Day 8

Day 8

I think GPS technology is amazing. The ability to be able to see where you have been and which direction you need to go via a tiny little box of electronic trickery is almost magical. The scenery we tracked across on today’s flight from Moreton Station to Heathlands is pretty much featureless. It has no mountains to track towards. There is only one road that is followed for a short distance. There is only one cattle station on route. So we were relying on the little black box of tricks more than we normally would and it almost led us astray…

Take off from Moreton was around 10 to 7am. Steve and Tania came up to video the take off. The strip is so long it took us ten minutes to taxi to the other end! As soon as we lifted off, the wind was trying to push us back again. The route to Heathlands was crosswind so our speed was around 60knts across the ground. It was clear all around when we left Moreton, but soon enough the clouds came in, forcing us lower than we would normally be comfortable with. We still had plenty of options, so we continued on over the trees and termite hills. Moreton is around 150ft elevation and Heathlands is around 450ft, and it is very noticeable when you reach the plateau that Heathlands sits on, as the trees get smaller and large areas of grass and termite hills start to dominate the landscape.

The GPS ticked off the miles and around 45minutes after leaving Moreton, we spotted the Heathlands Ranger Station. Problem was, the GPS told us we had another 8 miles to go before the strip. We thought that maybe it wasn’t Heathlands after all, but the area ahead was shadowed by clouds, so we couldn’t tell if there was an airstrip there or not. We knew which direction the strip should be facing, and it was right across our path. We flew on another few minutes, keeping an eye out for anything that looked like an airstrip. Tracey spotted it just off to our left, about 2k’s away. The GPS was still stubbornly sticking to 3NM (6km) in front of us. So a good example of everything we have read about cross country flying, which basically says look out the window and don’t rely totally on the magic box!

The landing at Heathlands was interesting. The wind sock told the story of strong wind on the ground, but coming straight down the strip. We sort of hovered over the end of the strip a little while, and then gently set down at the Western end.

We tied down near the windsock, carefully choosing the angle so the wind flows across the wing; this stops the wing from being lifted by the wind from either the front or rear. I have been very impressed with how stable and secure the wing is when the base bar is on the ground.

Grevillea trees and termite hills surrounded us as we used just about every rope on the tie-down kits and every peg. The trike is tied down in eight different places. We put the Billy on and waited for our support team. When they arrived, we had to re-pack the cars. The plan was to camp for two nights at Eliot Falls, so Tracey and I needed to fit in the cars. We eventually got in, although it was pretty uncomfortable (not as uncomfortable as walking, so not complaining too loudly) the bypass road has the worst corrugations of the whole trip. This section of the bypass road isn’t particularly scenic, so it’s not as though the scenery distracts you from the bumps. They are doing a lot of work near the Captain Billy’s Landing turnoff; but the rest of it was rubbish. The campsite at Eliot falls is anything but rubbish. The falls have been a real highlight so far and just the tonic we needed. Everyone has gone a bit berserk with the cameras, so the results should be amazing. The water in the creek glows it is so clear, and cascades over the rocks into beautiful sandy beaches just perfect for swimming and lounging about. There are even Venus Fly Trap vines growing in the trees beside the creek. Delicate ferns and sundews grow in the gaps in the rocks. It’s amazing how quickly the vegetation changes once you are near water. This river is spring fed and the whole area sits on a sandstone rock base that soaks up water and then releases it slowly, so the rivers flow all year round. Away from the creek; the environment is very dry and quickly changes to Eucalyptus woodlands.

The fruit bat colony that lives on the banks of the river put on a spectacular show as they left for the night. Tania took some video of the bats swooping down to the river to drink. There are thousands of them; we think they are little red flying foxes. There are plenty of people here, but the camp is well set out and very quiet. 

So we have two days for the wind to die down while we camp here. Hopefully we will be able to get to Bamaga and leave the trike there and see what the weather does next.

Bob & Tracey

Leaving Moreton St

Heathlands

Eliot Falls.

Day 7

Day 7

Well the wind did not die down to a dull roar, in fact it roared all night. Tracey got very little sleep. We were up at 6am and checked the weather, a strong wind warning for Sunday. So today would be our only chance to get out of Chilli beach for at least a couple of days. We roused the camp into action and packed up our gear. Low tide was 10am, and then the runway would be clear. After a quick brekky and briefing, Ted, Steve and Tania helped us to bring the trike back onto the beach, then haul the wing out from the camp ground onto the beach and join the two together again. It took a bit of mucking around, mostly because the wind meant we had to be very wary of it getting under the wing and it getting away on us. Once assembled, Ted & I got ready to go. Tracey sat out this leg, not comfortable with conditions. We started up about 8.15am.  The runway had cleared of water and all looked as good as it was going to get. We taxied back as far as we could and gave it the herbs…. Roaring down the beach, the wing didn’t sit level until around 30knts. I waited until I had 60knts airspeed before rotating, to take into account the strong crosswind we had. Just as I pushed the bar out to rotate, we hit the edge of a shallow creek, bounced and then she leapt into the air and away we went!  

We followed the coastline around past Portland Roads and over towards Mosquito Point. The hills are all rainforest and run right into the sea. Lots of swamps with lilies and tea-trees and beautiful colours sheltering behind the beaches. The wind has sculpted the vegetation so that the trees look like they are flowing up, over and around the faces of the ridges. Conditions eased as soon as we were away from Chilli beach. The observations this morning when we checked had Lockhart River was nil wind! Where we sat, less than 20k’s away, it was blowing 15knts or more!

We hit our turnpoint to Moreton Station and tracked across towards the ranges. We could just make out the sliver sands of Shellbourne Bay through the haze to our north. The visibility wasn’t the best, probably around 30NM. The vegetation changed constantly under us, going from tropical rainforest to savannah dry lands in no time at all. The range we were approaching and had to go over to get to Moreton looks a lot like Mt Mulligan, west of Cairns. A sloping base leading up to a cliff top ridge, and trees, trees, everywhere trees! Not many places to put down around here. I climbed to 4,500ft to give us a few more of the not many options we had. We could see Moreton Station airstrip from about 15 miles away. It is huge! We could have been a 737 and it would be no problem! Our guide book had all sorts of obstacles to look out for, but we could have landed cross ways! A little thermic coming in, just enough to make sure you are concentrating and down safe at around 9.30am. Taxi to the arrivals hall and secured the trike. Still can’t get over how beautifully maintained the airstrip is, if only they were all like this one!

A short walk through the bush brings you out at the main camping area at Moreton. It is lovely with big shady trees and plenty of space to throw a tent. We met Rod, the caretaker and not long after the phone rang. It was our ground crew checking we had made it and to say they were leaving Lockhart and on their way.

Ted and I settled in to wait. I thought I was a champion sleeper, but I have met my match in Ted. He lay on the bench and slept for a ½ hour. Then he lay down on the ground and slept for nearly 3 hours! The truck loading the backhoe didn’t wake him; the campers driving in and out didn’t wake him, me shuffling through gear didn’t wake him. In the end I was starving so I bought lunch and woke him up at 1oclock. Then after the support crew got here, he set up camp and went for another snooze! Champion effort that! The others arrived about 2.45pm, after a good run from Lockhart. The road is cut to pieces after yesterday’s rain from the turn-off back to the PDR. Moreton is a worthwhile stopover. Very friendly people and pleasant camping. The Wenlock River flows beside the station (and looking at the photos, through the station in the wet) There are scrub pythons here, as well as Cus Cus (didn’t see any). As well as beautiful red shouldered parrots grazing the lawns as the sun set. A shower has improved everyone’s outlook on life and washed away a little of the sand from Chilli beach. (Amazing adhesive properties, it is still sticking to the trike after flying for an hour at 120kmh!)

Plan tomorrow was to go to Shellbourne Bay, but the weather means we will go straight up to Heathlands from here. It’s a shame as Shellbourne would have been a real highlight, but it is just too dodgy to go with the wind forecast as it is. Steve tried to get a star trail photo tonight, but was thwarted by high level cloud. Team effort for tea. A sort of mashed potato rissole onion pizza. Tasted a lot better than it sounds!

Bob & Tracey

North of Portland Roads.

Ranges on way to Moreton.

local housing

Moreton St arrivals hall.

Day 6

Day 6

The earliest start we have had on the trip so far. The trike engine started at 6.10am. First light was 6.24am. We were worried about the noise, but the road crew starting their truck at 6oclock meant no-one could hear us. We taxied to the far end of the strip and warmed up. Take-off was 6.25am just to make sure we were legal. We tracked slightly further east than planned, as the cloud base was a little low further north. We hit the coast near Lillyvale Station and turned left. The GPS recorded our speed around 60knts. Not as fast as we expected, but good progress. The coastline from the air is spectacular. It is difficult to tell where the land stops and the ocean starts, it just seems to blend together. We seen a couple of wheel tracks north of Port Stewart and that was the only sign of civilization we spotted all the way to old Lockhart River. We had beaches under us a lot of the time, so plenty of landing options, but the 912 kept purring away happily.

Cloud base got progressively lower the further north we went. At one stage we dropped to just 800ft to get under a bank of cloud blocking our path. We could see that beyond the cloud, it was clear with excellent visibility all the way up the coast; otherwise we would have turned around. The wind was also getting stronger as we approached our waypoint turn for Lockhart River. The original flight plan had us going behind the hills to pick up a track that leads to Lockhart River. We couldn’t see the tops of the hills, so plan ‘B’ came into effect! Plan ‘B’ involved staying out on the coast, avoiding the showers inland and then cutting the corner of Lloyd Bay and over the Jetty at Lockhart, then on to Chilli Beach. We rounded the last hill of the Heming Range and got a straight downwind run over the beautiful sweeping river arms and majestic mangrove forests of the Lockhart River delta. Got a bit bashed up by the rotor coming off the range and it would have been nice to have more height,  but when flying you take what you are given and do the best you can. Over Cape Griffith we could see a shower of rain envelope Chilli beach, and another bank of showers developing out to sea, on a direct line to Chilli Beach. We discussed the plan and decided that we would track as close as we could to the camping area, but if the rain got too close; we would land further down the beach and taxi back. Chilli beach is an excellent place to land a microlight. Its kilometres long. We timed our entry perfectly. A low pass along the beach to check for obstacles, a quick turn into the wind and down on the beach, splashing through a couple of shallow creeks. The wind was around 15knts, due to the gust front pushing out ahead of the rain.

We taxied back to where we thought the camp ground was and Teddy and Tania were there to greet us. They were just as glad to see us as we were to be there. The wind was very strong this morning and they all thought that we wouldn’t get through.

Lucky our ground crew was there as we had only a few minutes before the rainstorm hit us. We stayed sitting in the trike and the others helped us to keep it stable until the worst of the gusts had passed and we could secure the trike. We pushed it up under the trees and tied it down. Once we’d looked at the tide chart, we went back and took the wing off and bought it closer to the campsite, as tomorrow morning’s high tide would have been very close to the wing. Tracey and the others decided to head into Lockhart to scrounge a shower and wash some clothes. I stayed at camp and watched the trike and set up the tent and bits and pieces.

The washing clothes thing didn’t work out, but they did some exploring and found a café at Portland Roads, only 5ks away. Salt and Pepper Calamari beats stale honey sandwiches hands-down! The balcony even featured a live Crocodile show, just off shore and right near where the other lunch guests were about to get back in their dinghy! We had the cameras ready, but the croc was a no-show…Our host explained how the area does not have many crocodiles, as it is relatively poor habitat for them. Of course, relatively few does not mean none at all. The Portland Roads café is a real find and you should call in if you are up this way. Lockhart River apparently isn’t a real find and might be best avoided, if possible. The rain came and went most of the day. Just long enough to get everything organized, hatches battened down in camp and then it would stop. Our shiny new tent is not as waterproof as advertised (is anyone surprised by that?) and so we have some drying out to do. The wing and trike are safe and the camp is just behind the beautiful beach, if only the wind would back off to a dull roar, everything would be perfect. Not sure what is happening tomorrow, we need to consult the weather and make a group decision in the morning.

Bob & Tracey.

Chilli Beach

Lockhart River Jetty

Portland Roads

Day 5

Day 5

Teddy stayed to watch the State of Origin last night, all the locals complaining that the Cooktown police are booking everyone because the local copper has gone on holidays. Apparently a few have been reminded that you need to register your vehicle every year...

I actually slept better than I thought I would, but it was still a long night. Every time I have slept on a thermarest, I have woken feeling 20 years older than when I went to sleep. Bones that I didn’t know I had suddenly ache madly, and it takes an age to actually get into a standing position, with blood flowing to all necessary parts fully.

I made Teddy and I a dreadful cup of tea that tasted like I’d used water from a frog pond. Ted was a great help in getting the trike ready to take-off. It was a close run thing, as a bank of cloud approached from the SE, with rain falling not too many K’s away from us. I willed the 912 into warming up quickly, and we took off at 6.43am. Straight into the forecast 20knt SE, we climbed to 2,500ft and settled in to a lovely smooth, fast flight to Musgrave. The GPS read 80 knts at one stage, and even cross wind we still managed 70knts.It is sobering to realize just how many trees there still are on Cape York, but also re-assuring that we were within glide of the road (PDR) all the way. As easy as navigating gets, just follow the road!

 Tracey, Steve and Tania gave me a weather report from the strip when I gave my 10 mile inbound call. It had just finished raining there as well, and Ted and I could see the shower passing to our left as we approached Musgrave.

We attracted quiet a crowd as we circled over the strip, looking for animals and obstacles and anything that was going to spoil our day. Neither of us could spot anything, so I descended to 1,000ft over the camp ground and set up a downwind, base and final on 36. A nice landing about half way down the strip.

Musgrave is a nice stop-over. It has facilities for camping, as well as cabin style accommodation. The shop also sells stuff you might have forgotten or has fallen off your truck on the way.  Steve filmed us tying the trike down for his video, our tie-down times are tumbling. At Laura it took nearly an hour, here around 20 minutes.

Ted was keen to get going, so a quick pack-up and re-arrange the gear (again) and they were underway around 10ish. They are trying for Chili beach tonight, but it depends on how tired they get, they may try  to camp early as that makes a long day for them (over 400ks).

Trace and I watched the mail plane come in, rang Dee(our designated responsible adult)  to let her know what was happening (after being given instructions by the local road gang as to how the Telstra cards work…who uses public phones anymore?)

The day has been spent eating and people watching. An amusing time was had when we went for a walk down to Saltwater Creek, taking photos along the way. The local fish population sees the causeway that the road crosses on as no barrier to getting further upstream. They leap manically out of the creek and swim like mad in the 2mm of water that is flowing over the causeway. Some don’t make it, and get washed back into the pond, but others get over in only a few seconds. Amazing to watch fish up to 10cm long, thrashing across the cement. I actually caught the first fish of the trip, using my bare hands! Who would have thought that a road train could be a threat to the fish population up here?

A nice meal under the house and a spot of TV viewing (Imparja) rounded out the evening. A few tours in tonight as well as road crews. Football was discussed and examined in great detail and then the weather (the bit we wanted to see) took about 15 seconds. Oh well, we’ll find out in the morning. The mail plane pilot shrugged his shoulders when asked about the weather. I suppose he isn’t as worried about it as we are!

Bob & Tracey

Day 4

DAY 4

Another beautiful outback sunrise greeted us this morning, apparently it is raining on the coast, but here the weather is sensational, apart from being too windy. The wind is actually not too bad in the mornings, and tends to kick in around 9.30ish, at ground level. I reckon that we will be right to go tomorrow, if we are up early.

Packed up the camp after pancakes and got going around 9o’clock. An un-eventful run saw us in Laura around 11.30am. Tracey has decided that she will sit out the next leg to Musgrave Station. We re-packed the cars so that Teddy and I can fly the next leg to Musgrave tomorrow morning, leaving Tracey and Steve and Tania to drive the cars up. Ted and I will sleep (?) at the little shelter shed at Laura and be up for a first-light take-off. The trike has been repacked as well, seeing as we don’t need the camping gear and food we thought we would, to keep weight at a minimum.

Steve and Tracey and Tania left for Musgrave around 1pm, after lunch under the mango trees.

So Ted and I have made a nuisance of ourselves at the Laura pub, hanging around.  We watched the traffic come down the street, then watched it go back again. Most exciting thing that happened was the power blacked out for an hour or so and no-one could get any change from the pub till.

The State of Origin is on tonight, so they are expecting a big crowd to come in and watch big blokes crash into each other. I am planning to go to the shed straight after tea to get a couple of hours sleep at least.

Bob (without Tracey) 

Day 3

Day 3

A bright and early start to the day. Steve and Tania shot off across the river to take photos, while Teddy and Tracey and I had bacon and eggs for brekky. Ted motivated the troops into getting us over the river to have a look at the Pandanus Park Veterans retreat. We drove across the river and through Kalpower Station onto Pandanus Park, stopping all the time for photos of the different landscapes. Some beautiful scenery, if you are open to seeing it.

Pandanus Park has been a veterans retreat for many years, providing a sanctuary for all war veterans and a place to relax and charge their batteries again.

While we were chatting to Ivan a call came over the radio that a croc was swimming up river, past some of the camps. So we jumped in the vehicles and headed up to Matt and Val’s camp, just up river. Matt acted as our safari leader and guided us to where we could see the 4m long saltie cruising up the river. Through the trees and riverside tangles, we spotted the croc. He (or she?) was on the surface, cruising along the far river bank, very slowly. It seemed quite unconcerned as we quietly crashed through the river side scrub, shooshing each other to keep our voices down, stomping on branches and crunching leaves underfoot, chasing it up the river. Our chase took us along the bank, through another camp (don’t mind us, just doing a bit of croc chasing!) until finally we tip-toed noisily down to a cleared area on the bank and, taking care to stay well away from the water, got some decent shots. The croc apparently swims up river during the day and hunts back down the river at night.  Amazing to see such a large croc with so little effort on our part.  Makes you look at the water differently, after seeing such a large predator simply melt into the water and disappear. Scary.

 Back at the retreat, Teddy organized some visitors for the next Vietnam Vets day with the president. We headed back to Kalpower crossing camping area for lunch and an afternoon snooze. The wind has been howling all day. Late afternoon we walked around the loop walk that runs behind the camping area. It is a beautiful walk, through the riverside forest. We expected the walk to take us along the river, that’s what the map leads you to believe. It isn’t the case! Be warned! It is still worth walking and we spotted a couple of piglets running along the track. The walk heads past a couple of billabongs that look like they could have resident crocs. Back to camp just on dusk. Tania has cooked a lovely meal for everyone and now time for serious relaxation. The video camera seems to have developed an issue with its screen, so everyone may be spared our video torture! Hopefully it will come good and we can bore everyone to tears again!

Bob & Tracey

Day 2 (cont'd)

Day 2 (contd)

Our decision not to fly has been a good one, the day proved to be blustery with strong winds. We re-packed the vehicles, leaving behind about 1.5 tonnes of ‘essential’ gear at the Laura General Store. Thanks Harold!

The road to Lakefield starts out very smooth and gets rougher the closer to Lakefield you get. It isn’t a rough road by any means, but it does need caution, as there are many sand holes and tight turns into creeks that can catch you out if you are travelling too quickly .There is also a surprising amount of traffic using the road.  We paused at the photogenic Old Laura Homestead and burned some more pixels, getting the shots just as a 4WD tour pulled in. Hard to imagine how tough things must have been for the pioneers out here, so far from any type of help.

 Got into Lakefield around 1pm. Set up camp beside the Normanby River, at the Kalpower crossing. A fairly lazy afternoon of doing not much at all, basically wandering around the camp checking things out. A couple of trips down to the river to have a look and cups of tea all round. The river here is very beautiful. The nasty critters living under the water means you don’t get too close, as tempting as it looks. We spotted Herons, Kites ,honeyeaters,  2 different species of frogs, fish leaping from the water (what from??), countless spiders as well as bats zooming through camp helping us do battle with the local mozzie population which are very enthusiastic about their duties. No crocodiles as yet.

More pixels got burned as the afternoon light kicked into full spectacle. The trees and the river made it almost impossible to take bad photos. Steve even got the panorama camera out. The evening was spent ‘light painting’ with coloured gels and head torches. We used different colours to light up various trees around the camp. Kept the cameras running red hot! The stars out here really capture the imagination; they are just so much more visible when there are no lights to spoil the view. A fantastic spectacle every night, free of charge.  Still windy.

Bob & Tracey