Day 10 - 244 km to Bramwell Station.
We back tracked to the PDR from Iron Range National Park first up. Attempting the Frenchmans Track was not on the agenda for this trip but we did speak to a couple of young guys at Bramwell later on who said the river crossings were about a foot above door sill which would have been ok. Had lunch at the Moreton Telegraph Station. Interesting to see the photos of floods through the area. It was hot and dusty but they irrigate the lawn around the station, so it's like an oasis.
Refueled at the Bramwell Roadhouse. I reckon this is an absolute classic Cape landscape.
You can camp behind the roadhouse but we back-tracked south about 5km to the Station itself and I have to say, it was excellent. Nice showers in dongas and cooler temps at night. Good large, open area for camping with a few trees and shelters. We had the buffet dinner, which at $35pp was pricey but the camping was cheap so it was still good value and there was plenty of food.
Day 11 - 104 km to Capt Billys Landing
This was a day of highs and lows ..... If doing the Telegraph Track this is where you'd effectively start because the southern end is right at the Bramwell Roadhouse. But we were heading to Capt Billys with 2 nights camping planned. Well .... Cape York Pro Tip #1 - Do NOT camp at Capt Billys Landing. Visit only. And it is a great place to visit. Somewhat remote and quite beautiful, down a very nice 30km sandy track that winds through scrub and forest. And you come out to this view....
There's a toilet, picnic tables and a shelter. And we had the place virtually to ourselves. But there was a couple of old guys who said hello and then "camping the night are you? Yeah I did that a few years back .... never again. Nearly got blown away. Packed up at 4am" I thought; "whatever .... silly old codger". .... he was right but first to the good stuff. We had a very nice day just relaxing and exploring. There is a brilliant cave just around the corner you can see in the photo above that's FULL of bats. Very cool and a bit scary too when they fly around your head. And no, I didn't go right in and disturb them. They were up and flying about already and I stood quietly in the entrance. Got an excellent video too just standing quietly and still. Here's an evening photo.
And now the bad...... Simples, blew a gale ALL NIGHT. I thought the camper would be destroyed, got zero sleep. The safari roof was the main problem and it just about destroyed itself. Packed up at first light and got the hell out of dodge. And our traveling companions in the caravans? "Oh yeah it was a bit blowy, woke up a couple of times but it was ok. You didn't have a good night?" :( And the old codgers with the good advice? Saw them packing up camp about 5km back up the track nicely tucked up under the trees. Smarter than me. So, Cape York Pro Tip #2 - Enjoy a full day at Capt Billys Landing and then go and camp 5km back up the track. Happy Days. Oh and maybe listen to old codgers sometimes. And if caught out again like that, I would certainly take off the safari roof section.
Day 12 - 172 km up to Canal Creek on the Tele Track
Subtitle, "A Very Big Day" We decided to head in to the Heathlands Ranger Station to see if we could add a night to the Elliot Falls campground booking in the National Park. The road to the ranger station was actually quite badly corrugated. We couldn't add a night but the ranger suggested free-camping at Canal Creek and then moving over to Elliot Falls tomorrow which is only a few km's apart. This seemed like a good plan so we decided to unhitched the vans, go and have a quick look at the iconic Gunshot Creek and then head on up to camp. Heathlands Ranger Station is on the Gunshot bypass track so it was only about 35km return trip to Gunshot. It was good to see it "in real life" (or IRL as all the kids are saying now) rather than just on YouTube. And it didn't actually look too bad, with a very low water level. Guy on hand-held just about to run and jump out of the way.
Entirely "do-able" but not interested in dragging my pride-and-joy down that. I would attempt without a trailer.
I was also amazed at the number of previously used entries. This photo only shows a few.
And unexpectedly the creek is actually quite beautiful, which gets lost in all the noise, fuss, crowds and 4WD shenanigans. I simply just turned around on the spot and waited until the vehicle went past to take this photo.
It was also strangely satisfying to drive just a short section of the Tele Track, even if nothing particularly challenging. Managed a little bit of low range action and cross-axle articulation. From there we headed back towards the ranger station, being short on time and needing to get further north. What happened along the way is a bit embarrassing and I nearly didn't post this bit but it's a good lesson so here goes .... The 2nd spare wheel on the roof rack came loose, bounded down the windscreen, over the bonnet and on to the track in front of us. Big shock, no photos. I obviously forgot to check the three-way strap after a few days and it came loose but I don't really know how, presumably corrugations. And it's the proper strap from Rhino, seen here:
The first indication was a sound like thunder that seemed plausible initially because there was some very dark clouds and it was raining lightly. But something didn't quite sound right and was nagging me so I started to slow down but I guess no quite gently enough. Remarkably, there was very little damage. The windscreen wiper got bent but still operational and there was two small dents similar to hail damage on the front right curve of the bonnet. Nothing else, which is amazing. These dents were removed by a panel beater that has done quite a few hail damaged vehicles. He reckons the Land Rover bonnets are very strong which makes dents harder to remove but was still happy to sort out mine. I'd have to agree about the strength. The roof must be strong too given that it bounced over that too. You would not know the bonnet dents were ever there now. Anyway, after this I added a 2nd ratchet strap and a 3rd strap down through the wheel spokes to tie it directly to the roof rack. Plus I must have checked those straps 5 times a day after that. Seems obvious in hindsight and I feel a bit stupid but the lesson is learnt for quite a low damage count. I know many people who use the same strap and don't know of any incidents like ours but I certainly will never rely on it solely ever again.
Even More Day 12
That's right, even more action on Day 12. Incident free after "wheelgate" all the way up to the unnamed ford on the Telegraph Track before you get to the Elliot Falls turn off and south of Canal Creek. I have also seen it called Scrubby Creek I think but it's not on maps I've seen. You arrive to a quite daunting long, muddy creek crossing with zero visibility to the bottom. Certainly the longest I've ever attempted.
Now I'm not particularly experienced so I confess to being scared. But after walking it and determining that the right-hand side was quite shallow without significant holes we crossed. And .... well it was easy Here's what is probably a boring video but I love it. The exit appeared slippery after being preceded by a few vehicles but we had no trouble at all.
I expected camping beside Canal Creek would be a bogan-fest of loud music and even louder generators but I was pleasantly surprised. It was really nice. There was a very large number of people but there was minimum noise and no problems into the night. Canal Creek is beautiful with crystal clear water and is a great place to swim, in between 4WDs crossing.
The good behaviour may have had something to do with the police and SES presence until about 6pm. They were looking for a missing solo motorbike rider who'd gone for a hike down the creek, fell in, couldn't swim and ended up 12km downstream. Found 3 days later pretty much unharmed but dehydrated. That was the day we arrived.
Yep it was a big day, even for an epic trip of big days.
Day 13 - Only 2 km traveled today. Moved over to Elliot Falls Campground in the National Park, which we'd booked for 2 nights. After all the activity yesterday, it was fantastic to just visit the falls and relax. Photos don't really do the falls justice and there's plenty of better photos than mine but here's a couple anyway. Elliot Falls
The Saucepan
Fruit Bat Falls
Elliot Falls is an excellent campsite and a great place to spend a couple of days. Large sites, well spaced, bush setting. It's an example of where the National Parks have done quite well at combining the need for management with define, numbered sites and keeping the natural bush camping feel as much as possible. Not quite the same as true free camping but more than good enough.
Here and Lakefield NP deserved more time.
Day 14 - 121 km up to Umagico Campground via Jardine Ferry Corrugations were the worst for the 30km either side of the ferry but otherwise the journey was uneventful. We were one day ahead of the original plan thanks to ditching Capt Billys and a guy had given us a tip that Umagico Campground was good and a couple of interesting birds had been sighted. So we thought we'd go there and then move on to Seisia for a couple of nights as planned. Well, we ended up staying at Umagico and it was the best place we stayed on the whole Cape. Absolutely excellent. Even now thinking about it a couple of years later I could happily go back there for a week. It just had such a great relaxed atmosphere. I'm sure there's more out-of-the-way places and free camps up and around the tip but for us Umagico was brilliant. Very relaxed, uncrowded, right on the beach, awesome views but still with facilities (toilet, shower, washing machine, little supermarket). And it's run by the local community to benefit locals. The girl looking after things could not have been nicer and her aunt's cupcakes (sold at reception) were amazing. All photos taken either from my camp chair or mere steps from it. These guys were feeding in the trees at camp. Fun to watch how they handle the seeds/fruit, very dexterous.
Sunset. Looks way better in full res photos.
Early morning, Seisia in the distance.
Another sunset (we stayed 3 nights).
Here's me doing some iPhone Ti Chi to capture a panoramic shot of the sunset.
Umagico campsite close to sunset, enjoying sundowners. Doesn't get much better than that.
It really was a great few days.
So Cape York Pro Tip #3 - Stay at Umagico and don't miss the cupcakes. Look past all the stray dogs lying on the road and the brumbies wandering in most yards, all of which is somewhat off-putting I know.
It's called Alau Beach Campground. Tomorrow .... the Tip. So for that occasion I'll start the Week 3 trip post.
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