Well, we have survived the track back from the most northernly point of Australia. We zig-zagged it a little coming back down with detours to Weipa and Iron Range National Park. In Weipa, Caleb tried his new cast net for bait that he was given for his birthday, and succeeded in catching small flounder, hermit crabs and a nice bream that we ate that night. Also, while standing in the water cast netting, he had a close encounter with a 4m Saltwater Crocodile. It was only 20m away...needless to say he got out of the water and away from the edge pretty fast, especially once it disappeared below the surface.
Iron Range National Park is a beautiful spot, after all the corrogated, dusty, dry Savanah country. It is rainforest, close to the beach with different flora and fauna to that you get further south. Incredible! An oasis on the Cape. Here, Caleb decided he wanted to go fishing at a small township called Portland Roads. We took his cast net, and while eating lunch we saw fabulous bait fish leaping out of the water, so Caleb quickly grabs his cast net, takes off his shoes and starts throwing the net in. He managed to score about 8 or so reasonable bait. Time for the fishing rod! Unfortunately, his tacklebox was left 30km down the road back at camp...so there was no possibility of fishing unless we drove back to get it (unless we tied the baitfish onto the end of the line I suppose...) In his dissappointment we drove back to camp to get the box so he could fish. Half-way there, lo and behold we realise he has left his shoes at the beach! We race back, only to find a single shoe...floating down the coast with the tide. We came home with one shoe and a wet pair of socks and no fish..useless! About as good as our attempts at drying our clothes in the rainforest...
We headed out to Cooktown after that, and stopped by Maytown, a ghost town on the Palmer River just accross from Cooktown, that in its own era had a population of 20,000 miners and was the richest alluvial gold site in Australia. Over 1 million ounces of gold are officially recorded as being produced by the area, with countless amounts smuggled into China by the Chinese miners (90% of the area's population at the time). We loved Cooktown, unfortunately many of the walks we were unable to do due to Caleb being one shoe short.The history of the Cape has facinated us. The Jardine brothers who were in their early twenties drove cattle from Rockhampton to Sommerset Station, right at the tip, before the area had been explored. How they forded some of the rivers with no roads or bridges is a mystery to Caleb and I. The story that you constantly hear though, is that of Edmund Kennedy and Jacky Jacky. Edmund Kennedy was an explorer who was charged with the task of opening up the Cape York Peninsula. The expedition was a failure - in the first 8 weeks they only made it 12 miles in the dense scrub. They missed their supply ships, and many of the men died, or were left to die at Weymouth Bay (near Portland Roads). Edmund Kennedy and a small remainder of men set off to meet their supply ship at the tip, and all were killed (Edmund was speared) on the way, all except Jacky Jacky, an indigenous member of their party who made it to the tip, met the ship and brought them back in time to save two of the men at Weymouth Bay.
While the Cape has really opened up over the last 10 years or so, getting to the tip is still a difficult task. Never before have we seen so many people in need on the road than we did in our two weeks on the Cape - a motorbike accident, broken down cars and people who have collapsed. While it may not be the adventure it was 20 years ago, the country is harsh and (with risk of sounding a touch like Russel Coit) if you are not prepared, be prepared for disaster. One guy we tried to help took a stupid vehicle up the Cape, only to have it die. And even we, sensible people to know the limits, had a couple of mishaps (such as jerry cans popping out our canopy window, dents from CREB track rocks, coffee everywhere, honey everywhere...) and our vehicle came back worse for wear. Was it worth it? DEFINATELY! On Friday we travelled down the coast road from Cooktown, back to Mareeba where we were reunited with Caleb's parents, Lisa's parents and our van. We drove to Tinaroo Dam, where we stayed for the weekend and had a great time catching up. Where to now? We must admit we are not too sure - we are starting to be a bit more serious about looking for work, and if none crops up in the next few days we will be heading on the Savanah Way which runs from Cairns to Broome, heading to Darwin and the Northern Territory. Stay alert and watch this space...
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