Cape
Melville national park is a bit off the beaten track.
It is not
exactly remote, but
it's still far enough from the Peninsula
Developmental Road in the west, and Cooktown
in the south, that it is less visited.
Most Cape York travellers don't usually get time for it, and it is more
popular with long time
campers who only come here and stay for weeks.
It is a great place to camp and fish,
or go bird watching or mud
crabbing.
Most people
enter the park
from the west,
coming either from Musgrave
or Laura on the
Peninsula Developmental Road, and then driving through Lakefield
National Park.
This
is a reasonable gravel
road,
not like a small four wheel drive track.
This road
starts off being a reasonable gravel road, but ends up being a slow and narrow four
wheel drive
track, which is a lot of fun!
Whatever
way you
do, you finally get to the northern
section's park entrance north of Wakooka.
Then pass some granite
boulders, after which the road
is quite rugged
all the way to the Cape, and four wheel drive only (even in case you
would
not use the 4WD gears, you need to travel in a 4WD vehicle
just
because
it's higher).
At Cape Melville,
there are camping spots next to the beach that starts on the left hand
side of the carpark.
In both
ends of that beach are creek mouths
that are great for fishing
and mud
crabbing.
But you
can also turn right before the carpark (right as you
come in = east), and after a few tracks ...
... you will get to the northern
beach, from where you can drive along the beach, at the
low tide, to the tip of Cape Melville.
At the
actual
cape, there is a monument
for
the
300+ pearlers who were killed in 1899 in the tropical cyclone
Mahina.
On the way to and from Cape Melville, about half way to Wakooka, is the
turnoff to Ninian Bay.
The
track
is narrow and at times almost overgrown.
Once at the bay, there is a beautiful beach. In the northern
end of the beach is a rocky headland where you can climb to the top of
the hill for views over the bay.
In the southern end is is a
river mouth with mangroves - which, as you would know, means good
fishing
and mud
crabs but also crocodiles.
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
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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.