Vrilya Point for some....

Today we where going early so that we could try to get to Vrilya Point and spend as much time as we could given it was an overnighter only.

The local knowledge was that it was 23klm south of Jardine River ferry and then an hour to 90 mins to get in.

We decided to stop in at Seisha on the way back because we are close and it made sense. We were of the understanding that it was the main town up here and the best serviced because it has Loyalty Beach Caravan Park there also. The van park is also noted as the best on the tip, yet it is 30klm from there.....

Our impression - Bamaga was better in terms of stock in the supermarket and Loyalty Beach was too crowded. We took a punt on Punsand Bay and we got it right. While it wasn't 5 star caravan park, it was OK considering the location and you could have fires there also. In all honesty the are very few caravans up here - if any, it's all camper trailers or tents....just how we like it.

Southward was the direction and we planned to be at the point by 12pm, but getting supplies took a little long and the reality was we wouldn't be there until after 1pm if all went well.

Well, let me tell you, things didn't go to plan....

We crossed the famous log bridge that everyone who goes here talks about - not even a challenge if you pick the right lane. Then we encountered severe corrugations for the next 20k or so which as always, is very boring.

We arrived at a creek crossing with a little challenging bit on the other side and while we were assessing which line to take and how to approach it, we look around and my Mum & Dad, along with Darren's Mum & Dad decided they had had enough and reversed out and took off!!!!

I asked Dad as he was 15 point turning through the bush what he was doing and he said "We've had enough, we are going back to the flat road"

Rob echoed his feelings and off they went. 

I said to them we are 500m from the beaches as I could see it clearly on the GPS topographic map I have, yet they still decided to go back. They said they would meet us at Bramwell Roadhouse and meet up tomorrow.

This seemed strange as the had another hour minimum to get back to the main road, then another 160klm to get the, and it was already after 1pm.

Whilst we understand they are retired and want to look after their cars, the reality is that some of the things we have been doing so far, far outweighs the complexity of what we had in front of us - and we then were where we needed to be!!!!

Anyway, we let them go off in a huff and we drove another couple of minutes to a beautiful beach - the best we have seen so far, and within 30 minutes we were set up 50m from the water having lunch on the beach.

We are disappointed that they didn't persist for a little bit further, but that is OK, they just missed a great spot because I think they didn't like the corrugations. Dads was running 30PSI which would have had them bouncing through the roof.......no wonder he was cranky. We had 23-25 and we found it tough going. 18 PSI on the way out it will be.....

We caught up with a couple from Perth who have 2 lovely daughters and the boys as always were captivated but them. They played with them all afternoon and we made monster truck tracks and volcanoes again. All of the kids managed to find hermit crabs and walk around the rocks looking for anything they could find, Tomsy and I threw in a few lures with no luck.

It really was worth the drive in and in reality it would have been easier to drive down the road and stay at a roadhouse, sometimes the best places are there for a reason - because not many people can get there......

No fire tonight, we a just sitting on the beach in the dark trying to croc spot. We are almost out of beer so we are regulating the intake, which probably will do us some good......

Archer River Roadhouse tomorrow in what will be a big day, pick the oldies up along the way and we will be essentially half way back to Lakefield, then onto Innisfail after that for the homeward journey with just the Manns.

Jase & Nat.