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Thread: Damo's Family Lap

  1. #31
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    10th October 2016
    First day in Punsand Bay was relaxing with a walk on the beach, swim in the new pool, cold beer (in a glass!) at the Corrugation Bar and just relaxing at camp with the other family nearby. We had been told about a big male croc that calls this place home. "Gary" was believed to be around 6m long! Keen to see him, but from a distance lol. Late that afternoon the remainder of the group pulled in for a night. Their tales of crossing the Jardine were annoying lol. They all made it fairly easy after walking it a few times and marking out holes with sticks stuck into the sandy bottom.

    Punsand Bay


    The next day we all went exploring different directions with the idea of ending up at the tip for a group pic. We went off in search of the infamous bird watch tower in a secret location, and almost dissapointingly found it with ease. We then had a look around at the very sad Pajinka Resort Ruins before making our way to the Tip carpark to walk the rest of the way. Fortunately it was low tide so we chose the easier beach walk. We managed to run straight into the Old fella and the Germans out at the sign. We took some pics and sat there with a beer or 2 and soaked in the atmosphere and sense of achievement of making it to the top.

    Bird Watch Tower


    Pajinka Resort






    We made it!


    The tip looking west


    We then went looking for a campsite that the old fella had camped at before that was not marked on maps. Seemed like a bit of a needle in a hay stack but surprisingly we managed to find it after a while of searching. Coming out off the track onto the beach I know why he was so keen to find it again. WOW! What a special place. They set up for a few days as we left to head back to our camp at Punsand.

    Secret Beach




    We had already booked for 3 nights at Punsand so we decided that afterward we would head back out to the secret beach camp for a night or 2.
    Last edited by Rip'n'Shred; 31st December 2016 at 05:13 PM.
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  4. #32
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    The next day I took the opportunity of a bit of free time to adjust the wheel bearings on the camper and the Patrol. The parts for the leaking water tank arrived also which made for a quick fix.
    We then went off exploring with the other family to Somerset and the 5 beaches run, after stopping at the Croc Tent for some shirts. We were told if the tides are low you can do 7 beaches and they were also quite firm in telling us that the secret beach is a locals secret spot and not to tell anyone the location. The beaches were amazing and the place full of history. On the way back we took a shortcut track and called into Lake Wicheura which is supposed to be full of crocs. We drove around a bit after winching the Hilux out again and found a couple of mudslides but didnt see a croc.











    Lake Wicheura


    Next morning I went fishing with the Hilux bloke in his tinny affectionately named "The Teaspoon" as it was about 2.7m long with a 15hp on it. We went out and around Wroonga Point trolling some big lures. I hooked onto a decent sized shark, probably around 2m or so but that was it. On the way back to the beach we spotted what we believe to be Gary eating a very large sea turtle up ahead of us. We tried to keep our distance and lost sight of him for about 5 minutes and we sat there like sitting ducks! Then we spotted him again about 150m behind us finishing his meal. We thought he may not be full yet and didn't feel comfortable with him looking for seconds, so we high tailed it back to land. I'll never forget the sight of the size of his jaws lifting the turtle up out of the ocean! HUGE!



    Wroonga Point Fishing Sunrise


    We eventually packed up and left the other family & Punsand to join the others at their beach camp for a couple of days. We had a great time. We dug a pool for the kids in the sand at low tide, road the quad around, ate oysters till we were sick of them, taught the boy some chaisaw skills, and laughed at the Germans building a roof rack for the Triton out of scraps and rubbish washed ashore, after their original rack had fell off twice already lol. The only thing they bought was 4 big long bolts which went through the roof and the racks to bolt everything together. German engineering at its best lol.
    Last edited by Rip'n'Shred; 31st December 2016 at 04:35 PM.
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  6. #33
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    15th October 2016

    We decided to head over to Seisia for a couple of nights in the caravan park with Pete & family. We had a fish off the jetty after catching a bucket load of live bait by jigging and in the cast net. I don't know what the secret is but there is no fish to be caught. Never seen anything like it, millions of bait fish but no fish to eat them!!!!! Tried again that night. Had 1 squid interested but he would not hang onto the bait. Pete managed to hook onto a huge shark with his heavy gear, which literally just stripped line off the reel like it wasn't there before biting him off.



    Later that night after heading off to bed, I awoke to a noise outside the camper. Upon my rapid exit out the door in my sexiest undies, I found a feral horse helping itself to the fruit left out on the kitchen bench, and she got very defensive of her young foal and tried to kick me as I attempted to scare her off!

    The following day we decided to treat ourselves and the kids to a helicopter flight over Cape York. We all had the time of our lives. Words can't describe the view! We even did a bit of a fly over the other mob on the Secret Beach for a bit of a laugh. Highly recommend this to anyone who goes up there!

    Pre flight inspection


    Seisia




    The track to the tip


    The Tip!!!


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  8. #34
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    Later we headed over towards Bamaga airport to checkout the WWII plane wrecks in the area. It's surprising how good of condition they still are in despite the years of harsh conditions.





    Thousands of fuel drums through bush


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  10. #35
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    17th October 2016

    We had planned to meet the remainder of the group out at Muttee Head the following day for a few days camping. It really is a beautiful place. Went out a few times in the boat fishing and put out some crab pots without any luck except 1 undersized that went back in. Got into a big school of queen fish that kept me entertained for a few hours, saw a few good size barra and jacks in the shallow crystal clear water of the Jardine, and a couple of small crocs. Really enjoyed this place.









    Had a look at the old No 52 radar installation site. Not much left of it unfortunately.
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  12. #36
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    All good things must come to an end!

    It was time for us to head south, the Germans were running out of money and needed work, and we had other adventures awaiting us. We all said our goodbyes, they headed towards Cairns and we set sights on Captain Billys Landing with Pete's family.

    Back over the very shallow Jardine with the barge barely able to drag itself over the sandy bottom, we actually walked about 1/2 way across ankle deep for a pic.



    We stopped at Fruit Bat Falls for one last swim on the way before turning off onto the track to take us to Captain Billys. This track would really test my patients. Not difficult, but slow going over the many excessive erosion mounds that seemed oversized for no apparent reason.

    We arrived to a very windy beach with a lot of cloud cover for a couple of nights. At low tide we explored the caves and their inhabitants of small bats. The weather didn't let up for the 3 days we were there so I was glad when we left, so over the wind lol.

    Bats










    We had decided that the next day we would tackle the south end of the Old Telegraph Track solo (south bound), after talking to others who had recently done it. Pete's family would be heading to Weipa after we found some serious cracks in the chassis of his camper trailer, among many other issues and failures he was facing on both the camper and the hilux.
    Last edited by Rip'n'Shred; 16th January 2017 at 07:45 AM.
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  14. #37
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    21st October 2016
    We set off today south bound toward the Northern Gunshot Bypass track, which led us onto the Old Tele Track again, we went north to have a look at Cockatoo Creek, before turning around to do the OTT southbound. Pulled up at Gunshot for a look and took some pics. It really is insane! Obviously we took the chicken track and continued south.



    One by one we passed through the creeks without an issue at all. A couple of lifted wheels here and there but no signs of getting stuck or needing winching.















    We popped out at Bramwell Junction just in time for lunch.





    We then made our way casually to Morton Telegraph Station for a night where we made plans for the next leg of our journey, The Gulf of Carpenteria.


    Just about have the place to ourselves


    Last edited by Rip'n'Shred; 16th January 2017 at 09:32 AM.
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