After leaving Cooktown our journey to the top of Cape York with Geoff and Liz (in their own vehicle/tent) started with a stop at Isabella Falls (located just at the side of the road) and then a visit to Old Laura Homestead.  The day was dry and hot so gave us some idea of what it must have been like living there.  The home was originally from the 1800’s and was complete with all the side buildings.  It was abandoned in 1966 and the land is now part of Lakefield NP.  We stayed at Laura where we visited Split Rock, an aboriginal art site which has been listed by UNESCO as one of the top 10 rock art sites worldwide. The art was well marked and easy to see.  We also had a drink in the Laura Pub for some local atmosphere. The next day we visited the Quinkan Cultural Centre/ Aboriginal Information Centre.  Should have done that first as much of the artwork was explained there.  The Centre was impressive and well done with really interesting displays about local indigeneous culture & country as well as displays about the pioneering history of the area, including the gold rush and grazing.  I met an old fellow in the caravan park (CP) who said Laura (population 80) was paradise and I shouldn’t tell anyone about it.  He liked it quiet!

Our travels took us to the Musgrave Roadhouse (lunch stop) and then Coen – home of the ‘Sexchange Hotel’, where Dick and I stayed in a free camp on the river (was like a deserted garden of eden in a dry riverbed).  Stopped at the Archer River Roadhouse on the way to Chilli Beach, where we had lovely camping spots almost on the beach.  Need to beware of falling coconuts and crocodiles, so no swimming there.  The beach was quite beautiful but very windy and littered with ocean rubbish, mostly thongs and plastic junk.  We managed a bit of beach and bush walking between rain showers and explored the local area with a drive to Portland Road and Lockhart River.  As Lockhart River is an aborginal community where no alcohol is allowed, Dick hid his beer in the bushes at our campground. It was dark when we got back and someone else was in our camping spot so we drove in and Dick surreptitiously dove into the bush and retrieved the beer before moving to another site. (They probably thought we were smugglers.)

Lockhart River has an airstrip built during WWll.  The Lockhart River Arts Centre, which was the attraction, is an incorporated not-for-profit body funded by the government and sales of the artwork.  We had a good look around and liked what we saw. “The Art Gang” based here are the best known of north Queensland’s aboriginal artists, and have a forthcoming exhibit in the USA later this year.  We met a few of the women artists, but unfortunately no one was painting when we were there.  Generally you can watch them work in a large studio at the back of the gallery.  We kept being drawn to paintings by one artist, Irene Namok, and in the end we bought two of her paintings (an extra discount pushed us over the line with a second painting).  They will be our present to us from this trip.  50% of the proceeds go to the artist and 50% to the art centre for supporting the artists.  Stayed so long there we just had a quick look at the beach, got fuel and did the hour’s drive back to camp arriving as darkness descended (generally not a good idea in this area).

After a rainy, windy night our drive out was through much deeper water crossings and the road required full attention.  Ended up camping at Merluna Station (a working cattle station(ranch)) which was a good overnight/laundry stop.  Had a short drive to the next stop, Moreton Telegraph Station, where we had a two hour afternoon stroll to the river, a natural bridge and a lagoon before enjoying a roast chicken dinner in a lovely outdoor dining area with our travelling companions, Geoff and Liz.  This was based in buildings which were parts of the original telegraph station built in the 1880s.  Because we were gluten free they made us a special desset of pears poached in red wine with pouring cream (not often we get the good stuff!, especially in the remote areas).

Set a record by getting on the road at 8:25am (normally its closer to 10am), stopped for a photo with the large termite mounds at Bramwell Station and ventured a few kilometers down the unmaintained Old Telegraph Track (OTT) to the first water crossing, before turning around very pleased that we did not have to drive on that track.  The OTT is the remnants of the original telegraph track that was constructed through the centre of Cape York during the 1880’s to facilitate the telegraph line from Cairns to Thursday Island.  The OTT is one of Cape York’s most notorious 4WD tracks, recommended for experienced 4 WDrivers with recovery gear and it ‘claims’ many vehicles each season.

Fruit Bat Falls was our next stop for a nice swim and lunch, before we drove to the Jardine River Ferry and paid $100 for a 2 minute river crossing (& return trip). The info centre at the Croc Tent gave us a good introduction to the NPA (Northern Peninsula Area), road conditions and things to see.  Crossing the Jardine River into the NPA put us in a totally different area, quite different from the rest of Cape York. The population is a mix of Aboriginal, Islander, European, and Asian.

We spent two nights in a lovely campsite on the beach at Punsand Bay, and from my bedside window I could see the sun rise over the beach.  Not often I take sunrise photos!  From there we visited Somerset, ruins from early European settlement with history dating back to the 1860’s. We attempted the five beaches 4 WD track but turned back before beach two as the track was too rough and narrow.  The highlight here was the trek to The Tip for a photo with the infamous sign. The Tip is the northern most point in Australia just 10 degrees south of the equator and 180 km’s (112 miles) from Papua New Guinea.  It is a peninsula with the Coral Sea to the east, the Arufura Sea and Gulf of Carpentaria to the west and the Torres Strait to the north. It was a 1.5 km climb over a rocky headland with great views and then a walk back along the beach, as we had timed our trip for low tide.  After driving 6100 km’s (3790 miles) north from Sydney we had reached the top and will now start heading southward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This part of our journey has a bit of variety and lots of driving (1716 km’s in 7 days).  After leaving the Gorge, we headed for the Sapphire Gemfields west of Emerald in the Central Queensland Highlands.  In Rubyvale we did a walk-in underground sapphire mine tour and learned about how sapphires are formed in volcanoes and how they are mined by hand. We had a long chat with some jewellers/miners there, who shared ex-pat heritage and ages with us, and also directed us to an unknown free camp outside of town.  This area contains over 900 square kilometers of Sapphire bearing ground and is one of the largest such areas in the world.

We then drove to Eungella NP in the Mackay Highlands and arrived at Broken River camp at 5:15pm, just in time to see some platypus in the creek beside our camp.  Hurray!!  I saw my first platypus’ in the wild – very exciting.  Thanks to Suzanne and Andrew for recommending we stay there.  It was a great place to see animals.  I got up at 7am and saw a large turtle(dinnerplate size) in the river and a brillant blue kingfisher by the river.  I had the platypus viewing platform to myself, waited a while and then saw lots of platypus quite close up.  Decided platypus will be my symbol for this trip so I bought the platypus necklace and earrings made by a local craftsperson.  We visited a great lookout called Sky Window and did a 3 km walk in the sub-tropical rainforest to see the Tree Arch of strangler figs.  Reminded me of why I hate rainforest walks – it was muggy, muddy, dark and I got a leech on my leg inside my trousers. Returned to camp for more platypus viewing and also saw a mother and baby turtle and another blue kingfisher. It was a successful stop and I would recommend that campground.  Its still the most reliable place you can spot a platypus in the wild, and there are lots of other birds and animals and drives and walks, but our highlight and focus was the platypuses.  Also had a night time chat by the fire with our neighbors who were from Ireland and Scotland, so we got some tips for the next trip.

We set a record for us by leaving camp at 9:30am for the drive to Townsville, via Mackay and Proserpine. Interested to see if there was any visible damage in these areas as Cyclone Debbie hit them hard not long ago.  Mackay looked fine but when we stopped in Prosperpine for coffee we thought it looked very run down, until we realized that the cyclone damage was prevalent and in some blocks in the main street all the shops were under construction as the roofs were taken off by the cyclone.  Booked into an over 50’s CP in Townsville with a daily happy hour and a bonus of laundry basket with trolley.  Funny what little things can now give pleasure!  Had a catchup/stockup day in Townsville, did a quick drive around town and then drove up 3k ‘s to the top of Castle Hill with commanding views over the harbor, and with all the fit people in town running or walking up that hill.  Thanks Lesley for suggesting we do that.  Got takeaway Vietnamese for dinner as we don’t expect to get that kind of food up in Cape York.

Then for a complete change of pace, we drove to our friends, Chris and Christine, who live in Wonga Beach, north of Cairns.  It was like staying in a luxury resort with a full time gourmet cook and gardener.  We enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing time with them and they spoiled us.  We had to leave after two nights or we might have never left.

We drove the sealed road over the range (lots of curves) and through lush tropical rainforests to get to Cooktown, a small, historic coastal town.  This is where Captain James Cook grounded his ship ‘The Endeavour’ on a coral reef in 1770 during his voyage of discovery.  The Captain Cook Museum is excellant, with great displays featuring diary excerpts from Cook’s diary and from Bank’s diary, telling how they got off the reef, got safely ashore and repaired the boat so they could continue sailing on. One of Cook’s anchors was recovered from the reef in the 1980’s and is now on display in the museum along with one of their cannons. The displays also detailed their contact with the local aborigines (they called them Indians) and their surprise at seeing kangaroos (“animals that looked something like greyhounds but they hopped”).  It was very interesting since we were in that place.  There is a statute of Cook in the main street and a cairn marking the spot where they beached.  In two weeks they are having the annual re- enactment of Cook’s landing.  Too bad we’ll miss it!

We stocked up with fruit and veg at the local Saturday morning market, had a takeaway seafood lunch at the harbour, ate dinner in a historic hotel originally built in 1874, visited the lookout, botanic gardens and the Vera Scarth-Johnson Gallery.  That gallery contains the only collection of original botanical illustrations of flora from this region.  Vera Scarth-Johnson was a botanist, an artist and an avid conservationist who wanted to graphically record all the flowering plants in this region.  She donated her collection of completed works to the people of Cooktown.  Her works are stunningly beautiful and well displayed in an innovative building called ‘Nature’s Powerhouse’ located in the Botanic Gardens, which are lovely and were started in 1878.

In Cooktown we also met our friends who we are travelling with up to Cape York, Geoff and Liz, and we started the planning process for the trip. Overall we had a pleasant 3 nights in Cooktown, it felt like a friendly, welcoming town.