North to ancient lands and where it all changed..

With Rocky still laid up at the dealership waiting for a new cylinder head, Volkswagen had agreed to upgrade our rental car to one with a tow bar.  We swapped the Kluger for a Pajero, and started getting ready to hit the road again.  The only problem was that the new car didn't have electric trailer brakes fitted, so the solution was to fit a brake controller to the trailer.  It took a couple of hours to fit, the extra time being due to the fact I wanted to make sure we could unplug it quickly when we get Rocky back.

Installing brake controller

The following morning, we hitched up the Pajero and started making tracks north.  It was a great feeling to be on our way again, but we missed the comfort of Rocky, and our extra creature comforts that having a massive storage area also brings.  The Pajero towed Matilda easily - but the rear door was difficult to open with the trailer hitched on - and despite our best efforts, the rear of the car soon became a jumble of camping gear and food.

Woo Hoo - outta here 

Still in Cairns, but the end is in sight.

With Rocky laid up at the dealers awaiting a full diagnosis, we got stuck into rediscovering Cairns.  Cairns is a tropical city that relies heavily on the tourist dollar.  That also means that for people like us, there is plenty to see and do.  

We were also extremely fortunate to be holed up in my brother's house - so we were also rediscovering the joys of living in a house. The simple things like running hot water, a full kitchen and comfortable couches were certainly appreciated.  That said we also were doing chores like sweeping the floors and cleaning the bathrooms that we hadn't done for a long time...  there are two sides to every coin.

The boy's continued their routine of cooking dinner for us on Saturday night - necessitating a visit to the famous Rusty's Markets for the fresh food supplies.  The boys did a pretty good job, not just with the shopping, but also the cooking too!

Rusty's Markets

Tourists in Cairns - well sort of...

With Rocky broken down and there being absolutely nothing I could do about it, I felt as if a great weight had been lifted and slept soundly for the first time in ages.  Keeping the show on the road, trying to stay a day or three ahead was obviously more stressful than I realised.  It was time to take a holiday from our holiday!

We treated ourselves to dinner at the Bamaga Resort - and were pleasantly surprised with a delicious meal and great service.  The following day we caught up on some school-work and kicked around the pool before taking an evening flight to Cairns.  We had been hoping to catch the full moon from the some outback camping area, but as it was we saw a magnificent sunset and moon rise from 21 000 feet!  As glorious as it was, even the iPhone couldn't capture an image through the pexi-glass windows!

Not quite our planned form of transportation

We had planned on taking two weeks to rattle our way back to Cairns.  It felt like we were cheating a bit by taking a two hour flight - but there really wasn't anything we could do about it - and so we sat back and relaxed.

Volkswagen continued to look after us with a hire car waiting for us at the airport.  The rows of dazzling cars in the car park reminded us we have been 'out bush' for a long time indeed.  In no time at all we dumped our bags at he hotel and headed to the Night Markets for a leg stretch and bit of supper.  The city was busy - which was great to see - and seems to be shaking off its downturn of the last few years.

The following morning we found ourselves in the unusual position of having nothing planned - so we walked around town like real tourists.  Both Jo and I have lived in Cairns previously, and it was wonderful to introduce our boys to some of our fond memories of the city.  

Cairns Waterfront, delightful, when the tide is in!

Returning south was not so easy - our first major breakdown

After fuelling up an Bamaga we had a little family discussion.  Rocky had a problem.  Admittedly it was a slight problem - the tensioner pully on the serpentine belt looked slightly out of alignment.  

Is that pulley out of alignment?

It didn't look right - and I rang VW Assist to seek their advice.  Their google map based software had no trouble finding us - but finding someone who could help was another story.  As we were still technically mobile (i.e. hadn't broken down yet) they were really unable to do any more for us, other than recommend we take it to the nearest dealer (some 1000km of mostly corrugated dirt road away in Cairns).   Their other recommendation was to turn off the air conditioner to reduce the load on the serpentine belt.    I also isolated the camper's batteries so that they weren't charging off the alternator either.

We had planned to stay nearby at Umagico - but I was worried about the car - and we decided we were better off commencing our journey south... now.  We had two options - 400km to Weipa where we had friends who could help us out, or 1000km to Cairns where we would be able to lean on family as well as friends if we needed.

We held our little discussion - and put the options to the kids.  Bless their little hearts but they agreed to commence a long drive without a moments notice.

So we left.  Air Conditioning off.  Music and any other electrical decvices we could find also off (to reduce electrical load).  Windows down.  Old school road trip.  Only 970km to go!

We arrived at the Jardine Ferry just in time for their lunch break - so after a nervous look after the bonnet, we relaxed by having our lunch and kicking a ball around.  I sat down and wrote out on a piece of paper all our NRMA and VW Assist details, just to make sure we had them handy - a sound piece of planning as it turned out.

All seemed well - or rather no worse - under the bonnet - so we continued.

We made it just 10km when the car stalled, Check Engine Light came on and everything just stopped.  We coasted to a stop on the side of the road.  The inevitable had happened - the belt had shredded itself.

Cape York - The Tip

From our camp at  Sams Crossing we intended heading north on the Bamaga Bypass Road, over the Jardine Ferry and on to Punsand Bay.  Total distance was only 113km, but again our navigation app was suggesting over 9 hours travelling.  In the end we made it by lunch time - including breaks!

The rough plan - It took us three hours, not nine!

The Jardine Ferry cost $145 for the return journey - but includes all permits for the lands on 'The Tip'.  It is a short crossing - and the river is reportedly full of crocodiles, but we didn't see any.

Heading north from Weipa...

From Weipa we made good time back to the Peninsula Development Road (PDR).  Our intention was to camp overnight on one of the creeks between Bramwell Junction and the Jardine Ferry.  Much as the little boy in me wanted to drive the Old Telegraph Track, this is very much the domain of the foolish or heavily modified vehicles.  

Still, we decided it was worth a look - and stopped for a photo at the start of the track.

The start of the Old Telegraph Track

We decided to drive the first couple of kilometres to Palm Creek - where we stopped and had lunch.  The track looked absolutely awful, with a massive drop in, carefully widened with countless  door panels and wing mirrors, before a near vertical winch out the other side.  A good spot we decided to turn around - after lunch - and we returned to the PDR to continue our run north.

A relaxing few days at Weipa

From Coen we continued north along the Peninsula Development Road to Weipa. We had been warned the road was rough and corrugated - and it was, but it was no better or worse than many of the roads we have travelled thus far.  The dirt was still red, the countryside basically woodland and the temperature outside around 30.  The real change was in the sky - we were seeing our first real clouds in what felt like months!

Peninsula Development Road

We pulled into Weipa just before lunch, and enjoyed fresh sandwiches down by Evans Landing Boat-ramp.  Some blokes from Cairns were cleaning some of the largest fish we had seen - Threadfin Salmon.  The Little Fisherman was impressed - but also ensured they heard about his successes in the NT a few weeks earlier.