Day 1 11/8/17
Today we packed the van and move it across the field and then proceeded to unload the kayak , bikes and load all the camping gear onto the ute . After doing all this , we were on the road at 10am - not too bad really .
The drive took us to Mt Molloy , Mt Carbine , Laura and then stopping for the night at Musgrave Roadhouse .
The scenery is stunning , the Great Dividing Range looming on our left & right , climbing one range , we stopped on the way up to take some photos - it was a 10% gradient - views were back to the south from Bob's Lookout . Further on is Byerstown Range Lookout looking north to Lakeland .
Lakeland is an interesting area , growing banana’s on one side of the road and watermelons on the other .
Laura River was a pleasant sight on the corrugated Peninsular Development Rd , a little respite from the dust .
Our stop for the night was Musgrave Roadhouse , the owner feeds the freshwater crocodiles in the billabong out the back - they have lots of teeth - there were also some turtles getting fed as well.
Night fell and I got the camera out again for a play .
Here’s a map link :- https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TlAnK5CcXsh2rGGIsZy8vdI2X8s&usp=sharing
Day 2 12/8/17
Today we hook up with a couple from Wooroona in WA - Mick & Sue , and head off on another road to Port Stewart , we’ve been assured the road is in much better condition than the Development Rd - couldn’t be any worse !!
I led off , Mick & Sue followed after the dust had settled , we found Lilyvale Rd , which leads to Lilyvale property and further through to Port Stewart .
There are thousands of termite mounds - these appear to be similar to the magnetic mounds in NT , but many many more - some parts looking like fences or barricades .
We arrived at Lilyvale in time to close the gate for the owner , before continuing on . There were another 5 or 6 gates that we had to open & close . we found a road crew grading the road , which made for a pleasant drive . Just past the road crews , we came across Running Creek . Beautiful setting , crystal clear water and all amongst limestone , there were a couple of termite mounds here as well .
Shortly after we came to Bassani Swamp - a fenced off billabong with cultural significance .
We stopped a bit further up the road at a water crossing in the rainforest so Mick & Sue could have their morning coffee . We chatted briefly to some young guys that were on their way up to another billabong - one ute was from Weipa and the other from Cairns - they meet up every now & then , somewhere near half way , to go catching pigs or shooting & fishing , and drinking some beers .
We then found where they were camping and pulled in , they were beside an enormous billabong covered in lily pads and flowers - absolutely beautiful !!
Before much longer we’d crossed the dry Stewart River bed and started heading to the coast - hoping to catch a glimpse of the ocean . We caught a glimpse of some indigenous locals changing a tyre - we offered assistance , but they declined , a bit further down a lizard was crossing the road .
Arriving at Port Stewart , we found several houses and not a great deal more , apart from the boat ramp in amongst the mangroves - there were a couple of spots to see the ocean , but it was just a glimpse .
From here it was off to Coen , about 70 klms away , the road was still good with the odd gully & washout to go through . The last track - all 18 klms of it wasn’t good though , with many washouts and gullies to go through in 1st gear slowly - very slowly !! All good fun though , we all arrived in Coen in one piece and filled up with fuel at $1.60 a litre - up the road a little further we’ve been told it’s $2 a litre at Archer River Roadhouse !!! Time for lunch - it was 1:30pm .
Speaking of Archer River , here it is -
They are doing lot’s of roadwork up here and new roads are being built , increasing the amount of bitumen road . We passed one road train before the tar finished , but got to Weipa Rd intersection and found that there were 2 more road trains in front of us - it was going to be slow going for the next 33klms before we could turn off to Merluna Station where we are staying the night . Here’s what the dust looks like .
Finally arrived and set up camp , time for a beer before the sun set , and it turned on a light show for us to end a wonderful day .
Here’s a map link :- https://drive.google.com/open?id=1F-Biwf3NaGAAK6lzOUDCcYwSnT0&usp=sharing
Day 3 13/8/17
Up with the pool pump this morning , and what a noise it made !! At least we got to see the sunrise !!
Packed & ready , we head off down Weipa Rd to Batavia Downs Rd - we had bitumen to start with and a very good - no , excellent gravel rd to drive on - they were working on it as we went past . Batavia Downs Rd was good for the most part , but had some average sections as well . Corrugated , rutted and some washouts as well - you have to be on your toes , concentrating on where you put the tyres .
The termite mounds are getting taller & taller , some going over 5m high . Next stop for a break was Moreton Telegraph Station . It’s beside the Wenlock River .
Next on the agenda was lunch at Fruit Bat Falls , then a walk down to the falls - well what a sight this is , not spectacularly high , but beautiful in itself - crystal clear water , fish and plenty of people . The water cascades over a rock shelf about 3m high , water has cut it’s way through the rock in the middle .
From here it was on to the Jardine River and the ferry to cross over - $100 return for 2 people & the ute , and it’s such a long crossing - must have taken us at least 3mins to cover the 40m crossing !!!
Our first mistake for the day was to stop on the other side and decide on our destination , 4 vehicles took off in front of us and should have been well in front , we caught them quickly and heard all their radio talk - how bad the corrugations were etc etc etc , as they were travelling along at 40 klms an hour and that made the corrugations worse still !!!! At a detour I’d had enough of them and stopped to let them get away - we gave them 5 mins and one car went past . Back on the track and we’d caught them up in no time at all , still complaining about the road etc . Fortunately they pulled over and stopped to look at some plane wreckage not long after - we were happy to see the back of them !!!
We arrived at Bamaga and went on to Loyalty Beach Caravan Park and set up beside the beach - how good is this !!!
Fish & Chips beside the beach wasn’t a bad way to finish off a dusty days drive - we washed the dust down with a couple of cold beers , and now are about to collapse for the night . This is sunset from the tavern .
Here’s a map link :- https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lQiQtCq_G1eyb61R-8Av0RMoubY&usp=sharing
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