Lakefield (Rinyirru) National Park

Had we asked at the National Parks office in Cooktown about driving through Lakefield (Rinyirru) National Park in Blu apparently we might have been told that it wasn't possible. Near Lockhart and again at Weipa we met another bus that's travelling Cape York and they asked (and so they didn't do it). They're driving a Toyota Coaster bus. They're the only other non-4x4 travellers we've seen up here, with the exception of one 6x6. 

We had, instead, asked advice from locals. They'd told us that the Lakefield National Park road, although longer, is in better condition than the Peninsula Development Road (PDR), partly due to less traffic. So we went that way. 

It was a corrugated gravel road. Not difficult to drive on, just tedious and slow. We were told the PDR has worse corrugations. Maybe we'll return that way and find out. 

 These weren't even the worst of the corrugations. 

We stopped 3 nights in Rinyirru, as I'd prebooked us into Kennedys Bend, Kalpowar, and Hanns Crossing campsites. Hanns crossing was possibly the nicest of these. 

Along the way we saw crocodiles, Jabiru (Black necked storks), Sanus Cranes and Brolgas, Papuan frogmouths, goannas (sand monitors), and that's just the big stuff! The landscape was varied too, although we were most impressed in the North of the park with the eeriness of termite mounds extending so far into the distance. 

 Lakefield (Rinyirru) National Park

We had no problems travelling in Lakefield National Park, but we hardly left the through road. Currently it's dry season and we wouldn't attempt travel in Cape York if it wasn't dry season. And the Cape York Tourism  (www.TourismCapeYork.com) advice is relevant: "Yes there are times you can drive the PDR, and community access roads without needing 4WD; however, if it rains you can become stuck, and possibly stranded....". Anyway, I have my cheeky answer to the question of Blu being 2 or 4 wheel drive: "well mate, she's got 4 wheels on the rear axle, and they're all being driven".