Author: laughtonslivinglife

(6/9/2017 – 12/9/2017)

From Seisia Holiday Park we travelled down the Overland Telegraph Line and then stopped at Bramwell Junction Roadhouse for lunch before continuing on kms of dirt and sealed roads to Weipa (on the west coast).

(“Number Plate” Tree at Bramwell Junction).

We checked into Weipa Campground and Caravan Park for 5 nights.   Very hot and dusty but we were right on the beach which was lovely.  Again, of course, no swimming but they did have a pool which was great!!!

We saw some sensational sunsets on the beach!! (sorry, my photography skills don’t cut it at all!!!).

Weipa is the largest town in central Cape York.   It is not touristy but more than anything it is a mining town, and consequently quite industrial and expensive.   But it is on some colourful land with bright red soils and surrounded by blue waters, which makes even an industrial town look beautiful.

The town thrives well enough on mining which has now created bus tours to Weipa Mine ($40.00 per adult).    The mine used to be a Comalco mine but is now owned by Rio Tinto.

It’s also one of the best places in the Cape York area to fish, it’s a main attraction of Weipa, very popular with the locals and tourists!!!  There are fishing spots everywhere – on beaches, headlands, river mouths.

Andrew and Daniel hired a boat and had a great day out fishing!!!  There was success this time with them catching a variety of fish!!!!  We enjoyed a feast of gold spotted rock cod, cobia and tusk fish.

Weipa has a small shopping centre with a Woolworths so that was good (feel like I am forever food shopping LOL LOL).    We had dinner out a couple of nights at Weipa Bowls Club.   Wonderful food!!  They also had a great kids playground too!!!

We did a drive around the area one day and had lunch at Lake Patricia (had to take a photo – my middle name is Patricia!!).    They had a kids playground, shaded seating and BBQ facilities.   Beautiful lake but again, no swimming!!!

From Weipa we drove down to Port Stewart (which is on the east coast) for a free overnight camp.  It wasn’t as nice as we thought it would be, we couldn’t camp anywhere near the water due to crocodiles and there were heaps of mangroves everywhere so lots of midgies.   It was windy too.  Oh well, it was just for the one night!!

Since we had already travelled the main development road going north, we thought it was time get off the map and explore.  We heard about a track from Port Stewart  through the Lama Lama National Park which brought you out in the Lakefield National Park. After talking with the Port Stewart rangers  and hearing that it had just been graded we decided to give it a go.  This road was better than the main development road. We stopped in at the Lakefield ranger station and had a look around and a chat. As we headed further south we encountered a few gates which we had to open and close behind us. It is fairly remote here, we only saw 1 house at Running Creek. We did see some great views as we travelled through these National parks and around and down these mountains.

Our plan was to camp at Elim Beach the next night.     After many hours and kms of dirt road driving and then going around a winding road down the side of a mountain we finally arrived at Endeavour Falls Tourist Park.   Daniel needed to fill up with fuel.     We asked the owner at the park how long until we get to Elim Beach but it was still another 1 1/2 hours or so drive.    It was already late afternoon.  By the time we drove out there and set up, etc, it would have been getting on dark so we just decided to stay here for a night.

After driving for many kms, this caravan park felt like a little oasis in the middle of nowhere!  It was such a beautiful park with lots of palm trees, good clean amenities, swimming pool, fuel and a takeaway/convenience store.

The next morning we had a walk down to the falls which were located at the back of the caravan park.  What a lovely little surprise to have this here!!!   The water was cold and we were advised not to swim!!!    It was very tranquil and peaceful.    You can also visit the falls without having to stay at the park.

We finished packing up and we said our farewells to Daniel and Stacey as we parted ways and continued on our own travels.   It was a wonderful couple of weeks travelling with them.   We thanked them for all their help along the way, it was very much appreciated.   The kids were a bit sad to say goodbye (but there was a possibility of catching up with them again in Cairns the following week).

(6/9/2017 – 12/9/2017)

(30/8/2017 – 6/9/2017)

We left Cooktown on Wednesday morning with our travelling companions (Daniel and Stacey and their 2 children – Summer and Harlem).   We headed north on the Peninsula Development Road.  We stopped at Musgrave Station for lunch and then onto our first overnight stop at Coen, The Bend.

We arrived at Coen mid afternoon.   Well, what a beautiful little free camping spot!!!   Beautiful fresh water creek for the kids to swim in, sandy beach area for the kids to play on and build sandcastles, various sized trees for shade and you were surrounded by mountainside.  You have to be self sufficient though.    Daniel and Stacey got bogged going through the water with the camper trailer but Andrew helped guide them out.  After we set up camp, Andrew and I went out searching for firewood.  I found a good sized log for Andrew to cut and he told me to be on snakewatch!!!   What!!! Snakewatch!!!   Yikes!!!    Phew, there was nothing around!!!!    When we got back to camp, Andrew got the drone out to take footage over the area.     We also enjoyed our first campfire that night too!!

The next day we were up early, had breakfast and packed up.    We decided to have a few nights at Captain Billy Landing on the east coast.  We stopped at the Rangers Station at Coen to enquire and pay for camping at Captain Billy Landing which was in the Jardine National Park.  All camping in national parks need to be paid upfront either online or at a rangers station.    We continued north and stopped at Moreton Telegraph Station for lunch.   We turned off the Peninsula Development Road and onto another 30 km 4WD track out to the coastline.   It was very a narrow road, again all bumpy and winding and you could only do about 40km p/h.     Today was a very long drive!!!!

Captain Billy Landing was another great camp spot.   We arrived late in the afternoon and set up camp.  Oh no, a few drops of rain!!!  This isn’t good when you are in a tent!!!    Luckily, the rain didn’t last.     But it was very windy though.   This wasn’t unusual for it to be windy here for most of the year.    It was very cloudy the whole time which wasn’t a bad thing as there were no trees or anything for shade but it was still very warm during the day.     Andrew fished a lot of the time but unfortunately didn’t catch anything.    The kids played on the beach but you couldn’t go swimming due to crocodiles and we did some lovely walks up and down the beach and explored around the rocky coastline where we saw some caves filles with bats.

From Captain Billy Landing we drove up to Fruit Bat Falls.  How stunning was this, just being a few kms in from the main road.    We all had a swim and our (first bath/shower in days), had some  lunch and then continued for more kms of red dirt to the Jardine River Ferry.    We crossed over and then headed to Seisia Holiday Park where we booked in for 3 nights.

Seisia is located about 40km south of the tip of Cape York Peninsula and is the most northern community on mainland Australia.  Seisia Holiday Park is situated on the beachfront (which is lovely but no swimming due to crocodiles).  The “Seisia Kiosk” is open for dine in and takeaway meals.   There is a supermarket, service station, mechanic and meatworks all within walking distance.    The Seisia wharf/jetty is right next door, which is very popular for fishing and you can board the ferry from here to Thursday Island and Horn Island.

Another couple (Noel and Lorato) and their kids were staying at the park too (we had also met them at the Big4 in Townsville).

Noel had a tinny so Daniel, Andrew and him went out fishing one day with some success in bringing back a barracuda.   After nearly sinking the tinny and taking in water, they finally made it back to shore!!!!

There is not much to do at the caravan park, unfortunately there is no pool.   Since you can’t swim in the beach it would have been great if there was a pool to go swimming and cool down as it was quite hot.  This would have kept the kids occupied as well. Lucky our friends Daniel and Stacey had a blow up pool which the kids loved.

On Father’s Day we all travelled together and made the trip to Cape York ( The Tip).  After a rough drive, we stopped at the Croc Tent where they had more information about the Tip and it also had heaps of souvenirs too!!!

We stopped at a beach for some lunch before we walked to the Tip.  Well, everyone talks about the drive to Cape York but not on one says anything about the long rocky walk to get to the actual Tip!!   You really had to be careful walking there, (particularly in thongs!!!! LOL)    It took all of us a good half an hour or so to finally reach the Tip!!    Woo Hoo!!!!   We are here!!!

It all felt surreal actually.   Its something that is on the bucket list to get here and we finally made it.   And being here on Father’s Day was even more special for Andrew.

It was quite windy and overcast here.   Unfortunately Andrew could not get the drone up, didn’t want to risk it flying away!!!!     We had the area all to ourselves so we spent nearly an hour here.   All the guys went fishing!!!   Well, they could not come here and not have a fish at the Tip!!!!!

On the way back to Seisia, we pulled over to Punsand Bay Campground and had a look around there.  This was on the beach as well.  I thought this was better than Seisia, at least it had a pool (mind you, it was a bit green so probably wouldn’t swim in it anyway).   It had a nice restaurant and bar with lovely covered outdoor seating.  From there we drove to Loyalty Beach and had a look around at this holiday park.   This was also on the beach, looked like another nice place to have camped as well.    We made it back to Seisia in the late afternoon.  We then decided to go over to the wharf so Mitchell could do some fishing.    He was very excited that he caught some “bait fish”.   So, a fantastic day all round!!!

One day we did some exploring around the area with Noel and his family.    Firstly we drove to a plane wreck from WW2 near Bamaga.

The First World War didn’t reach Australia, Australians fought over in Europe. But the WWII did come to Australia, which was the next Japanese target after PNG.  Northern Australia obviously was the first front, particularly the Top End of Northern Territory and Cape York peninsula.

A DC3 which was under charter for military purposes left Archerfield airfield in Brisbane and was flying to PNG.   It crashed on 5/5/45 and killed all 6 personnel on board.

We then continued on to Mutee Head.   It was a great 4WD adventure following the Pipeline track, this is where Andrew went through a creek crossing and the water came up over the bonnet of the car, it was a little bit hair-raising that’s for sure!!!!!!    It was a pretty narrow, very winding and bumpy track but we made it out all OK.    We found our way to Mutee Head where we stopped for lunch on the beach, another beautiful unspoilt spot of coastline.     It was another hot day and the water looked very tempting, such a shame you can’t swim up here because of the crocodiles!!!  Andrew and Noel had a quick fish but caught nothing!!!   After lunch we headed back to Seisia not before stopping at Bamaga for more alcohol!!! ($22.00 for a 2 litre cask of Yalumba wine!!!!!!).    Wow, another great day out 4WDriving around!!!

(30/8/2017 – 6/9/2017)

(28/8/2017 – 30/8/2017)

We travelled from Port Douglas to Cooktown on Monday 28th August – Mitchell’s 5th Birthday!!

Its a stunning coastal drive up to Cape Tribulation on the Captain Cook Highway and then we went across the Daintree Ferry.   From Cape Tribulation we travelled the famous Bloomfield Track.   Now things got interesting as it was an unsealed road (approx 40 kms)!!!!   The Bloomfield Track is one of the most scenic 4WD drives in Queensland and a must-do for 4WD travellers.   Its an unforgettable experience, full of spectacular views, creek crossings, secluded beaches, a rainforest archway, majestic plants and wildlife.

Continue reading “Queensland:- Cooktown” →

(25/8/2017-27/8/2017)

After stopping at Innisfail for coffees (hmm, we seem to be in a pattern of buying cappuccinos whenever we hit the road!!!) we then continued driving up north.   What a gorgeous drive up from Kurrimine Beach to Port Douglas.  The coastline was just beautiful with the water glistening in the sunlight!!      We had my favourite CD on – ‘Dirty Dancing’ so it was just great looking out to the water with the music playing.  We both felt immediately relaxed.    I feel at peace when I am around water (I am a ‘water sign’).

Continue reading “Queensland:- Port Douglas” →

After leaving Townsville we drove further north (about an hour’s drive) to a place called Mutarnee and set up camp at Crystal Creek Caravan Park (23/8/2017).   We had lunch and then Andrew got out his drone and had a practice run at the park.

Continue reading “Queensland:- Mutarnee/Hidden Valley/Kurrimine Beach” →