Friday 14th August:

The track to Ussher Point is variable and always interesting. It travels open dry sclerophyll forest, through patches of vine scrub, and over rocky bauxite outcrops.

The main track turns north to Sadd Point  but we start to cut our way through the very overgrown scrub towards Ussher Point.

In the midst of heavy vine scrub I find the faint track I am looking for. It is only 500metres long but very tight and leads to a magnificent fresh water lake.

The final few metres of the track was blocked by a huge paper wasp nest and that took some courage to remove before we had access to our camp site.

Here we will leave the vehicles whilst we travel south for 8 days on the quads.

Saturday 15th August:

We are packed and on our way, this time without the pontoons as with the correct selection of the tide times we should have a favourable run. The drive to the beach was easy on the track in the smaller vehicles.

Ussher Point is special to Lyn and I, having spent many adventures north or south from here. We crossed the beach creek which was much deeper than usual and onto the beach and began our trip south.

Looking North from Ussher Point

...and looking South.

The eastern Cape York beaches are the dumping ground of the Pacific and always a paradise for beach combing.

Soon we come across an old wooden junk burried in the sand and then Paddy finds the wreck of a life boat complete with outboard motor.

Around the corner the spectacular bauxite cliffs and fruit bat caves always impress.

Just past the bat caves and just below the high tide mark is the remains of a WWII Aero Cobra. Only the prop tip is exposed and some of the motor, the rest requires some serious digging.

We slowly ambled down to Logan Jack Creek where at the mouth was the wreck of an Asian boat, poorly built and garishly coloured. Was this the remains of an attempt of people smuggling? 

We walked up Logan Jack amongst the mangroves to where we found the remains of two bird carcasses and a big croc slide. It was time to retreat.

Crossing Logan Jack at full low it was still ½ metre deep, we settled on a camp site in the dunes well above high tide mark. Already we have collected some Nautilus shells for our new grandsons, a ‘magic’ floating rock (pumice) and the start of a shell collection for our two granddaughters. 

The wind was very strong as we headed into the evening.

Sunday 16th August:

It was a terrible night, the strong breeze turned to a forceful gale that blew all night. An early rise was actually welcome, particularly the coffee.

We are ready to travel by 9.30 however the tide will not let us proceed past the next river.

Waiting on the banks for the tide to recede suddenly a shout goes out, and what we had thought was a log on the other side stood up and started to walk. It was a two metre crocodile. We could not wait to have a closer look. With pictures taken and the desire to have a closer and closer look, finally our croc visitation ended as the he had had enough, stood up and moved away as fast as he could.

During high tide, Orford Bay is a vast sea; with the tide out it is a desert - such a contrast. Once on the other side we were exploring some rock pools and snacking on large black lip oysters when Lyn noticed another smaller crocodile in one of the pools that we were walking through.

With the incoming tide we called it a day and camped again in the dunes above a rock platform. The spot was ideal because fresh water soaked out above the rock allowing us a beach wash.

Our beach collection today included a large glass fishing float (Greg & Sue), a smaller glass float, more nautilus shells, and plenty of sightings of broken canoes.

Monday 17th August:

We explored another bat cave as we waited for the tide to recede allowing travel south past the rocky headland. Walking and riding the quad at walking pace allows good exploration of the beach.

Around the headland at False Orford Ness is the start of a 10Km long hook of beach that is a beach combing paradise.

We decide to set camp then walk and explore. It was pleasant and we covered 7.5Kms before Michael appeared with his quad giving us a return ride.

We did see one of the largest croc slides and discovered some fresh water points that we GPS marked for future reference.

At camp Paddy had been busy undoing a small mountain of rope he had found. He had untangled over 300metres before finally calling it quits, there was still more than four times that left in a large knot.   

Tuesday 18th August:

Last night was full moon and a king tide. It is only at these times that this beach run is possible with the king lows allowing such beach travel. The down side is the full highs and the problems of finding dry camping places.

This beach is a thin band between the ocean and a line of brackish swamps. Crocodiles move between the two and often we see tracks.

We reach Hunter Creek and on the southern side is our lunch stop. The next bay we call Conch Bay because of the abundance of these large shells.

Paddy was the first to find one then immediately he comes across the best find of the trip. It was a wooden drum carved with some decorative symbols of unknown pacific island origin.

With one of us on the quad and the other partner walking we explore the bays. They are a garden paradise of rocks, shells, seagrass fields, sponges, soft corals, large sea cucumbers and other exotic sea creatures. Jan and Lyn walk for miles and enjoy every moment. We collectively found some nice shells and I an old tea pot.

We camped just north of Camasade Creek well above the water line amongst the Casuarinas using the quad as protection from the evening wind.

Wednesday 19th August:

As we leave camp we see yet another crocodile slide only 200 metres from where we slept.

We cross Oyster Bay and onto the rocky headland north of Capt Billy Landing whence we then started our return run back north.

Returning to Freshwater Rocks Camp we collected our beach combing spoils along the way.

This evening was Paddy’s birthday and the group had prepared a collection of beach presents for him. The collection includes a vast variety of balls (golf, tennis, pool, ping pong, football etc), a collection of fishing lures, and an emergency beacon light. Lyn and I had written a beach story poem for Paddy. The party feasted on oysters sautéed in tomato sauce and chilli. Mains were beef and corn fritters followed by birthday cake.

Thursday 20th August:

At 5am a heavy shower wet the camp. With time to wait for the tide to recede we dried ourselves and equipment. On the southern side of Orford Bay Jan found an under-water camera. It was still dry inside and the sim card readable. Later examination would reveal it was lost by a Japanese tourist in 2003.

When we reached Ussher Point we had covered over 180Kms.

The final creek crossing was now one metre deep and covered with floating pumice. Although it was crossed without complication it was none the less a final bit of excitement.

Our camp was as we left it, fortunately the fridges were still running providing a welcome cold beer for our return

Friday 21st August:

The morning revolved around cleaning up, washing and preparing to move on tomorrow. In the afternoon Rob, Jan, Lyn and I walked the beaches north of Ussher Point. We walked the bays below magnificent red bauxite cliffs with coloured clay. The clay colours ranged from reds, pinks and purples through to brilliant white.

In the third bay Lyn found a fantastic outrigger dugout canoe.

Back at camp, Michael had been cooking scones that proved great eating.

With all out collectables packed our evening meal consisted of Salmon and corn pie, followed by dates in red wine and cream – MMMmm.

Continue the Adventure to Shelburne Bay