Discover
all you need to know to experience an outback adventure holiday - four wheel
driving, camping, accommodation, facilities, services, and much more.
Part I - Normanton to Moreton Telegraph Sation Part II - Moreton Telegraph Station to The Top
The 2005 Legendary Outback Expeditions (LOE) took expeditioners into remote Cape York. Read all about the trip in the following article, written by Ron & Viv Moon, which appeared in 2 parts in the November and December issues of 4x4 Australia magazine.
Cape York Double Cross - Part II
Reaching the top of Cape York is always an adventure especially when you choose a less direct route. Ron and Viv Moon where there to record the experience.
It was a huge sacrifice. An act of cruelty to be born by all of us as George poured the last remnants of the whisky bottle into the clear, fast flowing waters of the Jardine River - then hurriedly scooped up the mixture for a fleeting last taste. “That’s one hell of a price to pay for these bloody grog bans”, somebody said, while George just mumbled something about ‘never believing he could do such a thing!’
We had celebrated our arrival at the southern bank of the Jardine River the night before – it had seemed like a good idea at the time and now we were grog free for the next leg of the trip. Any grog we could buy from here would be limited to a two litres of wine or a slab of mid-strength beer – like it or lump it! Such are the rules nowadays on Cape York.
We had left the old Moreton Telegraph Station five days previously and had soon taken on the challenge of the lower section of the Old Telegraph Line (OTL) track. This can all be bypassed by why would you when the option is a corrugated dirt road far from any water? On the other hand the OTL remains the historic route crossing some delightful streams that offer not only a place to swim and cool off but also a touch of a driving challenge.
Once you leave the Bramwell Junction Roadhouse (fuel and great egg and bacon sandwiches) the creeks come in rapid succession; Palm Creek – steep and slippery where a winch or a snatch strap is often required; South Alice – an easy shallow crossing; North Alice – an easy and mainly dry affair; and the Dulhunty River – an easy shallow rocky crossing, but here you must stop for at least an hour, but better if it is for overnight.
This has long been a favoured camp and when you see and experience the cascade of water you will understand why. After the Dulhunty there’s Bertie Creek with its dog-leg of a route to get around the sharp-edged holes in the rock slab bottom, followed quickly by Cholmondeley Creek – an easy shallow crossing, before the challenge of Gunshot Creek. The southern approaches to Gunshot change each year and with seven routes to choose from there is generally one that is passable – with care and some serious thought! Once down the southern bank the water is shallow and clear while the climb up the northern bank is pretty easy.
Next is the rocky, fast flowing Cockatoo Creek followed by Sailor Creek, which varies year-to-year from a culvert covered channel to a sharp-sided eroded gully. Once north of the Bypass Road, which joins the original route north for 9km, a couple of creeks – generally with deeper-than-expected muddy water in them – are crossed before arriving at the camping area of Twin Falls. So called for the delightful cascades that can be found on Canal Creek, nearby is the larger Eliot Creek and the impressive Indian Head Falls.
We stopped here overnight to enjoy the waters of these two fine streams before continuing up the OTL track with its creek crossings. Just north of the junction into the camping area is Canal Creek with its torturous routes across the stream, followed by an easy crossing of Sam Creek before coming to a track that heads across to the Bypass Road.
For our group that was where we left the OTL track for a time as we wanted to head out to Vrilya Point on the west coast for a couple of days, the route west being relatively easy except for a wooden bridge spanning the fast flowing canyon-like channel of Crystal Creek. Once over Crystal Creek it was an easy run to the coast and onto the beach where we dropped tyre pressures as the sand was very soft and chewed up by previous vehicles.
We turned south and cruised effortlessly across the sand, the placid waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria like a tranquil pond to our right. A small creek at times spills across the beach at one point but it was dammed back by a large sand bar and our progress south hardly slowed as we by-passed it.
The Cottrel River mouth though is different and is as far as vehicle access can reach. Still, it was low tide so a couple of us crept out onto the wide expanse of recently exposed wet sand and checked out the deep, fast flowing main channel for any possible crossing point. A shallower sand bar, visible as a dark smudge in the tidal and river churned waters, stretched in an arc across the front of the low-tide mouth of the river … tempting, but oh so hairy! We decided it would be a braver or sillier person than us to have a go at this challenge and we prudently retreated back to the northern shore. From there we skirted along the river bank and amongst tall shady casuarinas we set up camp, overlooking the fine stream.
It was a top spot for the next two nights, but my eyes kept roaming to the south and the long sweep of untouched beach that stretched away to the horizon. ‘Now if you could just get across the river …’ I thought. What adventures such an endeavour would hold!
Two days later we were north of Vrilya Point but still on the beach cruising up the sand to the wreck of the old lightship that stands tall and battered above the wave washed sand. After a group photo and a bit of a break around the mouth of the river just to the north of the wreck we headed back to the OTL track and headed north.
Arguably the creek crossings from Mistake Creek northwards are the most challenging on the whole route. While Mistake itself is relatively easy, Cannibal Creek, just a short distance further on, tests wheel travel and traction as you climb the northern bank. While it changes each and every year – it is never easy!
Cypress Creek and its infamous wooden bridge is next and while the southern approach to it has been improved, crossing the matted wooden affair – it is hard to call it a ‘bridge’ - is still a heart stopping concern. Some outside direction was called for and quickly given and our group got across safely and fairly quickly.
Next is the deep water crossing of Nolan’s Brook. For a small group this is a top spot to camp as the waters are light emerald in colour and crystal clear, making an ideal swimming hole. This crossing though demands a walk through first as a scoured out hole in the middle of the stream changes and can cause problems, especially if the vehicle hasn’t got a snorkel. All of our group had snorkels so we crossed in style although some took it easy (the best way), others attacked it with just a little too much gusto resulting in a very spectacular bow wave!
For much of the next 5km to the southern bank of the mighty Jardine River the track passes through swamp country – the dreaded ‘Wet Desert’ of years gone by when stock starved or were poisoned by the generally uneatable plants. We have it much easier in air-conditioned vehicles but there’s still a number of deep muddy holes that can be a trap for the unwary.
The southern bank of the Jardine with its big trees is quiet these days with few if any campers coming to its shore. Back in the early 1980’s it was crowded with hopefuls waiting for a chance to cross this largest perennial river in Queensland. It was a challenge then and is probably even more so today with far less people needing to drive it. Nowadays it takes a certain amount of nerve not only to drive the stream but to check the route out – a 170 metre long drive across soft sand that ends in a deep hole just before the northern bank. Compounding the problem is a mass of timber near the exit point, which needs to be circumvented to cross successfully.
We just enjoyed the stream and the camping … before pouring the last of the soon-to-be illicit whisky into its flowing waters. With that sad tale behind us we headed for the ferry, which is a darn sight safer and easier way to cross the river. That evening we were in a beach-side camp at Seisia and the islands of Torres Strait were silhouetted across an tranquil sea.
Over the next couple of days we did the obligatory trips to the very northern tip of the mainland and to the historic site of Somerset, once the northernmost outpost of European civilisation, as well as to Thursday and Horn Islands. No trip to the top of Cape York should be thought about, without such excursions.
Our ‘double cross Cape York’ adventure was over, but as we sat around the final meal everyone was talking about which way they were heading home and what they were going to do on the return trip. For Viv and I it was another three weeks before we needed to be in Port Douglas so the opportunities were many. That’s what makes the Cape so good; after 30 or so trips we can’t wait to get back up there!
Travel Planner
Bramwell Station, ph: (07) 4060 3300, has a roadhouse at the junction of the bypass road and the OTL track; it has fuel and snacks. At the station homestead itself a well set-up camping area offers accommodation as well as meals and a beer. Remote bush camping is also possible.
Camping at Twin Falls demands a camping permit.
The cost of the ferry across the Jardine is around $90 but once you have that you can bush camp at a number of places north of the Jardine.
Seisia and the communities close by offer a range of camping and accommodation as well as all other facilities.
For more comprehensive info get Ron and Viv Moon’s 288-page guidebook, Cape York- an Adventurer’s Guide, available in all good map shops or at: www.guidebooks.com.au.
Hema’s Cape York map is the best map unless you are heading into very remote country.
TI & Horn Island
No trip north should go without a visit to these islands. We stayed in one of the pubs overnight on TI, as Thursday Island is more commonly known, and this allows plenty of time to soak up the island atmosphere and to enjoy the place and its rich history based on the pearling days.
While an organised tour meets the boats that come from the mainland and is an ideal way to see the whole island, we hired a taxi (fix the price beforehand) for our latest escapade, which was different and a lot of fun. For ferry and tour details, contact Peddell's, ph: (07) 4069 1551.
The Horn Island tour, and museum rekindles the little known past of how close and involved Australia was in World War 2. It’s one not to miss. Accommodation is also available at the Gateway Resort, ph: (07) 4069 2222.
Another Adventure in 2006
In 2006 another Legendary Outback 4X4 Expedition, led by Ron and Viv Moon, will traverse some of the more inaccessible, less visited country in the Kimberley. This trip has been two years in the planning with a number of recce trips and visits to out-of-the-way cattle stations to organise access.
It will leave Kununurra on August 23rd and finish at Halls Creek on September 6th. Go to 2006 LOE for more information.
Cooper STT Tyres
We’ve now done 30,000km on our Cooper STT tyres in the last six months around Oz, most of that heavily loaded with a van on the back and for much of the time with four people in the cab. Over 10,000km was on dirt roads or tracks.
Tyres pressures have been monitored by SmartTire system and on the blacktop we ran 38-40psi in the rear and 34psi in the front. On high speed dirt roads such as the Birdsville Track we ran 30-32psi in the rear and 28 in the front. That came down to 24-26psi all round on slow 4WD routes and 18-20psi on sand.
We rotated them at the 10 and 20 thousand mark and wear has proven to be even across the four tyres and across the face of the tread, with no scalloping of the blocks that is so obvious with many other mud type tyres, when used on the blacktop.
We’ve been amazed by the tyres on-road manners both in quietness and grip, no matter if the bitumen is wet or dry. On dirt we have been impressed with the control and handling the tyres have given us, as well as the grip in the slippery stuff, especially on the Duncan Highway after an inch of rain. Climbing slippery clay banks on the Cape York’s many creek crossings, or on the muddy trails of the rainforest in Iron Range, the STT’s .
We only picked up two small punctures, both through the tread area of the tyre. One was from a fire-blackened twig while travelling on a rarely used timber littered track on the Cape and another was a nail in the Flinders Ranges! Both were slow leaks that were picked up quickly by the SmartTire and were ‘bush repaired’ – once we found them – with a plug.
Like any muddy these tyres do cost you a little in fuel economy over an all-terrain or highway tread pattern. They are also noisier than those tread designs, but I’m hard pushed to notice any difference between them and, say, a Cooper ST tread pattern. With tread wear just over the half way mark we’d suggest we’ll get 45 to 50 thousand out of this set of tyres. That’s more than acceptable for the conditions we’ve experienced.
Over the years I’ve used a lot of tyres but these are now my preferred tyre for the long tough trips we do – a good compromise between ride quality, bitumen road manners, dirt road grip and handling and wet track traction. That third ply in the side wall seems to do the trick in regard to toughness and reliability! Given my druthers I’d run something less aggressive around town or on those mainly blacktop hauls – probably a set of Mickey Thompson FC11’s – they are not so aggressive but still pretty good offroad!
Better Hooks
Outback Ideas produce a range of recovery hooks and equipment and on this trip we had their ‘bush hook’, which is rated to 10,000lb. This hook slips into the receiver of your Hayman Reese, or similar towbar, and we’ve found it to be so handy that when we haven’t got a trailer on behind, the hook is always in place. This hook provides a quick connection and a good strong anchor point and ensures you don’t bend the towbar receiver pin.
See the range of Outback Ideas equipment at your favourite 4WD store.
Top of Page
