Back Down The Peninsula

 When we left Loyalty Beach we headed straight for Eliot Falls area again.  Emmalisa really enjoyed this area.  This time when we visited Saucepan Falls, Glen and Emmalisa got in and floated down the river down to Eliot Falls!  The rest of the afternoon was then spent swimming and enjoying Twin Falls.  Once again, we had to drag Emmalisa out of the water to return to camp.  The next morning, we were up bright and early and visited Fruit Bat Falls for Emmalisa to have one last swim.  We were the only ones there and Emmalisa got the whole waterfall to herself. It was then off to the Jardine Ferry to cross the river again.  We felt we were making good time as we arrived at the ferry right on 8am ready to get one of the first crossings right on opening time!  Only problem was when we got there, there was already a line of cars, and the ferry wasn’t moving!  It turned out they had lost the keys and the workers for the ferry after ‘a big night’.  After a 2 hour delay they found some keys and some workers (who were fit for work) and we were able to cross the Jardine River and continue back down the Peninsula.  Again all was going well until one of the many culverts on the road surprised us and we may have hit it a little fast.  We stopped and inspected the car to find that we had bent a tyre rim.  So in the hot baking sun Glen changed the tyre to find that the spare had different wheel nuts to what we had and the old tyre we just took off didn’t fit back under the care where the spare belongs!  We managed to get the spare tyre on and strap the bent tyre to the camper and we just took it very steady to Coen.  At Coen we set up camp near the river and spent the next 4 days catching the kids up on some schoolwork, making damper, swimming in the river and chasing up some new tyre rims!  The highlight was the ‘Coen River Classic’ where Glen, Haydan and Emmalisa all made a boat to race down the river.  The kids’ boats looked rather plain, but they had tried and tested their boats and they were onto something as they both made it to the finish line with Haydan taking out the win.  Glen’s boat was a work of art but proved to not be a good race boat and needed some help to stay on course but sadly fell apart near the finish line.

We then continued down the Peninsular and stopped off at Laura to do the Split Rock Art Tour.  This was a self-guided tour where we explored some of the best preserved indigenous rock art from many thousands of years ago.  It was amazing to see so many rock paintings in such good condition in one place.  The site had information boards that explained the art and the meaning behind some of them.  It also explained how the indigenous people lived and adapted to the land over time. 

We are now heading to Malanda for a few days while we get the tyre fixed and then we will head further inland and then towards the Gulf.

Emmalisa and Glen Floating down the river to Eliot Falls

Fruit Bat Falls - All to ourselves!

Emmalisa enjoying Fruit Bat Falls!

Haydan at Fruit Bat Falls

The bent tyre rim!

 Our camp by the Coen River

The boat for the 'Coen River Classic'

One of the cave paintings at Split Rock Art site

Eliot Falls to The Tip

 When leaving Eliot Falls campground Glen did some impressive 4WDing to get us back onto the main road.  There were times where the car only had 3 wheels on the ground! It was very exciting to cross the Jardine River on the Ferry and then continued on our way to Loyalty Beach.  We were very lucky to get a beach front site that overlooks the water, and we even got to see the sunset into the ocean! The next day was so exciting as we made the short trek to the Tip of Australia.  The kids were pretty excited to be able to say that at one point in the day they were the most northern person in Australia (or at least on the Australian continent).  On the way back we visited the famous Croc Tent which sells souvenirs and picked up a shirt to commemorate making it to the Tip of Australia.  We then spent some time exploring the little towns of Bamaga and Seisia and explored the aircraft wreckages.  Unfortunately, there is not much information about these but what we learnt was that they were all from the 1940’s during the war and that they were all military planes. We were not able to find out why they crashed and were left wondering. The kids enjoyed spending time on Loyalty Beach looking for shells, clams and anything interesting as well as playing a bit of frisbee. On the last night we enjoyed some fish and chips on the beach. The camp site was a highlight for Emmalisa who loved seeing the wild horses roam through the park.  Laura got a bit of a shock when one of the horses started licking the breakfast dishes that were in the sink!  Emmalisa wanted to claim the horse as hers and even named her Missy. 

After a bit of rest and a proper shower, it is now time to start heading back down the peninsula, without the horse!  

Up on 3 wheels!

Camp at Loyalty Beach

We made it to the Tip of the Australian Continent!

Kids were excited to be the most norther people on the Australian Continent!

We made it!

One of the plane wreckages around Bamaga

Fuel Dump site near Bamaga

A visit from the horse at camp!

Fish and Chips on the beach

Townsville to Eliot Falls

 After some sad goodbyes to friends, family and our beloved dog Charlie, we started our big adventure.  Unfortunately, it was not a smooth start due to Glen getting food poisoning the day before we left!  So it was a bit of a slow start and we didn’t make it as far as we hoped.  We did find a lovely camp at Rifle Creek for our first night before heading on again.  The next day we made it to Coen, but Glen was still not feeling the best, so we called into the Medical Centre for Glen to see a doctor.  With some medication on board we camped just outside Coen by a creek and enjoyed some marshmallows by the campfire. The next morning, we continued our journey to the Eliot Falls Campground.  From here we were able to explore some amazing waterfalls.  The first one we explored was Fruit Bat Falls. Laura even conquered some fears and jumped into the water, much to the delight of the kids!  After managing to drag Emmalisa out of the water we went to explore the top of the falls where Emmalisa found more rockpools to swim in!  We then moved on to Saucepan Falls, Eliot Falls and Twin Falls.  We all enjoyed a swim at Twin Falls, but the water was flowing too much to swim at the others.  Emmalisa was certainly in her element and swam almost all day!  She was waterlogged by the time we left!

We have had a wonderful first few days on the road Glen is feeling better and we are all getting used to life in a camper trailer and roof top tent.  We have all mastered the art of having a shower in only 2 litres of water and have come to terms with the fact that our feet will not be clean for some time!

Ready to leave Townsville

Camp set up

We found Laura!

Swimming at Fruit Bat Falls

Fruit Bat Falls

Eliot Falls

Swimming at Twin Falls

Twin Falls

The date is set....again

 Well it has been 11 years and 4 months since we finished our trip around Australia.  After our big trip we settled in Townsville and we have enjoyed travelling and camping around mostly North Queensland with the kids.  As a family we love getting out and exploring this great country of ours.  We always promised the kids that we would take them on another big trip 'one day' and now that one day has come! We are about to make good on that promise!

We are leaving Townsville on the 11th of July for a trip across the top of Australia.  We are all a bit bigger, older and more adventurous and we have ditched the caravan for a camper trailer! We are looking forward to retracing some of our steps from before but also exploring some new places that we didn't see last time.  The kids are really looking forward to making their own new memories as they were so young last time they only have vague recollections and photo albums.

We look forward to sharing some photos and stories of our adventure over the next 6 months!