Pennefather River

Today we were all a little apprehensive about moving to a one night stay at Pennefather. It came with mixed reviews but in the end, we decided it was the way to go. We are here to see the peninsular, & staying in Weipa for an additional day didn't give us anything but another night in an average caravan park.........So off we went early.

I am not sure what these people will think of us after this trip. We are very motivated to get going early and see everything we can in a short time. Mum, Dad & the Toms's are a little used to sleeping in and taking it easy which is great, I just hope we don't upset them with our eagerness......

Anyway, we got away early and headed north to the Pennefather River region. On the way in we massacred a dead tee to enable at least 12 hours of solid burn time for a fire, and then ventured in toward the coast. We made our way to the beach when we found a great camping spot just off the sand with plenty of shade. Not satisfied Darren & I thought we should scout up the beach further toward the river mouth to see if there was anything better than what we had already stumbled across.  Needless to say I was up for it because I was brought up & love driving vehicles on the beach....particularly at high tide where it gets a bit hairy....... the boys were going to have an absolute ball.

We made our way  north with Tomsy & Mum & Dad to the river mouth where we managed to get (me) bogged along the way. I am so happy we did because the boys loved helping me dig our way out and get back on our journey. This stuff is gold.

The beach was quite littered and not something we are used to. At first we thought it was disrespectful campers but the truth is that it gets washed up from the ocean. The Gulf of Carpentaria  creates a huge vaccum which unfortunately sucks it all in. Not very nice we must say.

We made our way to Pennefather proper and tried to seek out the ranger, but he was nowhere to be seen so we retreated back to where we were and started the fire at midday, yes midday. In hindsight the drive was a waste of time other than getting bogged and having some fun in the sand, although we did also get to see the river.

Nobody was keen to go for a swim for obvious reasons.....croc tracks everywhere up the beach and sightings left right and centre, so we all gathered around the fire and spent the arvo sweating from the heat it was producing.

Dad tried to throw a line in at low tide with no luck, as did Rob, so fire and beers it had to be.

Many beers in fact as I write this with Tomsy at 11pm, after a few bourbons and tall stories with glo-stick hats and glasses, we are really inebriated. I hope the local crocs and wild pigs don't decide to come along to say hello because I don't think we are in any state to accommodate them.

This is why we do it, rolling waves in the background, plentiful fire in front of us, bourbon in the fridge and just the remote feeling of not having anything mainstream to fallback on if things get a little worrisome. Seriously, I love this stuff, as does Nat although a shower and toilet doesn't go astray now and then.

In my prime again, bourbonised, fireised, late at night with the stars and beach in the background. Bloody tough.

I wonder what the poor people are doing.

Good luck to them.

Jason.

 

Weipa

Well Weipa is a place to stop on the way to the Cape.... that's it really.
One of those places you need to go because it is on the way.  If you  have a boat and love the basics then this would be a great boys trip, similar to Karumba, but otherwise, I wouldn't come back.

Dirty dunnies and average amenities don't do the only caravan park any justice but the whole town is a bit messy and not well looked after.  I think we are now able to make judgement on remote towns
that are worth visiting and those that are not... and this one is not....

We had a look around and stocked up on supplies like stale bread and frozen meat.  I understand that stuff would be extremely hard to get in here, and that you just have to made do, I guess the lucky ones have a choice where they can live... mine is where there is a bakery that has fresh bread...

We then headed back to camp to negotiate a possible fishing expedition.  Truth be told the tides were against us and as locals said, don't waste your time, so we didn't - we had cold stubbies and a semi grassed areas to sit and chat the night away.  We did wonder out to the beach to get some shots of the sunset, but in reality while nice, Broome for a western sunset makes all else look average.  There, as always, is a woman that thinks she and her family is the best on earth which irritates me but what do you do.  This one wouldn't shut up about her brother in law and how he was kayaking across from the tip to Papua New Guinea, which is brilliant, but hearing about it for a half hour constantly from a chick in purple flowery pyjamas on a beach in Weipa is a bit rich.  That will do me...
My brother in law this.... my brother in law that.... he does Ironman, he does this, he does that... I felt like saying well you married the wrong man by the sound of it.... I can be very judgemental at times.

Anyway, all good.  It was nice to spend the sunset with my beautiful lady and the boys who just ran sprints up and down the beach with the daughters of purple pyjama lady.  A few stubbies later and I was watching Game Of Thrones on the iPad in the Mann Vann, gotta love this technology.

Pennefather tomorrow, let's hope it is what everyone raves about.

Jase

That red dust taste.....

Today we arose again in pitch black darkness to "Mummy, can I come into your bed" 20 times before we give in and Mav climbs in and won't shut up. Whilst it is cute it is extremely frustrating when you would like the birds and natural light to wake you sometimes....

Nat made the point yesterday that I am clearly a much happier person when we are somewhere that is remote and away from other people, lights on all night, cars/trucks driving around etc. Old Laura and Elim Beach had this and she is right, I do dig the quiet and self sufficiency of being "out there".

We surprisingly were on the road at 7:55am which was great. I think naively I thought that the Toms's may have struggled to get going after sleeping on 2cm thin beds on the ground and in a tent together with no room, but to their credit they did and I think with the exception of Darren whilst it may not be their thing, they are embracing it and taking it in their stride.

520klm of dirt road awaited on route to Weipa today. The Peninsular's largest town based around the largest Bauxite mine in the world run by Rio Tinto. We had stops at Musgrave for morning tea, Archer River for lunch where we tried the famous Archer Burger (unanimously however Dad's home burgers still rule) and then the last 200klm into Weipa after that.

For the last couple of days the boys have been really playing up going to bed and last night was no different, so today we confiscated everything. All that was in the back seat was their booster seats. Nothing to do for 8 hours on red dusty road...

Strangely, they travelled well and had fun with 2 pegs they found and some tissues. Lots of knock knock jokes and eye spy, chatting and laughing so there might be a message there again for Mummy and Daddy as we had learnt last year on our trip......

The dust tastes, smells, looks and annoys us the same as it did for months last year. The trucks over here in the top end don't have as much respect for travellers as they do in the west however, they don't slow down any and they seem to be only concerned for themselves. The massive plumes of dust they create take minutes to settle and this prolongs your journey unless you are stupid enough to try and drive through it blind....

Into Weipa and the only caravan park here. It is packed and given the only option, there doesn't seem  to be much attention payed to cleanliness in the amenities. Additionally you just pile your rubbish underneath a tree and someone must just come along and pick it up at some stage.

As we drove in there was a thousand kids in the only pool, so while it was 31 degrees at 4:30 pm when we got here, we set up and decided to brave the pool with the kids wee in it and all of the red dust wash off for a swim. It was reasonably clean I guess but the colour of the finish was able to fool you in terms of the clarity of the water, so while we cooled off a bit, we had showers straight after.

Noodles for dinner after those big burgers, and a few stubbies to wash down and hopefully the boys will settle tonight and we can relax a bit.

2 nights here and then we move north again.

Jase & Nat. 

Old Laura Homestead



Old Laura's very own Mater!

 

Archer River Roadhouse

Old Laura

It would have been so easy to stay at Elim Beach for another day....or week if we had time, but unfortunately we had to meet the Toms's at Old Laura Homestead Campground in Lakefield National Park. It was good to not have to rush and enjoy the remoteness of this area.....so we didn't....

We had time to go and see the Coloured Sands which were great, only you had to drive through a bit of salt water to get there, which stopped Dad in his tracks.....Multiple colour sands and at the top of one of the sand dunes we climbed had spectacular views of the region. Well worth the effort....

A total of 85klm today through some beautiful ranges on major unsealed road had us arrive at around 12:30pm. Setting up is getting back to the normal routine we are used to. Orbit tennis and cricket stuff out soon after to keep the boys amused and again we are sitting down relaxing in the shade, only this time into bush.

What was a expected ETA of 3:30pm for the Toms's, 2:30pm rolled around and they were here. They set up quickly and we all enjoyed a cold one getting to know one and other. Great to be back together as a planned group.

Darren & I love fire so we got that sorted, then decided to go down to the river for a swim/bathe/splash...... The boys loved it. Throwing rocks, swimming and splashing, what a great feeling it is to see them doing something so simple in a remote area that gives them so much pleasure. It makes you forget how much they can be little ass-holes when they want to be.....

Labour of love.....that is for sure.....

Fire was going by 4, dinner was done by 6:00pm, nightmarish kids going to bed done by 7:30pm. All good now to sit by the fire for a few frothies and bourbons given I am not worried about training now....Darren is a bad influence on me....

Tomorrow will see 550klm of unsealed road and an early start needed. The word is it will take 8hrs with breaks so I  have thrown it out here for an 8am start......I will let you know how that goes in our next post.....

Jase....

 

Elim Beach

 

Old Laura Campground

 

Cooktown to Elim Beach

This morning we rose to Grandad scratching on the tent arousing Mav's attention. He thought that was pretty cool.....in reality Mav would have woken them at 5am when he started stirring.....

Given the late entry last night we really couldn't see much of the park, so we went around for a look and was quite impressed. The camp kitchen was on par with the best we have seen and the pool area/gardens were immaculate. It is a pity we are only here for one night as we could easily settle in for more.

Breakfast came and went so we thought we would go up to Grassy Hill & see the town from a decent height which was spectacular. 360 degree views of the town and surrounding ranges was really worth the 5 minute journey up there. Cooktown is certainly one of the places we will come back to, a bloody nice little town.

Coffee in the Main Street after a look around sounded like a great idea and then a refuel just outside town found us on our way.

HopeVale is an indigenous community about 45klm northwest of Cooktown. We needed to pass through here to get to Eddies Place at Elim Beach which comes highly rated as one of the best campsites on the peninsular. The whole area is Aboriginal Land so the fact we can even enter is greatly appreciated and when we arrived, we knew it was going to be a great spot.

We spent a few minutes talking to Eddie and then set up quickly. The rest of the day was more about sitting down on absolute beachfront and relaxing.....when the boys would let us.

What a magic place, we highly recommend it an the photos will give an idea of how magical it is.

A nice family arrived from Mt Hotham Victoria and they shared our fire over a few beers and tall stories which was great. They too are on the way to the tip so no doubt we will run into them along the way again....

Off to meet up with the Toms's tomorrow at Old Laura as the car has been sorted, then we head north up the Peninsular Road to Weipa. Will be great to catch up with them.

 

Getting closer day by day...

Jase.....

Grassy Hill - Cooktown

Lighthouse - Cooktown

Elim Beach

Campsite at Elim Beach

Cooktown via Bloomfield

Consistent rain had us packing up in the wet. Nat gets snappy and impatient when it rains or is cold when in the trailer and today was no different. I have to laugh when she gets like this because she is shit-house at it. It's like she has to try to be cranky.......just not in her nature generally....
Dad got the van stored away at one of Darren's work colleagues depots and we were off about 10. Unfortunately Darren's car is still not operable so he is in limbo in Cairns now waiting for repairs.

North to Cape Tribulation and this is what rainforest is all about. Magical greenery, the purest of air to breathe...a great spot.
Cape Trib marks the start of the Bloomfield tracks which was apart from some steep maintained gradients, a low level 4wd track but a good drive all the same. We passed through Wujal Wujal Aboriginal commune which was the best we have ever seen in terms of upkeep and cleanliness this place is in the middle of nowhere but in paradise. Dad was saying Matt Bowen came from here and it's amazing to see the field where he would have cut his trade. Lets just say a little more uneven & low key in terms of what I was used to.
The Lion's Den pub was toward the end of the track so we stopped in for a look because you have to look at these remote pubs when you drive past them. As with all the others, they have their own personal touch but in the main, everyone signs the walls and there is a backpacker behind the bar doing his time to extend his visa so he can stay in the country longer. Nice little pub where you can free camp and enjoy a cold schooie.
The track was slow, from Cape Trib it took us 4 hours and we really didn't plan on being in Cooktown that late and setting up at dusk. It is one to do but if it is the Lion's Den you want to do it for, you wont miss much if you go the road way, save 3 hrs and turn right at the junction because the pub is only 5k down the road.
It is what it is and we managed to set up quickly and have a BBQ for dinner and an early night. From the look of it this is a nice little town and we will have a look around tomorrow. We spied a Merlo Coffee shop too, we might give it some business tomorrow.

Jase & Nat.

The day after

True to form, sleeping solidly after competing in an ironman seems to be difficult, not sure why but it seems to be fact. I struggled yesterday, my worst result ever, yet the most satisfying finish I have had. It was a mental thing all day and I was pleased I didn't give up when it would have been easy enough to have. It was great to see Nat & the boys out there in the rain, the feeling of seeing your family is indescribable after a tough day. Thanks so much guys, it made me so happy.
Strangely, this morning leg wise I felt reasonable so knowing we needed to get supplies, organise the car and get sorted for the real reason we came up here, I endeavoured to keep moving. Dad mentioned a 15c discount for fuel at woollies so we went there to get supplies, then we met up with team sharkies for a big lunch at Cock & Bull. Great feed for a great price. A couple of pints later and I was on my way.
By the time we got back, Dags & I managed a couple more frothies before he snagged a free ticket to the awards night and it looked like we were in for a big one. That is before we got there to find we had to sit through presentations before we got to eat anything, and when we did it was cocktail so just what a triathlete needs after ironman, no decent food and standing up all night.
Not a good look for USM, they got this one wrong. It was similar in Melbourne but there were more seats available....still, they need to look at it.
Home by 10:30pm and I was feeling absolutely terrible. I think the trip and race all caught up with me and has flattened me. I am seriously not well.
All good, we are on holidays now. No time to be crook.

Jase