CAPE YORK - Tip and back. - Roothy

[Music] easy so [Music] our journey to the tip started at a butte camping spot on the mitchell river about 200 kilometers northeast of cairns from here we're headed up the peninsula development road and into the spectacular lakefield national park then we'll head on through cohen and sasia and finally up to the tip of cape york the trip starts out with a little bit of tar here and there in fact there's more and more tar these days not far into the trip and the dirt and the corrugations have started but this road's not in bad condition and you tend to see you know a fair few caravans and campers and whatnot up here these days more and more of it's sealed too being late in the dry season most of the rivers have dried up it really illustrates how desolate this part of the country can be and the extremes those pioneering cattlemen would have faced it just looks dry enough to blow away doesn't it just outside of laura is the southern end of lakefield national park and the old laura homestead it's about 350 case from cairnsboro now but anyone traveling up to the tip which really should stop and have a look at the park and the old homestead the old homestead the old laura homestead hasn't changed a lot since it was first built in 1890 and it was the first pastoral holding in the whole region it served as a cattle station until 1966 when it was abandoned in favour of new laura 25 kms north of here yep looks like they've got that cage here just to keep me out again oh well we've probably got a fridge hidden in there somewhere full of coldies most of these buildings date back to around 1890 1892 and it wasn't until 1908 that they got around to making the floor the first floors here were made out of pising which is a real bush mixture of blood and clay from the termite mounds mixed up with a little bit of water not unlike cement today it was poured down on the ground and it sets really hard you see that a lot on the old tennis courts around too and talking hard get a load of the chopping block by crikey they would have done all their own meat here wouldn't they the kitchen like uh most old kitchens on stations was detached from the homestead because of course it got pretty hot in there so they kept it away to one side back on the track and we're kicking up dust again heading for lakefield national park if you're going to camp in the park you really want to get in you know fairly early in the afternoon so you can set up your tent relax and enjoy a couple of beers before nightfall this is the first campground at lakefield and it's an absolute ripper we came in across the weir watching out for crocodiles of course and went in to look for a camp cal power's well known to some of the veterans of course because just beyond here is their uh their own resort [Music] this is cal power camping ground it is really a top spot it's on the northern kennedy river glorious stretch of water through here nice and wide and some great camping spots there really are but if you think the towel and the soap means i'm going for a swim down there in the river forget it because this is where that fisherman was taken by crocodile not that long ago and uh there's no way i want any part of that or i don't want any crocodile ever part of me either so i'm gonna go and have a shower instead after a quick break in the next morning we were back on the road for a short run through the freezer planes out station oh what's left of it anyway breeza plains is at the northern end of lakefield national park but it's only a short drive from cal power campground breeza plains station or out station is another one of those deserted old places that endured the early days of cape york settlement interesting thing about this place is that it used to be used to breed horses for the palmer river gold fields and then after the decline of the gold rush bruiser was used as a mustering out station and a stopover point for the early pack horse male on the road to cullen nowadays there's still a few remnants of buildings and whatnot and lots of hundred year old mango trees beside a lily-filled lagoon it looks like great crocodile habitat too so [Music] [Laughter] [Music] the amazing thing about lakefield is it can be so dry in one place and then so wet in the next you really want to be here in the dry season to make sure you get through though before leaving the park i found a great place for a bit of a break it looks like a beaut waterhole for a swim but there's still a lot of driving to do before the day's end and anyway there's crocs all over the best places for swimming up here oh street you don't see this all the time at the cape do you hello folks how's the uh bicycling going eh dusty [Music] so [Music] so saltwater creek is at the northern end of lakefield and it's the last bit of running water you'll see for a while because from here on it's back onto the dust and corrugations of the development road as we head on to musgrave station now i've seen crocs at this river before so i'm having a good look just in case they're here again after our stop at musgrave station it's back on the development road for the dusty 110k run-up to come road conditions are pretty good these days though because there's a lot more traffic using the track and that means the roads guys are you know keeping a closer eye on it grading it more often you can still get unlucky though with the big patches of bull dust that hide big corrugations and big dips in the road so you know keep your eyes open cohen's the heart of the cape really it's geographically pretty much in the middle and this is where you can get fuel and food and accommodation it's a good place to stop for lunch too it's a cute little camping spot just outside of cone too and this was the big surprise for me of course every time i come up here there's more tar but it's still not tart around archer river is it it will be one day i guess [Music] time to fuel the old girl up at the archer river road house it's a view place to camp too the river's just down the bottom there just a short walk away you don't want to forget to do your daily checks up here that's for sure i'm getting a little bit worried a bit of a bit of a leak around the top tank of the radiator but not much i can do about it now except keep on topping it up it's just a vibration crack anyway i think as the trip went on i just kept an eye on it you know and it seemed to get worse it wasn't until much later i realized why you know when it comes to passing trucks in the dust the golden rule is not to do it not unless you're in radio contact at least with the people in front and you've got a lot of faith in their ability to know exactly what's going on in this case i got called on through when the road trip slowed down a fair bit and i was glad i did too because i could have sat behind him for another 100ks in his dust quite easily still the golden rule is if you're in doubt slow down looks like there's going to be more sealing up here before long too look at this more road works i guess it's the increase in mining activity too you know up around weaker at the moment i went whoops look at that mining truck they're widening the roads up for those big things that's for sure means it's getting easier and easier for the rest of us to make the trip though we took the left track towards moluna or towards wooper really moluna's about a hundred k's out now i haven't been here before but it's been recommended a few times it's a beaut place to stop it really is the luna station's got camping and it's got a swimming pool and plenty of lovely trees and they're great people too you can really see how a station works up here hi michelle how are you going ruthie i'm all right mate when you've had a swim come for a beer hey all right that sounds good to me thanks oh how good is this a nice cold beer and a nice cold pool whoa watch the sun go down kind of like watching a walrus take a bath really isn't it it was hard to leave the next morning i can tell you i wouldn't mind spending a couple of days up here maybe having a fish and a look around there 400 000 acre property but we've got to get up the tape and there's still another 450 kilometers to go looks like that bloke didn't make it [Music] now before heading straight to the tip i wanted to make another little trip down to captain billy landing it's about 30 k's off the main road on a bit of a twisting track but i'll tell you what if you've got the time this is one of the must-see places on cape york [Music] it's not that long ago we were crossing the river in punts and on buckets and all sorts of things splashing through it for the most part the wind lock used to be the real key to the cape but these days there's a bridge straight over it looks like there's been a bit of rain here before doesn't it the turn off to captain billy landing is well mark so there's no chance of you missing it as long as you're on the right road but watch how the track narrows right down and you start to head through this coastal jungle i'll tell you what though this spectacular stretch of coast is a sight for sore eyes after several days of driving through dry and arid country after all that dust get a load of this originally it was a port to supply a mining and cattle operation up here but now it's in the hands of the national parks and there's a small campground down there with simple facilities and an ocean full of fish i guess it makes it the perfect place to spend a few nights i'd like to bring the handbrake up here sometime she'd make good bait [Music] milo's been here a few times before in fact where the national park shelter stands it used to be an old shed it was here for years there was a real tradition about that visitors used to hang up bits of flotsam and jetsam and broken car parts and whatnot underneath the roof of the shed and it was full of it they'd write their names and everything else on it it's really good to see that these days people are doing the same thing to the new hut here i still remember years before fixing milo on the concrete pad inside that shed in a roaring gale people write all over the stuff they hang up too you know leaving a bit of a record of who's been here and what they saw and what they did it's great [Music] back on the track and it's not long before we pop back out onto the development road weird place for a swim and for a bit of lunch though the old captain billy's i'd recommend it any time careful mate maybe doesn't go too far off the development road could be in trouble that guy didn't have a lot of ground clearance did he yep there's only one way to fix all the corrugation noise in an old truck and that's to wear your earmuffs before long we got up to the jardine river which basically separates the tip of cable from the mainland and to get across you've got to take the ferry these days in the past you used to be able to drive across just a bit down river but it's not possible anymore but don't worry for 88 bucks they'll take you across on the ferry don't bring credit cards you need cash up here oh well there you go that's typical it's a quarter past five and the the guys on the ferry have just just gone home so um we won't be going across the jardine today that's all right though that's typical for the cape you should always be prepared to camp somewhere you're not expecting to but in this case it's okay for two really good reasons first of all there's an excellent campground here on the south side of the jardine and that's where i'll be setting up camp and second it means i don't have to drive the last 50 k's and you know what that means don't you at least as soon as i've set up camp it does silver lining it's a beautiful bit of river though but full of crocodiles so you've got to be careful this is not the place to go for a bit of a swim [Music] you know next morning walking around and having a look at the place it's just overwhelming the peace that you get up here at the tip and then guess what i found out the ferry wasn't running and had a bit of a clutch problem or something good thing we had the recovery gear along though we could use milo to pull it across i was pretty careful with all this lot i've never actually taught a ferry before so i didn't know how much it was going to weigh it's good gear this stuff too much fun now they usually use a chain on the ferry from one side to the other because the locals will use it as a bit of a punt even when it's not running you know you get this especially when there's only one barge on the river and there's only one way across it obviously and guess what it's broken down what's happened is they replace the old chains and gears and whatnot the reliable mechanical stuff with some newfangled hydraulic gear a while ago and ever since they did that it's been playing up the guys here can do all this stuff on their own not a problem but today because milo's on this side we're going to have to give them a hand and so we've used the snatch straps and everything else to give us a bit of pull and we'll see how it'll go personally i reckon it's going to rip it straight across the river i hope we stopped before cohen could be a good time to do a bit of water skiing folks anyone up for a ride you didn't want to fall off though would you come on milo you can do it actually once it got moving it was amazingly easy i think the boys are a bit worried i'm not going to stop here there you go nothing wrong with the mean green strap eh especially when it's behind the mean green machine we've got the ferry across now all we've got to do is wait for someone to show up on the other side to give us a pull across it wasn't long before we're on the barge and heading over to the other side of the river [Music] before long we're on the other side of the river and headed for satia but i didn't want to go straight to the tip there's something else i wanted to have a look at first oh looks like they're burning off somewhere bushfire's all over the place this is fairly common up at the plate really there's not much you can do about it other than you know use a bit of common sense during world war ii the americans have bases all over the place right through the tip of cape york and there's heaps of old plane wrecks and fuel drums all around the bush not far from vamager airport especially they pushed all the old fuel drums out into the bush probably around the close of the war and if you look closely you can see us army and u.s marines and all sorts of things still stamped on bits and pieces of the barrels even what's left of them and if you follow this trail of barrels you get to this the wreck of an old bow fighter out in the sticks a couple of big bits of it missing these days but there's still more than enough here to imagine what it was like to fly in one of these things you wouldn't want to come over here on a wet night would you in a big storm no way before long we're into bamiga and back to local time it's a great place too i love it up here the locals are really friendly they're a different sort of a mall cute bunch of people actually from bamika it's only 35 k's to the tip and it's really scenic too lots of big trees and bits of rainforest and all sorts of stuff but there's one place you've got to stop and that's the crop tent this is where you get the best souvenirs and get a bit of a map of the area too i always take a few things home for the kids i don't know if this croc is going to last that long though the final stretch of road's got a few small creek crossings as you drive through a really dense forest and i reckon it really sets the mood for your arrival at the tip yep that's just what we needed to wash a bit of dust off the undercarriage all right ah finally made it yeah beauty [Music] after about a thousand kilometers of dusty outback driving it's only a 10 minute stroll along a boardwalk and over a bit of a rocky headland and you're there make sure you take a bottle of water though because it gets really hot up here and you'll probably want to stay at the tip for a while enjoy the views and take a few photos probably meet a few people up there too it's a great place now smart man would have his little six-pack esky along here wouldn't he huh you know with a bit of uh lunch or something in it [Music] [Music] and here it is the tip of australia this is what it's all about it's a magic place and a real fitting end to an incredible journey well half a journey anyway we've still got to head back haven't we look at this the northernmost tip of australia awesome this is what it's all about the northernmost tip of australia it's somewhere every australian should sort of be proud to come at some stage and i think the best thing about it is that if you got here by a four-wheel drive you saw an awful lot of australia just getting here it's a real achievement it's something everyone should be proud of and i think everyone should at least once or twice try and get their kids up here and then of course you've got the southernmost tip the east and most of the westernmost this is where we're going to finish part one of the dvd and you know what all i can think about is all the great tracks we're going to do on the way back home oh boy it's nice up here the tip of australia is just like the rest of the country absolutely beautiful we're so lucky aren't we to live in a place like this [Music] you know one of these days i'm going to clock up all four outstanding points i don't know how close i've been before fairly close i guess but i'm going to make sure i do more well it's about time i showed you this recipe we've got our pork mince here now don't forget pork mince is really good for lots of things add a bit of beef mince pork and beef roots together and it's really nice makes great wrist holes and things like that but in this instance we'll just use the pork mince mostly because somebody left the beef at home and we'll add an egg all right the egg gets it going a little bit of the old salt now don't forget you know buy good salt gee it's worth it you can really taste the difference a little bit of ground black pepper now you're going to say how much i'm going to say i don't really know possibly half a teaspoon or something like that it's true it doesn't really matter as long as there's some in there a little bit of curry powder well there we go curry powder just colors things nicely doesn't it and here is the important ingredient oyster sauce for some reason oyster sauce makes almost any sort of meat taste fantastic um so you can bet i use it a lot good old dollop of oyster sauce look at that don't ask me how much please i really get annoyed when people ask me how much because i don't know it's just chuck it in and see i'm going to put a few crumbs in at this stage just to stiffen the mixture up and there we go here's the fun part this is a bit the kids love getting in and going for it look at that i much prefer cooking to gardening having said that i really do think cooking and making concrete are fairly closely related um not real good with concrete some people say i'm not real good with cooking now we've got our mixture nicely mixed together actually smells good too i think that's the egg and the oyster sauce working together okay here we go these are bread crumbs very useful things buying a bunch of breadcrumbs in and these are sesame seeds that's probably roughly 50 50 for those people who really need to know quantities um just give that a bit of a rattle like that let that build off a bit of heat it's funny isn't it you know flies never land in a hot pan of oil do they everywhere else but not the hot pan of oil maybe they do have a brain okay now here's the trick take some pork mix put a piece of cheese in the middle of it like that pat it into a ball like so cover it in seeds and there you have it drop that in the oil in a minute make another one or two i reckon at least now don't let the mess worry you after all that's what cooking is all about making a huge mess and then driving away and doing it somewhere else what am i using here olive oil why am i using olive oil because olive oil tastes good there we go now there's only one thing you can call this ruthie's cheesy balls there we go the paper will just take some of the extra oil off for us now you remember when you're cooking these for your kids or wife or family or whatever don't call them ruthie's cheesy balls because you won't get the silence treatment you just won't get anyone eating them they look pretty good don't they you bet they do tomato sauce or sweet chilli it's your choice but a little bit of sauce goes a long way with a meatball especially one of these cheesy balls cheers done it again who says i can't bait a rabbit trap hey trev you want to try one of my cheesy balls [Music] [Music] g'day welcome to ruthie's ruthless tales go on grab a slice of feared income australia get your dose of roofie and put a smile on your dial [Music] you

Channel: JOHN ROOTH

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Id: HV9GVqRA7aI

Length: 34min 55sec (2095 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 09 2020