Cape York 2023
 
 
The week before heading down south with Susan we had money credit for a booked trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. We are not travelling overseas anymore and I used the funds to travel in an seven day organised tour to the tip of mainland Australia. It started with a flight to Horne Island from Cairns because Thursday Island which is the main island is to hilly for an airstrip. A short ferry trip to Thursday Island and a look around the island and ready for another ferry tour to the mainland.
 

  

 
      The way travelled                                                        The ferry from Thursday Island to Seisha
 
Seisha is a small village at the coast close to Bamaga which is the main centre. The accommodation is in a caravan park. Very basic but OK. We stayed here for two nights because it took all day to get here. Next day to the tip of mainland Australia. This is not the most northerly point of Australia because there are a lot of islands belonging to  Australia and nearly reach Papua New Guiney.
About an hours drive and a fifteen minute walk over rocks and we are there. It was not as busy as I expected. Another tour group just left when we arrived. After all the photo's been taken we commenced with a drive around the area. There is a lot of history here with abandoned settlements.  Lunch is provided by the tour guide with the help of us. Tables and chairs put out. He supplies the bread, salads and cold meat. Tea and coffee. The first day is learning day but we soon now what to do.  This time at night we could choose from several options. the most popular one was a large lobster cut in half. 
 
 
 
On the road again. One of the main difficulties of going to the tip by car is crossing the Jardine River. In the old days people waited till the river was at it's lowest, wrapped the front of the car in plastic and hoped for the best. Now there is a ferry service which makes things a lot easier. From the whole trip I only had three things I really wanted to see. The tip of course, The Fruit Bat Falls and the Bloomfield Track. I had seen photo's from the Fruit Bat Falls when Luke visited it a few years ago. A spectacular waterfall and easy to swim in the shallow area. We spend a few hour here and on to  Bramwell Station. This used to be a cattle station but is now a tourist place. All the stations in the top end have their own air strip. The accommodation here was very basic. Nobody had bathroom facilities in their cabin and you had to walk across the road to the bathroom. Everybody had something to say about that. The dining area was great. They provide entertainment and everybody enjoyed themselves. Our tour group was the last to leave.
 
 
 
On to Weipa which is a large bauxite mine. This town has all the modern facilities. All the workers are on really good wages. We did some shopping, lunch and some took a boat tour. We also spend the night here. An effluent town with first class hotel facilities.

More corrugations and the scenery did not change much. Next stop Mulgrave station. Accommodation was very basic but this is what you can expect. At least everyone had clean bathroom facilities. Mulgrave station was started as a telegraph station. In the 1850s they had a lot of confrontation with the local aboriginal population. The station was regularly attacked with spears. The points were made from telegraph wire. We were supposed to have crocodile feeding here but the crocks were not very cooperative.
 
 
                         On tour                                                                                                  Lunch preparations
 
We are getting close to the end and we will do a lot of driving over the next two days. Had a few stops for sightseeing and lunch. Cooktown. Just time to unpack and we were going to do some sightseeing in the bus. It did not happen because it started to rain and nobody wanted to get out of the bus. Just before we were supposed to go to dinner the electricity in town cut out. It took a while to get organised but they drove us to a pub, the Lions Den which is a well known pub. Still everyone had a great time.
 
 

Our last dinner in the Lions Den with the group
 
Last day. The Bloomfield Track was a bit of a disappointment. It's not a track anymore. When it is dry I could have done it in the motorhome. We did not stop anywhere. The tour is mainly to highlight the remote part of Australia and here we are back in civilisation. The driver dropped me off at the airport where I had parked the car. Drove home that night with a few rest stops in between.  Conclusion: Not a very exiting but interesting trip. This one is ticked off the bucket list.