Cape York - August 2013

[Patrol Dude]

Guys, the bride and I are heading to the Cape on the 3rd of Aug for 3 weeks-ish. Below is a bit of a rough itinerary. If you are up that way and see a Red Patrol towing a MK111 drop over and say G'day. Cheers

August
Day 1(25th): Rockhampton to Townsville
Day 2 (26th): Townsville to Mosman
Day 3(27th) – 4(28th): (The Fun Begins – if there has been NO rain) The CREB Track
Day 5 (29th): Bloomfield Track to Laura via Lakeland
Day 6(30th): Laura to Archer River Road House
Day 7(31st) /September 8(1st)/9(2nd): Archer River Road House to Chile Beach
Day 10(3rd)/11(4th)/: Chile Beach to Bramwell Junction Via Frenchman's Track and the start of the Old Telegraph Track
Day 12(5th)/13(6th)/14(7th)/15(8th):  Old Telegraph Track (camp alongside some of the creeks and of course at Eliot Twin Falls & Visit Fruit Bat Falls & Twin Falls) to Loyalty Beach
Day 16(9th)/17(10th): Loyalty Beach to Punsand Bay to THE CAPE
Day 18(11th): Head South via the Bamaga Road to Mutee Heads
Day 19(12th): Murtee Heads to Archer River
Day 20(13th): Archer River to Laura
Day 21(14th): Laura to Cardwell
Day 22(15th): Cardwell to Mackay
Day 23 (16th) Mackay to Rockhampton

[kreecha]

G'day,

That looks like a rushed trip very much like the one I am planning to undertake with my family mid July. (and by rushed trip I mean, my wife and I plan to go to the cape just twice... once this year for 2 and half weeks (for research where to spend quality time and where not to spend quality time), then once again when are children can appreciate it [and before it is fully bitumised!!] for a solid month+ trip)

Have you been before?

I will keep an eye out for a red patrol towing a MK111.

Cheers, Adam.

[Patrol Dude]

Hi Adam, first time mate. Yeah - want to do all the "fun" stuff - I tried to allocate an extra day or two for each major location to slow the trip down a bit. Getting to and from cairns is full on, been up and down that part of the coast many times. We'll see how we go, hopefully the rain will stay away while we are there, and most of the creeks will be down a little bit  , just a little bit  . Just need to train my bride how to run the winch cable now just in case we get stuck  Lol. Hope to catch up and swap some stories. Cheers

[Wildmax]

Hi folks

Food for thought........if you're pressed for time, I'd recommend scratching Captain Billy's (windy as hell, as you will discover at Chili Beach), and instead do Vriliya Point on the West Coast. I just posted a couple of pix in another area of the site, and it really is a fantastic spot to camp and unwind for a couple of days.

[Patrol Dude]

Hi Adrian, thanks for the heads up. I have spoken to a few mates that have done both locations and they have advised that the Frenchman's Track is one of the best 4WDing tracks up the Cape, hence our decision to go to Chile Beach.  We do have 3 weeks to look around on our maiden trip, so if we do not get to Vriliya Point on this trip we will get to it on the next.  Cheers

[Wildmax]

You're right - Frenchmans is a really challenging track. Enjoy!!!

[Owie]

I did Frenchmans last year, and was by far the best track.  Be prepared though, from the east it took us about 1hr to get to the Pascoe crossing.  Then watching a group in front of us who spent 3hrs recovering two cars at the Wenlock crossing.  We left from Chille beach and camped at the Wenlock (due to waiting for others in front).

I have some YouTube clips of our cape trip last year you may want to check out (search for 4WDOwies on YouTube.) Two of us both with Tvans.

I can't stress enough to get out and have a look at the crossings.  ALL the damage and getting stuck we saw was all 100% driver error because they did not get out and have a look.

Fishing at Sesia jetty was great also, worth an hour or two at high or low tide change. Use the live bait from under the jetty (caught with a trihook).

[Patrol Dude]

Hi Owie, mate have spent a fair bit of time looking at u-tube clips of the cape, and have watched all of yours. Some great footage mate. Yes, experience has taught me to be very pedantic with water crossings (I have competed in many winch comps with some seriously deep river crossings – pic below), you can be sure i will have the bride walk all of them for me prior  .....  Lol, But seriously yes I will definitely be checking all of the crossings - my bride is an avid photographer, so I would suspect that she will be out with the camera, taking pictures of the wild life etc while yours truly is getting wet and planning the routes across any creeks. We are in NO rush, and if held up that's OK, we are really keen to just unwind and enjoy the trip. Having the Tvan, means it's no hassle to just pull up, flip the lid, open a beer and relax. 

[Alpaca]

Can I share with you my preferred method of crossing a river where crocs may be present.
Firstly, you arrive at the crossing point, turn your vehicle around pointing at the direction that you came from and reverse into the water so that the rear wheels are no deeper than axle depth.
Now you wait for another vehicle to come from the direction that you are originally crossing towards and when they reach the waters edge you drive off. keep an eye out on the other vehicle and if they successfully cross the river, you turn around and complete your crossing.
If they become bogged or stuck, just drive off as they will think that you made it OK.
Don't forget the  's

[Patrol Dude]

Ha Ha Ha  , Great stuff, will definitely give this ago if I'm not in the mood for a dip, or its getting close to beer o'clock. Cheers 

[byrockbird]

Hi Jeff & Trish, sounds like a great whirlwind trip! We would also give Captain Billy's Landing a miss and replace it with Mutee Point  or Mutee heads - on the west coast just north of the Jardine River mouth - well described in Ron Moons Cape York book. Its a lovely sheltered camp spot on the beach - great sunsets as you are on the west coast. On top of the headland (short drive) there are still gun emplacements from WW11. For the adventurous there is a track that takes you from Mutee point to the mouth of the Jardine river. The turn off to Mutee point is only about 13 k's south of Bamaga and easy to miss even though it is a really good track. The track to the coast is then only about 20 k's. Again Ron Moons book gives you the GPS co-ord's - I would tell them but I loaned our book to a friend and haven't seen it since!!!!!!  Enjoy the trip

Regards John & Rob

[Patrol Dude]

Hi John & Rob, guys great advice - seached the www and it looks fantastic - have made the change to the itinerary. The bride will love the sunset over the water, and I'm all for looking at all the old war gear (love that stuff - really makes you appreciate what we have and how lucky we are). Thanks for the heads up on both the location and Ron's book, getting a copy as we speak 

Keep the recommendations coming guys - it really helps to build a fantastic Cape Trip  Cheers

[Rusty]

Hello

We will also be up the Cape during July - August. We will be leaving Perth on the 06 Jul taking 2 weeks to reach the Cape as we will be traveling via the Great Central Rd, Alice Springs, Plenty Hwy to Mt Isa then Lawn Hill, Burketown,Karumba before heading to Musgrave Station and working our way up to Cape York.
There will be 2 vehicles in our group both towing MK 111 Tvans. I think we will be up there around 20 - 26 Jul before making our way back via Cooktown, Cairns, Longreach, Birdsville, and across the Simpson Deasert.
we will be on UHF ch 14 so if we pass give us a call.

Rusty

[Patrol Dude]

HI Rusty, no worries mate will keep a look out. Cheers

[Patrol Dude]

Have booked all the camping permits  now just to hurry up and wait!!!!  Lol