cape york 1972, leyland brothers world, condensed story

one such frontier is cape york peninsula a 700 mile triangle with cape york as its apex and the mammoth bulk of mount bartle freya as its base this is the story of a journey which begins at mount battle freya and ends at cape york [Music] are equipped with special wide tyres for the sand and mud ahead there's winches for the tough spots as well as a boat and outboard motor [Music] two caravans specially equipped for film editing complete the convoy which drags itself over 100 miles of mountain roads to the first town laura already we're having trouble the heavy caravans have bent the tow ball coupling [Music] there's no spares so we turn it upside down and carry on the track is getting rougher more trouble a bent axle has caused a blowout so there's no use putting on the spare wheel i pump more pressure into the remaining tyre and crawl along on three wheels towards laura the sleepy town of laura is obviously the end of the road for the caravans so we leave them behind and head north [Music] [Applause] the heaviest wet season for 10 years has turned the roads into slush trails but the big tires are able to keep moving as the leylands head out to princess charlotte bay the laura kennedy and normanbee river systems drain into princess charlotte bay creating the greatest collection of lagoons and swamps in queensland [Music] cohen the last town on the track north and an important fuel stop how long has it been since someone got through the archer it was the first time for about a month today winston fell that's the development bill jackson just on the other side all right now [Music] the track follows the telephone line to the top of australia but isn't open to traffic yet the local residents of cohen think the river of wenlock will be the leylands downfall this local couldn't care less it's been about eight months since the track has carried traffic the heaviest wet season for 10 years is only just ending none of the party knows just what may lay ahead the archer river first of many crossings is easy if you made the trip today the crossings even easier there's a large concrete bridge at the archer river now but the water tastes just as sweet the vehicles have been especially prepared for the expedition with water tanks under the mud guards one land rover and under the tray of the other [Applause] in fact things certainly have changed since we shot this film the southern bank of the river now boasts a road house with hot and cold meals and the roads don't look like this anymore either [Applause] up to now the big tyres have handled the rough track well but sharp sticks are too much [Applause] with tyres twice the area of conventional wheels they have twice the traction but also are more prone to picking up stakes the tyres are tubeless and a really big fracture like this is serious sharp as a fortunately we had foreseen just such a disaster and have some repair material first we must roughen the rubber around the hole next mix a two-part cold vulcanizing rubber compound 50 50 i suppose supposed to be oh my god when completely mixed the black gooey mixture should take 24 hours to set as hard as the original rubber but it must be rubbed well into the hole using the narrow spare wheel we carry on up the track while the rubber hardens on the big tire suddenly the track turns to water [Music] the effects of the savage wet season are being felt even the big tires may be stopped [Music] now for the other one my vehicle has turned the mud up so much it leaves little hope with a heavier one getting through so far about 100 miles have been covered is the rest of the track going to be like this [Music] [Applause] are you really bored [Applause] get the winch out now with the block attached the winch can move 8 000 pounds so it shouldn't have too much trouble these days electric winches are common on four-wheel drives but in 1972 you couldn't buy one off the rack this one was especially made up using an aircraft's data motor and it really worked well and created a lot of interest amongst other four-wheel drive owners that's one mud hole behind now for the track but where is it the abundant rains have spurred prolific growth and the track disappears if you're planning a trip up cape york peninsula today don't worry about having to find the track this section is a well-made road it's good enough for up to 80 kilometers now [Applause] the choked up radiators must be cleaned out regularly to prevent the engine from overheating cape york peninsula is crisscrossed with hundreds of rivers normally dry at this time of year but the abundant wet season turns even the most humble creek into a formidable crossing [Music] now sooner do we get the repaired tyre into action and more trouble it's beginning to look like these tyres could be the biggest problem of the trip and before crossing the wenlock river the fan belts are removed to stop the blades drenching the motor as the river deepens the crossing could be difficult but it hardly seems worth a try but try they must a blue winged kookaburra looks on as mike attempts the crossing it's deep but surprisingly not too deep soon the wedlock is behind now the biggest obstacle ahead is the jardine river 200 miles away a grey kangaroo caught unawares is a novelty to kerry as she's never seen very many and neither have we on this trip yet it appears to be ideal kangaroo country we soon find out just how ideal it is for kangaroos they come out of the bush for a handout the scammels cape york's most remote residents feed the kangaroos on their daily outing with the baby mrs scamel is the wife of the linesman at the outpost telegraph station of morton [Applause] her husband dennis is just leaving on a routine job of clearing the northern telephone line [Applause] his job is to maintain 120 miles of the line we lose a full day due to more trouble by now dennis will be well ahead working about 40 miles to the north [Music] in the morning we find dennis is pleased to see us well i'm just about to ring up in there anyway so i'll ask how the jarlene is for you and see if it's going down any further using the portable telephone dennis contacts the northern mission station at bamega you're working hello how's the jardine in there is it going down at all still up a fair would i be able four foot i suppose more is it goes down pretty slow that's the trouble for dennis and his offsider it's backbreaking hard work chopping down the saplings before they grow too high and foul the phone lines this job is just one of the many links keeping the telephone line open with thursday island but the job has its dangers cape york is crawling with poisonous red back spiders with the nearest hospital 400 miles away there's no point in taking unnecessary risks the report on the jardine sounds hopeless but we are determined to press on there's still over 100 miles between us and the top although the track on this northern section of the cape still follows the route of these old telephone lines the posts are redundant telecommunications nowadays are carried by microwave-linked towers [Music] the track gets worse with each mile gaping washouts are more frequent but with care it's possible to find a way around most of the trenches on occasions the water-worn gullies run for a quarter of a mile [Music] [Applause] [Music] for the needs and nudge with a shovel more and more now we must carry out the maintenance work to the track before proceeding with creek crossings and washed out trenches occurring as regularly as mild posts it is essential to bush bash until the road improves [Music] we only have small portable trench shovels which are not really good enough to make a real impression on some of the obstacles this riverbank is so steep that we toil three hours just to take the cliff-like effect out of the bank it would take all day to do a proper job so mel decides to give it a go [Applause] [Applause] it seemed hopeless even from the start but at least the vehicle is now in position to try the winch [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Applause] mike hits the bank a bit harder and nearly makes it but something has broken oh no not another breakdown [Applause] this is more serious than a flat tire seven teeth are stripped from the differential crown wheel fortunately there is an airstrip near the coast close enough to risk travel on the front wheel drive alone there we can wait for a replacement to be flown in after ordering it back on the track fallen trees present a new kind of hazard but the chainsaw makes sneezy work of it for some obstacles there is no easy way this huge washout demands spade work and with these pitifully small trench shovels it takes six hours before mike and mal consider the creek crossing passable only kerry seems to enjoy the delay with the approach finally repaired the vehicles move on again even though the riverbed is rough at least the water is shallow only 20 miles to the jardine river and it's still a battle every step of the way even today this section of the track north of wenlock is regarded as adventurous part it's still pretty rough [Applause] once more the winch saves the day [Applause] at times rougher techniques are more effective the bush near the top of cape york is a graveyard for burnt out wrecks of many wartime aircraft during the critical days of world war ii australia received aid from the united states under a lend lease program this old dc-3 was the first plane made available under the scheme ironically it crashed before it could land here and has remained forgotten ever since we eventually reached the jardine river and we make a base camp after a week of waiting for the river to drop a group of fellow travellers joined us and they followed our tracks and their road repairs from cohen they joined us on the banks of the swollen river and like us they felt disappointed to be beaten when we were so close to the top they offered to help us and together we decided to give the crossing our best shot the first step was to mark the safest route across the river it was 150 metres wide they carry out the first stage of marking the course to follow in weather that varies from pouring rain to sunshine every few minutes wipe this fan belt off now mel that should stop a bit of the water getting in get that off and plug up the distributor a bit put the sheet over the front she should be right [Applause] is that motor running all right now the first attempt fails the sandy riverbed is unable to support the vehicle's weight and even the wide tyres dig straight in the water-filled drum left on board to provide additional weight over the wheels certainly isn't needed a 500-foot steel cable has been attached to a tree on the far side of the river in case this happened now we try the winch luckily the electric winch works underwater and the motor doesn't even need to be running provided the battery can take [Music] slow as it is we are making progress but now the battery gives out enormous strain is too much to get this far and be beaten is a bitter disappointment and it's still a long way to the other side maybe the skeptics were right [Applause] if you go there today you probably wouldn't be able to have all this fun from june to october the vehicle carrying barge will take you across the jardine for a fee of course it pulls out easily backwards even over the soft sand if only we had a vehicle on the other side to tow it through this thought gives rise to an idea we pull together all our wire ropes and have enough to reach right across the river 500 feet to a tree where we attach a snatch block the cable can then be run back across the river and pulled by another vehicle if it works we can tow the land rover through without the need to have the motor running or a healthy battery [Music] [Applause] [Music] in a strong seven knot current even joining the links are roped together is difficult without the extra manpower it would be impossible finally all is said and the experiment begins so far so good but it's a long way to the other side and no one is sure what to expect mal is inside the cabin but has a door open in case a strong current turns the vehicle over [Applause] so far that rope is holding but now for the deep part [Applause] [Applause] [Music] they've made it the cable held and the jardine is crossed everyone is pleased [Music] an oil change for the car and a fast trip north the last 50 miles are relatively easy and soon the northern extremity of the australian mainland is just ahead 500 miles of water torn trap are behind all that remains are the last few yards our new made friends scrambled aboard and traveled with us for the last 80 kilometers to stand together on cape york [Music] cape york peninsula was certainly off the beaten track in 1972 when we made that film if you were to make the trip today it'd be a lot easier than that and we have a lot more off the beaten track destinations for you so keep watching leyland brothers worldwide

Channel: Andrew Smith

Views: 168,051

Rating: 4.9219408 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: pdc0cbcWBEo

Length: 25min 1sec (1501 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 24 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/OldMateNobody]

Cheers Cunt! That river crossing at the end was pretty great viewing. Smart cunts they were!

Looks like they started the trend for winches using the old Aircraft starter motor.

[u/KelFocker]

Was doing a search for a cape York sub & this came up in the search. Damn that was good viewing.

[u/blue-november]

Rad