Cape York Part 2 QLD
30/07 - 03/08/2013
It was only a short drive from Eliot Falls to the Jardine River ferry. The road was a little worse to the ferry but still good enough not to need low range or to slow too much. We have taken both the OTT bypass roads, it is not worth risking a break out here. Incidently the telegraph line was maintained and used until 1987! The ferry is operated by the local council, and because the council is nearly bankrupt, have this year jacked up the prices for tourists. Now it is $145 for a car and trailer return for the 4 minutes on the ferry. Locals pay $50 each way. Last year the ferry broke down and some people tried the old river crossing. Those that sunk their 4x4 had to pay $3000 to have it recovered from the crocodiles. No such problem for us and happy to pay to get across in one piece.
We found a very quiet tourist park right on the beach at Umagico and we were offered a site just right on the beach with a covered picnic table beside. It is an amazing view out across the clear water, white sandy beach and islands dotted just off shore. Any where else and this might be prime real estate, but here...? Bianca was horrified to learn that the beach is not safe for swimming, in her words, "that's so unfair"! There is still the odd stinger in the water, stone fish around and crocodiles use this stretch of coast as a highway from Jardine River to breaking grounds.
After lunch and a setup we all took a stroll along the beach. No sun baking crocodiles but lovely water to look at, shells to collect and rainforest that comes down the hills and right to the beach. The rainforest is so thick you couldn't attempt to walk through it. Thick vines wrap around trees and loop back down to the ground and trees with massive canopies almost fully blot out the sun from the forest floor.
Late in the day another family, Mark and his daughter Renee (12) and son Lachlan (9), setup close to us. It wasn't until the following morning when the children broke the ice. The five children had a great play on the beach Wednesday morning.
Wednesday morning our family made the drive and short walk to 'the tip' (Pajinka). On the way in we passed Pajinka Wilderness Lodge, which was abandoned several years back. The owner walked away leaving all plant and equipment behind. Not much left there now though. As normal when we arrived there were cars everywhere and not long after alighting the vehicle most people disappeared! Cannot think what it is that causes that. It is only a short walk to the tip over a couple of large rocky hills with a number of stone cairns to mark nothing significant, just because. We didn't construct one, but we will say we did, because who would know!
We got the mandatory set of family photos under the well placed head height steel sign, Angela has a commemorative lump from it. We didn't do the hand written signs to our loyal followers, sorry, nor did we all wear the same tacky tourist t-shirts, nor did we get photos in every possible configuration of person, there were other parties wanting photos.
Nicholas thought it would be good to drive around to the Jardine's graves. It seems more pressing up here to erect AQIS signage warning against the evil invasion of pest and disease then to put up an information plaque about one of the most important families of the early era up here. The graves didn't even have names or dates. So alow me to tell the story, Frank and Sana Jardine established Sumerset homestead in 1864 as a haven for shipwrecked sailors and established the Cape's first cattle property. Remember the Jardine River Ferry from earlier?
Nicholas' next sojourn was to visit two WWII plane wrecks. This was much more successful. A fence has been erected along with a plaque to preserve the sites. No AQIS signs here yet. The first was a Bristol Beaufort Mark VIII twin engined torpedo bomber and the second was a DC3 that crashed on 05/05/1945 enroute to New Guinea killing all six on board. The DC3 had obvious damage on the wings where they hit trees. Along the roads there were huge numbers of rusted out 44 gallon drums possibly remnant of WWII also. The local communities were very active during WWII with about 80% of eligible people enlisting. Mark works with ADF training and recruiting from these communities for the ADF. Most of the recruits go to ADF at most with grade 6 equivalent, despite being passed to year 10, and are trained and awarded roles in ADF.
Thursday is our lazy, rest and recharge day before the drive back toward Cooktown. We ventured in to Seisia to the jetty just as the supply ship was unloading. This is a fairly major logistic undertaking of leapfrog and checkers. One forklift brings the pallets to the ship deck, two 4wd fork trucks bring the pallets off the ship and to a staging area (much of the public car park), where a fleet of forklifts move the pallets to various trucks for delivery. Talking to the gent in charge, it is not the freight that brings about the exorbitant prices. One of the shops purchased dog food on sale from Big-W at $18/bag and paid $10/bag shipping then sold them at $55/bag. The fuel is landed by ship at $1.35/l and sold at $2.35/l, the servos back home can only dream of that sort of markup. Preparation is the key to avoiding the prices up here.
If you are ever up this way do not stay at Coen! We drove from the tip to Coen and it was time to setup camp and feed some hungry girls. Last time we stayed at Coen it was the 21st birthday. Being the last Friday of the week we thought town might be a bit raucous so we stayed just out of town at a free camp beside a river. Our timing was impeccable as we pulled up and claimed the last remaining campable ground moments ahead of another party of three cars. After a quick setup and dinner was well under way a ute load of locals arrived. They obviously came to enjoy the serenity of camping beside a running stream and watch the Friday Night NRL game on TV, yes TV. Now I am not convinced why they could not enjoy this activity at their own home, maybe it was the hooting and laughing, maybe they are not allowed fires in their living room, or maybe other members of their household don't appreciate the strange smell of their cigarettes? Which ever it was we didn't appreciate two of them. Oh and the girls were very hungry in the morning.
Saturday (03/08), we drove on to Cooktown via Laura and Lakeland NP. We stopped at Lakeland NP for lunch at the old Laura Homestead. The 'town' has been moved to the main road now. Old Laura was the original homestead that was once the farm that is now Lakeland NP. The homestead and outbuilding are still there but NP have removed the fruit trees. Old Laura was once a thriving self sufficient community. There is camping at Old Laura, but these need to be booked via Internet or phone and since neither of these technologies are operational out here we moved on.
The road from Old Laura to Cooktown is a lie according to Hema Maps which indicated the road was mainly sealed. Yes the road was sealed with loose gravel over the top and no tar to hold it together. It got a little hairy in one section when we came around a corner and the road then dropped sharply down to a creek crossing. Signage, apparently, is not necessary to warn drivers of this and the Landy doesn't have radar. Car and trailer slid down the road to the water crossing but still hit the water faster than Nicholas would have liked. The other creek crossings had more effective signage.
The caravan park at Cooktown was pretty empty, especially as it was show weekend. There was probably only six sites in use while we were there. A really green shady park with lots of space, just a pit too far out of town for most GMs. After a quick setup we headed into Cooktown for a look see. Cooktown is a really nice town lots of history that predates the first fleet. Cooktown is where Cook beached the Endeavour, after running into the Great Barrier Reef, to make good repairs.
Sunday (04/08) we were back in to Cooktown to the old convent which is now the Cook museum. This is one of the better museums we have come across in small towns. There were lots of extracts of Cook's and Banks' journals which highlighted just how desperate their predicament was. After the crew had repaired the Endeavour it took several days to successfully refloat the ship! Even with the ship floating there was no certainty that they could navigate through the reefs back to the open sea. Oh and to lighten the ship all six canons had been heaved overboard so they had no defences.
Speaking of defences the town of Cooktown asked the QLD premier in 1885 for weapons and soldiers to defend against possible Russian attack. The state send to Cooktown a canon, built almost 100 years earlier, with three canon balls, two rifles and a lieutenant. Hardly a strong defensive position!
We climbed up Grassy Hill, following Cook's footsteps again. Cook climbed the hill to try and chart a course that would see the ship back to open water and free. A very tall hill with spectacular views across the hills and over the ocean.
Locals recommended a Fish 'n' Chip shop that we tried for lunch. It was very good. We ate our Fish 'n' Chips in a park near the musical boat. The girls loved the musical boat and received lots of applause from GNs for their musical mastery.
Locals also recommended the Botanic Gardens. The Botanic Gardens have mostly plants indigenous to Cooktown and surrounds. We had a quick look around the gardens before heading back to camp for dinner.
Monday we head to Cairns for a restock and visit, but not before we stop back in Cooktown for another play on the musical ship.
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