Nele & Andrew Around Oz

Day 221 – 25^th September 2011

Cullen Point Campsite, Mapoon, QLD

We left early this morning to drive to Weipa, again a long drive but luckily the closer we got to Weipa the better the road became. Along the way we had a short stop at Archer River Roadhouse where a memorial is dedicated to Toots, a tough-talking female trucky and a Cape York legend. At Weipa we had a look at the wharf and coastline at Evan's Landing and drove past Lake Patricia and Lake McLeod before arriving at Nanum where the caravan park, acting as the local visitor information centre, is. We got a permit to camp at Mapoon so after a quick lunch at Rocky Point, we continued on. Leaving Weipa we had to cross 2 one-lane bridges where we had to give way to oncoming traffic (where we thought is was very difficult to see if a car was coming towards us or moving away if they didn’t have their lights on). At Mapoon we went for a stroll looking for that beautiful white sanded beach we were told about, but didn't see. Not too impressed with the scenery here but happy there was a cold shower so we could freshen up a bit.

A few km's of relief before.......

corrugations, the corrugations
No the vegetation on the left is not dead, that's dust from traffic due to prevailing winds

Lookout - Road Train

Best to stop - all we can see is the car aerial

Scenery - taller vegetation

Stop lights? - Crossing a mining road near Weipa

Lorim Point - Rio Tinto Alcan loading wharf

Evans Landing, Weipa

Andrew looking for fish - Evans Landing, Weipa

Gonbung Point, Weipa

Lake Patricia, Weipa

Rocky Point, Weipa

View of road / train bridge across Mission River inlet, Weipa

Single lane - right of way to who ever gets there first
Road / train bridge across Mission River inlet

Cullen Point, Mapoon

Cullen Point Campsite, Mapoon

Nele had a nice surprise in the toilets

Day 220 – 24^th September 2011

The Bend Campsite, Coen, QLD

This morning we left Cape Melville NP. On the way out we had to pull out a car that got bogged in the sandy part. Luckily we didn't have any issues getting back to the main road. We had lunch at Kalpowar Crossing before having a look at White and Red Lily Lagoon in Lakefield NP. We filled up with fuel at Musgrave Roadhouse and continued on to Coen. The NDR became very corrugated with sandy bits so attention to the road is necessary when driving. We had a quick look around in Coen and moved onto our campsite for the night, a creek bed 3K north of Coen – a very nice free camping spot where you can camp on the dry sandy areas of the creek bed, have a swim (no crocs here) and sit back in front of a nice fire if you can be bothered. We arrived a little late for this as it was a long day of driving but hope to enjoy the campsite a little more on our way back down.