off road or not to cape york ???????

[Mick]

I have always wanted to make the trip to cape york when I had time planning a new van for the big trip and preparing the tug for the road conditions.
But then the wife found this not sure if any one else has posted this but looks like buy the time I will be able to make the big trip most if not all the road to cape york will be paved ????

see attached link

www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Projects/Name/C/Cape-York-Region-Package-Peninsula-Developmental-Road

 

[Drover]

Well they put a bridge over the Wenlock years back so its just another dirt road, great destination though. Floating your rig over on a 44gallon drum raft, now that was an adventure, all gone now.

 

[crackacoldie]

The OTT is not being sealed, so still a fun track, the bypass will be sealed, which will make it far less of a "last frontier" trip

 

[mbr37746]

Funny you should mention it...
http://expandasdownunder.com/thread...uickly-planning-a-cape-trip.9931/#post-172177

 

[Drover]

My Cape trip, ready for anything ................................

 

[Bellbirdweb]

My Cape trip, ready for anything ................................

View attachment 48273

I've been looking at a Mog for a few years now.

Could be a bit hard to get into the van parks though

 

[Drover]

First mod is fit a decent size fuel tank, I was driving illegal as I had personnel in the back and 2 x 205lt drums of diesel.............the things with Mogs is, don't be in a hurry and if you get bogged you have to get yourself out, you are usually the biggest bugger around.......................but love 'em, don't be stupid and they will go to the ends of the earth.

 

[Mick]

well drover I guess you had no problems getting to the top with that rig i dont think you need to worry about a caravan park as long as you had all the supplies you needed to get you by
but i was thinking of my Ranger and van in tow

 

[Drover]

We had toy vehicles along with us and really it's just another dirt road that a well prepped vehicle should have no problems with some CDF, now the Telegraph track is another thing..................................and driving the most unluxurious 4x4 around does have bad points, comfort being one of them but swag in back keeps you well away from bitey things.

A semi off road shouldn't have any dramas I think , many go to Birdsville and the roads are similar, heaaps of corrugations.

 

[crackacoldie]

well drover I guess you had no problems getting to the top with that rig i dont think you need to worry about a caravan park as long as you had all the supplies you needed to get you by
but i was thinking of my Ranger and van in tow

http://expandasdownunder.com/threads/crackacoldie-heads-north-barossa-to-cape-york.2970/

Did it in a ranger with the van in tow

 

[Frog]

My Cape trip, ready for anything ................................

View attachment 48273

The first trip I did to the Tip was compliments of the Australian Army, I was in charge of a drivers course. 20 vehicles

My Cape trip, ready for anything ................................

View attachment 48273

My first trip to the Tip was compliments of the Australian Army, I was in charge of a drivers course comprising of 22 trucks including 3 Macks and the rest mainly F1 Acco's. The Macks certainly gave us some head aches because of their size, we destroyed about a dozen batteries due to the corrugations. No problem though "Wallaby Airlines" re supplied us in Bamaga.
https://goo.gl/VsEMes
https://goo.gl/VsEMes
https://goo.gl/VsEMes

 

[Drover]

JG's and F1's back in the days of a trip to anywhere was work, armstrong steering and weeks to reach the horizon.............damn hot and noisy, great times.....I think the F1 would be smoother than the Mack..............I was on my Pats with just a Landy escort , big winches on the RAAF Mog......... Once went sideways down a Malaysian highway in the back of an F1, we might have screamed in terror.

 

[Frog]

The F1 was a mile better ride than the Mack, had a driver of a Mack on that trip come up to show me his digital watch which had fell to pieces from the vibrations holding the steering wheel. One of our RACT Colonels during Operation Perentie to replace the F1 and Land Rover refurbished an F1 with a Perkins Diesel, Road Ranger gearbox, power steering and better seats. Trailed against the Mogs and killed them, not on though against the governments master plan.

 

[Tonykarter15]

I have previously done the Cape but without a van. From what I witnessed previously, yes I would take my Expanda Outback to the tip. I wouldn't take it along the Telegraph Track but would leave it at Bramwell Junction, do the southern Telegraph Track, back to pick it up then relocate the van at Seisha then do the northern Tele Track. The run to Weipa would be easy so long as you took it easy.

When I was at the Rosehill caravan show earlier this year, I had a chat with the manager of the Seisha Holiday Park and they said that the development road from Laura to Weipa only has about 250km's left that is dirt with the majority of the road bitumen. It's only therefore the Bypass road through to Bamaga that would be dirt as well as all of the bypass tracks.

 

[Dobbie]

and it's like a highway for idiots at the moment so it's definately not the remote, challenging destination most believe it is.

We drove part of the way, with the van and couldn't stand the traffic.

Van won't do the telegraph easily if you want to keep everything attached and operational, but there are alternatives.

Imagine the GRR with more dips and hills, add about 3000 plus travellers a week, all dashing madly so they can get there for the obligatory photo, filthy campsites and lots of booze....you then have the tip.

and it's starting to look like a tip, in places, which is a shame.

There are so many beautiful, remote and well looked after places in the area but, unfortunately, many are spoiled by the "must do the tip" mantra. They've even had special stickers made for the car windscreens....I did the tip 2017.

Observation based on recent experience, not a rant this time. Just disgust!

 

[Drover]

When they become the RAVE, MUST DO, I usually give it a miss as it's too late it's been stuffed, Fraser has gone the same way too many people and most are tools.....They go on about rough road and how hard something is, a lot of the time all I see is a normal dirt road or FWD track, dicks.

 

[mfexpanda]

I did the telegraph track there and back in , this is so long ago , 1987 on our round Aust trip

 

[Tonykarter15]

and it's like a highway for idiots at the moment so it's definately not the remote, challenging destination most believe it is.

We drove part of the way, with the van and couldn't stand the traffic.

Van won't do the telegraph easily if you want to keep everything attached and operational, but there are alternatives.

Imagine the GRR with more dips and hills, add about 3000 plus travellers a week, all dashing madly so they can get there for the obligatory photo, filthy campsites and lots of booze....you then have the tip.

and it's starting to look like a tip, in places, which is a shame.

There are so many beautiful, remote and well looked after places in the area but, unfortunately, many are spoiled by the "must do the tip" mantra. They've even had special stickers made for the car windscreens....I did the tip 2017.

Observation based on recent experience, not a rant this time. Just disgust!

what year did you do it? I did it in 2012 and it resembled what you described but not that bad. Don't know whether it has gotten worse or I did it at a quiet time of year

 

[Dobbie]

This year! Last month.

July 2017......and we were overtaken by lots of heavily laden vehicles, many towing camper trailers, but there seemed to be a hell of a rush to get there with little time to enjoy stuff on the way.

I suspect most hadn't allowed enough time to do the distance at an enjoyable pace, hence the belting along.
Eg...park in Cooktown was chockers with most only doing an overnight there before belting off at 6am. I know there are reasons for this but there seemed to be an atmosphere of " must get in at least 600 kms a day".

Once something "iconic" becomes akin to a rite of passage, it seems to lose the real reasons it became popular in the first place.

Locals at Laura were telling us it just gets busier every year and it's like that from early May till late November.

I can think of better places to visit and camp, IMHO.

 

[Tonykarter15]

wow. when i did it, it was in the end of August and was told by the roadhouses at the time that June/ July that year was extremely busy. You are right about the crazy drivers on the development road though, there were a few times when my instincts proved correct and prevented a head on when people the other way misjudged their speeds. I took 2 weeks from Cairns to the tip and back to Cairns. How long did you spend up there and did you attempt to take the van to the camp ground at the mouth of the Pennefather River?