Cape York - Moreton Telegraph Station–2 August 2011

From Weipa we drove to Morton Telegraph Station, planning a short lunch stop. On our way we were passed by a number of road trains heading north. We gave them an easy way to get past.

At Moreton Telegraph a loud squeak from the van convinced us to stay the night in order to replace the pivot block in the suspension. This is the part that supports the entire weight of the van, and is made of a synthetic rubber. It is designed to wear and be replaced from time to time. Having seen other Bushtrackers having to wait weeks to get spare pivot blocks sent to remote locations we carry spares and all the tools needed to do the changeover.

There are pleasant well cared for grounds and we had a nice shady camp under a mango tree.

The old Telegraph Station House is long gone. There is a very nice walk to Cave Creek, a natural rock bridge, and on past the lagoon. There is also a nice path into the Wenlock River.

The site offers limited facilities, cool drinks, meat pies and pasties. It is really set up for bus groups.

Weipa – 31 July to 2 August 2011

We went to Weipa to visit our friend and one time plumber Peter, his wife Pauline and daughter Annette.

Peter was on a trip around Australia when he was offered a job in Weipa. He said he would if they could give him a house for the coming wet. They had a house for him at 7.00 a.m. the next morning and he has been there ever since.

 

Weipa is like all mining towns. It has very good facilities including a nice camping park with a swimming pool and a good supermarket and Pharmacy. It is a good place to purchase things you might have forgotten. It offers a very good range of sports and the big thing up here and through all the Cape is fishing, which is excellent.  The caravan park is right on the beach, but as this is the start of crocodile country no matter how tempting the water one cannot swim.  It seems terrible until one remembers that the coast could be covered in resorts if not for the crocodiles.

Bauxite for Aluminium is mined here. It is sent away washed but unrefined. We did a tour through the Bauxite mine, following the process from the mine site to the loader for the rail cars to the port for shipping to processing plants.

It was also Tricias Birthday and John very ingeniously managed to fit her Birthday candles on the end of a zucchini.

Cape York–Coen & Archer River Roadhouse–28 July 2011

Coen River was named after the Governor of Batavia. The town was founded as a fort on the River and grew with the Gold Rushes. One of the original Repeater Stations from the Old Telegraph Line is preserved as Cape York Heritage House which is a museum.
 

Coen has a nice really clean little coffee shop and is a good spot for a break.

Outside Coen is the Quarantine Station. This is where one is given the brochures for travelling North. Not people to waste paper they wait to see if you are serious before you are given the information guides.
They are very serious about Quarantine up here as there are a lot of diseases that can come in from New Guinea.

We camped at Archer River Roadhouse. They supply meals and have good facilities. There is limited water. They have the most innovative use for Oppenheimer Poles, even using the insulators as part of the washing line.

We had a swim in the Archer River. We were worried about crocodiles but others had been before us. It was very refreshing.

 

This German Tourist didn't know how to change a tyre. Tricia didn't know whether to be appalled at his naiveté or impressed by his bravery.

John used it as a teaching moment, showing him how to use the manual to find the correct location for the jack and then helping to change the tyre.  As they said on the lid of Cabot paint tins in our youth: 'When all else fails read the directions."  Like most outback stations Archer River Station can repair tyres.

Cape York -Hann River Roadhouse, Musgrave Station – 27 July 2011

The Hann River Roadhouse is a good place to stop for morning tea or lunch. This is a lovely clean place with two German girls working so they can extend their visas and important to Trish they have German Magnum ice-creams. They have a tame emu which will follow you anywhere if you give it some cashews. There was a film crew visiting while we were there so we are looking forward to seeing it on Television at some time. There are other nice stopping places for lunch along the road.

We camped the night in Musgrave Station. Camping is on a first come first served basis so it is good to get there early. We are back to circling the wagons and people all want to camp close together.  If you are up the back you can be fairly alone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Overland Telegraph Line to the tip of Cape York was built between 1883 and 1887.

Musgrave Station was a Telegraph Station, built as a fort, and you can still see the corner gun points so rifle fire could shoot down either wall.

We have enjoyed tracking the uses Oppenheimer poles can be put too, here as a fence.

Camping is in a nice green paddock. There is limited water but no power. There are showers and flush toilets and a meal can be purchased.

We like to do that as we like to hear people’s stories and support the local eateries. This is a very happy place, people are happy at their achievement and pleased to go back with their vehicles intact or they are excited to be traveling to the far North and the challenges in front of them. We will not drive the Old Telegraph Track although our caravan is strong enough we don’t have the myriad support vehicles and winches we would need to negotiate the track. People mostly have roof top tents if they are trying to do the OTT.

Cape York–Laura – 26 July 2011

When we drove the Gibb River Road we had a nice itinerary provided for us by the Western Australian Tourist Bureau. Trish couldn't find anything like this for Cape York so this and the following posts give our driving itinerary, both up and back. We kept our mileage down to beneath 250 kilometres a day and this gave us a relaxing days driving and time to enjoy the route.

Our caravan and car will not do steep sided river crossings so the route through Daintree is inaccessible to us.

 
We took the Mulligan Highway and the Peninsula Development Road to Laura, our first campsite. This is a nice grassy site behind the Laura Hotel. There is limited water and power.

The road house has closed so one must provide ones own food. The Hotel is not excessively noisy but runs till late and by the time they have shut up the roosters are crowing, so Tricia did not get a very good sleep.

Laura was founded as a result of the discovery of gold on the Palmer River, but there is very little left of that now. Cyclones and Termites have a way of destroying history in the Far North. There is a little regional Park opposite the Hotel and a very good information centre at the Quinkan Regional Cultural Centre detailing the history of the area.

Cairns–19 to 26 July 2011

The drive up the coast to Cairns is magnificent with the sea on one side and the blue Mountains of the Great Dividing range on the other. Sugarcane is a lovely green crop to drive through.

We stayed at the Cairns Coconut Caravan Resort, one of the nicest facilities in Australia. We enjoyed one of Tricia's favorite Restaurants Hanuman. Hanuman melds different Asian cuisines.

This was our time to prepare for traveling North to the Tip of Mainland Australia.  Tricia was unsure what to expect so we looked up a good butcher on the net and did a big shop.

 
Our Engel car freezer where we store the meat stopped freezing. We are so glad it broke in Cairns as even though it started working again in the repair shop, Engel replaced the compressor unit under warranty so we would not have any difficulties up the Cape. The caravan park stored the meat for us.

 

It seems silly to clean before going into the dirt but we cleaned and washed everything.  We also went to the Cairns Show which was on for two days only.

On our last day we enjoyed a walk along the waterfront.   We saw a stunning ship called Vertigo, 63 metres long and powered by two masts over 60 metres each with a backup of 2 Caterpillar v12 1400HP motors.  Not your ordinary yacht!!

We learned on Thursday Island that it belonged to Leonardo di Caprio, who came ashore on Thursday Island for lunch at the local pub.  It was the talk of the town when we visited next day.

 
We like Cairns, it is a centre for the Cape and Northern Peninsula Area and has a great tropical feel.

 

Townsville–18 July 2011

Townsville is a lovely town with a strong military and educational presence and a busy port.

It is a great town to visit with lots of young people, a nice restaurant scene and a beautiful foreshore. We stayed in Rowes Bay.   It was named after Captain Robert Towns a Sydney businessmen who provided financial assistance to establish the town.  John thinks it should be called Townstown.

For us its defining feature is the Castle Rock a huge rock, overlooking  the centre of town.  The locals, who must be extremely fit, walk up in the evening around sunset for a magnificent view. We drove up and walked to the various vantage points.