First stop Isabella Falls for a quick swim to cool off. Kids had a good time sliding down the falls and every time cars when through the crossing they sprayed the kids. Seems to be a game that all the locals know as they did not seem to slow down at all, not like the tourists.
Back in the car, next stop Saltwater Creek campsite, stopping at Old Laura homestead for a few pics.
Also dropped into a site that recommended by a guy I spoke to at Isabella Falls, Kennedy Bend No 2., he had been there a few month earlier and that water level was a lot higher, seems we were a little late. We drove into Saltwater Creek campsite and things were a little similar, no flowing water and whilst still very pretty, just very dry. After driving around all the different options there was some reluctance to camping here on our own. Saltwater would be very different earlier in the year and could really see the possibilities. With some (well 1) of the passengers not happy with this location we headed on up the road looking for better option, we dropped in to Annie River, once again did not pass the test although looked a great spot to do some fishing, next time. We finally got to our preferred destination, Musgrave Roadhouse. Good little spot, no service though. In the morning we headed down to the lagoon behind the camping ground where they have about 8 freshwater crocs that they feed; we missed the feeding but still managed to spot one along with a heap of turtles.
The next day was more driving up the PDR (Peninsula Development Road), it seems to be pretty good although a little rough in spots.
Nowhere near as bad as I was expecting just lots of red dirty, corrugations and the odd dust hole.
Everywhere there is an old building there are also massive mango trees, stopping at a waterhole opposite a Eco Lodge (closed) there were lots of wallabies around, seems that they think that green mangos are good chewing and far better than the dry grass on offer. There was a heap of magpie geese on the lagoon, managed to get a couple of pics, they were not really worried about me, but I spooked them a little to get them up in the air for the picture.
We managed to get in to Bramwell Station mid-afternoon, was hoping to get one of their famous schnitzel but only pizza for dinner that night.
Next day, more red dirty and corrugations.
We headed into Eliot Falls where we are booked for the next couple of nights. The hard thing about booking online with your phone is that the campsite maps normally do not come up clear. The road was rough on the way in but well worth it. Anyway, we had a good shaded site just took a little squeezing to get in. Set up, we headed down for a quick swim, what a place. We could have easily stayed longer.
Here we met a few other campers and spent the night eating great food and drinking nice wine.
The next day we got out the life jacket and borrowed a noodle and drifted down the river from the Saucepan to Twin Falls (via Eliot Falls), this was a great option and managed to take a few pics with Charlies GoPro.
More swimming in the afternoon and then another good feed of Coke Pork Spareribs in the camp oven thanks to our gracious neighbour (Simon), this is becoming a common occurrence.
Another slow morning packing up whilst the kids and Cindy did another float down the river. All packed up, quick dip to wash of the dust and cool off before getting in the car again. We stopped off at Fruitbat Falls, another special place but you cannot camp there.
Swim down and lunch made we headed off again, more red dirt and corrugations. Seems that they are not getting any better but still heaps better than expected. Managed to get to the Jardine River ferry around lunchtime, well seems we are now on Island time, shutdown for lunch, back later was the word on the street from all the other campers waiting. They manage to get back about an hour later and then we were off again. Not the end of the world as it gave us a chance to do some emails and sort out the issues at hand.
We were a few hours behind Simon, he managed to get us sorted at Punsand Bay campground. This will be our home for the next 5 nights whilst we explore the top end and do a little fishing. Now just like everywhere else we seem to be staying, its magic.
It seems that everyone is on the same journey and we are running in to the same people. Had a great night.
First day in Punsand was spent trying to get things sorted and arrange a fishing charter.
Also needed to head into Bamaga to do emails, shame there was not service at Punsand Bay like we were initially told, ended up spending most of the day in Bamaga getting all things sorted.
Another good night was had but early to bed as we planned to head to the tip the next day.
The Tip, well it was worth the drive, even though it was a winding as hell. Took the usual pics and then headed off to towards Somerset for more exploring. Seems there are just racks that lead off everywhere. Somerset was another great little bay although limited services. From here we started the trip back towards Punsand Bay but with a slight detour to Narau Beach. This was a pleasant surprise and once again would be great place to camp if there was less wind.
On the way back to camp we stopped in at the Croc Tent for some souvenirs…..
That afternoon Charlie and I along with Simon headed off in search of a secret fishing spot to catch Barrie, a spot at the mouth of Jackson Creek. We were told to keep an eye out for “longtails”, did not see any but there was a nice big slide up on the bank where we were fishing….no success on the fishing though.
On our last day at the top Charlie and I headed of on a fishing charter for the day, was a great day although results were very limited, really would have like to do more reef fishing but this just didn’t happen. Charlie manage to catch a few, and one great Queenie was landed. Seems the sharks are pretty hungry up in these waters and we lost a few others to them.
Whilst the boys were out fishing the girls headed to Thursday Island on their own little adventure. This was a great opportunity for them to see the local culture and have a good look around.
The top done we packed up and started the long trip south and to our surprise the road was still pretty good.
We managed to get to our stop for the night, great free stay on the banks of the Coen River. There was phone service there and managed to get a few emails done before heading off again in to the land of no service. Charlie decided he should have a little fire on the rocks by the creek, so we had to do this before we left that morning.
Fire done, we headed across towards Karumba on the Dunbar road, what a great option this was, no traffic and in great condition. Well except for slight little error that was made when crossing the Mitchell River, ended up bogged in the sand. Might I say, good job, if you are going to get bogged do it properly. Out we jumped to assess the situation, Max tracks off the roof and just about to get the shovel when a grader came around the corner. Well that saved a few hours and a lot of sweat, snatch strap out and away we went again. The driver took off quickly before we could really thank him, luckily, we caught up with him about 15 kms down the road and slipped him $50 for a beer or two.
The trip to the cape was a great experience, whilst we did not do the Telegraph Track it was well worth the effort, bucket list ticked. Think we were lucky, there was very few people around, the road was far better than what we expected although the red dust is everywhere. Think we could do it again and hopefully see the areas we did not see this time, maybe catch more fish, and get less wind.
