Cape York....tick

After about 12 months of planning we finally realized our dream of travelling up through Cape York and to the most northern tip of Australia.

Who went? Well, we are a mixed family including myself and my partner Brett and his kids Brodie (13) and Annieka (11). I would’ve loved for my girls to come along on this trip too but at 16 and 18 the idea of bush camping with no facilities was like ‘eeww, get real mum’.

We only had a little over 2 weeks off work and also had to fit in with school holidays so this was something of a whirlwind trip but gave us a good taste for where we might stay longer next time. Ideally several weeks is needed to really explore the Cape.   We went on our own, no back-up vehicles, but never had any problems. Many people seem to opt for travelling in groups which, earlier in the wet season, would be very sensible or perhaps even compulsory.

We had an itinerary written down and I did book some of the National Park campsites we planned to stay at (www.nprsr.qld.gov.au). You can no longer pay at the site, you have to book ahead online or by phone which is a bit hard when you’re actually travelling in the Cape without any reception. This felt a bit restrictive but worked out fine in the end. Eliot Falls is an absolute must as it is very popular and was probably our favourite spot.  It is possible to set up at numerous free bush camps along the Old Tele Track and drive to the falls for a swim through the day, but NP only charged $21.80 for a family of 4 per night so we stayed there. Our itinerary did change somewhat. We had planned to stay longer at Punsand Bay but found two days long enough. This decision was impacted by the fact that we didn’t take the legs for our camper which sits on the back of the ute. This meant that once set up we were stuck without the use of our vehicle. There is only so much walking one can do around Punsand Bay, and we’d heard the fishing was better at Vrilya Point so we headed there instead. 

We ‘did’ the Old Telegraph Track which was one of the highlights of our trip, and we also did the Frenchman’s Track which was also well worth it.  Both were fairly easy considering how dry it was – straight after the wet season and this would be a very different story. The Frenchman’s Track was slow going, averaging about 10-15km/hr due to the corrugations and ruts. The hardest part was crossing the Pascoe River, east to west. Crossing the river itself was not difficult (it was only about 2 or 3 feet deep) but taking one look at the steep rocky exit would be enough to scare many people off. With diff locks engaged, Brett made it look easy walking the Rodeo up without any problems.  A German couple ahead of us in a standard troop carrier made it up as well albeit a little rougher, the troopy was bouncing around all over the place.

The Old Tele Track presented some challenges too but we tackled them all without any problems. The first (dry) creek crossing was Palm Creek which we approached as several other people who camped beside us the night before were turning back. There are 2 options, the first is steep and rutted but there is also a second option about 50m away, past the camp site. The second option is a bit easier and was the one we took. Gunshot Creek has the infamous 2-3 metre almost vertical drop entry/exit, but it also has a ‘chicken’ track further to the left (not the Bypass road) which was easier.  There was a creek crossing, which we still aren’t sure of the name as it was not marked on our map (just after Fruit Bat falls) which looked a bit deep and murky. Fortunately the Heathlands ranger, who was just ahead of us, ploughed straight through and we just followed him. Nolan’s Brook was the only other deep water crossing but sticking to the right hand side (heading north) meant we avoided the deeper section. We had checked out many of the ‘failed’ attempts at these crossings that you can watch on Youtube so already had an idea of what to expect.  We were looking forward to watching other people attempt some of the crossings but apart from a few campers and the German couple at the Pascoe, we didn’t come across anyone else attempting crossings at the same time as us. In fact it was very quiet indeed.

I kept a journal throughout the trip so if you are interested in reading more about our trip, this will be published very soon. There will also be lots of photos – I promise!