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Sunday 30 July 2017

Reaching the Northern tip of Cape York

We reached the tip of Cape York Peninsula 5 weeks from when we did the Bloomfield Track, and it took us just 4.5 days to return to Mareeba. When we got to Bamaga, we went even just a little bit further North by taking a ferry to Thursday Island (without Blu). 

Some people had warned us that Blu might be too big to do the final part of the road to the tip, but when we stopped at the Croc Tent (souvenirs and info) and said we're in a bus she advised us "buses go here, here and here" whilst pointing at a map. Excellent, the tip was included, as was Somerset, where I'd also chosen for the days itinerary. 

Once again Blu handled the roads with ease and when we met another bus coming the other way (once) we backed up a bit to find a place to get over. Overall, the roads were mostly wide enough for 2 vehicles and only one part was steep. 

We crossed deeper water elsewhere on this trip, no worries.

We crossed deeper water elsewhere on this trip, no worries. 


Our moment of hesitation came when we reached the end of the road. There sides to the road were overflowing with parked 4wds, and we wondered how we'd ever turn Blu around. But by the time we'd walked to the tip, taken the 'we are here' photo, and returned there was lots more room to turn around and so it wasn't a bother. 

So many vehicles at the end of the road!
 So many vehicles at the end of the road! And Blu, sitting big. 

After visiting the tip we headed to Somerset. It's a place with a very interesting history but there really isn't much of that history left to look at. Furthermore the trees have grown and it's difficult to see what it once would have been like. 

Below Somerset there's a lovely campsite (access allowed with having paid for a Jardine River ferry), overlooking Albany Island, where we stayed overnight. From here you can make a difficult scamble over rocks at low tide to see Aboriginal rock art in a cave. We also enjoyed the corals at low tide... whilst keeping an eye out for Crocodiles. 

So we did it! H, Blu, and I made it to the tip! It wasn't difficult, but sometimes the driving was 10-30 kilometres per hour. 
The obligatory photo at the top of mainland Australia.
 The obligatory photo at the top of mainland Australia. 

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