 322km’s.

Today was a fairly gruelling day. We drove 322km’s from Port Stewart to Chili Beach, which meant heading back inland, away from the coast until we hit the development road following that north and then turning right and heading east back out to the coast for something like 160km’s. Along the way were a fair few nice creek crossings – some of the deepest we have seen so far - plenty of hidden dips and blind bends and a mass of brutal corrugations. We had several Star Trek moments (“She canny take it much longer captain...she’s breaking apart”). The vibrations from the corrugations were enough to snap our second UHF aerial. As it was a spare that Ditmar had leant to me, I had some apologising to do. Luckily when we pulled into Archer River Roadhouse for a quick lunch stop, Steve managed to source an old, second-hand and slightly warped aerial from the workshop out the back for only ten bucks! In truth, it looks stronger than the two that we have snapped so far. Time and corrugations will tell...

By the time we rolled into camp, it was clear that everyone was pretty worn out. It wasn’t just the kids that were in bed before eight o’clock! He good news is that if the weather holds, we are planning a two night stop here (what luxury!) so we will have the chance to recharge and tighten a few more nuts and bolts. We cooked Pizzas over hot coals in the Hillbilly fry pan, which were a roaring success.

Wednesday 25^th August. Chilli Beach to Dulhunty River – 307km’s

Left Chilli Beach this morning after a couple of days R&R and headed for the Old Telegraph Track. We first attempted the ‘short-cut’ via the Frenchman’s track but 15 or so km’s later we came to Pascoe River. This crossing was significantly deeper and faster than any we had done before, with a step and technical entry. After some deliberation (and the rangers advice; “not suitable for Petrol vehicles or those towing trailers”) we decided that the long way around might be the most sensible option. In hindsight, we ended up traversing several crossings that were more challenging and could no doubt have made it across.

A long detour later we filled up on fuel at Bramwell Junction at $1.81/L. Luckily we didn’t need to fill both tanks so the bill was only $190... The bloke at the servo was on hand to give plenty of helpful advice about the Old Telegraph Track. “Bit of a tricky creek crossing coming up just down the road”. He wasn’t kidding. Palm Creek. Sounds quite nice. Hmmm. Although the creek itself was running very low, the approach was steep with large drop offs and steps that were clearly much higher than the distance under our cars and trailers... Certainly the trickiest creek crossing that I have attempted to date. However, we couldn’t turn back from two crossings in one day. Male pride would never allow it, so after much discussion, advice, standing and staring, more discussion, false bravado and a bit more discussion, one by one we bumped and scraped our way through. It’s a strange sensation when all you can see out of the windscreen of the car is earth. The kids who were watching from the opposite bank apparently all had a discussion of their own and had firmly decided “he’s not going to make it”. But with only a few minor scratches and a buckled rear support leg on the trailer we were through. Later I received the ultimate compliment from a Nissan driver when he said laconically: “I was surprised how well your Toyota handled that creek”.

Thursday 26^th August. Dulhunty River to Eliot Falls – 127km’s

Had an eventful day on the Old Telegraph Track today. Came up to Gunshot Creek, the notoriously difficult creek crossing. Plenty of blokes standing around discussing the best way through. Early on it was clear that we weren’t going to be able to able the trailers through. But after much debate and gnashing of teeth, it was decided that the trailer-less vehicles would give it a go. If any of the vehicles were going to make it, the GQ Patrol would do it! Fast forward 5 minutes and the Patrol nose down at the bottom of the creek, resting on its bull-bar and we are looking for a convenient tree to start winching off... Steve reckoned he’d found a slightly easier route so once we had winched out the Patrol, it was the Navara’s turn...nice and slow...easy does it... crunch... another vehicle standing nose down in the creek. This time snatched out by the Patrol. Even knowing that the trailers wouldn’t make it, we still had a heavy heart when turning them around and heading for the 25Km detour. Was this going to be our last ‘good’ creek crossing opportunity..?

We stopped at Fruitbat Falls for a late lunch and then at Eliot Falls for the night’s camp. Both had beautiful swimming holes which were a welcome relief from the hot dusty day. Eliot falls campsite is well worth a stop and even had a water tap and flushing toilets. What luxury. Elliot complained that they had spelt his name wrong, but all was good when he found a dead Northern Death Adder in our campsite. Still of course potentially highly venomous despite it’s deceased state, we gave it a wide berth and instructed all children to do the same – no touching / poking with sticks / picking up and moving. Strange then that by the morning it had moved to several feet away.... Elliot!!