Cape York Trip The Easy Route Advice

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Chriso1988

Chriso1988

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Hey guys traveling QLD at the moment and was thinking about heading up Cape York to the Tip, has anyone done this and can recommend the most direct / easiest route?
Not interested in epic 4WD tracks as dont want to stress the rig and camper if I dont have to.

Driving a Navarra D40 towing a semi off road camper with the girl and the dog. The dog excludes us from National parks and the Nav has been testing my mechanical knowledge and patience on the trip so far.

I hadnt really planned to do it as I didnt think the trip would be suitable for our rig and set up, the missus seems to be keen as tho, think she just wants to get a selfie at the sign.

Any advice or personal experiences would be good to hear, even what you drove and towed.
 
If you are just poking along steady youll be pretty right I think. The road from cairns to the Weipa turnoff has a fair bit of bitumen now. If you take it easy on the corrugated stuff you should be fine. Camp overnight on the coen river and do a bit of panning. Theres gold in all of the hollows in the river. Really pretty spot to camp as well. There will be a bit traffic with the nomads atm so if you need help it wont be far off. All the best if you do the trip
 
Been there, done that, :)

My recommendations fwtw

Fill up with fuel at EVERY opportunity
Drop your tyre pressures down to about 25 psi and take your time
Don't try and overtake anything on the dirt sections if it's dry
When you see a "dip" sign SLOW down, really slow down, we hit 1 at about 40 kph and it was not good, no damage, but very lucky
Be aware there are fluckwits that will drive at 130 kph

You can camp behind the "Sexchange Hotel " in Cohen with or with out power but there is a nice free camp just a bit north of the town

"Bramwell Station" is an ok over night stop, beer was a reasonable price but the meals were a bit exy

Hamburgers at "Bramwell Junction" are huge ( and that's the turn off for the hard part of the old telegraph track )

Camp ground at Archer River is fairly small or there is a huge truck parking area

If you're a drinker you can go via Wiepa, have a look, stock up on food and grog ( gets very expensive from here on) and keep the grog out of site ( a box of xxxx was $130-00 at Punsand Bay) a lot of areas you go through there are severe restrictions .

From Weipa you can back track a bit along the development road a bit and get to the "Batavia Downs Road " this is a good short cut that will get you onto the "Telegraph Road "

Moreton Telegraph station has a good camping area, just try and get away from the generator

Fruit Bat Falls is good for 2 nights an is very easy to get to ( 2wd )

Take the SMALL tour boat trip to Thursday Island, :Y: they take you around some of the islands etc that the big boats don't

Loyalty Beach is probably a bit nicer camp than Punsand Bay

Take your time and smell the roses along the way
cheers Keith
 
+1 to what xcvator has outlined. I towed an offroad camper up to the top back in 2009. The development road is just that.... that is in a constant state of development. They repair bad sections as they get chewed up then move to the next bad bit to repeat the process. This leads to alternating good and bad sections of road where you can come upon a newly done bit and up your speed, then all of a sudden around a bend the road turns to shit and you can come to grief if youre going too fast.
This is exactly what happened to a couple we came across near Bramwell junction. They rolled their fourby around a bend where the road surface went from smooth to absolute crap and they ended up on their roof..... this road needs your total concentration so dont take it lightly....
Cheers
 
A lot of travellers/4wd'ers come through our camp lease up at the Palmer on their way up to the Tip.
Seriously, this year I have witnessed the most vehicles pass through in the 10 years we have been up there.
So many on the road.
 
A couple of my workers towed an 18 foot boat to Weipa for the fishing comp about a month ago. The trailer only has standard 13 inch rims and he made it up and back without any trouble. They are putting bitumen down all the time so you just drive to the road conditions and youll be right. Cheers rick
 
kemjak57 said:
A couple of my workers towed an 18 foot boat to Weipa for the fishing comp about a month ago. The trailer only has standard 13 inch rims and he made it up and back without any trouble. They are putting bitumen down all the time so you just drive to the road conditions and youll be right. Cheers rick
Click to expand...

Not on my road though!!
Yeah you are right Rick, The road is better, and getting better...
Lots of people on the road, so you are not going to be stranded as was the case years ago..
 
The best time for that trip was in 1982 now that was a real drive then
Sorted the drivers from the show ponies
Cant think of her name but met the old lady that done the mail run in her truck up that way now she was a real outback down to eart person
Its like a 4 lane highway now taken all the fun out of the drive
 
xcavator said:
Take the SMALL tour boat trip to Thursday Island, :Y: they take you around some of the islands etc that the big boats don't
Click to expand...

Mmmm. "SMALL"? You didn't get a local trying to make a buck? :lol: AFAIK Peddells http://peddellsferry.com.au/ or a local are the only ways that will get you to Thursday Island by sea. Which is worth the visit if you get as far as the tip. Also the pearl farm via water taxi on Friday island https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kazu-Pearl-Farm-Friday-Island/127333444063780 is quite interesting if you make as far as TI. There is green fort hill on TI and the war museum on Horn island to check out. Also the Gab Tui gallery plus other stuff. September (11th 14th) there is the biannual "Winds of Zenadth" dance cultural festival which is pretty cool.

[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/0baz8T_zQKI[/video]

Road depends on timing with the grader. Can be corrugated to hell or as smooth as silk in places. Not that bad a road.
 
Mate if you don't do the OTL you could drive a Barina to Bamaga nowadays. They tow 30 ft vans into Weipa where years ago you would have struggled to get a 4B in. Last trip with a mate 12 months ago neither of us got into 4wd the whole trip ;)
Enjoy the trip and Fruit Bat falls is a must see ................ swim :Y:
 
7.62marksman said:
The best time for that trip was in 1982 now that was a real drive then
Sorted the drivers from the show ponies
Cant think of her name but met the old lady that done the mail run in her truck up that way now she was a real outback down to eart person
Its like a 4 lane highway now taken all the fun out of the drive
Click to expand...

That "lady" was probably Toots Holzhiemer, she was a legend on the Cape but was unfortunately killed in an accident at Weipa in 1992.

I was doing the Cape trip for the second time in 1987 and we came across a truck blocking the track, we stopped and saw someone under the truck so asked if we could help in any way. Toots rolled out from under the truck and said she was fine and was just removing the gearbox so she could fit the new one being brought up from Cairns. You don't run into too many women like Toots.
 
Chriso, you state that the Navarra is testing your mechanical knowledge. If you are having problems with the vehicle, are you sure you want to head up the Cape where the cost of repairs or recovery could very well make you wish that you talked your wife into getting a selfie at a different sign.

Jeff
 
Hey kemjacj57.
Time to break out the popcorn mate :argh
Just back from a second trip to the very tip of Cape York from Melb (in a little over a year) in my Jeep Grand Cherokee - each time towing a van.
Saw many busted/rolled/crashed Toyotas and Nissans, but no Jeeps, and there were plenty of Jeeps up there!!!
Last year there were queues of RACQ trucks carrying broken vehicles, vans and trailers home (largely from Coen), but I saw no Jeeps!
Following last year's trip up there, I continued around Australia including part of the Gibb River Rd. and many other bad ones - real shitty ones.
Not a single mechanical issue at all for me both times (apart from clagged air filters and this time a smashed rear window), so I'm calling BS on Goldfreak's Jeep generalisation :argh:
 
The word general re jeep is quite fitting actually, as generally it's the box and transfers that have :poop: themselves :awful: :D
Your obviously a very lucky man that the Jeep gods have chosen to smile upon :Y:
 
BigWave said:
Hey kemjacj57.
Time to break out the popcorn mate :argh
Just back from a second trip to the very tip of Cape York from Melb (in a little over a year) in my Jeep Grand Cherokee - each time towing a van.
Saw many busted/rolled/crashed Toyotas and Nissans, but no Jeeps, and there were plenty of Jeeps up there!!!
Last year there were queues of RACQ trucks carrying broken vehicles, vans and trailers home (largely from Coen), but I saw no Jeeps!
Following last year's trip up there, I continued around Australia including part of the Gibb River Rd. and many other bad ones - real shitty ones.
Not a single mechanical issue at all for me both times (apart from clagged air filters and this time a smashed rear window), so I'm calling BS on Goldfreak's Jeep generalisation :argh:
Click to expand...
So the jeeps I sent back from weipa were okay. My mistake, arse end coming off, maybe they are meant to do that ? ]:D
 

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