Daytrippers Aussie Adventures

Cape York - part 2

After leaving Lakefield National Park, we headed up the developmental road towards Coen.
Although the road was straight and free from 4x4 obstacles and with the bonus being we could actually get our cars out of second gear (unlike the first part of our trip) it was highly corrugated, with numerous potholes and I didn't rate the road very highly.
With every surprise pothole I found myself repeating to myself quietly in my head...
"Its all part of the adventure .."
Then BAM!!! (Another pothole...) Grrrr....
"Its all part of the adventure...."
BAM!!!! (That's another one!)
Hahahaha!!
Don't get me wrong... I LOVE my 4x4 drives! They are the best! And I lovely the challenges that can be presented and eventually overcome (so far!!) What I don't always love is lonnngggg... straight... boring.. corrugated roads with numerous potholes! But hey... I'm not whinging! Its all part of the adventure right...????? ;) ;)

Some of the local wildlife along the way. (This one was unfortunately killed not long before we took this photo...)

Gary, the girls and a large Blue tongue

Arriving at Archer River we had soon set up camp on a great little spot along the river. Better still, it was completely crocodile free and we were able to cool off in the water.
Being late August, the weather has been quickly heating up, and the further north we have headed, the warmer it has been getting!
For everyone back home.. I know this sounds strange.. (August is still usually freezing in Adelaide...) But up north this time of year can start to get hot quite quickly!

From Archer River we headed up to the very beautiful Chilli Beach.

The kids spent 2 entire days playing in this tree!

We spent the next two days relaxing on the beach under palm trees whilst drinking from the many coconuts found in the palms and eating dozens of Oysters straight of the rocks!

Jungle boy (aka Gary) collecting us some coconuts the traditional way...

And collecting more coconuts the not so traditional way... ;)

Me in Coconut heaven! Bliss!!

At night we watched as thousands of birds put on one amazing aerial display, flying in a huge tight knit bunch and forming all kinds of shapes before landing on a small island just off the beach. It truely was an amazing sight, and something none of us had ever encountered!
After a few lazy days on the beach we headed off to challenge the Frenchman's Track!
Little more than a goat track, we spent the next 5hrs negotiating the many hurdles along the track.
Crossing the Pascoe River and rock climbing up the other side would have to be my highlight of the day. The river crossing was simple enough, but the steep rock climb afterwards got a little tricky right at the top due to a large hole and not a lot of traction.
Determined as usual, I wasn't keen on been winched up and insisted on taking a few more shots at it. Afterall... I had done the rest of the crossing and climb unaided... I was determined to do this last bit that way also!
Finally I managed to make it up! I was thrilled! Especially as a a few others that were there at the time needed to be winched!

Pascoe River Crossing

The climb up the other side. (This photo really doesn't show the rock hoping or how deep some of the holes were...) but it's all I have since I was too busy driving to take photos!

I'm not actually attached to that winch line... Gary was looking to attach it when I decided to give it one more go... Hehehe

That afternoon we stopped for lunch at the Wenlock Crossing before finishing off the Frenchman's track and heading towards Weipa for the night.

After a 2 day stop in Weipa where we stocked up on supplies we headed out to Pennyfather Beach.

After talking to some locals we were soon told about a great little campsite away from the main stretch that most people camp on.

Complete with hammocks, rope swings, a trampoline, and a treehouse all made from nets, ropes and other items that had been washed up on the beach, the kids and us, were in paradise!!

Hammock time!

Paul and Gary soon added a flying fox and an even bigger rope swing to this secluded beachfront playground. Tina and I added our touch by decorating a fishing net with shells to hang off the treehouse.

Ella trying out Gary's Rope Swing

The girls playing on the Flying fox

Me Flying high on Gary's Rope Swing

For Father's Day we had a "castaway" themed day where we all pretended tone stranded on an island and some of us even made our own "designer island wear" from things we found along the beach.

Castaways :)

My Castaway outfit ;)

Fathers Day dinner prep ;) not a bad kitchen!

Sunset

The boys spent their days fishing and Gary managed to hook a 1.3m black tip reef shark which made for a fun night!

Gary's Shark

Gary's Queenfish

The castaway gang ;)

After 3 days of "Castaway" fun we packed up our camp and after a quick stop in Weipa to pick up some last minute supplies we headed off for our next part of our 4x4 adventure...

Conquering the famous Overland Telegraph Track....

Cape York - The Journey begins!

With our Cape York part of our travels being such a big part of our journey, and with what i know will be alot to write about, I have decided to break it up into sections...
So here is the first part of our exciting adventure to the far North tip of what is Cape York.

The beginning....
And so it begins! Two families... Four kids, One Landcruiser and One Patrol and 1 raw egg. All headed out on what we hope will be our biggest adventure yet... Getting 1 raw eggs to the very top of Cape York.... Without it breaking... Oh and ummmm hitting 697,546 potholes and traveling 1000's of km up extremely corrugated roads and conquering some extreme 4x4 tracks and making some unforgettable memories in the meantime! ;)

Our egg friend amongst his friends

But back to the real story...

On August 20th, after saying our goodbyes to Gary's Family, we packed up our egg and left Cairns to start our HUGE adventure to far tip of the northern most point of QLD, Cape York.

Traveling with another family we had become close friends with when traveling WA. Paul, Tina and their two girls, Zeaja and Alari.

We all soon headed off towards Mount Carbine for the night. From here we spent the afternoon, and next morning, packing up the cars with hopefully everything we would need for the journey ahead!!

The Cape York Team

After putting the caravan in storage, we were all extremely excited to be setting off on this adventure together.
With plenty of time to tackle the Cape, and with plans to see as much of it as possible, we firstly decided to tackle the Bloomfield Track that takes us through Cape Tribulation and up to Cooktown.

Alari and Ella collecting their morning tea

This made me laugh!!!

We thought this birds head woven from Pandanus leaves was pretty impressive

Although a pretty track, this wasn't much of a 4x4 challenge and half way along we decided to take a "shortcut" to "Roaring Meg Fall," where we planned to spend the night.

This shortcut ended up being a extremely intense 4x4 track. With a ridiculously steep hill to climb at the start that just went up and up! There were times I thought the car was going to roll over backwards and I was gripping the steering wheel!!!
From here we spent the next 3.5hrs rockhopping, carefully negotiating steep drops, crossing rivers, dodging Buffalos and Boars and pretty much putting our 4x4 skills well and truely to the test!
The fact it took us 3.5hrs to travel 35kms... And I didn't manage to get any photos... Well that says a lot about this track!! I LOVED this track!!! And officially renamed it "Paul's shortcut."
Finally, we arrived at our camp were we set up for the night. Roaring Meg Falls.
We had a time relaxing around the camp fire and in the morning we headed out for a walk to the Falls.
The falls were beautiful, and the walk to and from them took us along the river and through pretty rainforest.
The track driving out was slightly slippery due to some slight rain, and I did hold my breath slightly as we descended down a steep hill and slid abit on the wet clay!!

Coolest tree ever!

A friendly green tree frog on some juicy paw paws!

That night we headed to The Lions Den where we caught up with my Mum and Dad for the night.
An iconic little pub not too far out of Cooktown, we enjoyed checking out all the memrobillia that adorned the walls of this place.

Ella and I at the Lions Den

Ella,Alari and Zeaja

Ella showing is her best Lion impersonation

Front Bar

Paul and Tina, Gary and Me enjoying happy hour :)

We enjoyed a dinner of seriously yummy pizzas that night at the pub, and also signed our names on the pubs walls amongst the thousands of others that have also added their mark here.

Lions Den

Ella adding her name to the wall of fame

Adding our names to the wall of fame

Tori at the Lions Den

Cooktown

Arriving in Cooktown we spent a little time checking out the local attractions. The kids thoroughly enjoyed playing on the Musical Ship and Gary and I found a welder to do a quick repair to a hole in our exhaust that had magically appeared over the past few days.

The Musical Ship

That night we all spent the night at a great free camp not far out of Cooktown.

Relaxing at a road side camp!

Early the next morning we said our goodbyes to my parents once more and along with Tina, Paul and all the kids we yet again set off up the coast.

Deciding to head to Elim Beach we were excited to arrive at a nice little campsite right along the beach.

Our Camp at Elim

We then spent the afternoon and next day exploring the old shacks that were dotted along the beachfront and searching the secluded beaches for washed up treasures.

Ella was thrilled to find this shack!

Elim Beach

Sand dune fun!!

Tori and Zaeja looking out over Elim beach

Checking out famous multicoloured sands along Elim beach

We visited this secluded beach which had literally thousands of washed up thongs and other bits of beach junk along it. What can I say...?? Litter is appalling... But one mans junk, is another mans treasure...???

Elim Beach Sunset

From Elim Beach we decided to follow the Coastal track up. Wow.... Over the next 2 days we followed what can only be described as a goat track... It twisted and turned and again we spent countless hours negotiating the harsh terrain. 200 and something km later, an overnight stay at a great little creek crossing, we finally arrived at our next destination, Bathurst Point.

Gary, the girls and a huge blue tongue lizard we found along the track

Our Little creek crossing camp

Gary cooking dinner

Setting up on the beach with a ready made tree swing for the kids alongside, we soon relaxed whilst throwing a line in the water and sat back to watch as the sunset over the ocean.

Camp at Bathurst

Alari and Ella enjoying the swing

Sunset at our camp

The next day we headed out for a walk around the point where we had heard we could collect some large oysters off the rocks.
After a short walk at low tide we were in luck! There were an abundance of oysters to be had and after eating atleast a dozen of these huge oyster each, we then collected another couple of dozen to enjoy that night for dinner whilst yet again watching the sunset over the ocean.