Cape York 08

Skeeta · Newbie

Cape York 08

Doug and Dusty · Veteran Member

You lucky begger, I do believe from reading other reports from elsewhere that the run up the Cape is pretty good, I have no info on the Old Telegraph road ,
If you go to the RACQ road reports you will get some handt info .

RACQ reports

Enjoy your trip

Basil Faulty · Guru

Cape York... yes well... All I can say is that it takes some persistence. Frankly and honestly I gave up. The corrugations were just to much for my already shatered nerves...
Good luck with your trip, it is marvelous country, take your time....Cooktown is always worth a look, I would be interested to know what has happened since the road was sealed. I'll wager it will end up like Noosa, very sad if that happens...

marg · Member

Hi

Cooktown now has bitumen right to the town and for a shorter distance north to Hopevale. There are several caravan parks in the area, but the bigger rigs are not able to turn around in some of them. Please check first if you have one. check out the cook shire website for park details. More people are coming up here now. Agree the roads sometimes aren't the best, depends on when they have been graded - check with the Cook Shire Council about the roads. If you travel to the conditions, make sure the vehicle and caravan are in good condition, and you check the road before you leave you should be ok.
Bloomfield track is usually not for caravans, and depending on how much rain there has been, it may also be 4WD only too.
The CREB Track is 4WD and if I was towing a van, I would leave it in a park before tackling this one. Hope to see you if you get up this way. We live here and have a big paddock.

Margaret and Ron

Skeeta · Newbie

We ended up leaving the van at Lakeland and just travelled in the Nissan. Great trip. Road rough but very do-able. Had no hassles and nothing broke that couldn't be held together with bail string or duct tape till we got to Cooktown. Then enjoyed N. Queensland for a while before heading home.

marg · Member

Nice to hear that you got up here. Cooktown is a funny mix of old building and new and generally the people are very friendly.Did you get to see the museums and do the town historic walk?
Regards
Marg and Ron

Skeeta · Newbie

We did and loved it. Also enjoyed a fishing trip up the river with 'Nicko'. It's an interesting town.

xina · Guru

Hi people,
Anyone wanting info. on Cape York should access the Cape Yorker website at www.capeyorker.com.au . You will find all the information you need, as well as some great photos.
Cheers,
xina.

-- Edited by xina at 00:45, 2008-10-09

twobob · Guru

Marg
Can you give me an update. I was in Cooktown, maybe 10y ago. Flew in and was impressed with the airport. Stayed at the pub in the main drag, with a TAB undernearth, and a T/away. Just down from the new whalf area (under construction)

I also did some of the Daintree up to the resort from the Pt Douglas end (a couple of years earlier). I was told the road got worse from there, but it did go all the way to Cooktown. Great trip (part I did).

Love to do it properly, so, whats the coast road like, and how the new bitumin (inland road). Has Cooktown changed too much?

I just remembered, your town is in the news re snapping handbags - has the situation changed, re them?

marg · Member

Hi Twobob
sorry for the delay in answering - life has been hectic - first the lack of electricity due to one power spike too many though the power board and then waiting for the electrician to replace. cooktown has changed since the bitumen got here.makes a trip to Cairns an easy morning or afternoon drive now instead of a full day. the town itself hasn't changed much. just a few more people. we now have a real pizza place, thai restuarant and chinese one too. couple more museums. The wharf has been completed and we get the large tourist boats in now. last one had 2000 people on it - unfortunately the channel is silted and the passengers had to be ferried to shore and back again. not nice in windy weather. airport is the same. it has a lovely garden area and the trees will have grown since you were here.
you can now come up the Bloomfield track from Pt Douglas to Bloomfield and on to Cooktown. the road can be a bit hairy at times, especially after rain and it still impassable for most of the wet season.
Snapping handbags are still here. Despite the warnings, stupid tourists persist in trying to swim in the river and beaches. I'm surprised that there haven't been more fatalities. However I will say that in this particular instance, this was not the case and no one really knows what happened. EPA want the handbags left in the area. Our recent news reports went all around the world, and have generated a lot of tourist interest, especially for seeing one in the wild. I don't get too close to the water. you can check out the Cook Shire Council website for photos of the area. There are quite a few there.
Hope this answers your query.
Regards Marg smile

twobob · Guru

Thanks Marg
It was a good place to visit, and sound like it still is. I love the "gold" history surrounding the area, but was not in a position to discover it when there.

A revisit is now planned

Snapping handbags - well, they are a part of life in that country (I spent a lot of time in Kakadu) - they do not swim in my bathtub, I do not swim in their home!

marg · Member

Hi Twobob
that was a quick reply. agree about the bathtub. hope you get up here again. you can camp in our yard - there must be a spot somewhere in 8 acres to suit. You can get woken up by the rooster, or the kookaburras or the dog chasing a mouse.
Regards
Marg