Well I am off to the tip of Australia tomorrow arvo. The campers packed, the Toyota has had a fair bit of work done to her, including a full set of bushes put through the underneath, electronics done and all oils changed. The kids have new DVD players each. We leave from Ayr on Friday and travel to Townsville where we will meet up with a mate and his family before heading off on Saturday. I will hopefully post some reports and pics when we return.

Ken

Well we made it to the tip and back without too much drama. Left Ayr on Friday arvo and stayed with a mate in Townsvile. We all left on Saturday morning in our little convoy. We camped the first night at Mount Molloy in the camp grounds just before the Mcleod River. This is a free camp ground, with toilets and showers, although they are cold showers.

From Mount Molly we moved on up through Lakeland Downs (which make a great coffee) and onto Laura. At Laura the cultural center is worth a look at and also Split Rock Aboriginal Paintings. We then continued onto Coen and stayed there for the night. Not much really to see in Coen except for the "Sexchange Hotel". There is a nice camp ground just north of Coen on the right hand side of the road.

From Coen we drove to Weipa and spent two night at the Weipa Camp Grounds. Again a nice place to camp and relax right on the ocean with hot showers and toilets. From Weipa we cut across the Bativia Track to Bativia Junction. This is where you need to collect any number plates that you have found and put them on the tree out the front. From Batavia Junction we went left onto the Old Telegraph Line (OTL) and the first of many creek crossings. Palm Creek wasnt as bad as we had been told and the cruiser and trailer went down without a trouble. However, my travelling companions decided not to take the disco down so it was time for a U-turn unhook the trailer and drive back up and then skull drag the trailer back up with the winches.

From their we continued north around the southern bypass and and back onto the OTL about 10klms south of Gunshot Creek. Well Gunshot lived up to its reputation and I spent about 40mins walking around and checking out all the entries before choosing which one to tackle. Might I say that if you are thinking of tackling Gunshot have a good look at all your options before going down cause the recovery cost is apparently around $10000.00. After getting down the bottom of Gunshot and a few modification to the cruiser and trailer (non intentional) my companions again said "No Way". Well there was no coming back up Gunshot so we continued along the OTL and cught up with them at Sailor Creek where we had a great swim while we waited.

From Sailor Creek we continued north and went and had a look at Fruit Bat Falls. This is a truly magnificent place to have a swim and refresh. From Fruit Bat Falls it was back onto the OTL and had a look at Twin/Elliot Falls which is another great swimming hole.

From there it was onto Sam Creek where we stayed for the night. The next day we continued up Mistake, Cannibal, Cypress and Nolan Creeks. None of these are overly challanging but I would recommed walking them first before driving them as depending on which route you take it can be over the bonnet of a standard 4wd.

From there it was straight up to Seisa and another couple of days in the Seisa Caravan Park camped right on the beach to relax. While at Seisa we tried to get onto the ferry for a tour of Horn and Thursday Islands however, there were fully booked. So we ended up chartering a boat that takes 10 people and made up our own trip which I think worked out better than the ferry as we had the opportunity to do a bit of fishing on the way over and back picking up a couple of nice Barracuda, Trevally, Tuna and Mackeral and still got to see the sights.

Well thats about it for the trip. If anyone wants any further info please PM me and I will try and assist. I recommend doing the trip up the OTL but do some preperation on vehicle and trailer. I have put a few pics in and will try and put a few more in soon.

Ken

Hi, looking for any help in preparing a cycling trip from Cairns to the tip of Cape York?Wondering if there is any info, tips, or contacts that will help assist me in preparing this trip for mid July this year...?

Hey welcome aboard the forum. Are you talking about a motorcycle trip of pushbike trip.

Ken