When I started to write this page I realized that there was so much to tell, it would have to be done in several parts.
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| Seven vehicles with 13 people set off for the top |
In early August we met up with some old friends and some new
ones to start our big adventure to the tip of Cape York, the northern-most
point on the continent. The trip was to take four weeks and on day 2 we were
already off the sealed roads onto gravel only occasionally relieved by very
short sections of seal which became more and more scarce as we traveled north.
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| Ancient aboriginal rock paintings |
An early highlight of the trip was a stop at Split Rock to look at ancient aboriginal rock paintings up on the hillside above the highway. The paintings are quite accessible after a climb up towards the sandstone bluff and are in good condition with interpretive signage.
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Roadworks on the Peninsula
Development Road |
Roadhouses occur at well spaced intervals along the route north, usually near a
river crossing and they have fuel, food, basic supplies, and often a hotel
licence. They usually provide unpowered camp spots and amenities blocks and some
have basic motel rooms. There are no towns to pass through other than Coen, so
the roadhouses do a good trade during the tourist season but have to survive
the wet season when there is no traffic and they can be cut off by flood
waters. They all have walls of flood photos interspersed with giant crocodile
and wild boar pics.
Two nights were spent beside the river at Coen and one at Archer River and at
both these spots we could relax in the cool river water as there were no
crocodiles.
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| Archer River in the dry season |
Fifty Kilometres north of Archer River, the Peninsula Development Road veers
off to the north-west and the bauxite mining town of Weipa, while the Telegraph
Road continues almost straight north to Bramwell Junction.
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| Bauxite mining- dirty, dusty work |
We went to Weipa and
spent two nights taking a bus tour of one of the bauxite mine sites which
included a tour of the township and plenty of warnings about the local
crocodile population. Bauxite is found in a layer 5 -7 metres deep just under
the topsoil and is just scooped up and loaded into huge trucks and after
minimal grading, is loaded onto a short rail track to the dock then transferred
to ships to go to refineries to become aluminium. Bauxite is terracotta red –
and so is everything else in the area because of the dust. Under the bauxite
layer is ironstone – almost the same colour – and it is used to build and
repair most of the roads on the Cape York Peninsula so everything on the
roadside has a red coating of dust. Actually the western side of the road is red;
the eastern side is green as the area receives the prevailing south-eastern
trade winds most of the season.
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| Sunset at Weipa |
