Cape York -Thursday Island–6 August 2011

Nobody knows who named Thursday Island .

Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame named Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday Islands but doesn't mention Thursday. Someone must have decided to continue the series.

Thursday Island was chosen as the administrative centre for the area as it has a good harbor. All the towns from Weipa up are supplied by boat so this is very important.

Australia's boundary goes nearly to New Guinea here and as it is a complex border to manage there are a lot of public servants in residence.

 

 

We went to Thursday Island from Seisia with Peddells Tours on the Strait Magic. They operate a bus tour around the Island. After that bus tour is finished one can also go to Horn Island to see the WW2 historic sites but we chose to remain on Thursday Island.

Pinctada Maxima and Trochus shell was harvested here for haberdashery with some pearl as a by product. We visited the cemetery and saw the Japanese Pearl Divers Memorial. The Japanese were brought in after the Samoans went on strike.

We then went to the Green Hill Fort. This was built to protect us from the Russians. It only ever fired one shot in anger across the bows of a ship who refused to declare her name during WWI. She promptly declared her name and things went back to normal.

Under the fort in the storerooms there is a very interesting small museum documenting the History of the area.

This was a very busy area during WW2. Horn Island , opposite Thursday was bombed 8 times. There were many planes in the area and dogfights going on frequently. Thursday Island was not bombed and rumor has it that this was because a Japanese Princess was buried in the Island’s cemetery.

After the tour we went to the markets, genuinely local, and bought some tea.

We then went to the Gab Titui Cultural Centre. This is well worth seeing. It is well curated and has interesting artifacts. It also showcases work by local artists which can be bought. Within the centre there is a lovely little cafe called Ilan Life. They have great coffee and a nice range of meal choices.
As Torres Strait is so dangerous ships going through it have a pilot. The pilots are based on Thursday Island.

The Island has three pubs, this one Australia’s northernmost hotel, and numerous churches.  This one an Anglican Cathedral built as a memorial to the 133 souls lost when the SS Quetta with a pilot in command sank in the Adolphus Channel on 28 February 1890 when it struck an uncharted rock.

Cape York- the Tip, Punsand Bay and Somerset–5 August 2011

We drove up to the tip stopping at the Croc Store on the way. The Croc store has quality Australian Souvenirs. They give you a free one page map and description of everything you need to see in this part of the world which is well worth having.

It is an easy walk out to the tip especially at low tide when the sand flats are exposed. Here one is on the East and the West Coast of Australia at the same time.

Views to the East, South and West

We reached the tip.  The nothernmost point of the Australian Continent.
When we had taken a zillion photographs we went on to Punsand Bay for lunch. This is a camping spot / resort with a good kitchen. It is very attractive but too tight for our caravan.

From there we drove to Somerset. Somerset was established on the 21 August 1854 as a sign of British occupancy and a safe haven for sailors. With cannibals and head hunters in New Guinea and warlike Torres Strait and Cape Tribes shipwrecked sailors didn't stand much of a chance of surviving. Somerset was the administrative headquarters of the Northern Peninsula Area (NPA). John Jardine was placed in charge of the settlement, until he was succeeded by Captain Simpson in 1866. Soon after Frank Jardine was appointed Magistrate of the Territory and Chief Police Inspector a job he held until 1873. He was a tough man and the local aboriginals are reputed to have dug him up after his death and buried him head down so he would trouble them no more. They called him debbil debbil Jardine.

The Jardines had various commercial interests at Somerset, including pearling and cattle and are famed for the cattle drive they did in 1864-1865 to establish the Station.

Torres Strait is at the meeting place of two seas, the Coral Sea and the Arafura sea. This means there are different tides at each end. This results in strong currents and variable tide patterns. Sea levels are unpredictable and even now are taken from real time observations for the boats going through. Somerset was a difficult harbor and the administrative centre was relocated to Thursday Island which has a better harbor. The Jardines and related families continued to live and work at Somerset until they were evacuated during WW2 . They never returned. The house burnt down in the 1960's. Now all that is left is the cemetery, a couple of monuments and some guns.

The Somerset Beach is a nice spot for a picnic or an overnight camp. It has a shelter and a composting toilet.

Cape York–Jardine River & Seisia–4 August 2011

We left Elliot Falls and rejoined the Bypass Track and continuing to travel North we crossed the Jardine River on a ferry.

Seisia was recommended to us by campers down the track as a good base to explore the tip. It has a nice Caravan Park and is near the tip of Australia.
Seisia is an Islander community meaning that Torres Strait Islanders have settled here. Torres Strait is part of Australia but the ethnic grouping of the straits people is Melanesian.

We had a lovely site under a tree, with good facilities,  a kiosk where one can get meals and the very good Seisia Supermarket nearby.  The beach is beautiful and although you can't swim it is lovely to sit on the sand and watch the sunset.

Seisia is supplied by boat from Cairns twice a week. It is a popular pastime here to watch the boat loading and unloading. If your car breaks down irrevocably, beyond the mechanical skills of Top End motors, it can be shipped back to Cairns to be repaired and you can go home by boat too. We saw quite a few 4WD's going home on flat bed trucks so this is an alternate option. 

Cape York - Bramwell Junction, Eliot Falls–3 August 2011

We took the bypass track past Bramwell Junction, where the Telegraph Track and the Bypass Track diverge.  Bramwell Junction is immaculately clean and sells ice creams, pies and cool drinks. We found a lovely spot for lunch in the Heathlands National Park.

Just below Eliot Falls the Bypass track and the Telegraph Track intersect again, and we took the Telegraph Track into Eliot Falls.  Having navigated the water crossing and the Telegraph Track, John was a little too relaxed on the camping ground loop road and did not realize the turn was made too tight for our van, so that a branch took out the external light – fortunately we rarely use the one on the driver side and it did not damage the van.  The loop road in the camp ground is badly designed, as on the way out even with careful positioning [courtesy of Trish with the UHF radio], the van only made it through when Trish and some fellow campers held trees back from the van while John squeezed through.

We spent the night at Elliot Falls.  The park is not well maintained, unlike those in Western Australia, the promised showers don’t exist and the composting toilets were not functioning properly.

The falls themselves offer great swimming.  We watched some campers jump into Eliot Falls and sat and watched the water at twin falls.  The best swimming is at the Saucepan.

Trish used parts of the Saucepan Falls as a spa bath, for her early morning dip before we departed.

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.