TO BOWEN AND BEYOND

The camps near the quinkan rock art south of Laura were pretty ordinary and burnt out so we didn’t stop there and continued on to a lookout just south of Lakeland, where we set up for the night overlooking the escarpment – impressive views.

The view from our lookout camp

Next day on the way back to Japoonvale we pulled up at Hann River and had an uninvited guest who was very fond of Leo’s dog food so he joined us for lunch. He was so quiet and had obviously sussed out all the tourists. I don’t think he had to do much foraging for his food and Leo certainly didn’t faze him. He just kneeled down and tucked in. While I was patting him John suggested I get some emu feathers but I decided I didn’t fancy getting kicked by those legs.

Our uninvited lunch guest

We arrived in Townsville on Saturday and immediately set about cleaning the van with Pav’s  pressure cleaner. A week later we just about had most of the red dust off. We would finish the job  in Bowen. Our first week in Bowen was spent at Oscar and Tracey’s – thanks guys.

Trace got creative with her phone camers!

Then we headed out to the property at Warden Bend where we spent another week with Hope, our granddaughter, who we picked up on Saturday. Mitch, her Dad, came down on Sunday and we had a lovely morning at the beach.

What a sweetie!

Hope with her dad, Mitch

 I had forgotten how lovely the beaches are in Bowen and the water was glorious – not cold and crystal clear.

Beautiful Horseshoe Bay

I spent many Sundays here as a teenager

Hope had a wonderful time playing with all her cousins out at the property – 4 girls and 1 boy – who are all full of beans. 

Hope with her cousins Tayla, Mia, Emma, Lane and Georgia

Leo enjoyed the freedom of the property too although we had to tie him up at night as the passing wallabies were too much of a temptation. We thought he was going to drag the van away some nights in his eagerness to chase them. He was also intrigued by the horses. Dad and Doug had just brought their new filly home to be with her mum, Emmataylane. Emm is no longer racing and hopefully her daughter will prove as good if not better on the track.

Hope and her mate Leo

Emmataylane and her daughter

 

Our first stop after we left Bowen was the rodeo grounds at St Lawrence where there were lots of other vans, campers etc. The facilities here are great, there are no fees – yet – and there is a fantastic area of wetlands nearby which is great for bird watching. Next day we headed to Rocky with a short stopover at Yaamba so that Hope could have a break from the car. It was a terrific spot for her as she loved playing on the swing and the birds turned out to be very quiet. She got a real kick out of feeding them. They almost ate from your hand.

The friendly birds at Yaamba

 

That one goes there Poppy!

After dropping Hope off we continued south to Calliope River, which is a great stopover, although one of the toilet blocks was closed so that the composting could catch up. I could not see the logic of closing a toilet block during the busiest time of the year – May to October. But the camp area was still very full. The road works seemed to increase the further south we travelled. Our venture into Agnes Waters and 1770 was disappointing. The free camp at Workman’s Beach was very cramped and looked like it would be prone to sandflies so we had a look up at 1770. There is a lovely camp right on the beach in the inlet but unfortunately they did not allow dogs. When we stopped for lunch on the inlet however, the sandflies soon made their presence felt and we were told by a friendly local, Bevan, that the caravan park at Agnes Waters was also bad for them so we decided to continue on south. We took a shortcut on Gorge Road across to Lowmead and discovered some nice little spots along this road which would be fine for an overnight stop and we were wishing we had stopped at one of them instead of going on to Granite Creek. The camp itself here is fine but the noise of the traffic on the highway is hard to escape.

As we were meeting our friend Beez on Friday at his block in Gin Gin we decided that this would be a great opportunity to visit my Aunt Marj and Uncle John at Boolboonda on the Gin Gin-Mt Perry Road. We had three lovely days there. They showed us all around Mt Perry and took us out to Mingo Crossing, a lovely new caravan park on the Paradise Dam. It is only quite new, with excellent facilities and will be a great little spot for fishing once the dam stocks build up. We also visited the Boolboonda Tunnel, an old railway tunnel carved through the mountain, with no supports at all – just sheer rock. It was full of little bats so take care. They will leave lots of little messes on your car.

Boolboonda Tunnel

Inside the tunnel

Mt Perry from the lookout above the town

I particularly enjoyed our stay at Boolboonda. This is where my Dad’s family have lived for over 100 years and we parked the van where my great-grandmother’s house once stood. I also got to visit my grandma’s old homestead where the family ran a dairy when my Dad was a child, his old school on a property which Uncle John’s family now own and the cattle properties which he and his son Robert now own including Ellimatta, Four Mile and Sixty Mile. We left with the fridge full of vegies just as when we left Bowen. Uncle John is an enthusiastic gardener like my Dad and Aunty Marj provided some lovely orange jam.

The homesteads and dairy at Leather's original dairy farm

John inspects the old dairy. I learnt to milk cows here AND stand in fresh cow pats to keep my feet warm.

The old Boolboonda school where my Dad and his siblings went to school.

Marj & John were babysitting puppies while we were there - quite a handful!

It was a short drive back into Gin Gin and then out to Tirroan where our friend Beez has a 20 acre block. He has recently planted some table grapes and John had a lovely time doing some slashing on the tractor and helping Beez fertilize and irrigate the grapes. The only drawback was Leo and Gringo, Beez' dog. They could not get along and we had to keep them well apart as they just kept getting into each other. 

John and Beez inspecting the grapes.

After three nights with Beez and then headed south, calling in to visit friends, Mickey and Muriel in Cooroy then going on to the Sunshine Coast and finally the showgrounds at Caboolture. The campground here is fairly average as the sites are quite small. We managed to catch up with Bob and Wendy and recommended the Redcliffe showgrounds to them as they are much roomier and the toilets etc. are much nicer.



.Next morning it was a short drive into Sandgate to Rob and Bron’s lovely old queenslander where we were met by Ruby, their german shepherd bitch. She and Leo took a bit to get acquainted but by the end of our stay they were best buddies, playing together quite happily. Rob’s huge front yard was a great place to put the van so we settled in nicely. Lachlan and Dave, our two older boys, came over with Kristie, Dave’s partner, for a quick get together that night. We returned to the Bushtracker factory early on Thursday morning after a surprisingly hassle-free one-hour run up the M1 from Sandgate. After a little dodging and weaving re the awning, fly screens etc. they got into the minor warranty repairs while we spent a lovely day with John’s parents at Currimundi. We met up with Bob and Wendy again at the Landsborough Pines Caravan Park near Australia Zoo and luckily got their last available site. A lot of vans were pulled into a rest area just off the M1 on Steve Irwin Way. This must be a popular free camp but is would be very noisy with both traffic and train line nearby. Obviously the area is very busy because it is so close to Australia Zoo.

Murphy’s Law says that something has to go wrong so of course when we arrived at Suncoast Caravan Services on Friday morning Dometic in Brisbane had sent the wrong awning up. Naturally this meant a further three day wait until another was sent for fitting the following Tuesday. But this wasn’t to be either. TNT managed to lose the replacement awning so we sat in Brisbane awaiting word of its arrival. Meanwhile John and I decided we would definitely NOT like to live in the city again. We did, however, have a chance to catch up with the rest of John’s family here which was great.

Dave, John, Chris & Lach with the boys' bikes.

Rob and Quinn took John out to Moreton Island in the boat on Saturday morning. There were no fish but Rob managed to provide some excitement for us all when he reversed the trailer and boat off the end of the Search & Rescue boat ramp at Shorncliffe. It wasn’t really his fault as the channel had just been dredged right up to the ramp so there was a big dropoff and no sign to warn anyone. Fortunately the only damage done was to Rob’s pride as the girls came to the rescue with the Cruiser and pulled it out. (Charterboat! What Charterboat?)

Rob's trailer misshap before rescue.

After our extended stay in Brisbane we were more than pleased when the installation of the new awning went smoothly. The crew at Suncoast Caravan Services must be congratulated. They are a very professional outfit and extremely helpful.

MUTEE HEADS

Mutee Heads from our camp

Yum! I spent our first afternoon collecting oysters and managed to get a fair amount. It’s hard work though. They are not huge and you really have to look for them.  Not too good on the already dreadful back either. But well worth it – steak stuffed with oysters  - mmmm!  John was up bright and early on Thursday morning (how unusual!) to do a spot of fishing. Leo did the usual complaining. He thinks he should go all the time now that John has taken him out once in the tinny.  When he got back we took off over to the mouth of the Jardine River before the wind got up. Very interesting over there and lots of other boats. Looks like there should be fish everywhere and crabs as well. We only caught a couple of cod but at least we have some bait for the crab pots now. Will set some ghost crab traps on the beach tonight. I saw heaps of big ones down there last night while checking the boat and they are great bait for blueys.

Our camp

The view from our van

The beach with old jetty pylons just visible at top right

Kerry and Jeanette arrived just before lunch and set up camp then it was off down to the rocks to get some more oysters. Leo had a very bad limp by the afternoon so next morning when it was still bad we were in a quandary as to what to do. After establishing that the nearest vet is in Weipa we decided to ring our vet in Townsville. She was very helpful and we think that the swelling is from an injury to the leg joint and not due to an infection. Fortunately Jeanette had a thermometer so we monitored his temperature and strapped the leg according to the vet’s advice.  I also rubbed it with Rapidgel, a horse liniment that Kerry swears by, so we are hoping this and rest will help it mend. Otherwise it will be a visit to the vet when we get back.

Another fireside soiree

John and Kerry headed off to the Jardine again to put some crab pots in and do some fishing. They got back mid-afternoon with just one nice cod that Kerry caught and no crabs. They didn’t leave the pots in just in case we had to leave early due to Leo. Nobody seems to be getting crabs down there anyway. In the afternoon we took a drive up to the headland to see the old radar tower and gun emplacements which are relics of the American base which was here in WWII.

The remains of the WWII radar tower

View across to Prince of Wales & Thursday Island from the heads

We also had a look at the graves and monument on the hill behind our camp. These are graves of the original people who came to Mutee Head from Saibai Island when high tides swamped their island. They eventually moved to where Bamaga is now. Quite sad really as the chief had gone off to school, the army, and was a policeman for years then died at the age of 47 in the year he returned to Bamaga.

I noticed some beautiful native flora while at Mutee Head which I couldn’t help but photograph so I’ve included some shots below.

On Saturday morning we just fished off the head and around the jetty but again nothing much caught. It is certainly a lovely spot here though.  John and Kerry had more success on Sunday though when they went back down to the mouth of the Jardine. John had seen fish charter boats going just past the mouth and using the sounder, they located some good lumpy seabed and managed to bag a nice catch, although there should have been more. Apparently they were smashed up about 5 times so there must have been some big ones there.

Happy old fishers are we

We decided to head off on Monday morning even though Leo’s leg seemed to be on the mend. The swelling was going down but he was still limping so it was off back down the road to the gravel pit then on to Coen for a couple of nights before visiting Laura to see the quinkan rock art there and back to Townsville to get ready for the next leg of our trip. On the way to Coen we came across a real character, along the road with his trusty donkey. He was adamant we could only have one quick photo though as he said everyone was stopping him and at that rate he’d never make the Cape.

The man with the donkey

TO THE TIP OF CAPE YORK

We packed up and left False Pera Head straight after lunch on Sunday and travelled to a gravel pit/dam we had been told about which is about 5 klms north of the intersection where the Batavia Downs road meets the main road north. It was a lovely spot to spend the night. Leo had a welcome swim and Kerry and Jeanette did a bar-b-que tea while I whipped up a fruit cake. Kerry was greatly impressed with my cooking skills. The next day we stopped off at Moreton Telegraph Station and took their nature walk along the Wenlock River and surrounds. It was a pleasant break from the terrible corrugations on the road.

Termit nests at Bramwell Junction

Our gravel pit camp

Mid-afternoon saw us at the intersection to the northern end of the Old Telegraph Track where you access Fruit Bat, Indian Head and Twin Falls. There is a clearing at the intersection which comfortably accommodates two vans so we parked up there, left Leo to guard the fort and drove our car into Fruit Bat Falls for a much enjoyed swim.

Fruit Bat Falls on Eliot Creek

Next morning we ventured into Indian Head and Twin Falls which are definitely the more spectacular, although all are very picturesque and the swimming is lovely. 

Creek crossing on the Old Telegraph Road into Indian Head Falls





Indian Head Falls on Eliot Creek



Twin Falls on Canal Creek

Kerry & Jeanette just lovin' iit!

We arrived at the Jardine River Ferry at 12 noon and had lunch while waiting for the ferry to start running again at 1.00.

The Wades cross on the Jardine River ferry

The roads did not improve all the way to Injanoo and Umagico, which is the campground at Alau Beach. There is a really interesting area of forest around the Captain Billy Landing turnoff – very tropical. We were really lucky to jag an excellent campsite at Umagico with our own picnic shelter etc right on the beach and a drive up to Seisia and Loyalty Beach made us happy that we had chosen the nicest campground. We caught up with Bob and Wendy there.

Umagico sunset

The fishing was not much at all around the Bamaga/Seisia area but John and Bob did catch a few when they took a run down to Mutee Head in the tinny. We’re told Jacky Jacky Creek out near the airport is good but we decided not to bother. We had a great day on Friday, when we drove up to the tip, Pajinka. On the way we stopped at the Croc Tent for the obligatory souvenir and also went into Punsand Bay where we had a cold drink in a lovely setting at the resort’s bar. The beach at the tip is lovely. We walked up to the tip by walking behind the mangroves at the north end of the beach. This is a much easier route. At the tip we met three crazy Japanese guys who were really happy to take photos for us. They were eager to get photos of us as well. We were quite amused that they had come all the way up in a Juicy hire van. God only knows how they got it through the creek crossing but they were having a ball and were due back in Cairns in three days.



Creek crossing on the way to the tip



We took the normal track back to the carpark up over the headland and the views from the very top were fantastic. After a drink and a rest at the beach, we headed over to Somerset which is a lovely little campground on the eastern side of the tip, sheltered by Albion Island. It has toilets, water tanks and would be accessible with the van. It is still a bit exposed to the prevailing south-easters though. The graves at the northern end of the camp were very interesting as were the monument and guns up round the corner where the old magistrates homestead once stood. The history of the area is rich and interesting and we learned a lot more of it when we took our trip over to Thursday Island.



Photoof the tip from the air taken by Kerry on his chopper ride



Chris, Leo & John at the tip

Happy travellers

Three crazy Japanese boys

Looking west from the tip

Looking north at the tip

The road to the tip

Somerset Bay

The weekend was spent fishing and relaxing and taking the odd walk along the beach. We were treated to crayfish for dinner when a couple of the local guys called in to the beach with a fresh catch which they were selling at quite reasonable prices. We had seen then offshore during the afternoon and when asked about crocs they said they will only get you on the surface. I don’t believe that, and I certainly disagreed when John suggested going for a dive himself, especially when he had seen the local croc off the beach himself and assured us it was not little. They said they came in regularly but we didn’t see them again. Jeanette suggested that perhaps they were just getting some extra cash for the big show and rodeo which was on in Bamaga that weekend, complete with fireworks which we could hear from the camp on Saturday night.

On Tuesday we did the tourist thing and jumped on the ferry over to Thursday Island. The bus tour we took included a trip up to Green Hill Fort which sits above the town. Only the bus tour operators get access to the bunkers beneath which have been turned into a museum by the local historical society, so we were happy that we had chosen to go this way as it was well worthwhile. We also went to the local cemetery where we learned about the local burial customs and saw the lovely memorial which has been erected for the Japanese pearlers who died in the area. After lunch at the Torres Strait Hotel (The Top Pub in Australia) we had a quick look through the local cultural centre which was a lovely building and should be great when completed. Then it was back across the road to the ferry. The wind had picked up by the time we headed back to Seisia so the return trip was much more interesting.

Thursday Island from Green Hill Fort

Old guns at Green Hill Fort

John and I packed up on Wednesday morning and moved camp down to Mutee Head where there is a lovely little campground right beside the beach. This is a free camp with bins and nothing else but the beach is beautiful and we had it to ourselves.