Cape York for First Timers

"One day, we should do Cape York...” is something that a lot of Australians have said at some stage in their lives. For most, the thought about getting the right gear, setting up a 4x4, the planning and organising that needs to go into such an adventure is almost too much and the aspiration quickly fades. However, Facebook bloggers “One Day We Should” say that the cape is an adventure achievable for all Australians. Cape York offers rugged terrain and beautiful landscapes, remote camping, iconic 4WD tracks and the spectacular off-road journey to the top! The towns around the main road provide your basic necessities, making the trip to the less daunting as many may think.

One Day We Should are a family of 5 who sold everything they owned to travel around Australia. They have been documenting their travels on their popular Facebook blog, which includes their recent trip to Cape York.

Read on for a run-down on all things Cape York!

THE LONG ROAD

The journey up the cape is most commonly traversed via the Peninsula Development Road (PDR). The condition of the road depends on the amount of traffic and when the last grading has been done. Fitting a quality set of off-road tires, deflated at the right tire pressure and some aftermarket suspension will make the journey smoother. The PDR regularly changes from gravel to bitumen (the bitumen sections are intended for safer passing).

Quick Tip:
* Travel with your headlights on at all times to increase the visibility of your vehicle for other drivers.
* Tune into channel 40 on the UHF – this channel is used by all travellers, trucks and roadworkers making it easier to get in contact with other road users for road conditions, passing and find help if needed.

CAPE YORK ROAD CONDITIONS

Our Road Conditions

We use the term 'our' and not 'current' road conditions, as the road can change dramatically depending on the amount (and type) of traffic on the roads. They can also be graded (fixed) reasonably quickly too. What might have been the worst patch could now be the best patch and vice versa!

But for those wanting a recent look into the road conditions here is our run down (as at August – September 2019):

• Best route to take from Cairns is via the Battle Camp road. The road has less corrugations and more to look at.
• From Musgrave to Bramwell is the most corrugated section but in saying that we didn't find it too bad (we were able to travel with our van in tow).
• Bramwell to Jardine has been recently graded and was great to drive.
• Jardine to Bamaga was rough in sections but luckily isn't too far.
• Bamaga to the Tip, Somerset and Punsand – are all good roads.
• On your way to the tip there is a small water crossing (doable in 2WD with high clearance).
• Best way to Weipa is via Batavia Downs if coming from the tip or heading from Weipa to the tip.

Quick Tip:
* Crossing the Jardine River is only accessible via the Jardine River ferry service.  The cost is $100 return and an extra $30 for those towing. EFTPOS is available. There is a campsite across the Jardine River with potable water, showers and a washing machine available.

ONE DAY WE SHOULD…

If you are heading to Cape York for the first time, here is a list of our recommendations to add to your “things to do” list:

Top sight to see:
The Tip: Did you even do Cape York if you don't get that iconic tip photo?

Top track:
The Old Telegraph Track: If you’re not keen on putting your car through its paces on the OTT, one spot we highly recommend making your way to is the Nolans Brook Crossing. Highly entertaining and an amazing atmosphere watching the brave one’s cross.

Top camp:
Pennefather: If you love boating, camping or fishing this is the place to be. At Pennefather, you’ve got a chance at catching Barra, sharks and a variety of large ocean creatures.

Quick tip:
* If you get the timing right, you might also spot some sea turtles laying or hatching along the beach at Pennefather! 

Top swimming hole
We feel like it would be rude to narrow the best swimming hole down to just one, when there are 4 all so close to each other!

1. The Saucepan
2. Twin Falls
3. Elliot Falls
4. Fruit Bat Falls

WHEN TO GO?

Head to Cape York when you can! But if you get the luxury of choosing dates, avoid the school holidays as these dates are always the peak times at Cape York. We left in August and explored the cape for 6 weeks. We made our way back to civilization just as school holidays had started and we noticed quite an increase in traffic heading up the cape. Generally, the tourism season starts between May and goes through till November all dependant on when the wet season starts and finishes.

Quick Tip:
* You can still head up to the cape outside this period, but most tracks and swimming holes are closed. Road closures can also occur during the wet season.

REMOTE OUTBACK

Phone Reception on the Peninsula

Phone reception is very limited on the peninsula. We managed to get Telstra reception in the main towns; Weipa, Bamaga and Coen. Other areas we had reception were at The Tip and Somerset. We had a chat to a few fellow travellers with satellite phones and they reported that even with a satellite phone their reception had been pretty slack.

Quick Tip:
* The Pennefather river campsite/ abandoned ranger station has a community satellite phone and patchy wifi available for those in need.

A QUICK TOP UP

Did you know there is even a Woolworths in Cape York?!

Weipa
Weipa has a large Woolworths to stock up on everything you can think of. They have a couple of camping/fishing stores, a Mitre 10 with gas, spare parts and materials, cheaper fuel than most places on the peninsula, and a post office (this was just some of the places we visited). Weipa also had the cheapest gas swap at $48 a bottle.

Bamaga
Bamaga has large grocery store with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, fuel, gas, fishing gear, and more... all at reasonable prices. The only thing we found extremely expensive was a gas bottle swap at $60!

Coen
Coen has a grocery store with all the basics you might need and a mechanic, post office and fuel.

OUR OFF-ROAD SET-UP FOR CAPE YORK

We travel in a 6x6 Mazda BT-50. We use a 160w flexi Solar panel on top of our iKamper rooftop tent with a 105ah battery to run our 40L fridge and we have a 2000w Projecta inverter to run any other appliances or tools we might need to use while we’re off camping.

We made sure our setup had plenty of lighting to make our off-road camping a breeze. You never know what might happen on the tracks so having a setup bright enough to light up the whole cape came in handy. We used the Narva flood lights on each corner of the canopy so that we had lights facing in every direction. We also installed a couple 12v Narva fans in our rooftop tent. The temperature at night stayed quite warm so having fans made camping in the heat much more comfortable. For our night time driving, we have a pair of Narva Ultima 180 L.E.Ds to light our way – these also come with a Daytime Running Light feature to increase our vehicle’s visibility for other drivers during the day.

Towing a caravan all the way to the tip might not be 'real camping' but being in a van for majority of the time also meant having a much bigger capacity for food supplies, doubled our water capacity, a warm shower, a toilet and our “home” bed! We did however sneak off for a bunch of nights in the rooftop tent when we hit the Old Telegraph Track (OTT)!

Quick Tip:
* Carry a few spares in your set up, we recommend carrying spare filters, a fan belt and a bottle of CRC.

Some travellers race through Cape York in 10 days or less - we spent over 10 days just at one camp site alone! We took our time to really experience the cape and take it all in, we told ourselves “let’s do it properly as we probably won’t be back.”  More than a month later, we were still exploring the Cape York Peninsula and we’ve decided… “we are coming back every year!”