Hi everyone,
Finally - the prices in the Destination Guide
are done so you are
ready to grab your updated copy whether you already had bought it or
not
:-)
Also I have done a post-Ita road
report for early travellers - many
people have been asking - thanks all for your patience!
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In This Issue:
• Book Prices Updated
• How to Get Your Updated Version
• Post Ita Road Report
• Feedback Always Welcome
================================================
PRICES
UPDATED IN THE DESTINATION GUIDE
Finally - it's the day I have been looking forward to for so long.
Finishing it within April was always my goal, and even though it is the
evening of the last day of the month I am very happy with this result,
considering the
time that the cyclone wasted.
All in all most prices had gone up, some had also gone down, some have
stayed the same, and there are always
still some that despite my best
efforts could not be perfectly correct for you the day you go.
There are the ones that don't have flat rates, but set their prices
depending on what day you go, how many you are, and how many nights you
stay (they ended up either in ranges or POA).
There were a very few that I could never reach (POAs include these as
well), and there are always the
ones that say that they can change their prices any time of the year -
full stop.
It is just the nature of this job, and I can only do my best, which is
pretty near perfection. With so many
prices it cannot be a hundred percent, but it is done ninety
nine :-)
HOW TO
GET YOUR UPDATED VERSION
Here is how to get your updated
version:
If you haven't bought it yet - if you
buy the Destination Guide
now, you get the updated
version.
If you bought it before - go back to
your original purchase email and
download it from the link from which you downloaded it
first -
now
there is the new version.
If you cannot find your original purchase email, you are welcome to
contact me, but be aware you may not get a super quick reply if there
are many people asking, because I have to find each purchase one by one.
I know from starters I didn't stress it enough, but I have lately
stressed more and more how important
it is to make sure you save that
email until your trip is done and you are done with the book.
POST
ITA ROADS
A lot of people have been asking about the roads post Ita. To every one
I said the dust needs to settle before I even know myself.
Now that the shortest term impacts are gone and the large scale cleanup
is well underway, I can give you the picture.
First - Cyclone
Ita only affected the area roughly
around Cooktown (if you will
head straight up along the Peninsula Developmental and don't visit the
Cooktown area, you may want to scroll down to the rest of the roads).
Its path went from Cape Flattery to Cooktown, then Cape Tribulation,
Port Douglas, Cairns and its Northern Beaches, before turning off the
coast a bit south of Cairns and getting out of the area I can talk
about.
But - there was a big difference in
its strength - and consequently its
destruction.
It crossed the coast at Cape Flattery as a category four tropical
cyclone.
By the time it got to Cooktown, it had downgraded to category three,
because it had already had to cross some land.
And soon after Cooktown it quickly downgraded further to category one,
as it kept crossing the land (they need the ocean waters to keep their
power I believe most of you know).
So you can picture, the most damage
is between Cape Flattery and
Cooktown, also in and around Cooktown, but much less in Cape
Tribulation and south of it.
So the roads in the path of Cyclone Ita:
The coastal road from Cairns to Cape Tribulation is all sealed and open
as is the inland road (Mulligan Highway) to Cooktown.
The coastal road from Cape Tribulation
to Cooktown is not doable due to
the Bloomfield River causeway not fixed yet since the cyclone (they ARE
building a bridge there which will make things a lot easier - but I
would not want to guess at this stage when it will be ready).
Bloomfield Road itself is open but
there are washouts, and if you give it a few weeks, it will most
likely be a lot better.
The road from Wujal Wujal to Cooktown is open, and CREB Track is closed
as always this early in the season.
The Lions Den that was damaged and flooded after Ita is back in
business and welcomes visitors again.
Cape Bedford and Cape Flattery are technically closed at this stage.
Battle Camp Road is closed,
Starcke Wakooka Track is closed and will
likely be so for a good while yet.
The rest of the roads (as the cyclone season officially ended today, we
can assume there are no more surprises coming):
Peninsula Developmental is open all
the way to Weipa (even though Archer
River could still play up this time of the year), and you can also get
to Mapoon.
The road to Lockhart
River and Iron Range is not closed, but the river
and creek crossings are high, and could be too high to get through
depending on the recent weather the day you go. And the same goes
for Frenchmans.
The Old Telegraph Track is not good
- from what I hear the creek waters are
still high.
The road to the Tip is boggy in places but open.
And all that said - some
of the things above can change very quickly depending on the recent
weather - in the big picture, the later you visit the better are your
chances.
If you are out there on your
adventures already - we would all love
to hear from you, and see the photos of what the
tracks are like.
(You can get in touch by contacting me, replying to this
email, or building your own page where you can
also upload photos - thank you :-)
FEEDBACK
ALWAYS WELCOME
I really appreciate any kind of feedback
on the Destination Guide.
Please let
me know if you enjoyed it while planning before the trip, and while using the
information once on the trip.
If you get any questions about
anything, please feel welcome to contact me.
That's all for this time - happy planning everyone :-)
Katrin
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