TO THE 'TIP'

24^th May, 2013

We’re off to explore the Northern Peninsula Area of Cape York today.  We leave the van safely tucked away at the caravan park and set off, stopping in at the ‘Croc Tent’ which is a privately run Information Centre/Gift Shop on the way to the ‘Tip’.

The Croc Tent - Cape York Peninsula

The obvious reason as to why this is called the ‘Croc Tent’ resides in an enclosure beside the entrance.

Croc Tent mascot

The croc may be stuffed but is a reminder as to the dangers of venturing into the waters around here.  We receive a map of the road in this area and advice on track conditions.  The guy says that although they have had recent rains all the tracks are accessible with a 4WD.  We will have some water courses and creeks to cross but he assures us that Mitzi is high enough to stay dry inside.  So off we go!  The road soon becomes little more than a winding track through the rainforest

Cape York track

and thankfully we only meet a couple of oncoming vehicles.  Both vehicles then do a bit of jiggling/backing up/take to the bush action to allow access for one vehicle to get by.  There are lots of potholes and washouts to negotiate but finally we make it to Somerset on the eastern side of the peninsula.

Somerset Bay

Somerset was run by pioneer Frank Lascelles Jardine in the 1800’s and was a grazing and copra plantation.  The Jardine River bears his name.  We stop and have a picnic lunch here before taking a walk along the beach.  At the northern end of the beach is a small graveyard and there are some Japanese graves – testimony to the dangers of diving for pearls.  Pearling was a lucrative business in these parts in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

Japanese pearl divers graves at Somerset

Near the graveyard is a memorial to explorer Edmund Kennedy.

In 1848 Edmund Kennedy set out from Rockingham Bay with a party of 12 men to explore Cape York.  The party struggled north to Weymouth Bay where he left behind eight men and at Shelburne Bay three more men were left behind.  Kennedy continued north with a young aboriginal man ‘Jacky Jacky’ and had almost reached his destination when he was killed in an encounter with a local aboriginal tribe.  Jacky Jacky completed the journey alone and raised the alarm.  Only two survivors of the expedition were found alive at Weymouth Bay – the remaining men were never found.

We hop back in Mitzi and head along the track to the most northern part of mainland Australia  …   the ‘TIP’.  The track is just as bad as the Somerset track with a few deep creek crossings thrown in.

Creek crossings on the way to the 'Tip'

Finally we come to a small clearing beside the waters of Torres Strait where two vehicles are parked.  Looks like this is as far as Mitzi can go.  From here we have to walk.  There is a track over the rocky hill in front of us but luckily we have managed to coincide our visit with low tide and we can walk along the tidal flats for a few hundred metres before being stopped by the water.  It has been an interesting walk along the sand/mud with lots of soldier crabs scuttling around and a piece of oyster encrusted pearl farming equipment makes for a great photo op.

Abandoned pearl farming equipment at Cape York

We climb up onto the rocks and make our way over the headland.  Looking back we can see the coastal flats and bay.

View of Torres Strait at Cape York

At last our goal is in sight – the northern most tip of the Australian mainland.

Wok walks down to the 'Tip'

The Great Dividing Range rises at the Tip and follows the east coast all the way south.  It’s quite steep climbing down the rocks to the strategically placed sign.  We are of course not at the most northern tip of Australia.  That honour goes to an island further north that is ridiculously close to Papua New Guinea and possessed by Australia.  There are a lot of islands sprinkled across Torres Strait and even from this spot we can see quite a few.  We can however cross one more thing off our ‘bucket list’ – to drive up Cape York Peninsula and stand on the northern tip of the Australian mainland   …  Woohoo!