Our camp at Eight Mile Creek - MAGIC! But____!!
Sue's on FLY SWAT patrol!
Next camp, Tinaroo Dam - sunset - 247k's an easy day.
Again a MAGIC spot, and guess what NO FLIES, it was blowing a good steady breeze that sure helped. We had the camp ground to ourselves. Then next a couple arrived with tent and generator. Then Craig arrived for the weekend Barra Bash with his LC and 14' tinnie.
Further around the lake on my bike, great riding country.
The ducks liked the watermelon someone threw out.
View from our front door!
Sue gets a coffee in bed every morning from the naked CHEF! No, it's not a Cuppachino, just regular instant stuff.
Tinaroo camp site early morning.
Then the clouds rolled in across the Dam. Departing Tinarro early it was a short drive to Cairn's and we planned to stay at the show grounds. How ever after unhooking the van and checking out the office we were not permitted to camp there. No dog, we had to have a refusal note from a Caravan Park. Yep, the local Caravan Park owners are rebelling against the local councils using show grounds for Caravaner's. Any way after a month on the road, thru small towns and on the open road, we couldn't get out of Cairns quick enough with all the hussle and bussle, plus the Bloody Traffic Lights.
So we hooked up in 20 minutes and headed to Port Douglas, and surprised an old mate from Port Lincoln, his daughter is working there. We check out her place but no access for the Van, so we set up camp at the Mossman Show Grounds, no restrictions here, and at $13.20 for a powered site with hot showers etc, a real good deal.
Plus Mossman Gorge was just up the road.
Mossman Show Grounds camp site, Hinterland covered in cloud.
Mossman Gorge rain forest walk, some of the Stangler Fig Tree buttress root system, the Wet Tropics rain forest is reported to be 135 million years old, yes MILLIONS.
One of the local's.
We took a side trip to Cooktown up the "BLOOMFIELD TRACK". Well it ain't a track anymore, it's a well formed road. The 1st creek crossing barely got the tires wet. Signage " ONLY 4WD VEHICLES PAST THIS POINT" The number of 2wd vehicles on the TRACK indicated how bad it was. The roughest the TRACK got was the two cattle grids we crossed on the plains.
The most interesting feature besides the rain forest was the Black Rock Mountain just out of Cooktown. It's a heap of rocks, the black is actually moss that is growing on the rocks.
Some of the gadgets on board the LC (Landcruiser). Keeps Sue busy checking things. It took nearly 12,000k's to get the Smart Tire to read all tires correctly. The bloke that installed it put the receiving transmitter in the ceiling above the right rear wheel, thus the rear left tire on the BT would not read correctly. I pulled it out and re-ran the wiring to the centre of the vehicle and it works perfect NOW! Slow learners or What!! Each wheel has a transmitter strapped around inside the rim, and transmits to the contoller and relayed to the remote readout. Neat technology.
On our return to Mossman from Cooktown, finally had time to assemble the gas BBQ I made in Thailand from a Freon gas cylinder, cut it in half and put some hinges on. Great burner and the roast's cook in half the time it takes in the BT oven.
Hit the dirt road just out of Lakeland, reduced the tire pressures on the LC to 26 and the BT 22, made for a much softer ride on the corrugations.
There's thousand if not millions of these white ant (termite) mounds. We checked out Laura and the old store; a new owner has just taken over. The previous owner had been behind the counter for 25 years.
Lagoon up river of the crossing.
Off into Lakefield National Park and camped one night at Six Mile Water Hole, then on to Kalpowar Crossing on the Normandy River, this track heads up to Princess Charlotte and Bathurst Bay, we will be back again with the Tinnie to explore.
Local visitor at Kalpowar Crossing
Hot coals - checking the damper.
The damper, looks better than it tasted.
Early morning walk there were hundreds of fruit bat's heading home to roost, and I came across a group of wild brumbies and this guy took a dislike to my presence amongst his ladies. I made a hasty retreat behind some tree's.
Camped at Hann Crossing; unhooked and toured the area.
Mosquito Water Hole - Pig damage.
Went up to the tidal reaches of the North Kennedy River to Mosquito Water Hole not far from Jam Tin Creek, I am sure you all know exactly where it is. If not have fun looking up the map locations. Just in case here's the Coord's S 14 40 655 E 144 03 688. Now this place is as remote as it get's, and along comes an old bloke in his Hilux 4 x 4 ute, so we stopped and had a chat. "Ah, yeah just been up the track here bird watching" . Wild pigs every where, well at least you can see their handy work, they sure wreck the ground and vegetation. Came across one lot of pigs, two Sow's and about 15 piglets.
This is camp # 2 on the North Kennedy River great spot to launch the Tinnie.
Coffee time folks, Oh!! and some banana cake, tim tams or monte carlo's, well we have some vices.
Another one of the local's.
Water Hole crossing.
Well sign posted but where to now? This is out in the middle of NOWHERE!
Leaving the national park.
Topped up with fuel at Musgrave at $1.51 per litre; it was not a whole lot. At this stage just out of the National Park we were averaging 22k's per hour, the lass who topped up the fuel was floored when I stated our driving average. Most folks, if not all, travel at crazy speed's and wonder why things break! We are in no hurry, plus I can see and stop in time to pickup stuff on the road - see later.
Camp site at Coen River Bend, complete with Windy Loo. Just for the record Driving stat's from Hann Crossing to Coen River Bend, with spots in between. Distance 193.6k's Driving Time 7h 42m, Stopped time 1h 48m Total time 9h 30m Driving Average 25.2k's per hour. All data from the onboard GPS.
Coen River stopped flowing about two weeks before we arrived.
This note inside the Windy Loo. The dog's were not present so we made a point to visit on our return. Plus it was a magic spot suggested by Chris, a lad filling his outboard fuel tank in town; off fishing for the weekend at Port Stephens before the Barra season closed.
Almost there! The road much better from Archer River to Weipa Average Speed 42k's per hour.
This was neat, no Blackboy's, then hundreds of them for about 1k on top of this ridge, then they stopped a real demarcation line where they started and stopped.
The Weipa Hash House Harriers headquarters.
Mai Thai - Sue's name for the abandon cat. Seems the folks before us at the camp site had been feeding the cat, so we just carried on. Mai Thai went missing the day before we departed.
Sue's pet Chit Chat, we call them Shit Chats, at least with this one - it's toilet trained!
This is what you call FLAT'S FISHING! Walk for K's.
Did the Tourist thing and went on a mine tour, not allowed out of the bus but very informative. The current mine lease will last 70 years, well that's until they double production in 06/07 then it's only 35 years. But then they have millions of acreas to mine under sea. So we are not going to run out of beer can's any time soon. The Truck holds 150 tons of Bauxite, the tire cost 10k each, the loader bucket hold 12 tons and tires cost 25k each.
Washing and drying plant.
Loading hopper to rail carriages, 100 ton per carriage, 35 carriages per locomotive.
Catching up to the train.
The loco, Comalco use two million litre of diesel a month for equipment use and power generation. All their fuel is imported direct from Singapore.
Sue's getting good at taking photo's out the wind screen, train and us on the Comalco built Mission River Bridge, its one lane. You stop either end, then proceed if no one's on the bridge, headlights on please!
Mia Thai in her favorite pose!
Our camp neighbour, Doug, a keen fisherman. Arrived the same day we did, helped him set up his camp kitchen. Went out fishing a few time's, gave him some flies to try, he couldn't believe it when we started hooking up on the Queenie's with the white clousers. He had all these's super you beaut $20 plus lures and not catching anything.
Day trip up to Marpoon and Cullen Point. Some fellow's had just packed up camp and departed, so we had the beach to ourselves.
Pennefather River Mouth.
Pennefater River - Oh boy, where's the Tinnie?
Sue relaxing with some stink fishing, the wind was blowing a bit hard to fly cast.
Sue in casting action!
Sunset at Gobung Point.
Yes we had the whole place to ourselves, Mission River Bridge.
The view from our Weipa camp site.
Packed up and sorted out stuff I had picked up on the road, decided to donate to the camp site.
Time to leave, ready packed and hitched-up for an early start in the morning. Checkout our week on the Mantaray - see http://www.fishabout.blogspot.com
Next BLOG - Weipa to Brisbane.
See ya!
