6 May 2013 – Cape York – “we made it” (and my birthday)

So much for a sleep in but that’s ok – it’s my birthday!  I climbed into my hammock (birthday present from Josh) and waited for my little cherubs to wake.  It didn’t take long and they were in my arms with some lovely cuddles, home-made cards (thanks to Jenna), a harmonica which they will regret, buying by the end of our trip and a lovely necklace with my name on it, bought with their own smoney.  After lots more cuddles and a bit of lazing about, we finally got moving and hit the road – today was the day that we were heading to Cape York!  We headed north to Lockerbie, where there is a “Croc Tent” which just sells a few souvenirs and then continued to Punsand Bay caravan park.  This is about the only place up here that has a swimming pool so we hung around here for a while so the kids could get wet and the boys could wet their mouths.  Quite a few travellers passed through here either on their way to or from the tip so there were a few people to talk to about the surrounding tracks.  There is a 7km 4WD track heading east back to the main road (rather than doing a 20km big loop to get to the same spot) so as the boys had had a few beers at Punsand, they built up some Dutch courage and were ready to go the short track, I think Jenna was cursing that idea after our trekking a few days earlier.  The track was pretty soft and narrow but we kept on.  There were a few water crossings, one in particular where Ben had come unstuck.  Josh pulled him out without too much hassle but the sounds coming from Ben’s car were not sounding too good.  I think it was just the sand build up in the brakes?  We made it to the main road and only had to travel another 7kms to the very small parking area for the tip.  Before we made the trek, Josh and Ben cooked up a late lunch from the back of the cars – we were fuelled and ready.  It was a fairly short walk along the beach and past the mangroves before climbing to the top of the rocks.  From the top here, we were able to look down and see the sign – where we were headed.  Ben was first there and of course pulled out his fishing rod before the rest of us had even reached the area.  It was magical and a big achievement for us all so Josh did the honours of popping the champagne and then we all got sorted with photos and relaxed in the late afternoon sun.  There was a bit of wind around but we chose to hang out here until sunset just after 6pm.  It was a bit of a shame that there were clouds around but the view was still stunning!  After arriving back to the cars we began the trip back to camp, majority of the way in the dark.  It was a bit tough but the Eliot’s still managed to spot a snake crossing the road before running it over.  It was around an hour’s drive back to the camps and again the showers felt pretty darn good.  The boys had made a small bucket of sangria earlier in the day so we settled into the night with that as well as a birthday cake for me which Jenna and the kids had made the day before.  It was very colourful and tasted fantastic – kudos to Jenna!  Much appreciated!