Day 89 – 12/8/2019 on a Midlife Adventure.
Leaving Merluna Cattle Station behind I am back on the road again. Road north is more of the same, lots of dirt, lots of bumps, little bits of bitumen and big dust clouds when someone passes.
The plan today is to make it to the Jardine Ferry but will be dependant on the condition of the roads.
With an early start I needed Coffee so a stop into the Moreton Telegraph Station was a great chance to have a look around and turn on the brain.
The Telegraph line provided communications with Thursday Island and was built in 1886. Over the years many of the actual telegraph poles have been removed or damaged but a few still remain including the some at Moreton.
The camping options at Moreton look good and popular, speaking to some people that stayed here the meals are also pretty good.
They have a museum with some interesting artefacts from the years as a telegraph station.
With lots of road still ahead of me I headed further north.
Around lunch time I arrived at Bramwell Roadhouse where I took the opportunity to add some fuel in.
I think that complaining ever about Diesel at anything over $1.40/l is nothing in comparison with the price out here.
The collection of number plates on the tree at Bramwell Roadhouse from not only around Australia but some from around the world.
At Bramwell Roadhouse there is an important decision to make, the left route and you’re on the Old Telegraph Track. Go right and its the campground or the Bamaga Road which bypasses you around the track.
For me the decision was actually really easy. I was going Right! Being a Solo traveller with a car that still has a lot of km to complete putting it through that punishment was not necessary.
The bypass road overall isn’t too bad although there are some sections that were pretty bad this day.
So early afternoon I reached the Jardine River Roadhouse.
The roadhouse is where you buy your tickets for the ferry. It is quite possible this ferry rates as one of the most expensive journey’s in the world by distance travelled. A $100 fee provides you with a return ferry journey and permit for the northern cape camping.
If you wonder just how long the journey takes, here is my 47 second video of the journey.
There is of course a number of very good reasons to go on the ferry, one of them being the river is actually fairly deep, the second is the snapping handbags (crocodiles).
The road north from there is a short journey to Bamaga then onto Punsand Bay where I was staying.
As I had arrived a day early (again) my booked accommodation was not available however a different site was available to I took that.
The bar and restaurant is very popular, firstly as the northern cape is subject to Alcohol bans and this campground is exempt from those conditions, also they have wood oven pizza’s
So after a few more beers it’s off to bed for me but I’ve done it, I’ve made it almost to the top of Cape York on this Midlife Adventure.
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