Innot Hot Springs – 198 km

Boy did it rain in Cairns last night. The taxi driver this morning told us they get over two meters of rain a year. We had delayed walking after dinner until it slowed down a bit and were still pretty wet in spite of the umbrella and rain jacket.

We were at the Apollos camper rental place early and got the same gal, Margaret. We initially were impressed with the vehicle but are finding it is old and needs a good cleaning so sure hope it does us for the next two weeks. This morning it continued to rain but at least we were able to get out of the Cairns area and head east where it seems a bit dryer.

We started our day by stocking up with groceries as we had depleted everything before the transfer from one vehicle to the next. We are set now for a while.

One of the things we did want to see on this trip was the Atherton Tablelands. We had decided to take the Kennedy Highway (all the highways here have names and numbers but no-one seems to use the latter much) not realizing it would be a repeat of our VERY WINDING drive into Cairns yesterday but LONGER. Now that we have a bigger vehicle we can see why they have the call areas posted for the big trucks. We came across several going down while we were going up and it was a bit tight on some of the corners. There were a few great view stops but it was so foggy this morning we didn’t bother to stop. When we got to the tablelands we were impressed with how green everything is (of course it would be with all the recent rain). It is primarily an agricultural area for corn, sugar cane, etc.

We did stop at the Curtain Fig Tree in the Mt. Hypipamee National Park. It was pretty impressive. One of the ladies beside us thought it was big enough to build a four bedroom house inside!

Our lunch stop was at a nice picnic area in Yungaburra (love those aboriginal names).

We had decided on our destination last evening but realized with all the winding roads we were not going to make very good time so tried to stop at a town called Ravenshoe. We stopped at the information center which is also an interesting indigenous culture center. The Lonely Planet had mentioned the very helpful staff (all volunteers) and they were right. The fellow directed us to a campground but unfortunately it was full. This is school break so we may find this more often. Anyway they have free internet there so we will probably go back in the morning.

We continued on another 28 km to Innot Hot Springs, thinking we may not get a site here either but luckily did. It is situated beside hot springs bubbling out of the ground – almost too hot to touch. They have bored a hole and captured this hot water for three pools that we can use if we wish.

Steam!!!

Seeing lots of evidence of kangaroo dung in the campground area so will see as it gets dark if some come around. Also seeing different bird life. We watched a noisy miner and a butcherbird have a bath in the top of an oil drum. Wonder if the miner knows how the butcherbird feeds!

Cairns – 360 km

We have made our way back to Cairns to turn in the 4X4 vehicle and will pick up the more luxurious motorhome tomorrow. We have covered a total of 3,278 km in the past two weeks with the majority of it being on unpaved, corrugated, very dusty and occasionally muddy roads. We spent significant time in four wheel drive (deep sand, mud and steep terrain) and even a bit in low range. In some ways we are going to miss the adventure but in other ways it is going to be nice to get into a clean vehicle and have the extra space.

Most of last night we were hearing what we think was the kookaburras calling each other. At times it sounded like a bunch of monkeys. They were pretty loud.

We hadn’t mentioned that they had the cutest white fluffy chickens at the Endeavor Falls campground. They are called Silkies. One of them had been dyed blue and pink. They kept coming around hoping for a hand out so this morning as we were finishing packing up and getting rid of stuff they were treated to some left over dry oatmeal. It was quite comical as the male (rooster) kept calling all his girls to come for a treat. Most trees in the campground had bromeliads growing on them.

The start of our drive this morning was through an agricultural area – banana trees, coffee and mangos. Also through some eucalyptus scrubland.

As we got closer to Cairns we found ourselves going over a mountain pass that was VERY WINDING. They have very few passing areas so you just needed to follow the line and make the turns. Must be hard for all the big rigs and they did have a call ahead system for them to warn other big rigs in case they might meet them on a corner. Attached is a view from the top of the pass.

We have been seeing some varied mobile accommodation. One of the vehicles was this “hippie van” we think they had painted themselves. They had outfitted the inside as well and were busy in there cooking up a meal.

When we got back to the rental place there were two young girls returning their vehicle as well. It was pretty comical watching them washing dishes, sorting their stuff and generally doing what we had done last night and this morning. They looked like they had been at it for a while when we got there and were still there when we left. As Alan Jackson sings: “no plans, just livin’ for the minute”.

We just came back from a very good East Indian dinner. It is absolutely pouring out there right now – welcome back to the rainforest!

Endeavour Falls - 273 km

Grandma got run over by a reindeer – oops. Wrong song

Grandma got run over by a wallaby
Bounding through the campground late at night
Grandpa heard the thumping in the background
And he made sure that Grandma was alright!

Ok, enough of our lame poetry. Actually not sure who was more startled, us or the poor wallaby as we came out of the toilet block at bed time in the dark. We have seen so much road kill it is a wonder there are any live ones to see. We think we were averaging about a dozen bodies per km of travel at one stretch. Having said that we did see two live ones on the side of the highway today that we told to stay off the road.

We were woken by a loud cacophony from the galahs. We watched dozens of them all try to perch in the same tree, fly to the roof above us and drink from the gutter and generally make lots of racket. We are finding the temperatures are generally getting a little lower the past few days with it dropping to 16 degrees last night. It was back up to 27 today so we will see what we get over the next few days as we head south and inland.

Galahs

We started our morning with a steep, rocky half hour hike to the Split Rock Aboriginal Rock art site. We were glad we had made an early start as it was really warming up by the time we were on our way back down. It was well worth the walk. They think the artwork is about 13,000 years old. There is an admission of $5 each on the honour system so not sure how many actually pay. There was a wooden viewing platform and plaques on the railing to describe what you were seeing in case you couldn’t decipher it all.

Rock Art viewing area

Rock Art

With finally getting some good internet access last night we were able to identify the ants that Norma had been bitten by twice. They are green tree ants, that pack a real wallop! Wonder if the aboriginals used them for some kind of torture.

Our route today took us back to Cooktown where we picked up a few items at the bakery and minimal groceries as we are handing this rig back in tomorrow and picking up the bigger one so don’t want too much stuff to have to transfer over. We also managed to find a car wash as well and left pounds of mud behind!

We passed many banana growing areas with all the bananas covered in plastic, we assume to help them ripen and protect them from bugs and/or birds. Having said that bananas were $5.99 a kg today, pretty pricy.

We decided to check in here at the Endeavor Falls Tourist Park on our way to Hope Vale and are glad we did as we were at least assured of a powered spot for the night. It is slowly filling up.

Had a nice drive to Hope Vale where we needed to purchase a beach permit for $10 to enter Aboriginal land. It is a very tidy little community. We just made it in time for the purchase as the gas station where you can purchase the permit was closing as we got there, being a Sunday. Not sure what would have happened if we went in without the permit as we certainly were not stopped and asked for it.

More dirt roads, one water crossing, through stabilized white sand dunes and finally to Elim Coloured Sands beach. We were able to drive on the sandy beach as it was low tide. Saw a rare black necked stork on the beach fishing. Again signs warning of a recent croc sighting. We are beginning to think they just put up these signs as a CYA!

 

Black Necked Stork

A short walk from our camp spot is Endeavour Falls, which the campground is named after and which is supposed to have a resident croc. We walked down to the falls with great expectations but again were disappointed.

Endeavour Falls

 

Laura (return visit heading south) – 308 km

Forgot to mention we had lunch at the Archer River Roadhouse yesterday feasting on their world famous burgers. We were astounded when the burgers were served. They were at least 8 inches high and had a skewer in the center to hold them together. With some difficulty you could compress them to get your mouth around them, but then everything slipped out the other side. They also contained the traditional Australian slice of pickled beet and an egg. They were very good!

As we had lots of time this morning and the Coen campground had good laundry facilities so we made a bit later start. Almost all the campers in the very full camp ground had left by the time we got going. We were the only ones there when we got settled last night and were surprised with how quickly it filled up. It was the cheapest site so far, with nice grass and power.

We made our way to Musgrave Roadhouse then headed onto another 4 X 4 road making our way back here to Laura. We didn’t want to drive the same road as the one north if possible and actually found this to be in better shape. We are beginning to realize the guy we spoke to at Punsand Bay was right.  The more you get into the season the rougher the roads get. We were seeing evidence of that on our way south.

Today we spotted several more bird species we had not been lucky enough to see yet. We saw brolga, red tailed cockatoos, ibis, herons and black kites. Generally bird photography is very difficult as they are very skittish and fly away like darts.

Ibis

We drove through the Rinyhirrus (Lakefield) National Park. The road crews were working on some of the road. The vegetation varied from grass lands with numerous termite mounts, to forested area. We did need to cross several water ways and decided to stop for lunch beside the Hann River Crossing. There are supposed to be crocodiles in the waters but the closest we have come to seeing anything is a rock shaped like one!

It was a great lunch stop with lots of birds to watch. We went for a walk along the river and turned to find a huge monitor lizard right beside us. Not sure where he came from but he was more interested in sleeping on the warm rocks than running away from us. OK, this will be our last lizard picture. . .

We find ourselves back here at the Quinkan Hotel camping grounds in Laura as from our trip north we knew it was one of the only  places we could get reliable internet. Our one hesitation was there is an outside bar attached and it being Saturday night we weren’t sure how that would be. We were surprised and pleased to see the bar closes at 5 pm tonight so the staff can attend a dance. However we have now discovered the Town Hall and place for the dance is right across the street. We are sitting outside and can hear them practicing their music. Maybe this will be a night for the air conditioner as it does a great job drowning out noise. Either that or we will need to join them!

Quinkan Hotel

Hotel Campground

Today should be the last of the gravel road we will see. The van is filthy inside and out. We have to find a car wash ASAP as just walking by it you get dirty! Norma attempted to hose out the inside by letting the water hose slip as we were filling our reservoir – now we have mud instead of dust.

Coen – 208 km

Last evening we were entertained by the tour group having a campfire singalong with the tour guide playing the guitar and doing most of the singing – songs including from Bob Dylan, Rolf Harris and Slim Dusty (the latter two are Aussie blokes). They shut it down early so all was quiet by 9:30, except for the very loud snoring from one of the lady’s tents!

Rainforest Camp

Once their noise ended we were able to hear all the cricket and frog noises. You would swear we were in Bermuda listening to the tree frogs. After turning off the lights we also were hearing coyote/hyena noises but know neither are here in the rainforest so guess it must be one of the many bird species. In the middle of the night there was a scratching noise on the camper. We can only guess it was either one of the ubiquitous wild turkeys as they are great at digging up things or some little lizard type creature. Whatever it was it went away when we put the light on.

Before heading off this morning we went for a nice walk in the rainforest looking for more bird species but the forest is so thick we could only hear them and occasionally see a fly by. We did stop to check out some of the many vines hanging from the trees and a really interesting tree trunk. There are also good displays of bromeliads (air plants) in many of the trees.

 

Bromeliads

The way back out was just as enjoyable as the one in with the water ways to traverse and the mud holes to get through. We did stop in the croc infested (we sure haven’t seen any) Pascoe River where Doug took off his sandals and waded into the water to rinse off the mirrors as they were so coated with mud they were pretty much useless. Norma kept safely inside with both eyes peeled watching for croc activity. Actually yesterday when we were heading in we saw numerous people wading in the waters here and they did not appear to be missing any limbs.

Not sure if it is fuel control or to encourage the growth of new grass but we are seeing many controlled burn areas. We do know the grass is very nice looking in some of these areas we have seen.

Occasionally we have seen POISON BAIT warnings. Apparently it is for the feral pigs.

There is a sort of brotherhood up here with all the camper vans, trailers, etc. much like when we are on the motorcycle. Everyone waves!

As we were driving along we came across a huge monitor lizard sunbathing on the side of the road. Norma got out to get a close picture and he didn’t run away but sure hissed a lot. We also stopped for a snack break beside one of the billabongs. This is very typical of the many water filled ditches we have needed to cross on all of the roads we have taken here in the north.

 

We have made an early stop today as we were anxious to have a powered site and warm showers after the two nights of bush camping. The computer and readers are nearly out of power. Unfortunately again there is no internet but we do know where to find it tomorrow so will be posting several days of editions. We hope to also go back and edit the last two and add pictures as the last connection was a freebee at the BP petro station and the signal was only strong enough to do a written post. So . . . have a look back at the past five days for the latest stories and pictures!

Cook’s Hut – 323 km

We realized this morning we hadn’t been mentioning the weather. It has been pretty much what you would expect in the tropics, lots of sun, some cloud and occasional showers but generally humid with temperatures ranging from 26 to 30 daily and not cooling off much at night.

We got a fairly early start this morning as we wanted to get into the Iron Range (Kutini Peyame) national park and due to the very poor campsite booking process and lack of internet we didn’t know if we would just be coming into the park and having to drive the 143 km plus dirt road back out or what. We did stop at the Moreton Telegraph Station as they will book for you but the receptionist there told us she has had about 10 successful days of internet since April so was unable to help us out. Onward we went with hope for success.

It was an interesting drive with mostly very good roads into the rainforest, eucalyptus forests, etc. over many water filled creeks (watch for crocs) and one very muddy rutted section. We thought our vehicle was dirty before. You should see it now with it deep coat of red mud. There was a “short cut” we could have taken, called Frenchman’s Track but you needed to cross the Pascoe River which can be as much as one meter deep and of the four cars attempting the track yesterday, two had to be towed to the tune of over $3000! Besides our rental agreement would not cover this adventure.

There are many areas in the Cape Peninsula where liquor is prohibited or restricted. We were given a list of how much is allowed. In the Portland Road area there is no liquor allowed so we followed a long trail of empty beer cans and cases. Guess the locals stock up internally before getting home! Wouldn’t want to meet any of them on the road.

This has been one of the best drives for bird watching so far. We saw galahs, kookaburra, rainbow lorikeets, sulfur crested cockatoos amongst others. Also saw wallabies and kangaroos hopping quickly across the road.

Kookaburra

We stopped at the Lockhart River Ranger station hoping to book a camp site in the area but no one was there. They did have a campsite booking computer outside for people to use but it was down today. They did suggest we drive 4 km down the road to the airport where you could use your mobile phone with so-so reception to phone for a reservation.

We decided to drive into Lockhart River seeing as how we were that far in already. We spotted an Aboriginal Art Centre where they support local artists, provide an area for them to do their work and sell their end products. The manager was very nice and told us how upset the locals are with the useless campsite booking system. He offered to get on the net and book for us, which he did so here we are at Cook’s Hut campground. While there we purchased a painting and the fellow who painted it was sitting outside working on more. His name is Kevin Matty and he is very shy but did eventually agree to have his picture taken. One of the young fellows who was working there had been talking about the soccer games in Canada. Doug gave him a Canada pin (we have a big supply) and he was thrilled. He immediately put it on and kept patting it and saying “I have a Canada pin!”

Norma and Kevin Matty

 

After this we drove to check out our site – only six sites here and we had the last one. We then continued down the road for another 40 km to Chilli Beach where there are many more spots. We did walk on the beach and saw firsthand the garbage we had been hearing about from other people we had met along the way. Apparently as many as 4700 thongs and 6200 plastic bottles wash up there yearly from up-current neighbouring countries (e.g. Indonesia). They encourage people to pick up some of it as they use the beach. Again we were struck with how beautiful the pure white sand beach is and not a person to be seen using it, probably due to the posted sign about a recent croc sighting on that beach.

Beach Junk

This is the first beach we have seen a bit of seaweed on so you know how happy Doug was.

We continued on up to the end of the road to a community called Portland Road. It is a very small resort area with several holiday houses/cottages for rent and a café. Also very definite NO camping signs along the beautiful sheltered beach area.

We have some pretty noisy neighbours tonight. They are on the QZ tour bus that we had actually looking into doing for this trip. The company sets up tents at many different places, then takes people on the tours, letting them camp along the way. The staff cook all the meals as well.

Tour Group Site

Bramwell Junction Roadhouse - 373 km

Finally got access to internet this morning but it was a fairly weak signal so were only able to post the written part of the blog. Will go back in when signal is better to add pictures.

Last night we were visited by the wild horses, four of them, who ran around the campground, calling loudly to each other and generally making a mess. We had been warned they may show up and not to go near them though some campers were trying to pet them.

We had been hoping to spot a few rare birds and residents of the north and were lucky enough to watch a palm cockatoo feeding on the palm seeds just outside our camper. He didn’t seem the least bit bothered with everyone watching him until a motorcycle headed out of the camp ground. Even then he only flew a short distance and started feeding again.

This morning we started our trek back south. We did see a sign where if you wanted to you could arrange to have your car shipped south on a small freighter with you as a passenger. The ship only goes out once a week and takes two days to get down to Cairns. Not sure how much this option would cost but must be pretty pricy.

The road is becoming very bad with washboard (corrugated) in some places but today there was a grader trying to smooth it out. One fellow from Tasmania that we spoke with a few days ago said he came up early in the season as the road apparently gets even worse. You had to watch it on the corners where you could imagine just flying off the road on top of the washboard.

As we were driving we saw a beautiful, huge Cassowary bird run really quickly across the road in front of us. It is apparently pretty rare to spot these guys up here. 

Unfortunately many of the park camping requires a permit booked and purchased on line so with the limited internet access we have not been able to do that. We did decide to drive in to Captain Billy’s Landing, one of these parks, just to see. It was a 30 km mostly one lane often pretty rutted road through three water holes but well worth the drive. There is lots of space to camp right on the ocean (again no swimming due to crocs) but apparently a hefty fine is levied if you try to camp without said permit. Not sure they would send someone in every day to check but not prepared to take the chance so just walked on the beach and headed back out. On the way out we spotted a monitor lizard about 2 feet long and stopped to take his picture.

 

Capt. Billy's Cove

The Landing

Monitor Lizard

After this two hour side adventure we decided to stop at Bramwell Roadhouse again as it was getting to be 4 pm and we had driven enough for one day. The sign is from the Thursday Island Ferry. . .

 

Seisia - Thursday Island return – 64 km by ferry

 

Last night we had hoped to be visited by the wild horses they say frequent the campground but none showed up. There is lots of evidence of their past visits. Maybe tonight. The wild brush turkeys are here though and hopeful for a handout. We did manage to see a pair of frogmouths (owl-like birds) in a tree near our camp spot when we were out for our evening walk.

It has been another very nice day, a bit windy but warm and dry. We are not able to get an internet connections as they say it keeps cutting out. Could be due to the wind. We will try again in the morning.

This morning we set off on a one hour ferry ride to Thursday Island (TI). The terminal is just a short walk from our camp ground. The ferry captain gave a very good detailed description and history of the surrounding islands. There are over 100 islands in the Torres Strait, of which only 30 are inhabited. The Torres Strait (Coral Sea) area was famous for the pearl shell industry, making buttons, mother of pearl jewellery, etc. but with the introduction of plastic buttons the industry folded.

Once we arrived on the island we took a short bus tour of the island. Our first stop was the Green Hill Fort, which was established in 1898 during a period when there were fears of a Russian invasion. There are 6 huge cannons, each pointed to a different channel of the strait.

It was very windy up there but a great visit. There was also a very good display of the pearling industry artifacts, including a diver’s suit and the 1100 kg (!) light from one of the lighthouses.

 

We continued around the island (it is only 3 km around) to the cemetery where they have erected a memorial to the over 700 Japanese divers who lost their lives diving for pearl shells. We noticed the graves were all above ground, probably due to the fact the entire island is rock, and once the person has been buried the grave sits with a white fence around it waiting for the arrival of an ultra-fancy granite headstone which can take as much as 10 years to be delivered as the family saves the money to pay for it.

We had free time to wander about after the tour and prior to our return ferry trip. We went into the Gab Titui Cultural Centre and purchased a souvenir containing some seed pods so we had to go to the quarantine office and have it inspected, sprayed for insects and tagged with an inspection sticker. Various agricultural plant diseases are threatening mainland Australia so great caution is exhibited.

Today was the “under 8 in the park” day which means all the little kids under 8 have a day of activities in the park. The teachers had taken some of the kids to the cultural centre and while they were taking small groups of them into the center the remainder were dancing and playing an outdoor stage, pretty cute to watch.

Cultural Center Mask Display

 

The ferry ride back was very rough with big waves but they just go full throttle and over the waves we went.

We keep seeing the same people in the various campgrounds as we travel. This area is great for fishing and we have been seeing lots of people trying their hand. The aboriginals just use a large spool of fishing line with a hook that they throw out into the water. I imagine it could be hard on the hands if you caught a big one.

Seisia, QLD – 95 km

 

Doug decided to take a night off from cooking last evening and we went over to the restaurant for their world famous wood oven-fired pizza. All they serve for dinner is pizza and some of the choices were pretty weird, like shrimp, squid and mackerel, so we settled for “The Larry” which was prosciutto, peppers, mushrooms, feta, etc. and was very good. The memorial is to croc victim.

Woke early to the sound of rain drumming on the roof. So far we have done very well for the weather but we do need to remember we are now in the rainforest so to keep everything as lush as it is the rain is needed. This also settled the red dust so no big clouds behind us as we drove for a change. It did create some mud though! The back of the camper is gross. Doug was able to at least wash the window so we can see out while sitting inside.

Today we accomplished what we came all this way to do – we made it! To “The Tip”, Pajinka as the aboriginals call it. It was an interesting ride over washboard, through a few creeks (one being quite deep) and through an amazing “green tunnel” where the vegetation has formed a canopy over the road. The road is narrow with few places to allow to vehicles you meet to pass. There are vines hanging down and deep ruts making it interesting to negotiate. We spent a bit of time in 4X4 low range today.

At the tip there are numerous abandoned buildings making up the old Pajinka Lodge. Someone tried to make a go of it as a wilderness resort a few years ago. It even had boardwalks through the rain forest.

Once we arrived at the tip parking area we started our 1.5 km hike over the rocks, up the barren slope to a series of stone cairns that turned out to mark the way. The books talked about there being white painted rocks to indicate the correct direction but we did not see that. The view from up there is phenomenal and thankfully the rain had stopped, the sun was out and there was a nice breeze. You could see the rugged mainland coastline as well as some of the islands of the Torres Strait. We decided to do this early before it got too hot and even at that it was 25 degrees. Eventually we reached the sign telling us we were at the most northern point of Australia. A lady took pictures for us but this “selfie” seemed to be the best of the bunch. You can see how windy it was, but it was a lovely warm wind. In spite of that we were pretty sweaty by the time we got back to the bottom.
 

 

Our next adventure was a drive to Somerset, which was established as a coaling and shipping station back in 1850s. There are some old cannons and a grave yard but not much else. We did go down to the beach and were amazed at the huge mangroves growing there.

 This is an aboriginal camping area which is covered in our Jardine Ferry fare, but we had already booked our spot here in Seisia for two nights so made our way back here after making another stop at the Croc Tent to shop.

This was laundry day but unfortunately there are no dryers. That seems to be the case in most of these northern campgrounds. We think it is because electricity is expensive and some even run totally on generators.

Tomorrow we take a walk-on ferry to Thursday Island in the Torres Strait.
 

Punsand Bay, QLD – 211 km

Both Doug and Norma had an unusual experience in the dark last night. While returning from the bathroom there was a whoop, whoop, whoop noise over our heads from the huge wings of fruit bats we had stirred out of the trees. Don’t know who was more startled, us or the bats.

We woke to a foggy day with the ground and everything being very wet with condensation. Initially this did help a bit with the swirling red road dust. We thought the vehicle was dirty yesterday but with all the wet and dust it is now really dirty with the thick layer of red mud. Now we know why the rental company asks you to bring the vehicle back with some of it washed off.

Overnight two 10 inch high termite mounds appeared in the middle of the road. It is amazing how quickly these little workers can build.

Not knowing how long it will take to get places on these corrugated roads we made a fairly early start. We filled the vehicle up with diesel and Doug had a chat with the old fellow who owns the place. We  heard a few days ago how the Jardine Ferry was not running as someone had driven off the end. He just laughed and said it was the “Chinese whisperers” at work again and it was actually being serviced. He told Doug that if he cut his finger that by the time the story got back to him via the rumor mill it would be he had lost his arm to a croc.

 

While driving along Doug came to an abrupt stop as he had spotted something on the road. Into reverse we went and low and behold it was a beautiful mushroom growing in the red dirt at the side of the road. Can you tell how thrilled he is? See picture.

  

Our next stop was Fruit Bat Falls and where we had a nice walk in the rainforest. The falls are beautiful and a very popular swimming area as the water is warm and no crocs are present in this area. There were some interesting flowers including the pitcher plant which attracts flies and dissolves them with enzymes to provide food for the plant. See photo

Pitcher Plant

We had planned to also drive to Elliot Falls but the first creek crossing was very deep and long and after watching two vehicles go through we decided against it. One of the drivers came over to give us some tips – stay to the left where it isn’t as deep- but with the rental agreement in place (we were not actually supposed to be on that road) we don’t feel we need to take any chances as.

Fruit Bat Falls

The Jardine River Ferry was our next stop. For $99 we had a return trip ticket as well as free bush camping under permit from the aboriginals as this is their land. We may try one of these camps on our return trip south. The ferry runs on an as needed basis between 8 am and 5 pm and only holds a few cars at a time.

Ferry

We are nearly at “the top”. We had read about the need to stop at the “Croc Tent” which is literally a tent where they sell all sorts of Cape York souvenirs. It is virtually out in the middle of nowhere!

Punsand Bay

We are at a beautiful campground on the ocean at Punsand Bay. The water and beach looks very inviting but there is a reason they have a pool for the kids: the estuarine crocs are in the waters here and in fact one was sighted today.

The Canadian flag were are flying continues to draw campers over for chats. The last fellow was from Tasmania whose daughter lived in Vancouver for awhile thus his grandkids have dual citizenship.