Day 6 (Destination - Bramwell Station)
After a really good
sleep we all woke to the lovely sea breeze at Chili beach and packed up for
another day ahead. The plan was to take the turn off to Frenchman’s Track and
go as far as the Pascoe River crossing, see if it was do-able and if not, turn
back and head out the main road instead. We actually got to the Pascoe River
and were able to watch a German couple in their standard troop carrier do it
quite easily so of course we had to continue. All the guidebooks say its
easier to do west to east, but we were headed east to west which meant we came
down a steep dirt track into the river and then up the rocky steep and
slippery rather daunting looking exit. Not the recommended route apparently.
With camera at the ready, I walked the river and waited on the other side for
Brett & the kids to drive across. I was expecting him to stop before heading up the exit track but
Brett just kept going, walking the Rodeo up the rocks quite easily. The Frenchman’s track was awesome, well
worth the journey, even though we averaged about 15-20km/hr and it was full of
corrugated, badly rutted sections, and some challenging bits, that’s what made
it so much more interesting than just driving down a flat road. There were lots of 4WD’ing photo
opportunities so I jumped out and ran ahead so I could take photos of the Rodeo
navigating deep ruts and other tricky parts. It took us the best part of the
day but we ended up at Bramwell Station around late afternoon.
 |
| A crater on the side of Frenchmans track |
| The troopy about to attempt the rocky exit at Pascoe River |
| The entrance to Pascoe River |
| Coming down into the Pascoe |
| Coming down into the Pascoe |
| Made it through the Pascoe |
| Voila...survived the Pascoe |
| A huge termite mound beside the Frenchmans track |
| A quick dip in the Dulhunty river, part of the Frenchmans track |
| The exit from the Dulhunty River crossing |
More on the Frenchmans #1
More on the Frenchmans #2
More on the Frenchmans #3
Corregations on the Frenchmans
Bramwell is
Australia’s northern-most working cattle station. And hot showers, yay! They
also had a pub of sorts – the few chairs and tables under a tin roof with a bar
at one side. Seems quite popular with fellow travellers as there was a few
people camped there.
When we first
turned up, there was a cow trying to eat the rubbish out of the rubbish trailer
and kept having to be shoed away. There was also a quirky half-feathered
cockatoo which came running along the ground toward us from a nearby tree
before returning to his perch near the bar.
Arriving at Bramwell
At 5.30pm the rang the ‘happy hour’
bell and most people gathered at the ‘pub’ for drinks and a talk given by the
‘entertainment manager’ (as he called himself). The talk was basically about the history of the station and
how he himself came to be there.
Brett was most disappointed to hear that he was from Brisbane and not a
‘real bushie’. We had a few drinks then returned to our camp for dinner and
have a not-so-hot shower (maybe we just left ours too late and the hot water
was running out). Bramwell was an interesting place to stay, with some cows
roaming free and several young bulls in an enclosure just near our camp. These
was all quite used to people and allowed the kids to pat them – even giving
them a ‘kiss’ on the cheek. There
was also a brolga living in with bulls.
We slept to the gentle
hum of the station generator and woke to the sounds of crows and cattle.
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