2009 Cape York 1 - Princess Charlotte Bay

Date:   25^th- 29^th July 2009

Current Position:  

Mouth of Balclutha Creek, South of Port Stewart, Cape York.

Highlights: 

“On the Road Again”

Total Distance to Date: 2325Kms

Diary Notes: After 12 months of un-retiring myself to build EarthCruisers it is great, be it for only 4 weeks, to be back on the adventure trail again. This trip we have plans to do more exploring of the eastern and this year the western beaches of Cape York.

To date Lyn and I have walked, driven various 4x4’s, or ridden our quads from Escape River in the North to Temple Bay about half way down the eastern side of the Cape. Our plan, this year is to quad the entire arc of Princess Charlotte Bay and on the West coast south from Verilla Point to Mapoon.  This is some 300Kms of coast line that is only reachable by boat, and will require pontooning of the quads over some 12 rivers.

Joining us this year is Greg & Sue Dunstan, long time travelling companions, Robert & Jan, Robert has been a long time friend and competition truck navigator for many years, and from New Zealand Michael Whyte and his father Paddy. Michael is the proud owner of EarthCruiser No2.

I have known Michael for a number of years, from when we first met as fellow winch challenge competitors when I competed ‘over the ditch’ in NZ. Michael also plans to join us for our next year’s expedition across Asia through Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, China, Tibet, Mongolia, Russia, from whence the trucks will be shipped to the US before heading north to Alaska and eventually south to Tierra Del Fuego over the next few years.

The trip north from Brisbane was uneventful with overnight stops at a truck stop near St Laurance, a caravan park in Cairns, and then finally at Musgrave at around 4.30pm on the third day. Musgrave was an old telegraph station on the telegraph line north, that to date fortunately still retains its isolated charm. The original timber homestead up on stumps, a single fuel browser outside, and open camp area for the passing tourists. The bitumen is slowly stretching towards Musgrave, and I fear that that isolated calm will be lost the moment that black top arrives. Once this happens the travellers will just speed past, racing to stand on Australia’s most northern point.

From Musgrave we headed north some 80kms before turning right off the Coen road towards Port Stewart. The road out is typically corrugated with many 25kph wash outs and dips. The name Port is somewhat misleading. When Lyn and I were there 30 years ago it was just the end of a dirt track next to the mangroves and the estuarine creek. Today it is the same, excepting for the assortments of mostly abandoned fisherman’s huts, derelict boats, and rusting 44gallon drums. The fishing must still be good as the air was filled with the wiff of fish.  

Retreating back up the road some 19Kms we found the track that I had previously plotted from Google Earth. I found aerial GPS plotting from Google is an ideal way to find isolated access to the eastern beaches, track turn offs and camp sites. Following the preset waypoints the track led us through scrub country and across several dry sandy rivers for 25Kms until finally we found the faint track that followed the mouth of Balclutha Creek. The track was tight, overgrown and ducked in and out between the vine scrub and the mangrove creek tidal flood/mud plain.

Once on the beach we used the quads to explore the area for a suitable camp as it is here the vehicles would be parked up for 10 days whilst we explored the coastline north and south.

Under the shade of several trees we selected a camp site that had been used by others and came already equipped with a galvanised iron shower cubical and a campfire windbreak sheltering it from the easterly prevailing wind. Typical of beach camps the shade trees were decorated with artefacts found from the beach. Among the ‘collection’ was the front end of a child’s tricycle, plastic combs, fish nets, and a piece of drift wood emulating the face of ‘Wilson’, the pretend friend in the movie Castaway.

With plenty of drift wood from the beach, the evening camp fire burnt for a long time as we enjoyed a few cold Bundy Rums and a couple of bottles of red.

Wednesday 29^th July:

Before the sun bit hard the girls walked the beach south for approx 4kms and Jan returned with more washed up bathroom utensils to add to the shower room ornamentation.

Today was a lay day, and a day to prepare the quads with supplies for our 6 day trek north. With a slight breeze it was pleasant enough just relaxing, book reading, chatting idly, checking the tide change times and catching the odd mud crab in the creek.


Camp No4 ' Camp Seven-Up'


Date:   30^th July – 2^nd August 2009
Current Position:   Archer River

Highlights:  WWII aircraft and very big Crocodile Slides

Quad Distance to Date: 157 Kms

Thursday 30^th July 2009:

We were all up at 7am doing final preparations the bikes. They seemed, and more than likely were very much overloaded, with food for 5days, 20Lts water, 20Lts extra fuel, tent & sleeping gear, plus each quad carried 2 people and a component of the pontoon we will use for the estuarine creek crossings.

The pontoon was made up of two plastic ‘skimmer’ boats joined in parallel by an alloy frame with forward facing loading ramps. Momentum was provided by a 15HP outboard motor. The two boats, the frame, and the outboard, weighed approx 50- 60 Kg each and the loads were shared between the four quads.

We headed north up the beach on a receding tide reaching our first creek only 3Kms from camp. We were already deep in mangrove swamp mud and a new untested problem immediately arose with our pontoon set up. In deep mud the approach ramp was too steep for the quads to climb, and the result was that the pontoon was simply just pushed out into the creek. With some of us holding the pontoon and some on crocodile watch we eventually had one quad on the raft, only to arrive on the other side of the creek in half metre deep mud. So much organisation and already we were thwarted. We thus returned the pontoon to starting position on the creek. Furthermore the outboard motor was playing up. It would run for five minutes then just shut down. Twenty or so pulls later it would run again but only for those five minutes. Bugger!

Whilst all this was happening the tide continued to recede. With the pontoon reloaded onto the quads we travelled further out to sea and around the deep mangrove swamp. Simply we were too close into the mangroves and too early in the low tide.

After skirting three more rivers some 300metres out to sea at 11am we reach the mouth of the Stewart River. Riding up the sand dune on this side, the Stewart it is a wide sweeping lagoon with thick mangroves on an arc on the far side. Fortunately the mouth of the river snakes north following the northern ocean current flow and spreads itself out over a wide sandy delta. It is full low tide now and the river is shallow enough for a quad crossing with saltwater just over the running boards. 

The sandy beach north is narrow and is constantly bounded by mangroves on the inland side, allowing for little retreat for high tide camping. At 12.45pm the tide is already on the way in and still no safe high ground. I have seen only one camp site option, but we decide to send Paddy and Robert on the lightest and best tyre equipped quad to explore the next river crossing. They return with stories of deep mud, where they had to manually reef the quad from the ooze as the tide continues its inland march. With 3.5 metre tide changes it is not something to be caught in. Let alone, infested with crocodiles, sharks, and sea snakes.

We are 28Kms from base camp, and at 1pm, I call camp on the small rise above high tide I had spotted earlier, but from beach debris it is not above storm tide level. 

In a small local estuarine creek we tried our hand at catching dinner. Rob had two good strikes as the rest of us fed the sand flies. Returning to camp everyone was looking forward to coffee and soon discovered that the mike powder that Sue had bought had expired some years previously. We learnt there and then to enjoy black coffee! Dinner was chilli beef followed by a great bottle of Port, thanks to Rob.

We all retired by 8.30pm with the high tide water only 10metres from our tents. For a long time Lyn and I sat or lay watching the water, before eventually convincing ourselves it was safe.

The wind stopped around midnight, and as the tide retreated we could finally find sleep.

Camp No5 - ‘Croc Watch Camp’

Friday 31^th July 2009:

We are all up at 6.30am and with a quick head count, all are accounted for. Packed and travelling by 8.30 we travel the one kilometre or so to the river that the guys tried to cross the afternoon before. This was the Rocky River mouth.

It was the mouth of three rivers and full of water and about 300metres wide. With a doubtful outboard motor and a wind blowing from the shore out to sea, it was not a good safety combination. As much as we were all disappointed not to proceed further north, it was sensible to return.

Once back at base camp we had done a total of 58Kms, refuelled the quads and water bottles, topped up the coffee jar, plus found some all important unexpired milk powder. It was only 1pm and all were ready to quad south.

3.3Kms south of Balclutha Creek we find the remains of a WWII aircraft above the high tide mark. We could not identify the make but many theories were discussed re the final problems as to the crash. The wing fuel tanks had exploded so it did not land due to lack of fuel and one of our party found an exploded shell casing stamped 1942. The questions will remain unanswered.

We travelled another 8kms south as far as we had seen from base camp in the southerly sweep of Princess Charlotte Bay to where the sand joined the mangroves. As we entered the mangroves flat, Paddy and Michael were out front and they immediately sank down to the axles of the quad. It was a matter of unloading the quad of fuel and water and all four men lifting the quad as Michael drove it out. With the tide now incoming, and too late for a further seaward skirt so we returned up the beach about 2kms for high ground well away from estuarine creeks and mangroves...and potential crocodiles

Tonight we tried something different in dinner preparation. With fresh water always scarce we cooked our individually prepared omelettes in zip-lock plastic bags and dropped them into boiling salt water. In 13minutes dinner was served in its own container and all with no washing up.

Camp No6: ‘Stuck in the Mud Camp’

Saturday 1^st August 2009:

Lyn and I were up before dawn to walk the beach. All along the beach were the tracks of feral pigs and their diggings for crabs, shell fish and unfortunately turtle eggs. Tracks were also made by the occasional kangaroo visiting the sea, not to mention the odd crocodile slide.

Aboriginal middens were all along the coast and showed the remains of the diversity of shell fish they eat. Judging by the blackened sand and rocks in the piles of shells it was the preferred preparation method of just placing the shellfish on the fire to extract the editable part.

As the tide receded we crossed further out to sea and around the mangrove swamp. We passed the remains of a small wooden boat assembled with wooden nails. A further 18Kms south of Running Creek we discovered the remains of another WWII aircraft between the high and low tide mark. We will visit this again on our return journey to discover more.

At 22Kms we passed the Lama Lama National Parks sign and a few kilometres on we explored an old shack on the beach.

Finally at 30Kms we had run out of beach, and only the mangroves of the North Kennedy River were ahead which represented the bottom of Princess Charlotte Bay arc.  

Between this point and an estuarine creek some 7kms back and between the last low and previous high tide mark, and we counted 15 crocodile slides as they made their into the water from the swamps behind the beach.

It was Paddy who identified the WWII aircraft as a twin engine Corsair fighter. As we dug the wings from the sand the three gun slots were still evident in each wing. It would also seem that it was a wheels up landing, as the rubber tyres and undercarriage were still in their folded position parallel to the wings.

Returning to Running Creek, above the red cliffs, there was a great camp site, also accessible by a bush track.

Camp No7: ‘Corsair/Running Creek Camp’

Sunday 2^st August 2009:

We awake to the sound of foreign voices in camp. It was a group of fishermen from Bowen who regularly visit this out of way fishing creek. He had camped up the road about 3 km where there was fresh water. With the tide still very high we decided to take a very dusty dirt track back to base camp. The track had many offshoots most of them going to fishing holes behind the mangroves. At one stage we lost Greg and Sue apparently they're sleeping bag had fallen off the quad. The track continued through open areas and areas where succulent Leichardt trees grew prolifically.

We arrived back at base camp with everybody covered with fine grey dust. There was no point washing down because the quad bikes still had to be loaded into the trailer, hence we left camp site in a rather grotty state. The dirt track was 39 km long and took about one and a half hours. Again very dusty it wound its way around termite mounds eventually arriving at Stewart Creek. Stewart Creek did not pose a problem coming in because of the big downhill run into the soft sandy creek be. However on this return journey the very soft sand required lowering of the tyre pressures to make a successful run at 45° exit slope.

Rather than backtracking to the Wenlock-Coen Road we decided to take the dotted line retracing part of the original Telegraph track into Coen. It was a slow drive a very enjoyable with many sandy and some rocky creek crossings.

We arrived at Archer River around 6.30 and were all very looking forward to a long shower and a famous Archer burger.

 Camp No8: ‘Archer River Camp’