It starts at the popular spot Captain Billy Landing, and ends at Ussher
Point.
Or do the other way if you like, the difficulty is no different.
PLEASE NOTE! This
drive is only for the experienced, and preferably with more than one
car. The rules, and the safety information you need to know
before considering it are in the Destination Guide.
Rocky
Headlands and Cliffs Area
We started at Captain Billy, just because having to get
back home across the ferry, it suited us better that way.
The coast starts off very similar
to the cliffs at the Captain
Billy Landing itself.
For a long time, there are cliffs
on your left hand side,
... nice looking,
... tropical vegetation as
usual for up here,
... and a lot of the time you drive
on a rock shelf.
Not only that, a lot of the time,
... particularly in this, southernmost section,
... there are a lot of rocks
(more than on these photos),
... and you always find your way through them,
... it's almost like there is always a track through.
To
Hunter Point Area
Finally, the rocky and cliffy area
ends.
You come to a sandy area,
... with thinner vegetation,
... mangroves in some creek mouths,
... and some pretty good sand dunes.
It is the Hunter Point area,
inland of which are Hunter Falls.
In the end of that area it changes again,
... as some thicker vegetation,
... and some of the rock shelves
come back for a while.
To
False Orford Ness
Ahead is the coastline to False
Orford Ness.
It goes back to the sandy bottom
and not so much shade.
There is plenty of treasure
for the hunters of buoys, ghost nets and nautilus shells.
There are a few creek mouths,
... and yes, we got bogged, twice.
Not so much for any other reason than we brought the car that has
already copped salt water,
... meaning it stopped where a lot of cars wouldn't, and needed engine
cooling (stopping dug us into the bogs, though).
By now the drive has been on for long enough, that you start expecting the biggest
challenge - the Orford Bay.
That's where you work out the naming of the False Orford Ness and the Orford
Ness (which is where the Orford Bay starts :-)
To
Orford Ness
So
there is still more going,
... along the sand dunes,
... bare vegetation,
... and creek mouths.
Then the second bog,
... from which you get out of really quick with the local recovery guy
:-)
There were a few more creeks
and,
... at one point in this section, the
rocks returned - bad enough that we tried driving in the sea for
a while (obviously not recommended for your vehicle!).
And then, we finally, actually came
to the real Orford Ness and the start of the Orford Bay :-)
Well! Here we are - the biggest
challenge, the best part of this drive.
Crossing
Orford Bay
It
is 3pm - the lowest hour of the
month's lowest tide.
It cannot get any lower, but it also
means that the water will come in fast, because the high tide
will also be the month's highest.
The bay looks massive, and we
think that even if we lost the car, are you even going to manage to
walk out on the
incoming tide?
On our own with no other car, and just been bogged twice - we wish we
would be on the falling tide, not the lowest, so - no time to let the tyres down - let's go!
Seventeen minutes of a nervous
drive across sand bars,
... mud flats and shallow
water,
... and we were across totally
safe :-)
PLEASE NOTE! This
drive is only for the experienced, and preferably with more than one
car. The rules, and the safety information you need to know
before considering it are in the Destination Guide.
Orford
Bay to Ussher Point
Once across, there is the last bit to Ussher Point,
and that drive we had already done previosuly from the northern end.
There is first a sandy area with
coastal dunes, and then it turns rockier.
Here was the first time we had the time to let the tyres down, and with diff locks the old "Salty" climbed up
like no other one of our cars had done before :-)
PLEASE NOTE! This
drive is only for the experienced, and preferably with more than one
car. The rules, and the safety information you need to know
before considering it are 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 ;-)
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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.