We saw a found an old rusted radar station from WW2 amongst the trees.
The light wasn't the best but I'm sure that you get the picture!
The beach at Mutee Head
We then went exploring along some 4WD tracks towards the Jardine River. We met a couple Hannah and Ashley from Capel. We ended up sending time talking with them for over 3 hours or more and having lunch there. They were over with their dogs on a 5 week adventure across the centre and up to Cape York.
We got back to camp and set up. Whilst I had dinner on the go Ed went for a fish (how unusual) with Thomas. He noticed around the point from where we were camping that a croc had its eye on them both (probably more like Thomas). Ed got Thomas to move up the rocks further away from the water and then they both threw it in. We had a lovely evening listening to the sounds of the ocean and the birds in the bush!
Olivia with a huge seastar (aka starfish) on the beach at Mutee Heads
We took off the next day and drove south on the Developmental Road towards Lockhart River in the Iron Range National Park. On the way we stopped at Bramwell Junction for a fuel top up and a quick stretch of our legs. The ant hills on the side of the road were huge! These ones are big but I liked the magnetic ant mounds - they are grey black in colour and are tall and thin and are orientated north south. They remind me of old castle ruins.
We drove on down the Portland Road Rd and after crossing the Wenlock River we stopped and camped for the night high up on the river bank. It was a nice place to camp - especially once the mosses went for the night.
Next day as we were packing up our bad zipper on the trailer cover decided to really crap itself (just what you need when you are driving in red dirt and crossing rivers!) Ed strung it together and added it to the list of repairs that we needed to do in Cairns. We drove on to Lockhart River where there was lots of poorly cared for dogs roaming the streets and houses and cars in a poor state. As we were getting petrol Ed noticed that our anderson plug at the back of the car had been ripped off on the road or a river or a bridge somewhere. After a bit of searching we were directed to the local policeman (Matt) who gave us a plug and even fitted it for us on his day off. What a nice guy!
We left Lockhart River and headed into Chili Beach. We met some nice fellow campers where we stopped to camp for the night which was a short stroll to the beach. Unfortunately it was not the best day weatherise and we were a bit blown away.
We enjoyed a lovely walk on the beach - we even found a Nautilus Shell! I returned to camp to get organised for dinner whilst Ed and the kids continued to explore. If it was less windy we would have stayed longer but as the forecast wasn't looking like it would improve we decided to stay just the 1 night.
Chili Beach - not looking it's best on a windy, overcast day
We left Chili Beach and drove around to Portland Beach the next morning. There is a cafe there that apparently leaves up great seafood lunches and dinners. It is a pretty bay and it was a shame we couldn't camp there instead as it was far more sheltered from the wind.
We drove on back out the the Developmental Road which took around 2 hours or more.
We had a couple of deeper river crossings and heaps of small ones along the way.
Crossing the Wenlock River. Just after this photo it got deeper!
We drove onto Coen for a late lunch and a fuel fill before hitting the road again down into Lakefield National Park. It was getting late but we managed to find a camp spot at Hanns Crossing on the riverbank. I was back in croc warning mode - it back fired on me as Olivia woke up in the middle of the night and after a toilet stop could stop talking aloud about a croc coming into the tent to get her! the sounds she was hearing were bats flying around, fish jumping in the water and cows mooing on the other sire of the river. Thomas was the only one who slept through it - the rest of us were very tired the next day! The Lakefield National Park was beautiful with loads of waterhole dotted throughout the park as well as a couple of major rivers flowing through it. The water levels we still so high that the park didn't open until 1st June.
Breeza Waterhole, Lakefield National Park
The next day we packed up and headed into Cairns for our car service and repairs. In Lakeland, where we stopped for lunch, I managed to get online and arrange all our service stops. We drove into Cairns late Thursday arvo and managed to sort the zipper problem out easily (just needed a $5 zipper tag thank god!) and the mechanic was happy to do both the car and trailer as well. The air bags we not working properly at the rear of the car. The ARB people in Perth had not installed them correctly. ARB Cairns couldn't fit us in so they told Ed how to fix it and luckily the simple fixit job he did worked. Happy days! Needless to say Ed was busy all day with the car and trailer so I hung out at the caravan park doing school work, having a swim and playing with the kids all day.
Saturday was spent packing up and doing a huge shop for food and supplies before heading off inland again.
We drove up to Barron Gorge for a quick look before heading back through Cairns and up into the Atherton Tablands. We camped at Danbulla State Forest by the Tinaroo Dam. It's a very nice spot. Although the temperature was cooler at night so it is back into the winter PJ's at night!
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