Princess
Charlotte Bay is a popular destination on its own.
Just like
Lakefield National
Park and Cape Melville, it
tends to attract people who come here for a long
weekend or school holidays, often from Cairns, to camp and
fish around here
instead of doing the whole Cape York peninsula on the same trip.
But even if you are
planning to do the whole peninsula, you can get this area
in if you have enough time.
Port
Stewart
Furthest
north is Port Stewart, accessible
by a good gravel
road, but it is not the greatest spot if you want to get out to the
bay, unless you have a boat, because you only get to the river mouth,
you can
only see the actual bay from the distance.
Running
Creek About
half way out the Port Stewart Road a track turns in - it is the Running
Creek Track, a fun four wheel drive track through to the
northern parts of Lakefield National Park. At the creek mouth there is
a beach (UPDATE 2015 -
access restricted, details in Destination Guide). It is a
great coastal fishing
spot, and don't forget the crocs!
Annie
River The
third place is Annie River
mouth and
the area around it.
It is south of the Running
Creek
Track, the
turnoff is 43km east of Musgrave
on the road into the central parts of Lakefield National Park, which is
also the western (and main) access road to Bathurst
Head and Cape
Melville.
Annie River Annie
River
is a beautiful, and popular,
place to
fish, but all you get
to see is the river - not the actual bay.
The river also means mozzies
but they don't seem to stop people from coming and enjoying this great
fishing spot.
Five
Mile Creek
Further in you can drive to Five
Mile
Creek, which is another nice area and has shady camping, but has
less salty water (and the creek can be dry towards the end of the Dry
Season).
Marina
Plains
And then
there is another turnoff to Marina
Plains.
After driving across the vast floodplain, you come to another
saltwater fishing spot with a
mangrove-lined
river.
Again
there is no access to the actual bay.
Port
Stewart
Port
Stewart is a small community on the eastern coast of Cape York.
It is in
the northern end of
Princess Charlotte Bay. The road
turns in from the Peninsula Developmental Road between Coen
and Musgrave,
... and a beach area in the river mouth, but that is as close as you get to
the actual
ocean. You can only see it in the distance.
You can camp here
- details in the Destination Guide.
Annie River
Area
Annie
River is in the north western end of Lakefield National Park.
It is a
popular place with
long weekenders, school holidaymakers and other campers who like to
come here and stay here, instead of trying to do the rest of the
peninsula on the same trip.
Most of them are from no further than Cairns,
and the main activity of their trips is of course fishing.
The road
in is in the north
western end of Lakefield National Park, and the turnoff is 43km west of Musgrave on the main road from
Musgrave to
Lakefield, Bathurst Head
and Cape
Melville. After
about
12km in you come
to a crossroad where you can turn east to Marina Plains or west to
Annie River and Five Mile Creek camping areas.
Annie River camping area is
very
well used for camping and fishing,
even paths have been worn in to river banks by fishoes.
Five
Mile
Creek Camping -
Princess Charlotte Bay
Further
in
along the river you can keep driving to the Five Mile Creek camping area.
It is a beautiful shady
spot to camp
(as opposed to the one above, which is not shady), but the water is
fresh so no mangroves
or saltwater
fishing.
Marina
Plains - Princess Charlotte Bay
Back at the T-crossing, if you turn east you come to Marina Plains.
It is another great spot for saltwater fishing and mud crabbing.
Get
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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.