Cape York QLD
We stayed overnight at Mt Molloy in a free camping area just out of town. It was well populated already when we arrived and we found a patch that gave at least one Grey Nomad kittens as to how they would leave in the morning! Clearly he had no concept of reversing such a long caravan and the space behind our camper was a 'tight squeeze' for him (could have got a road train through there sideways).
We were told about these burgers at Mt Molloy that were rather large. They were massive! One burger fed all five of us. Apparently though happiness of having some custom was not enough to erase the grumpiness of the deep frier not working. After the burger some dessert was required, so we all headed to the Bistro at the pub next door. Dessert came with a side of live music in the form of the Hillbilly Goats. The kids thought they were brilliant. They played US hillbilly style songs and a wide variety of instruments (guitars, banjo, mouth organ, fiddle, tin whistle, wash board, and drums). After seeing them do some tap dancing to songs we all walked back to our camp.
Saturday morning we packed up and followed the Grey Nomads north. They mostly turned off to Cooktown and we headed still north. Nicholas made a phone call to QLD gov to book a site at Eliot Falls. Now that is 16 minutes we won't be getting back. All camping has to be booked centrally and in advance for National Parks. QLD has implemented this very well. The booking system doesn't work on iPhone or iPad (despite what Tourist Info might say) and to make a booking one requires phone reception which most National Parks don't have. The lady in Brisbane couldn't tell Nicholas which sites were large enough to accommodate our camper, so we just guessed and took pot luck.
We setup at Coen for the night of little sleep. There was a 21st birthday in town and it went all night and was still going when we left Sunday morning!
Sunday we started driving with the view to stay at Bramwell Homestead before going to Eliot falls. The road was still very good, mostly dirt with a bit of blacktop along they way. We made Morton Telegraph Station for lunch and were able to alter our Eliot Falls booking forward one day and make it to Eliot Falls by mid afternoon.
Eliot Falls is several km along the Old Telegraph Track and through one deep creek crossing. The consensus of the group was it is worth coming this far just to stop at this spot! Sure the allocated site was not big enough for a full setup but we made the best of it.
Day two at the falls we headed back down for a swim at the saucepan until lunch then drove several kilometers to Fruit Bat Falls. The rivers are just wonderful for swimming and the water is very deep under the falls.
After another pack up we all headed back to the saucepan for another swim (bath) before the final push to the top. The road this far has been quite good certainly no worse than we have encountered elsewhere. Some sections of road have been randomly selected to be bitumen for short stretches, these are welcome respite.
Bull Bar...Boom Boom
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