Bypass
Roads are an alternative to the Old Telegraph Track.
If you want
to take it easy
and don't like to drive your vehicle
through creek crossings along a rough, slow track, this is an easier option.
These roads are longer
than
the Old
Telegraph Track, but they are still quicker.
That said, I would never recommend anyone to miss out the Old Telegraph
Track, which is by far the best part of
a Cape
York trip.
The best
way to do it is to drive the Old Telegraph Track one way, and Bypass
Roads the other - although they can be annoyingly
corrugated, and boring compared to the OTT, there are a few things and
side
tracks worth discovering.
It is longer than the northern half, but it is a bit better - some
parts are even sealed towards both ends of
it.
It passes
by
Bramwell
Station, a
turnoff to Shelburne,
Heathlands and a little further north
the turnoff to Captain
Billy Landing - a nice but often windy coastal camping spot
on the
eastern coast.
In the
middle of the southern and the northern half,
they join the Old Telegraph Track, or, rather - the Old Telegrph Track
joins them - there is no adventurous four wheel drive track for a
little while.
Then
there is a sign to Cape
York's most famous waterfalls.
First you come to Fruit
Bat Falls, and a few kilometres further north are Eliot
and Twin Falls.
All the three waterfalls are great for a cool dip, and a good break from
the dusty roads.
Northern Bypass Road
The Northern
Bypass Road starts north of the waterfalls, and goes
another 60km north to Jardine
River Ferry.
It passes by the
turnoff to Vrilya
Point on
the western coast of Cape York. The northern end of the
Bypass Roads
is
south of Jardine River.
Later, after the Jardine River, you will pass by another turnoff -
to Ussher
Point and
Sadd
Point on the
eastern coast of Cape
York.
Fruit Bat Falls
Fruit Bat
Falls is one of Cape York's best swimming holes.
It is a beautiful spot,
with clear
water, and a great place to cool
down. The only
downside is that
during the high
season it can get more
crowded than some other, less known swimming
holes.
You can swim in the pool
under the falls,
... or you can find a swimming hole on top of the
falls as well.
I have
heard well travelled people saying that it is the best swimming hole they have
seen in
the whole Australia.
Eliot and Twin
Falls
Twin
Falls are some of the best swimming holes in Cape York.
Just
north of
Fruit Bat Falls,
another great swimming hole, they make a great break from dusty roads -
it's a cool dip you will
remember! They are
right next
to Eliot/Indian
Head Falls, which are nice too, but not as nice for
swimming.
Eliot and Twin Fallsare a short walking distance
from each other.
Both are easily reached from the main road, near the junction of
the Old
Telegraph Track, and Northern and Southern Bypass Road.
Captain
Billy Landing
Captain
Billy Landing is a nice coastal spot.
It is on
the eastern coast of
Cape York
and
reached from the southern part of Bypass
Roads.
The road in goes through some tropical
rainforest ...
... and then a heathland
with
some views,
... as the road gets a little hilly.
It is a nice spot,
... with a nice
rocky
headland
...
... and a white
sand beach, but
it's often windy,
as many
other places on the
eastern coast of Cape York.
Vrilya
Point is on the western coast of northern Cape York.
It is a
beautiful coastal spot and a lookout
point on the western coast of Cape York - you are in the Gulf
Savannah!
It is reached from the northern one of the two Bypass Roads that bypass
the Old
Telegraph Track.
It
is not so often visited by the average Cape York traveller, but it's
not that far in from the Bypass Road.
Not long after turning in you come to a great swimming hole
- the Crystal Creek. It's
beautiful with clear,
clean emerald green
water and it's a great
spot to stop for a cool swim, and there are also camping spots both on
the eastern and western side of it.
The bridge
itself is quite
broken so take care when crossing it and get your wheels right.
Next you travel through some open
woodland with some forest palms and grass
trees ...
... until you come to a lonely old grave and a road junction where
you can either
turn north or south. Turning north
takes you to a casuarina beach, and there
is a beach drive even further north to an old shipwreck.
Turning south
takes you to
another casuarina beach, and past the lookout point that
overlooks the
northern beach from the top of some red cliffs.
Vrilya
is a great place, the only thing can be sandflies unless
it's
windy.
Vrilya Point closures are kept updated in the Destination Guide.
Get
this 50 pages
guide totally for FREE.
It
contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip.
You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you
should take, how to get
there and get
around, where
to stay (general info), what
will it cost..
and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.
This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact
detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
gear by my vehicle-recovery-guy partner).
Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)
If
you liked the books or
this website, let others know about it!
Link to it from your website, your blog, your forum post... Share it on Facebook, Tweet
about it...
Every link helps other travellers!
Thank you for doing the
right thing and letting others know :-)
This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.