Cape York - The Old Telegraph Track

The Old Telegraph Track

**unfortunately a lot of the 4x4 action shots in this blog are alittle blurry due to them being taken from various video footage.. 

Day 1
19 days after we left our caravans at Mt Carbine, 1850km of 4x4 tracks and corrugated dirt roads, we finally arrived at the beginning of the famous "Telegraph Track."
After a few quick photos we were soon on our way!

So many termite mounds!

In no time at all we had reached our first 4x4 challenge, the Palm Creek Crossing. 

Palm creek 

Exiting Palm Creek 

A steep drop into a hole not much wider than the car, into a puddle of mud, and a reasonably steep rocky climb out the other side greeted us.
Both cars tackled this crossing with no hassle, yeah!!! And we were soon headed towards the Dalhunty River Crossing. 

Arriving here we decided to set up camp here for the night. Although only lunch time, we were in no rush to complete the track. With some safe little swimming holes, we had a great day chatting with other people passing through.

Dalhunty waterfall 

Our little egg relaxing with a friend and a beer in the Dalhunty River. No cracks... yet!! 

Us!! 

Day 2 

Today we arrived at one of the more well known crossings, Gun Shot. 

With approx 8 different entry points, there were plenty of possible ways to tackle this one... With saying that, they all had extreme steep drops into varying depths of boggy mud below... 

The original Gunshot on the right. The one on the left is just as high... But not quite a vertical drop! 

Gary and I discussing whether I do or do not attempt this one... ;)

View from the top of The original Gunshot

The steep drop into the water below... 

The original drop though stood out from all the rest. This one is clearly for the clinically insane! A pretty much vertical straight down drop longer than the average car, that sent you nose diving into a deep, muddy puddle. 

This one was definietly off my list! Although I was considering taking its sister drop alongside.... Although not quite as steep, (not steep still equalled a nearly vertical drop.... But just not quite...) And still a deep, muddy puddle to make my way out of at the bottom... 

Arriving here we were greeted by a guy who had taken his trailer down one of the 5 smaller drops... And who's trailer had hit the back window of his car and flipped on the way down... Ouch....
Amazingly enough he was able to flip his trailer back over, and after covering his broken back window in cardboard and with a few extra scratches to his 200 series landcruiser, he was soon on his way again! 

Preparing to pull the trailer back upright with a snatch strap... 

The uprights trailer and the broken back window.. 

Before long atleast 15-20 cars had joined us and we all had a great time watching each other tackle Gunshot.
When my turn came around I choose to take one of the steep but smaller drops on the side. As tempted as I was to do the second biggest drop.... I was nervous about damaging the car when it sank into the near on 1m deep muddy puddle below..

Bit blurry... (These are still shots taken from a video of my turn on Gunshot..) 

Hitting the bottom!

Making my way out. I did it! Woohoo!!

Woohoo! Feeling pumped afterwards! 

Nobody out of the crowd who had gathered to tackle Gunshot that day was game enough to tackle either of the two big drops either!
Eventually though, one of the guys, Todd, who
had previously tackled Gunshot, said he would winch himself back up and take the third biggest drop back down again and offered to winch me back up and follow suite too!
I was possibly keen... Right up till the part where his car bottomed out whilst been winched back up gunshot and ripped the back side panel and bumper of his car off!!!
Unfazed and still managing to smile over the new modifications to his car, he soon showed the crowd gathered below how to tackle this part of Gunshot! He made it look easy and I was impressed! 

Todd winching back up.... And ummmm... Modifying the back of his car... 

Still smiling despite the damage :)

The crowd at Gunshot! 

Both cars at the bottom of Gunshot 

Our little egg was most relieved to of survived Gunshot 

After spending the majority of the day watching and assisting people tackle Gunshot, we eventually headed off towards Canal Creek.
Arriving here we set up camp right alongside the track which ran straight through the crystal clear waters of Canal Creek.
We then spent the remainder of the afternoon soaking in this little piece of paradise.

The girls enjoying Canal Creek 

  

Day 3 

Today we spent the day checking out and swimming in various swimming holes. From Eliot Falls, Twin Falls, The Saucepan, Sam Creek and then setting up camp alongside Nolans Brook.

Twin Falls 

Elliot Falls 

The girls relaxing near Twin Falls 

Fun times 

We crossed numerous water crossings, some deep and with steep drops into them. Most notable of the steep drops into water today was the Canon ball crossing.

Water crossing 

Dropping into Canon ball crossing  

The waterfall at Sams Creek 

Tyres off the ground action

We crossed the log bridge which made some serious cracking noises as we inched our way across, and slowly rock hopped the last 10km of the track to Nolan's Crossing.

The creaky log bridge 

The girls testing out the bridge 

Setting up camp again right alongside the track, we had a great viewing spot to watch as other cars crossed the deep, sandy crossing.
With deep crystal clear pools, some that were about 2m deep, rope swings and plenty of action to watch we had a great time camping here for two nights.

Nolans Brook 

Crossing Nolans

Tori sitting back at camp 

Day 4
Today we spent the day watching as other cars and even two motorbikes tackled Nolans. We cheered people on and offered them advice on where best to cross.
We messed around with the rope swings, and Gary built a log ladder for the kids to climb up. 

Day 5
Today we set off to finish off the Telegraph Track. We drove to the original Jardine Crossing, which is now only rarely used mainly due to the large water crossing and a large tree that blocks the exit.. (Though not impossible to manoeuvre around as we find out later in our travels when we heard that someone managed to make it across and around the tree!) 
The main way now is unfortunately via the Jardine ferry though...

 Ticking items of the Bucket List! 

Telegraph Track, DONE N DUSTED!

Our new sticker for the Car! 

Ella and I with our "I drove the Telegraph Track" tops! (Yes Ella did drive 15km of the track, crossings an all!)  

So after a few last small water crossings, some boggy sandy patches, corrugated and pothole filled road we had made it to the end of the Telegraph Track!!

Wow, what an adventure! Although with plenty of places on the Cape to still visit... And with plenty of rough roads to still tackle.. Our Cape York Adventure was far from over..... ;)
Next stop.. Mutee heads, Seisia, The Tip and everything inbetween!

Xx

Cape York - 3

Life after the Telegraph Track

After finishing the Old Telegraph Track we headed to Mutee Head for a couple of days.
Setting up near the river mouth we spent the next couple of days relaxing and fishing. 

Numerous warnings were posted warning us of the large amount of crocodiles that inhabited this area, yet much to our disappointment, we failed to see any!

From here we visited Seisia were we set up for a couple of days right along the beach.
The boys spent their days fishing and we even managed to see a couple of sneaky crocs at night!
Gary hooked what we are pretty sure was a large Macko Shark on his  line. Although unfortunately after a good fight, and it putting on a impressive display by jumping at least a metre out of the water and spinning in the air in the process.. It managed to escape being pulled up onto the beach and with one final leap into the sky it swam back into the depths of the ocean.

Tori also managed to hook a relatively large fish off Seisia Jetty... Only for a HUGE groper to come up and swallow her catch! Hook, line, sinker and fish! It was so big I first thought it was a tiger shark! 

The girls playing on a old boat on the beach 

Our beachfront camp 

Sunset 

My fav spot to sit back and read my book :) 

Fishing off Seisia Jetty 

From Seisia we headed over to Thursday Island for a overnight stay. Treating ourselves to a night in a motel was probably the highlight of the trip! A real BED after 4 weeks in a tent was unreal! The bathroom even had a REAL flushing toilet and running HOT water in the SHOWER!!!!! To top it off a fully cooked buffet breakfast was included in our room package! YES!!!! 

Waiting for the Ferry to Thursday Island. (pictured in the background) 

The girls relaxing with a turtle on Thursday Island 

We spent the first day checking out the views from the top of Thursday Island and joining in with the locals celebrating their multicultural festival.
There was locals singing and dancing, market stalls and a great vibe all round. The people of Thursday Island we quickly realized are beautiful inside and out. They are happy people who always have a smile on their faces and are some of the friendliest people. 

An old cannon on the top off Thursday Island

The view from the lookout 

That night us adults even managed a night out at the Northern most Pub of Australia. Being Karaoke night, we danced and sang the night away. We even were lucky enough to win a meat tray!! Woohoo!!

Tina and Me out the front of Australia's most Northern Pub 

Hello Breakfast!!! 

From Thursday Island we headed closer and closer towards the very Tip of mainland Australia. 

Visiting the Croc Tent 

We spent a day fishing at Sams Point where Gary had a successful day fishing.
After catching some Queenfish and good sized Trevally, he hit the jackpot with a huge 80cm Golden Trevally!

Gary's large GT

Some of the other fish caught that day 

The biggest problem of our day was trying to fit the fish in the fridge ;) 

That night we all feasted on the one Giant GT until we couldn't eat anymore.
The next day we finally decided it was time to head to the Tip! 

Camp at Sams Point

After a quick stop to check out the ruins of the old Somerset Resort, that once operated here, we parked our cars and walked the last 500m to the famous "Tip of Australia" sign. 

We made it!! 

Zaeja, Alari, Ella, Tori 

Practising my balancing skills... ;) 

Our little raw Egg Friend made it! Just... 

After 31 days we had finally made it! And our little Egg friend had safely made it also!! Yeah!!! Such a feeling of accomplishment was felt all round. Although it also was a sad moment as we realised we were now going to be on the downhill track... :(
This trip so far has been one epic adventure, and no words come close to describing the fun we have had! I didn't want it to end!
Chatting to one guy who was also at the tip taking a few photos, I had to have a laugh when he mentioned he had taken two days to get here from Cairns! Wow thats fast!!!
A few funny photos later, we headed off down the beach to set up camp for the night.
That night we celebrated with a few drinks and some sneaky fireworks!

Photos from around the Tip of Cape York

Parked on the beach at The Tip!

Our camp at The Tip 

Today's Kitchen view 

We sent the boys out to collect wood... I didn't realise they were going to add a new bullbar to our car... Lol

The next day we headed off to check out what's known as 5 beaches. Five beaches in a row joined by a 4x4 track. Although the beaches were pretty, the wind was quite strong so we didn't bother to set up camp.
A quick stop at Bamaga to pick up some fresh supplies, a quick detour to check out a WW2 DC3 plane wreck and we headed off for a night at a beautiful little campsite along a crystal clear little swimming hole. Jackie Jackie. Having it all to ourselves was the icing on the cake! 

WW2 DC3 plane wreck 

A Frilled Neck Lizard caught by Gary 

Jackie Jackie Camp 

The kids had a great time playing in the pool and Tina and I spent some time weaving Baskets and Mats out of washed up rope we had found on various beaches.
From here we headed back over the Jardine River Crossing and decided to head back to one of our favourite spots on the Old Telegraph Track.... Nolan's Brook.
Setting up here for 2 nights we loved chatting with the many other people attempting this crossing and helping a few of the people who managed to get bogged in the soft, sandy water.
Being Alari's 8th birthday, we all had a great time helping her celebrate. Also to her delight, being school holidays there was a lot of other kids around to help her celebrate her special day. 

Alari's 8th Birthday 

Fruitbat Falls 

Ella and Alari sharing a cuddle at Fruitbat Falls 

A quick overnighter at Gunshot to check out some more 4x4 action turned out to be quite eventful when the boys ended up helping a guy who bravely decided to tackle the original gunshot! 

Unfortunately he forgot to pull his winch out before going over the edge...  So when he got stuck in a near on vertical position his winch became inaccessible! The boys dug for what was approx 1hr hoping to pull the winch out. Finally they reached the winch but then the winches fuse blew! 

The only option from here was for Paul to pull him out with his winch! 

Finally with one last pull he made it out! Still managing to smile and have a laugh and with no damage to the car, the boys all cracked a well earned beer! 

Stuck fast... 

Gary trying his best to find the winch.. 

Paul winching the car out :) 

As for our little Egg... Well Unfortunately as every little raw egg knows... His life is short and his time was coming to a end.. After making it to the Tip it was time for his next adventure... 

Unfortunately his next adventure involved a frypan and My breakfast... 

🍳🍳🍳

Xx