The OTL Track – Day 4 Canal Creek to Canal Creek (Part 1!)

The butterflies returned again the next morning, in spades.  We had been warned about the two hardest crossings, those being, Palm Creek (the first), and Nolan’s Brook (the last).  This day was to see us at Nolans!!

We blew apart all expectations on this morning, being fed, packed up, and ready to drive out of camp at 7.15!!!!.  WOW.  That shocked (and impressed) not only our neighbours, but more so, ourselves!!!.  We did also manage to down one of Paul’s espresso’s as well, which definitely got the heart started!

We quietly wandered out of camp, and Glenn jumped in to drive Canal Creek.  It was funny that, given we were camped there, swam there, and watched over a dozen cars go through there, it was the most analysed crossing of the trip.  It was a little tricky in that there were a few deep water holes to avoid, and most of all, it had a nasty little jump up out of the creek to negotiate, of which quite a few got stuck.  Nothing like driving out of camp at 7.15am to go straight into a doozey of a crossing. 

Thankfully, and with some relief, we managed to get up without a problem.  Amy took the wheel yet again, and we trundled off down the track as one of the first couple of cars.  We fell in behind the OKA, a big, serious 4WD truck that one of the MySwag members had on the trip. 

We crossed a few very easy, low creek crossings, and then come across Cannibal Creek. 

Entry to Cannibal Creek

A couple of the recovery team members were in place and ready to guide us through, which after seeing the track, we saw why.  Our first hint of what it was like was when we were watching the OKA inch down the drop.  It was quite steep, and the OKA had an interesting angle to it.  Our hearts almost jumped out of our mouths when all of a sudden we saw the OKA’s front left wheel drop down, and then the whole rig started to tip.......   big truck, big angle, tipping!!!!!... eeerrrrg, is that suppose to be happening????  Thankfully, it all corrected and dropped back down.

As one of the recovery team guys said afterwards, all it would have taken was for a fly to land on the wrong spot, and it would have been over.  Chris (who had the OKA) did admit that a little bit of poo came out when it was happening.

Having seen that, we were of course thrilled to be the next ones down.  JK from the recovery team walked up to us and said, “don’t do what Chris just did”.... errr... RIGHT!!!. 

Amy was at the wheel, and was an absolute champion.  Slow and steady, following the specific and overt instructions from JK saw us get down without any incident what-so-ever.  Thank god!  Good one Amy!

By this stage, Amy’s reputation, and endeavours had earned her more than a healthy respect amongst the group.  Clearly being unusual having the female doing all the driving, everyone was seriously impressed with how Amy not only had towed the camper on the Bloomfield Track , but also had managed most of the driving through the OTL.  She had not only kept up with the group more than adequately, she had also tackled some very serious, and impressive 4WD crossings.  The guys kept saying how impressed they were, and the girls were in awe, with Amy doing things they would not consider having a go at!!!  Amy earned a ‘Give it a go’ award by the end, and we coined the name “OTL-Amy”.  You’re a legend sweetie, very proud!!!!

The OTL Track – Day 3 Rest day at Canal Creek



Enjoying a swim at Twin Falls

This spot was earmarked as a rest day, given all the lovely swimming options in Canal Creek, Twin Falls, and Elliot Falls.  Most of the group took advantage of this and sat around swimming, eating, drinking and chatting.  The weather was perfect for this activity, and we very much appreciated the rest. 







A number of the group had decided to move off that day instead of having a ‘rest day’, given their cramped camping, and they made their way up the track further.

One of our close neighbours, Paul and Maria, who were driving a Discovery, had only just caught up with the group again given an issue they had with a faulty alternator, detected in Cooktown.  They had waited a couple of days, got it fixed, and then raced up the Cape to meet us.  They had arrived at Canal Creek the first night, and were enjoying re-connecting with the group.  Paul had also been making us some fantastic Expresso’s, which definitely got us going in the mornings!!

Glenn spent some time checking over Slim, just to make sure we were all prepared for the final onslaught.

The OTL Track – Day 2 to Canal Creek

By this stage, we had clicked into the tent camping mode totally, without missing a beat.  The years of tent camping prior came back to us, and we didn’t want for anything.  The other element that we leveraged past experience of was the ability to get away from camp very quickly in the mornings.  We did EVERYTHING we could to be prepared for the next morning.  We pre-poured the cereals into bowls and Glad Wrapped them, we packed up all chairs, we put away all dinner dishes, we laid out the coffee, we left out just the clothes we would put on.  Everything was geared to be as quick as possible.

Day 2 morning was no exception.  We got up quite early (5.30ish), and started the process, including getting the kids dressed, fed, and ready.  We were pretty much in the first batch of cars that left that day. 

Nerves were pretty high again, notably added to by the light drizzle that had greeted us when we woke.  ‘What, the OTL isn’t hard ENOUGH??? You have to add slippery tracks to the mix??  Sheesh!!’.  Amy also enjoyed beyond belief, even revelled in her overwhelming feelings of butterflies that set upon her each morning, thinking about what the day would bring.  Strangely, as a result, she often had trouble even eating breakfast.  What a way to enjoy the holidays!!

Straight out of the campsite, we had to immediately cross Dalhunty River.  This was an easy crossing, and we hooked up into our early convoy.  The track twisted through the bush, and had a fair pace to it.  Nothing ridiculous, but Amy definitely had to concentrate, and in a small way, ‘push’ to keep the momentum up.  We reached Bertie Creek (which we would later cross more than 5 times during a subsequent visit).  This was interesting in that it dropped down a little bank, ran along one side, and finally crossed a fast flowing, but shallow stream.

From there, it was another push, along a track that at times caused the car to be on a very nice lean to one side given the wash-aways on one wheel.  All this was as a lead-up to the legendary and infamous ‘Gunshot’.

Gunshot is a well captured and renowned component of the Old Telegraph Track.  There are many, many YouTube clips dedicated to watching 4WD’s dropping down near vertical banks, near rolling, smashing bull bars, etc etc.  We knew of some potential ‘chicken tracks’, but the anticipation was high regardless.

In arriving, we were in a huge queue, understandably given all in our convoy, as well as the others on the track.  We didn’t really get time to get out, walk down, have a look around, and take it all in (one of those small downsides of being part of such a large group).  The recovery team had quickly sussed out the track, and it was reported to all be quite easy.  We rolled up to the top of the track, and Glenn jumped in to do the decent.

The track definitely was easy, with a steep, but not hard drive into the creek.  From there the creek was not difficult, although there was a steep little pinch to come out.  With a bit of slipping and sliding, and (skilfully) just missing a little tree, we scooted out of Gunshot unscathed.  Definitely not problematic given our track. 

On a later trip back into Gunshot (via a side access road) we did look around and see the other tracks down into the creek.  There were some quite ridiculous ones, which obviously had been eroded to the point of now being near impassable.  Whilst we were there, we did see a group going through one of the passible ‘drops’.  Of 4 vehicles we did watch, at least two did some damage that we could tell.  We agreed that even given the choice, and the amount of travelling we had to do in Slim, we wouldn’t have bothered giving that a go!

Watching a vehicle at Gunshot on our return visit

From Gunshot we all moved on to Cockatoo Creek crossing.  This was a little interesting, more-so for the track down to the creek.  It had a few nasty rocks to negotiate before you got to the creek.  The crew did a little ‘roadwork’ and tried to eliminate the nastiest sections, but we did scrape a little in going down.  Amy did a great job on this one, and crossed the reasonably deep creek well.

It was then an easy run to complete the southern leg of the OTL, and onto Canal Creek for an early camp.  This was always going to be the hardest spot to get all 27 vehicles into given the possibility of other campers.  It was definitely a very tight squeeze, with the group split across three, slightly cramped sections.  For us, we ended up having a great spot, locked in closely with Maurie, Paul and Maria, and Geoff and Kay.  This close quarter camping was not a problem for us, and we enjoyed our neighbour company with a lot of socializing.

Given the early arrival in camp, we had plenty of time this day to go down to the creek and enjoy a swim, and a beer or two in the creek.  Delightful!

The OTL Track – Day 1 to Dalhunty River

Leaving Bramwell Junction, it was a short (and tense) 4km drive down to the first creek crossing, Palm Creek.  The initial idea was to get all the single vehicles across first, followed by the campers, so we were towards the front of the line. 

We got to Palm Creek, and all got out for a Bo Peep.  The crossing was characterised by a deeply cut, steep drop down to the creek, and then a reasonably steep, slippery climb out.  Getting down into the creek meant slowly creeping down, trying to avoid a number of big rocks in the track, and then once down, crossing the little creek, and giving it some ‘wheeties’ going up the hill.

Most of the recovery team had already crossed, with Duggie’s car being the high powered machine to lead the charge.  After watching Mark, the trip organiser, getting across, which included him getting held up on a rock on the way down, we headed back to Slim to make our way forward.  It was at this stage that particularly Savannah decided it wasn’t such a great idea to participate.  Who would want to be in the car when you do THAT!!!.  After quite a few screams and “No, NO, NO”, we decided to ask one of the other mum’s to look after the kids, and walk them across the creek.  Everyone seemed happy with this.

Glenn was happy to drive, and after lining up, we started the big drop-in.  One of the recovery team was directing the path, however given the angles, washouts, and rocks, we still ended up taking a reasonable hit on the bull bar, let’s call it a “love kiss”.  We also did some trowelling with the rear bar... all part of the fun.

With the climb out, we gave it a very good go, and got the front wheels to the lip of the top, but just not enough to get over.  Duggie was there, willing and able to give us a quick snatch over the edge, something which pretty much everyone had done.

It was a nice relief to have the first crossing completed, and after a quick assessment of the minimal damage, we collected the kids, and moved on down the track.  The next crossing we came to was Ducie Creek.  A number of the team had moved on to this crossing, and there was someone directing the approach.  Glenn again jumped in the driver’s seat, and rolled up to the edge. 

The entry to the creek was inconsequential, and we came to the edge of the creek.  We were given direction to keep to the right, and then on exit, “take the left tra... on hang on, no, right track” out of the creek.  So in we went. 

We had seen a car go ahead of us, however we didn’t quite realise just how DEEP it was.  All in a day’s work for Slim, but interesting.  We could see the bow-wave splashing at the lip of the bonnet.  These cars are amazing, being able to travel through water like that. 

At the other side, we rounded the bend, and took the right track... (hmm.. was that right??.. think so, anyway, we are committed).  This is where a little of the nerves and tension come out.  We hit the rocky, rutted climb a little too fast, (un-necessarily), and bumped and bashed up the track.  We got up no problems, but definitely took some hits.  The front right panel took a nice punch, resulting in a neat, round ‘love kiss’, and the left side step has a slight, ‘high lipped’ look.  Most interestingly, we managed to ‘bead’ two tyres. 

Beading is where the tyre is forced off the rim, usually due to low tyre pressures.  In the nervous wait back at Bramwell, Glenn went around letting the tyres down three times trying to figure the best pressures.  It would have been ok, but we hit the left rut too hard, and caused the beading.  Luckily, the tyres re-sealed themselves, so we didn’t have to change them at the time.  After putting some extra air in the tyres, we headed off again, a little bruised, but still on the go!!

Whilst Amy momentarily struggled to process the fact that we had damanaged Slim, we followed the two wheel track through the bush, weaving in-between trees and bushes.  It was lovely bush, but admittedly, we didn’t spend any time admiring it, we were just focused on driving the track.

It wasn’t a huge drive from there, with only one more easy creek crossing to get through, before we arrived at Dulhunty River, our camp for the night.  This was a beautiful campspot with some lovely swimming. 

We quickly found a spot, set up in the heat, and then raced down to the water for a swim.  It was a great relief to jump in the water and wash away the dust.  It had been a busy day.  We unfortunately couldn’t swim for long, we had dinner to cook, and an assessment of Slim to do.  Glenn changed the worse of the beaded (and re-sealed) tyre, just in case.  We managed to put dinner on hold for a bit given an invite for pre-dinner drinks, which was lovely to catch up and re-live some of the days activities.  It was then eat, clean up, prepare for tomorrow, and bed.

The Amazing Race – Cape York (Cairns to the Tip)

We have just returned from completing what can only be described as an absolute adventure, joining 26 other vehicles on a trip from Cairns to the Tip of Cape York, over a week and a half of excitement.  As per the title, the trip was amazing in a lot of ways, seeing some spectacular country, traversing some challenging 4WD tracks and creek crossings, and at times, pushing us a little beyond our comfort zone.  The trip was also, in some ways, a race.  Although not ridiculous, there was a definite group momentum, kind of like a rolling steam-train, which was also a little outside our normal rhythm.  We did however step up to the mark and quite admirably kept in step during our adventurous dance.  In the end, as a family, we managed to complete the entire Old Telegraph Track, from south to north, and make it to the northernmost tip of Australia, in one piece. 

As previously mentioned, we ended up joining up with members of a 4WD / Offroad Camper forum called MySwag.org that Glenn had been participating in, who were running an organised Cape York trip at the same time we wanted to go north.  We were very generously invited to join them on this trip.  We stayed in the same caravan park as quite a few of them, making friends quickly.  Cairns was pretty flat out for us, with a lot of re-stocking and preparing.  We had to cater for more than the 2 weeks most were going for, given we wanted to stay and explore more of the Cape after the group trip.

Veryyyyyy early Saturday morning saw us doing a major quick pack up, and getting to the rendezvous point by around 7.30.  It was very funny seeing 27 4WD’s (19 with Camper Trailers) rocking up to a shopping centre car-park, all kitted out for an offroad challenge, whilst suburban families went about their normal Saturday morning business. 

 

After some brief ‘hellos’ and ‘wonder who they are’, we drove out of Cairns, through some significant and surprising drizzle, heading for Cooktown.  The convoy twisted its way up past Port Douglas, and onto Daintree.  There seemed to be a little bit of jestful bagging of Victorians, which became clearer later given the number of Banana Benders on the trip!!.

After crossing the Daintree River ferry, it was a slow twisty drive onto Cape Tribulation, where some of us stopped for coffee.  From here, the dirt started.  We rolled onto what is called the ‘Bloomfield Track’, which joins Cape Tribulation and Cooktown.  A very picturesque track, although significantly dominated by some verrrry steep, long climbs.  This was definitely our first taste of the ‘Rolling Stone’ momentum of the group, with little time for us to stop, take it in, and doddle along.  Amy’s great fear of big hills had to also be quickly overcome..... no time to sweat on it!!  Just as well we picked low range at the right time!

Rolling into ‘The Lions Den’ (just south of Cooktown) relatively early, we continued to catch up with the group and enjoy a dinner at the bar that night.  The group had around 40 adults and 21 kids, so lots of people to get to know.

The next day was a rest day, where a lot of people took the opportunity to go and explore Cooktown.  Given we knew we’d do that on the way home, we let the kids have a ‘no-driving day’, and just hung out around camp.  Lots more chats, and a few more vehicle checks.  We also had to get prepared to convert into car camping, given we planned to drop the camper at the start of the Old Telegraph Track.

The decision for us not to take the camper on the Telegraph Track was something we considered for quite a while, but the more we thought about it, the more comfortable we were with that decision.  Our camper would have been MORE than capable of handling the offroad conditions, and we undoubtedly would have made it through, but we were perfectly set up for car / tent camping, and given the challenge of moving with the group, managing two young kids, and doing the 4wding, the decision become quite easy.  We also had to consider that we needed to use the camper for the remainder of our 8 month trip, and a week without it was a small price. 

It was very remarkable however how much interest us leaving the camper generated, and still does.  It seemed to most, to be a travesty to leave the camper behind, a hardship to endure, and unnecessary.  There were however MANY times we both remarked how we were glad to not have the camper, and the tent camping was hardly something to endure.  In fact, we enjoyed the change, and the kids had a ball. 

The next day, another quick pack up, and hit the road early.  The group split up slightly for this day, with us deciding to take the quicker, more direct route to Archer River, especially given we had the kids, and it was going to be a long day as it was.  We swung onto the Peninsular Development Road (PDR) and started heading north.  The road is renowned for being very corrugated and heavily used, however so early on in the season, all seemed fine.

We rolled into Archer River reasonably early, which suited us perfectly.  It was very funny to see our set up here as we had Slim (our 4wd) and camper attached, with a tent set up behind it.  Given we were dropping the camper off the next day for over a week, we didn’t want to risk packing it up wet from overnight rain or dew.  We claimed we had ‘upgraded’ to the tent, and the camper was now redundant!!. 

Another early start saw a 2 hour trip up the PDR to Bramwell Junction, the start of the famed Old Telegraph Track (OTL).  The OTL was commissioned in the late 1800’s to establish a Telecommunications link north of Cooktown.  It was eventually replaced by microwave towers in the 1980’s.  Interestingly, in 2006, Optic cable was run along much of the original route of the old Telegraph Line.

The group massed at Bramwell Junction, all a little on edge knowing what was ahead.  It had been well reported that the very first creek crossing, Palm Creek, 4kms up the road, was by far one of the hardest.  The way the group was organised was that there were a number of experienced 4WDers who nominated to be the recovery team for the trip.  These guys were in capable vehicles with no campers, and would assist the group getting through the difficult sections, whether that be directing, winching, or snatching out of trouble.  A number of these guys proceeded ahead to suss out the crossing, and determine the best way to get all of the party across.

We dropped our camper out the back in the camping area, promising it we would come and pick it up again soon, and joined the group waiting out the front.  The waiting around was a little difficult, with a natural tension building as time went on.  People were checking tire pressures, wheel nuts etc, and generally dancing on the spot.  When the word finally came, it was like throwing a firecracker in amongst a bunch of wild cats.....  people, cars, campers went everywhere, all trying to fit down the one track at the one time.

We made it!!

Wow, what a ride!

We managed to hook up with, and keep up with a group of 26 other vehicles, drive the complete Old Telegraph Track (Cape York) from south to north, visit the northern most tip of Australia, and emerge in one piece, (well WE did, our 4wd, not so unscathed due to a few of the creek crossings!!).

The group has just all split after 10 days together and the last few days hanging out at Sesia, 30kms from the tip. We are about to go and find a nice, croc free creek to sit at for a few days, do some swimming (enjoying 28-30 degree weather), relive what we have just done, and write up our trip notes.

When we then get back into range, we will then post it all up with a couple of the pics and video that we have.

So, more to come....

Port Douglas and Cairns

Things were pretty cold and damp (heavy dew) when we left Lake TInaroo, which meant that the camper had quite a wet pack up.  With a lovely drive out looking at more of the lake and the spillway, we headed towards Port Douglas.  On the way, we passed through Mareeba, which apparently produces around 70% of Australia’s coffee.  We stopped in at Coffee Works to sample the local ‘brew’.

Coffee Works has a bunch of interesting stuff to look through, including a museum, as well as ability to sample ALL the coffee and chocolate you can cope with (for $20 per person).  Given we had the girls, and not the 2-3 hours suggested to spend going through it all, we just went to the cafe and had a coffee, whilst the girls had milkshakes.  The coffee was delicious, and we made sure we bought a couple of bags of blended coffee on our way out.

Reaching Port Douglas, things were... well... busy.  We hunted around for a caravan park, and went into the first one, the Tropical Breeze...... amazing!!.  Unless you were happy to sleep on a postage stamp, and not mind the bad breath of your neighbour, you would be very happy there.  The sites were TINY!!!  We had done a lap of the park to suss it out (1.4 seconds it took), and as an added incentive to stay there, the door b#%*h came up to us with a ‘can I help you’, and ‘you MUST check in at the office beforehand next time...”.  FRIENDLY!!!!

From there, we went to the next best thing, which on the surface was lovely, but we quickly discovered was the GRUMPY GRUNT park.  No-one said hello, and we had the horrid hermit couple beside us, hidden behind their ‘shade cloth’ cave wall, and could not muster even an acknowledgement whilst moving around.  Your on holidays guys, RELAX a little... sheesh!!!.

Anyhow, we managed to keep busy for 3 days, swimming, shopping, at the beach, and generally hanging out.  It was a nice enough place, but we are definitely in no hurry, whatsoever, to return, unless we won Tatts and could visit one of the 105,405,202 resorts in the area.

It was a quick drive down to Cairns, but a spectacular one.  The Captain Cook Hwy runs along the coastline, and affords some spectacular views of the oceans and headlands.  Very twisty, (which Savannah started to feel a bit queasy from, but lovely non the less

Cairns saw us pretty much spend 3 days getting ready to go up the Cape York.  We hooked up with a number of the participants from the MySwag group staying in the same park, and started to make some lovely friends.  Glenn’s packing skills were WELL and truely tested as we had to pack for 3-4 weeks of travelling, as well as having a stint (1.5 weeks ??) of travelling without the camper.  Needless to say, Slim (our cruiser) is packed to within an inch of it’s life, but amazingly, we have all that we need (we think.... at least a couple of slabs of beer is in there)

We are looking forward to heading off with the 26 other vehicles tomorrow, and starting to get into it all.  First night is spent just below Cooktown, which should be lovely!!!.