Monday 22nd August – 16,524 Weipa to Dalhunty River (OTL)
Up early this moring, well sort of, zip round to Woolies to restock on the fresh stuff. Vege shelves half empty, with a note to say the barge with the vegetables was late and not expected to arrive before 1.00pm! It reminded me of living in the middle east years ago. We take the availability of fresh foods in Perth for granted. All loaded up, and off we set. My stomach all churned up in anticipation of this Old Telegraph Line. Stopped for lunch at Moreton Telegraph Station, Trev and Rachael unloaded their trailer, from here on up the line they will be tenting – oh I so do not miss our tent. Just a few Kms in and we came to the Palm Creek crossing. I have heard quite a bit about this one on our travels. One of 'the difficult ones'. The boys did the obligatory recce and decided it was 'do able'. Trying my utmost not to let my stomach have control of me I waded across to take photos. The creek not deep or soft, but the drop down quite lumpy and a bit of a narrow channel. Off Trev went with the Hilux and there were no problems, even on the steep sandy ascent. Max's turn, again no problems, but heart I my mouth as I watched some big 'waves' and extreme angles. Djan on the back is quite wide, so when Max descends down a channel it looks like quite a tight squeeze. It is hard not to close my eyes, but I get in trouble when I don't 'shoot' a good video'. There are cries later, of you missed the best bit, when chauffeur uploads them to the computer. Trev was so impressed with the ease of his first crossing he confidently shot back for another go. Hah, not so easy in reverse, the drop down, was too big a jump up, and after a couple of attempts of what I would call 'thrashing' the vehicle he had to reverse out. On On, a couple more minor crossings, lots of bumps, plenty of sightings of the old Telegraph Poles, many of them curved over (is that from a fire?) and then we reached the Dalhunty River Crossing, a convenient place to camp for the night. Unfortunately, this is a popular track, and we had plenty of company.
Tuesday 23rd August – 16,725 Dalhunty River - SomersetBeach
Set off from Dalhunty, with a tummy full of fear and anxiety. Why can't I be like everyone else and enjoy these 'challenging' tracks. I've tried every way of looking at it and thinking things through, but I just can't get rid this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'm looking forward to today being over. The first crossing was ok, and a couple more. Then came Gun Shot. I took a careful walk down the chicken track, and this horrible monster jumped up (out of my stomach) and engulfed me. I don't want that 'cat let out of the bag' ever again. Needless to say Trev and chauffeur managed to get down and across without incident. Down the chicken track, as the other 2 tracks were vertical (no exageration) but chicken or not it was very steep and lumpy and narrow.. What does that say about me, not even up to chicken standard. When I asked chauffeur to let me out so I could hitch a lift up the by-pass road, as I couldn't continue on, he realised I was serious and had had enough, so unfortunately, we left Trev and Rachael to complete the Old Telegraph Line on their own. I was feeling extremely 'fragile' at this stage. We headed on to Bamaga via Injinoo. What delightful places. A sort of island/holiday place. The locals seem more Polynesian. Managed to speak to Richard and Helen and arranged to meet them at The Tip Wednesday lunch time (Richard's Birthday).
We wanted to find a deserted beach to spend the night (if that is possible in this popular tourist spot). Armed with a mud map and driving past the Croc Shop for 'local info' we drove on down to Somerset Beach. It turned out to be the perfect spot to calm my frayed nerves. It is a beautiful little clearing in a small bay. Opposite ,about 2km off the mainland, is Elliott Island. If it wasn't for the fact of the croc danger, you really couldn't get a better beach - chauffeur might not agree, as he has lost a lure, and no nibbles at all. Come evening, as we hadn't been able to get in touh with Michael, and we wanted to be all together at The Tip, we decided to phone Marion to get his latest GPS co-ordinates so see how far away he was. She texted us his GPS points, but then phoned back a few minutes later to say he had got the car stuck in a wash out and was walking into Coen!! OMG! We were just digesting this when M himself phones. He was trying to phone the police but the call came through to us. Yep, he was walking into Coen (in the dark). These was nothing we could do being 500 km away, and having been in Coen a week ago, knew that he would have phone coverage there and be able to find somewhere to stay for the night. Chauffeur then logged on and plotted his GPS points so we knew exactly where he was. Another phone call later Michael told us he had been in touch with the police (as his car was in a 'precarious' angle and needed retrieving) and Charlie (land owner/caravan park owner? Not sure which yet) was coming to pick him up. What a day! Time for bed.
Wednesday-24th August Somerset Beach-The Tip – 16930
Phone rang at 5:40am. Our neighbours Mario and Linda from Mandurah. Our garage had been broken into and someone tried to steal Pedro (Pajero). Apparently, Linda unable to sleep, went outside to get the newpaper and saw our garage door open. Mario came out, and disturbed someone (receiving a good whack to the side of the head in the process) trying to hot wire Pedro. He'd called police and done all the right things for us – what a blessing to have good neighbours eh? Still not sure how our garage door came to be disabled. Went back to bed to mull over things. Not long till Michael rang again. He is fine, Charlie took care of him and will take him into Coen today. Retrieving his vehicle will be interesting. We will talk to the others when we meet up with them at The Tip to celebrate Richard's Birthday! When I think of all the places we have been, hardly ever having phone coverage, unless in a largish town, and here we are miles from anywhere, and we have coverage just when it is needed – co-incidence? :-) I don't think we could get further away from home without leaving these shores if we tried.
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