Cape York must haves

[FNQGU]

Peak months see over 4000 cars heading up the Cape. August/Sept there are a few less, but still busy.

There is an Info sheet on the wall at the Archer River road house with some interesting traffic numbers on it.

[threedogs]

Must have these days is a decent digital camera with plenty of memory.
some spectacular sights up that way.
My day we took rolls of film shite that sounds old as lol
well after all it was 1983

If you hunt there are plenty of pigs etc check local regs first

[Lewy]

Did the trip this year and had a blast.. Went solo with wife and dogs.. In all honesty it was by far the easiest 4wding I have ever done! Did the Tele track.. Drove the hole track did not winch at all.. Its all prep! I fitted my troll out with all the best gear and it made it so easy! My advice is dont take heaps of food as there is ample shops all the way!! Also you dont need long range tanks again heaps of fuel all the way!!

Lewy

[Wizard52]

Did the trip this year and had a blast.. Went solo with wife and dogs.. In all honesty it was by far the easiest 4wding I have ever done! Did the Tele track.. Drove the hole track did not winch at all.. Its all prep! I fitted my troll out with all the best gear and it made it so easy! My advice is dont take heaps of food as there is ample shops all the way!! Also you dont need long range tanks again heaps of fuel all the way!!

Lewy

Agree. I went up in mid July and August this year and most of the traffic was heading south with lots of dust.
All you really need to take is a spare air filter and oil and filters as it can take a while to book a change eg at Weipa I was told to come back in 3 weeks just for oil change so luckily I had everything to do my own change.
Road was excellent so any one can go there now. At Punsund Bay there was a Western Australian VW Combi and at car park at the actual Cape there was a XD Falcon panel van with its arse dragging on the ground from NSW.
It would be bloody hot and humid up there now as it is over on Fraser at the moment.

[beast_GU]

Mate did the cape last year first 3 weeks of august in a td42t GQ had 2" OME and 32" Yokohama A/T's, twin lockers, sliders arb bar and winch.
Only used the front locker once which was to get out of Palm creek (best crossing on the cape) didnt use the winch at all.
We were pretty heavily loaded 4 blokes in the one car, drawers full of piss and food and swags, bags and chairs and that on the roof.
Fuel is no problems.
We did the tele track both ways and the frenchmans, none of it was that difficult.
Main thing is speed and tyre pressures, alot of people were driving way too fast on the PDR and we saw 2 rolled camper trailers and a couple of rolled cars.

[05GUSTS]

Did the Cape solo (no friends?!) this year too - met Wizard52 at Punsand Bay, saw the XD too! - towing camper with Mrs and 2 kids, in late July/early August. Did Tele north and south as well as Frenchmans, only needed to winch out of Palm Creek.
Pretty basic set-up 2" lift, snorkel, 33" muddies, winch in factory bar and rear bar, standard fuel capacity saw us through. Full service before we left and kept spare hoses, belts etc for trip, also spare idler pulley bearing, as well as 2 of each filter, tightened all nuts and bolts over vehicle and trailer and only took spanners we needed to save weight/space.
As said above food etc pretty easy to restock Cooktown, Weipa, Bamaga, basics at the roadhouses.
Drive to suit conditions and adjust tyre pressures accordingly will see you travel most obstacles comfortably - we used high 20's on development road, 16-22 on Tele and Frenchmans, and needed 12psi to tow up to our campsite nth of Vrilya Pt after cruising the beach at 27psi.
All the best.

[threedogs]

No one has mentioned mud crabs yet , a friend of mine took some cheap traps and caught a few muddies.
I ate oysters off the rocks up at the tip, I thought you could hamburger it these days, handy to know, less food equals more beer
As for the long range tank comment it would be nice to fill up at the "cheaper" prices
and by pass say where the ferry is,
The clarity of the water blew me away, ever crossing was crystal clear, bait fish every where too.
and snakes, I hate snakes