17 September, 2015 by Explorers

17th Sept: St Bees to Mackay

Last night was a shocker! We rolled, a lot, all night. There was no wind to speak of so I guess it was caused by the tide rushing back and forth through Egremont Channel. The forecast today is OK, variable winds picking up this afternoon, changing direction overnight before strengthening significantly tomorrow and Saturday. Where do we hide? After going over all the options we decided to head back to Mackay Harbour to sit it out.

‘Ray’ hard at work in the back corner while the Skipper attends to his social media profile.

The sail back was glorious. More or less flat seas, close hauled in 5 – 10 knot winds all the way back. Great opportunity to give the auto-tiller its inaugural workout. We both voted it a great success. “Ray” will be a much appreciated member of the crew on all our trips from now on.

After two ‘not-so-restful’ nights sleep we were both pretty exhausted. A long, hot shower and dinner at the Thai restaurant at the marina was all we managed before an early night.

16 September, 2015 by Explorers

16 Sept: St Bees & Keswick

Surprisingly last night was pretty good. We righted at 8pm with the incoming tide, slept well until 4am when she dried out and went over again, but went back to sleep for another couple of hours. When we woke we went for a walk (easy, just jumped over the side) aound Homestead Bay. It’s pretty big, maybe about 5 acres between the arms of the bay. St Bees is predominantly a National Park apart from a small leasehold on the foreshore of Homestead Bay. There are a few shacks there that look like they’ve seen better days. The walk was made all the more delightful by the millions of Blue Tiger butterflies everywhere. White cockatoos screeched in the gums around the bay and various seabirds, including an oyster catcher with its vivid red beak, wandered the shallows. Back on the boat in time for her to float we had breakfast and planned our day.

St Bees has a population of koalas that were brought here in the 1920s. These koalas have piqued the interest of scientists who study both the koalas and the changing ecosystem of the island, apparently the grasslands are being replaced by rainforest. We thought we’d climb up the ridge amongst the eucalypts to see if we could spot some koalas. The best place to find them is from Honeymoon Bay, so we took the tender over and prepared to climb. This was easier said than done, the mangroves lower down and the gums and fig trees higher up being interspersed with lantana and prickly pear to trap the unwary. We didn’t spot any koalas but the views from the top were outstanding and worth every loose rock and prickle. The water in the Whitsundays is a unique turquoise blue, and to see the verdant islands floating in this beautiful ocean is a joy.

Steve. Keswick to the right, St Bees to the left, Cockermouth at the far end of Egremont Channel.

Looking south from the ridge on St Bees Island. Idyllic coves abound!

We needed to move the boat before the tide went out again – another night on a slope wasn’t on the agenda. After motoring over to Horseshoe Bay on Keswick we picked up a mooring buoy using the technique we’d been taught during our sailing course. Instead of trying to hook it with the boat hook as you draw near to it, a manoeuvre thwart with danger (for your marriage, if nothing else!), you lasso the buoy and draw it onboard – very easy.

At the shop on Keswick. Runway and St Bees in the background.

At the shop on Keswick. The runway on Keswick and St Bees Island across Egremont Channel.

There were 3 other (large) yachts travelling together moored there. One of the couples dinghied over and invited us to drinks on board. Very friendly. Before drinks time though we took the tender to the boat ramp on Keswick and went for a walk along the runway and up to the store (not open). On our hot, sticky return to Top Shelf we both jumped in off the boat to freshen up. We were in about 7 meters of water; I’m not comfortable jumping into water that appears bottomless, but did feel a million dollars once I got out.

Drinks on board Wilaprina with hosts Stephen and Kim, and their friends Janet and Mark (off Koonya) and Carol and Mike (off Mica) was very enjoyable. Back to Top Shelf for a BBQ salmon and veggies dinner and off to bed. The boat was rolling around a lot as we went to bed – hope it settles at change of tide.

15 September, 2015 by Explorers

15th Sept: Mackay to St Bees

The forecast today is 10 – 15 kn from the ESE, tending easterly. Good enough for us. We left the marina about 10.30am, an hour before high tide; with tides as big as they are up here (up to 5 metres) the tidal flow mid-tide is very strong and we didn’t want it against us. First sail after a long time off the water is always stressful, particularly for me. As soon as we cleared the marina breakwater we were hit with a 1 metre beam swell which had us rolling around – not fun! Anyway, engine off and sails were very soon up, and once we could turn towards our destination the swell was manageable.

The ‘old salt’, Happy to be sailing at last.

The next few hours were really lovely. Still a swell, but it settled a bit, and the wind was 7 – 13 knots which made for great sailing. There was a fair bit of phytoplankton in the water creating slicks of red and resembling coral spawn. Despite keeping a whale lookout we were disappointed.

Keswick to the left, St Bees to the right. We’re aiming for an anchorage in the channel between the two.

St Bees Island is the destination – 15.6 nautical miles away (31km). It took us about 4 1/4 hours and we averaged 3.6kn arriving at 2.20pm.

Decided we’d go inside the fringing reef and anchor over sand to dry out at low tide. Great idea, except our boat has a skeg bottom, ie not flat and she now rests over on her port side. Fortunately with the incoming tide she should float again around 8pm, but be high and dry again about 4am – that’s 8 hours to get some sleep! We won’t do that again overnight.

See that fin thing underneath – that’s the skeg, and what caused us to lean uncomfortably, for a while.

14 September, 2015 by Explorers

9 – 14 September: Home to Mackay

9 – 11th September, 2015

After much planning, and with great excitement we finally left home today towing Top Shelf to launch in Mackay, sail around the southern Whitsunday Islands before heading up to the main islands – length of trip -> TBA. Pam and Milton arrived a couple of days ago to settle in and get last-minute instructions on looking after our home while we’re away, so we’re now foot-loose and fancy-free. Whitsundays here we come!

As I don’t tow we didn’t go too far today – just up the road to Gin Gin. We’re staying in the boat as we travel – may as well, afterall it’s all set up. We did get lots of stares and quite a few comments along the lines of ‘expecting rain?’, etc. Anyway, the showgrounds where we stayed was very good. Lots of room, a friendly caretaker, clean amenities and not too far to the pub for a counter meal tonight.

Next day we stayed the night at Waverley Creek Rest area just south of St Lawrence. This excellent, free, overnight rest stop has good, clean facilities and lots of parking spots, though it does fill up quickly. It’s right beside the road, but despite that we weren’t disturbed by traffic overnight.

Next day, just a short 200km to the marina at Mackay Harbour. We decided we’d stay on the boat in the carpark again tonight and launch tomorrow. We met up with another couple of Noelex owners (Tony and Dave) up here with their boats planning two weeks of sailing.

Unfortunately the weather does not look good – it’s drizzling rain and very windy, with the forecast to stay with high winds for another few days. We’ve made a policy that seeing we’re here for the pleasure of sailing, and we’re not in a hurry, we don’t sail in winds stronger than 15kn. We may be here for a few days. Dinner at the Thai restaurant here at the marina with Tony and Dave and their crew – mates who had flown up today from Melbourne.

Top Shelf at Mackay marina.

12 – 14 September

We’ve been cooling our heels here at the marina for the last few days. While we’d love to be out sailing, this isn’t too bad a place to be held up. The marina has coffee shops, restaurants, fish and chip shops, a pub (useful for Steve as the football was on) and a small chandlery at the marina office. We also have our car here so have spent our time looking around Mackay, went to the Botanic Gardens, picked up forgotten items at the shops, and today (14th) we’ve provisioned the boat, fuelled up and are all ready to go, weather permitting.

Is this some kind of alien beetle? At Mackay Botantic Gardens.

6 July, 2015 by Explorers

Days 23 – 30: The Top of Australia

29th June, 2015

Despite being camped by the ferry crossing we let the cue go first – less dust if they’ve already gone before we start. Tickets are $99 return – the boys decided it’s the most expensive travel per metre we’ve ever done! The Jardine isn’t a very wide, nor deep river.

Waiting for the Jardine Ferry.

The first beach you come to is Alau Beach beside the little township of Umagico. When we saw the beach we definitely thought it was ‘magico!’. Anyway the big name camping areas for up here are Seisa, Loyalty and Punsand Bay. Gill had already rung Punsand Bay and they were full, so we went to look at Seisa and Loyalty. Both were crowded, sandy unattractive campsites. We were very happy to return to Alau Beach where we camped on grass at the very edge of the beach. Fantastic site.

Location, location, location.

To really make this site the best ever though, one of the local cray fisherman came through with crays for sale. They were fantastic. There’s dinner for tonight sorted.

Fresh crays! Are we in heaven?

The beach and ocean looked magnificent, and the weather was warm – but not a soul was swimming! Explanation: a crocodile cruises from one end of the beach to the other every afternoon, returning each morning. We saw him several times during our week here, and were never tempted to swim.

30th June, 2015

Today we go to the most northerly point of mainland Australia. We all went in Ric and Gill’s vehicle rather than pack up our rooftop tent. On the way we went in to look at Punsand Bay. I think Alau Beach is better – the advantage these and the other campgrounds have is that they’re either near a pub or they have a bar onsite. Punsand Bay has the Corrugation Bar, which we thought we should try out. We had lunch here too. Pretty good.

Well-earnt drinks at the Corrugation Bar. Punsand Bay

The road in to Punsand Bay is pretty rough with some quite wide and deep waterholes to cross. It was in one of these that Ric lost his number plate! Another reason to be grateful we didn’t stay here – we’d have to travel that road every time we wanted to go anywhere else.

Next stop was the the tip of Australia. It was low tide, so we were able to walk mostly around the beach from the car park. It’s a fair walk – maybe a kilometer from the carpark and if the tide is in it’s a rough, rocky track up and over the hill and down the steep slope to reach the tip. Nice views though – we came back that way.

Anyway it was very exciting to finally make it to the most northerly part of the Australian mainland. Worth celebrating!

Yay! We made it!!

On the way back we stopped at The Croc Tent, a souvenir shop. Gill was talking to the owner and mentioned the number plate problem and she volunteered to take her children to the crossing in the afternoon and look for it. They found it and a couple of days later a fellow camper just near us was going past so picked it up for them. Nice people in this world.

1st July 2015

The Baby Austin! Note the oil/fuel leaking underneath it. I think the journey was a bit tougher than the car was prepared for.

Quiet day today. Steve and I went for a walk to Seisa and back, along the beach – took about 2 or 3 hours, quite a good walk. At Seisa we came across the 1927 Austin car that was ‘recreating’ the famous journey of the two New Zealanders who drove a Baby Austin from Cairns to the tip in 1928, floating the car across crocodile-infested rivers on a raft. This trip though had it a little easier with roads, bridges and pretty good water crossings.

2nd July 2015

Today we go to Thursday Island. The ferry left about 8.30am, arriving on TI just over an hour later. TI is a small island, only 4 sq km, however it is the administrative centre for all the Torres Strait Islands. We’d booked a tour on a small tour bus. First stop was at the cray fishing shed where a boat was recently in. An old dinghy is towed behind the main boat – this dinghy is submerged and the crays held in it while at sea. The crays are sold mostly overseas – the cray fishermen receiving about $75 per cray.

Cray fishermen displaying a couple of their catch. They sure look like they enjoy their job.

In the late 1800’s a fort was built on Green Hill Knob to protect the settlement. It was decommissioned in 1922. Beneath the fort in tunnels is a comprehensive historical display. From the fort the views around the island are magnificent.

The township on Thursday Island.

The cemetery, which we only drove through, has a lot of very interesting graves – some 700 young Japanese divers among them. The divers were on TI for the pearl shell industry. In shallow water they would free dive, however as these areas became less productive the divers donned the heavy diving helmets with air lines to the surface. Many divers died of the bends.

Seaman Dan – a delightful retired diver who was very happy to chat to us.

Sitting outside a store in the township was the famous Seaman Dan. We chatted with him for a while – quite a delightful man. He, and his friend who was a part of the boat crew he used to dive from, talked to us for some time about what it was like diving back then. After one particularly scary dive where he suffered the bends he gave up diving and took up singing. He was awarded 2 Arias for his music.

3rd – 6th July

The rest of our stay at Alau Beach was spent fairly quietly. We spent the last day re-provisioning.

Delightful beach and thoroughly enjoyed our time at the top of Australia.

To see more photos from our week at the top CLICK HERE.

28 June, 2015 by Explorers

Days 21, 22: Bramwell Station; Jardine River

27th June, 2015

Leaving Chilli Beach today we did a detour back to Lockhart River for fuel, water and a few groceries, stopped off at the airport to have a look. I was particularly interested in seeing this as my father piloted planes to New Guinea during WWII and in all probability landed here on the way up.
The road out was even more muddy and slippery as we’d had a little rain one evening. Wasn’t a problem for us – into 4WD and power on through it.

That’s where we’re ultimately headed! I like the name Pajinka – nicer than Cape York, or ‘the Tip’ as most people call it.

Tonight we’re staying at Bramwell Station. This is a private property, a 132,00 ha cattle property established in 1930 and now diversified to include tourism. In the early days the cattle had to be walked a very long way to the Mareeba Salesyards, or to Bamaga. With the road being opened up and a bridge over the Wenlock River they’re moved by road trains these days.
There are extensive camping grounds around the homestead, a bar, some cabins and warmish showers. It’s very popular with there being around 50 or more campers here. The tour bus companies also come here. You can order meals at the bar, but it was booked out – probably just as well, it didn’t look that appetizing.

Our campsite beside the cattle yards at Bramwell Station.

At ‘sundowners’ around the bar we had live music entertainment (pretty good) and one of the managers told us the history of Bramwell Station. It’s only changed hands twice. The original owner had considerable help from a local aboriginal family and when he died he left a part-share of the property to the family – unusual in those days! The current owner purchased it in 2001. Anyway with the current price of beef being very favourable, the roads making it very accessible for tourists, also owning Bramwell Junction Roadhouse which charges over $2/L for diesel, and a road work team that is kept constantly employed on these roads, the Station should be doing very well for itself.

28th June, 2015

Lost your number plate? Maybe it’s here.

The highlight today is going to be Fruit Bat Falls. After leaving the Station we stopped at Bramwell Junction Roadhouse to refuel. This is where the Old Telegraph Track starts. On a tree there are dozens of number plates nailed – lost from cars attempting the unforgiving OTT. Fuel was exorbitant – $2.20/L.

Onward to the Falls. Our friend Bryan was part of the crew that installed the microwave telephone towers up here some 40 years ago. It was one of his crew, a young lad who loved to eat fruit and whose nick-name was Fruit Bat, who ‘discovered’ the falls and after whom they were subsequently named. (My brush with fame!)
Anyway the Falls are just fan-tas-tic! Crystal clear water cascading down a 2 metre drop in the middle of beautiful, lush heathlands. The swimming was heavenly. We had a picnic lunch here before continuing our trip to camp at the Jardine River ferry – ready to cross tomorrow morning.

Really enjoyed our swim and the beauty of these delightful little falls.

The roads are very corrugated, and dusty – red bulldust! When you pass or are overtaken by a vehicle visibility drops to mere metres. Travelling close behind someone would be very unpleasant, and dangerous. Road trains travel the road taking supplies and fuel to the tip and it’s not fun being stuck behind one.

To see our photos from this part of the adventure CLICK HERE.

26 June, 2015 by Explorers

Days 18-20: Lockhart R, Chilli Beach

24th June, 2015

Leaving Gills Moon Lagoon we continued on into Lockhart River. The road was … variable. Mostly it was pretty good though there were some very wet, slippery parts, some river crossings and a few bad potholes that nearly swallowed us.

Pascoe River crossing, Portland Roads Rd

Iron Range National Park, which is were we are now is unique in that it has stunted heathlands with she-oaks, grevilleas, banksias and sedges around the Mt Tozer area before moving into the largest remnant of lowland rainforest left in Australia. Another truly beautiful drive. We stopped at the Mt Tozer viewing platform to see the heathlands close up, with Mt Tozer in the distance.

Coastal heathland backing on to Mt Tozer

The studio where the Lockhart River Gang artists work is a home converted for the purpose. The front two rooms are crowded with prints and paintings. Ric and Gill chose 4 pieces they liked and we chose 3 that we liked – one of them is a crab, my star sign – significant with my birthday less than a month away.

Our purchases, with the artistic director.

We also chose a Silas Hobson black and white print, and a Patrick Butcher lino print hand coloured. We were incredibly lucky to have both of these artists drop in to the studio before we left and posed for a photo with us. Patrick Butcher spent quite a bit of time describing his print and what it all meant. Wow – how good is that!

The artist, Patrick Butcher, explaining the meaning behind his art.

We picked up a few extra groceries at the general store in Lockhart River – I feel so sorry for the locals for the price they have to pay for groceries and fuel – and headed to Chilli Beach. This road had lots of ‘dips’ all potentially with little stream crossings or washouts at the bottom of them, and one quite long river crossing which was good – not too deep. The road quality wasn’t too bad – corrugations in patches and some soft sand.

Our campsite here at Chilli Beach is perfect. Here on the eastern coastline of the Peninsula the wind blows constantly, only varying in intensity. Our campsite is a short 20 meters from the beach, but tucked in behind huge mangrove trees which are so thick overhead that even when it rained we were well protected. Campsite 20 for future reference!

Campsite 20! Well protected from the constant SE winds, ocean views just there, between the trees, and well shaded from above. Great campsite.

25th June, 2015

On our first full day here we did the beach walk to the mouth of Chilli Creek – 10K return. The beach is thickly lined with overhanging coconut palms and has to be the prettiest tropical beach you’ll find. We all loved it – it was just so perfect … except for one thing!

The idyllic Chilli Beach

This was a very sobering sign to read. What a mess our oceans must be in if that much rubbish gets washed up on just this one little beach.

Unfortunately it’s also perfectly located for the ocean to deposit it’s rubbish on it. Just above the high tide line is littered with plastic bottles and rubbish which mostly originates from other countries and ships. More than 5 tonnes of rubbish is removed from the 6.5km beach each year. Most deadly of the rubbish are the ghost nets – fishing nets that are cut adrift to float the oceans ensnaring fish and turtles and condemning them to die a slow death.

Ghost nets tangle fish and turtles, condemning them to a slow death.

A campfire tonight! Not too successful though because those south-easterlies did make it a bit chilly to sit out.

26th June, 2015

The quiet beach at Portland Roads.

After a bit of a wander on the beach we headed to Portland Roads. During WWII an airstrip was established just outside Lockhart River. A road was constructed to Portland Roads where there was already a jetty servicing the local gold mines. The jetty has been swept away, but the original footings are still there. Portland Roads is a very quiet little hamlet with a few homes for fisherman, a bed-and-breakfast accommodation, and a cafe where you can reputedly get the best seafood on the Peninsula. How could we not go there!

A truly delicious meal in a unique little restaurant, Portland Roads

To see all our photos from our stay at Chilli Beach CLICK HERE.

23 June, 2015 by Explorers

Day 17: Oyala NP to Wenlock River

23rd June, 2015 – Gill’s birthday.

Lots of fun gifts for a special lady.

After a lovely breakfast and watching Gill open her pressies we decided to move on, despite being booked here for another night. Ric and Gill have some fabulous aboriginal art painted by the Lockhart River Gang and that’s our next destination, except it’s a fair drive there from here, so we’ll stop at the Wenlock River free camp just short of Iron Range NP.

THIS is the world-famous Archer Burger. Yes Ric, Steve will eat it all himself!

However, on the way is the Archer River Roadhouse, renown for its Archer Burgers, a burger with ‘the lot’. Steve had one and voted it to be excellent!

Nearly set up – at what will become Gills Moon Lagoon.

We turned off the PDR onto Portland Roads Road which had a few rough patches and dips, but nothing to worry about. The camp on the Wenlock river was down a very steep bank, but on the other side of the road was a lagoon which was beautiful with water lilies and lovely shade trees and birds. We set up camp here.

This is THE Gill after whom the famous lagoon was named.

And then the fun really began. During the process of an outdoor shower we unexpectedly got to see a bit more of Gill than she anticipated, and because it’s her birthday and this lagoon appears to be unnamed we’ve christened it Gill’s Moon Lagoon. The music and dancing got started early; a yummy dinner of Atlantic salmon, corn on the cob and coleslaw, a great campfire, a vino or two or three and lots more singing and dancing by firelight and under a million stars on a perfect night made it a camp, and birthday, not to be forgotten.
Gill voted it one of her best birthdays.

Enjoying Gills Moon Lagoon – what a special place, for many reasons.

To see more photos from Gills Moon Lagoon CLICK HERE.

22 June, 2015 by Explorers

Days 15, 16 Coen to Oyala NP

Day 15 – 21st June
Coen today. Ric and Gill are having hassles with their fridge and an overnight on 240 volt might just be the cure so we’re heading for the roadhouse and a powered site for them. We’ve been told that the free camp down by the river is lovely, but I must admit that camping on grass behind the pub with a clean toilet and lovely hot showers was a bigger draw card for me.

Day 16 – 22nd June
We’ve booked the Mango 1 campsite in Oyala Thumotang (pronounced oy-a-la toom-o-tongue) National Park for two nights. We’re lucky in that they’ve only just opened it this week after being closed for the wet season, however that’s made us a bit concerned about what state the road would be in. We needn’t have worried – they were grading and repairing it as we drove in and the majority of it was very good. A few sandy patches and muddy ‘dips’ benefited from 4WD. The road leading from the Roylen Rd into the park was two wheel tracks for about 12K, but still quite good.

Really lovely drive in to the National Park.

Here we started to see more termite mounds. There was one vividly white, very tall and narrow mound that was stunning and I regret not stopping to photograph it. The Archer and Coen Rivers form part of this park with the majority of the vegetation being dry open eucalypt woodlands and melaleuca swamps.
Mango Lagoon turned out to be not that nice – dirt and stubbly grass recovering from a recent burn off and the lagoon was pretty ordinary. We decided to take a look at Coen 2 campsite and it was lovely so we set up there for the night. It had steep sides down to the river with fallen trees giving it interest and we could see the water flowing – and we were on grass.

Set-up complete – just need to fill the chairs and the glasses.

This afternoon we walked to Chong Swamp, another campsite within Oyala NP which was very pretty – covered in water lilies. It would have been a lovely spot to camp too.

To see more photos from our trip today CLICK HERE.

20 June, 2015 by Explorers

Days 13, 14: Quinkan Rock Art and Laura Dance Festival

19th, 20th June, 2015

After brekkie we packed up and headed into Laura for our lunchtime Quinkan Rock Art Tour. That was amazing! Our guide, Johnny, took us in his Landcruiser through Crocodile Station to aboriginal lands. For the past 35,000 years the people would spend the dry season at the coast fishing, then shelter here in the hundreds of caves that honeycomb the sandstone escarpment during the rainy season. This occupation constitutes the longest continuous art and culture in the history of mankind. It was awe inspiring! Johnny also related customs and ways of life he’d been taught as a child, referencing the artwork frequently as this, and the songs and ceremonies of the group, is how their life was recorded and passed on to the next generation.

Altogether an enjoyable and informative experience not to be missed.

To see more photos of from our Quinkan Rock Art tour please CLICK HERE.

From there we headed out to the Festival grounds, about 10K south of Laura. The camping is on the grounds over an extensive area. Despite it being open for camping for a couple of days and there being hundreds of campers there over a very large area we managed to find the perfect site a short walk from the action!

The Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival is held every second year and highlights the songs and dances of the many Cape York Peninsula communities. We all loved the dancing and I’ll let the photos tell their story. We stayed Friday and Saturday nights.

To see the many fantastic photos from the Dance Festival CLICK HERE.