Travel Tips to the Tip

Helen I heard that you can buy Jayco caravans at Tupperware parties now.
(Cruel BT joke.)

Turist

Hello Ladies, (Helen and Margaret) I'm really worried that you know vegies breathe hard ....and limpness is a problem !! [FirmZucchiniSmirk] Have you seen the latest solution .... Carrot Callisthenics Zucchini Relays Artichoke Aerobics Potato Pilates Pumpkin Pushups I love Tupp parties ..... T.U.P.P.E.R.W.A.R.E. - Totally Useless Pliable Plastic Easily Rigmaroling Wives And Reasonably Educated [PlasticSmile] Regards Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

Cindy, Doesn't Mr. Mom have anything better to do? tgintl/jay

Hello Jay, Put simply ....Nope ! After the needs of the three "femme fatales" are met he's as free as a bird. Regards Cindy

G'day Anthony, T.U.P.P.E.R.W.A.R.E :- To use periodically portions ergonomically residing within a refrigerator everyday! [NotToBeOutdoneGrin] Helen

Helen, I'll pay that one !!! Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

Gee Guys thanks for that, we realy have the vegi storage nailed, now how about the frist question. Has anyone taken their Bushtracker up Cape York if so how far, where and how was it.We did meat a couple with their 16' BT on the Bloomfield track, but that is not a good example as their Effie had caught fire half way up a very steep hill and they had to be rescued by the RACQ, saw them later in Mossman, Effie was beyond help but their BT stood up well. We have never been further north than Cooktown and are very new to the caravaning world, so any help would greatly appreciated. Cheers Lynne

Cindy I am going to call for an investigation! You must be a Stepford Wife!! tgintl/jay PS: Lynne - the is a perfect example of a hijacked thread

Break lettuce up and put it in snaplock bags, push all the air out of them- lettuce will keep for a couple of weeks like that. Tomatoes will keep out of the fridge in egg cartons, roma tomatoes keep the best. Meat cryvac from the butchers keeps up to 6 weeks without freezing. Food is readily available at Bamaga. We did the Canning Stock Route last year without the BT and we had no problems with 4 weeks of food. We had a 60 litre trailerblazer as refridgeration. We are heading up the Cape in June -July but aren't taking the BT as we want to do the Old Telegraph track and feel it would be difficult getting out of somne of the crossing with 3 tonne behind. Plus we want to do some side tracks and don't want to be limited. We have done the Cape in 1997 with an off road trailer. There are some tight spots. You would get the Bt to Archer River or Weipa. May see you up that way Judi Payne

Hi Lynne, In answer to your original question: having travelled across the Gulf from Borroloola to Cairns and up to the Cape (back via Weipa), I would strongly suggest that you leave the BT at Archer River in order to travel to the tip. Corrugations are bad especially on Bypass Rd and you miss all the fun if you don't take the Old Telegraph Rd. As for the Gulf Rd it is also very corrugated and again you would need to stick to the main Barkley highway, again you will miss out on places such as Lawn Hill (you can get in there with BT slowly) and the Gulf road. Lawn Hill can be accessed via Mt Isa and lots of people only take their ordinary vans as far as Gregory Downs, but much nicer at Lawn Hill but you will need to book a site at least 6 to 10 weeks ahead if you are travelling in the Dry. School holidays in the NT are 4 weeks long and begin on June 19 so loads of people on the move. Borroloola has great fishing and so does Roper Bar but again the road between them is unsuitable for any caravan. Need to head out to the Stuart Highway from Borroloola turn north and then take the turnoff to Roper, it is also the closest you can get to entering Arnhemland other than travelling the dirt highway to Nhulunbuy (some river crossings here that may not be 'crossable' even in this Dry as we have had so much rain this year. Need to check carefully before you head that way and you will also need a permit from the Northern Land Council. Hope this helps and you can always give us a phone call if you want more info. Prue and Peter

Special message to the Jauntyjordans, Are you guys still on Groote Eylandt? Do you have a Bushtracker or what? We've got a Trakmaster and hope to head up the track to Nhulunbuy some time in next couple of years. Bev and Brian (ex Grootes)

I have been to Cape York (a couple of years ago), but not towed anything up there. Conditions do vary quite a bit, but I dont see anything other than lots of corrugations that would stop you taking a BT to the Bamaga area or to Weipa. Many think this is 4WD country (and a lot of it is) but I consider that a well driven Holden or Falcon could do the trip without any real problems. Having said that, you would need to choose your route carefully. Do not even think of not using the two bypass roads on the way to Bamaga. The Old Telegraph track is very narrow, very rough (potholes and erosion gullies) and at some creek crossings you will find yourself driving through deep channels barely wide enough for a car, never mind a BT. Many of the creek crossings are more than a bit hairy and anything more than a camper trailer could see you in big trouble. Trying to take a BT on the old telegraph track (the bits with bypass roads) would see a severly damaged unit at best. The problem is that those bits of the old telegraph track are the real fun bits on the way to Bamaga, the bypass roads are BOORING. I would consider that almost all roads other than Mt Carbine/Laura/Cohen/Weipa or Cohen to Bamaga would be unpassable for a BT but others may differ, as I have not been on all of them. The short cut from Weipa to the Bamaga road would also be out in my view as there are a couple of hairy creek crossings on that too. I think that all the side trips like Portland Roads and Captain Billys Landing etc. would be out for the BT as well. Hope that helps in some way, but remember the road does change quite a bit from year to year so its best to get current local knowledge. I did see a couple of offroad type vans at Weipa when we were there, but cannot say I saw any at Bamaga area, but they may have been there. Regards avro

I was last in the Cape about two years ago and I would generally concur with Avro's comments about only travelling via the bypass roads with a BT in tow. I would think that you could also go via Cooktown and the Lakeland track as that track is certainly no worse than any of the others. You may need to take a little more care at the Haan river crossing, other than that I can't remember any other hairy bits and it is more scenic than the other route.

That said conditions change from year to year, I mean after all you don't have to ford the Wenlock any more.

Regards David

Last October we took our BT18 to Lakefield NP. Corrugations made progress slow but that allowed for easier identification of upcoming dust holes that other faster vehicles fell into. We camped at Kalpowar Crossing which was good though very dry. The road from Laura to New Laura had the worst corrugations at that time. Anyone heading this way should keep a sharp lookout for our fishing reels which were in a bucket (on the A-frame) that was struck by a rock and split on this section. (sigh). New reels all round for Christmas! Happy BT-ing Tony and Charne

Thanks for all the info guys please keep it comming, it keeps me happy while I cool my heals waiting for our adventures to begin, also the more knowledge I have the better prepared we can be. We really want to take our BT every where we can I mean that's what we bought it for,(comfort in the bush, the best of both worlds) slow travel is fine it allows us to see every thing and we will be in no rush once we head off, but we just don't want to get stuck if we can help it. Just because we have all the recovery gear doesn't mean we want to use it, unlike our fishing gear. Thanks again, looking foward to more travel stories. Lynne