Our Trip Queensland 38-Cape York| 38-Cape York |
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13th November 2008. There were lots of road works along the way with some sections of the road being in terrible condition, while some sections were pretty good having been recently graded. Overall, I'd rate the condition as 4 out of ten. Our first nights stop was at Musgrave Road House which has basic shower and toilet facilities and was typical of the overnight stops. Reaching Bramwell Junction, you have two choices, either The Bypass and supposedly main road or the original Old Telegraph Track. The Old Telegraph Track is the 4WD enthusiasts dream and involves the river crossing plus 4WD bush tracks with maximum speeds of around 35kph, whilst the Bypass was reasonably good in this section with speeds around 80kph. As it was out of season and the roads were quiet, we chose the bypass and did the trip in two days. In season, there are up to 2,000 vehicles a week and what with all the traffic and dust, things are slow going so allow an extra day during busy periods. If you're doing the Old Telegraph Track, add at least another day. The ferry crossing at Jardine River stops running at 5pm so a bit of forward planning is required here. We were advised that it was approx 3 hours drive from Bramwell Junction and if you couldn't leave there by two oclock, it was best to spend the night there and wait for the morning. As it was out of season and the roads were quiet, we made it in two and a half hours. We were way ahead of schedule and arrived in time to catch the ferry, but found it a bit expensive. $88.00 return for approx 30 metres of ferry ride!!! Mind you, it does include bush camping fees if you can find somewhere decent to camp. We headed for Seishia right on the beach front where suprisingly the facilities were quite run down. Next morning headed off to The Tip of Australia with great expectations. The road was an absolute mess with the worst corrugations we have encountered so far. Driving through the awesome dense rain forest was spoilt by the diabolical road conditions. It was extremely slow, bumpy and uncomfortable. The once popular camping resort at the Tip is now a deserted, vandalised wreck of a place. Even the boardwalk through the rainforest is now a delapidated ruin with some planks and side rails missing. What a pity and dissappointment! Anyway, off to The Tip and it was an awesome experience standing there, touching the sign and savouring the moment. Those few minutes standing there actually made the whole trip worthwhile. It's hard to explain, but it was an awesome experience. The girls didn't make it to the Tip and had to settle for looking at the video. Then back to Seishia and straight down to the jetty to see how the fishing was going coz I'm ready to toss a line. There's a local with a rope tied to a pylon, a big rubber bungy strap a big "6" hook that had a live bait attached and the hook has been straightened. "That Bloody Gropper, I'll get him one day" he mutters. Then another local with a 100lb hand line that breaks as he's trying to haul it in. I can see a few big sharks swimming around and decide, as the locals know what they're doing, this is out of my league, so I head back to the camp site beach and cast a few poppers and lures from the beach. Catch a few small ones, all throw backs but nothing big enough for the barbie. Unfortunately, next day it's time to head back down to Cairns and the caravan. As the girls are whinging at me about the really bad and rough conditions, we press on to see how far we can get in one day. Another tyre blowout and the second time a tread has delaminated and disentegrated the tyre. Finally after 14 hours of driving covering just on 1,000kms in one day, we're back in Cairns and the comforts of the caravan. Life On The Road:First thing next morning, off to the local Tyrepower dealer to discuss these Cooper tyres and replace another two tyres.
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