A lot of travellers drive
through it
quite quickly, barely stopping in Laura and Musgrave.
But if you have the time
the area is
huge.
Cooktown and Laura have a
lot of history, Kowanyama and Pormpuraaw have remote Aboriginal camping
and fishing.
And the
Lakefield - Cape Melville area is a destination on
its own for many Australians.
The
Inland Way
Lakeland
Downs
If you drive the inland way up (which leaves the tropical coast for the
way back and which I always recommend), you are on the Peninsula once
you are in Lakeland.
It's a small township, and it's here that the the
main, inland road (Mulligan Hwy) turns off to Cooktown.
Hann
River
The next spot north after Laura is Hann River Roadhouse.
It is just a
roadhouse and a camping ground, with a nice swimming hole in the back,
a resident emu and a few peacocks, and during the season, probably a
backpacker serving you as in many other roadhouses.
Musgrave
North
of Hann River, the road continues, red and straight, north past Artemis
Station (which is where the Dixie
Koolatah Road turns off),
towards
Musgrave - a historical roadhouse with a small restaurant,
accommodation and a camping ground. It's on the crossroads east to
Lakefield National Park and west to Pormpuraaw
and to Kowanyama.
The
Coastal Way
Cooktown
If you come up the coastal way - the road from Cairns to Cape
Tribulation, Bloomfield
Road, and Bloomfield
to Rossville Road
you come to Cooktown.
It is a Cape York town not to be missed,
particularly if you are interested in history, fishing and good scenery.
North
of Cooktown
North of Cooktown is Hope Vale and the beautiful Cape
Bedford area with some white sand dunes at Coloured Sands and Elim
Beach.
Further north
is Cape Flattery, the Starcke-Wakooka
Track, Cape
Melville, Bathurst
Head and Lakefield
National Park before you come to Musgrave and continue north.
Hann
River
Roadhouse
Hann
River Roadhouse is a nice place to stay in southern Cape York.
It is in
southern Cape York,
between Laura
and Musgrave,
on the main road up north (Peninsula Developmental).
The
roadhouse
sells meals, takeaway food,
drinks, fuel,
some souvenirs
and basic groceries.
It has cabin
accommodation
in dongas.
And it also has
a large camping ground.
There are
a
few resident peacocks ...
... and a
funny resident emu
that likes to put its head into every cup or pot on your table.
UPDATE 2022 - sadly Aussie the emu was fatally hit by a car :-(
In the back of the camping
ground is a nice
swimming hole in Hann River.
Artemis
Station
Artemis
Station is a cattle station in southern Cape York.
It is not
very well known for
travellers, they haven't done as much advertising as some other
stations do. But in
fact they
do welcome travellers to
stay on their
camping ground.
They are
well known amongst
bird watchers, and particularly famous
for the wild and
rare golden shouldered parrots that they can take
you to.
There is a camping ground
with toilets
and showers, and you are welcome to drop in and stay.
And even better if you
are interested to see the golden
shouldered parrot
- endemic to Cape York. Artemis Station is the best place to take the
tour to go and
see it in the wild.
If you
happen to camp while
there are many bird watchers, the camp ground
can get crowded, but most
often you
have it all for yourself.
Musgrave
Roadhouse
Musgrave
is a roadhouse on the PDR in southern Cape York.
It is on
the
crossroads of the tip of
Cape York
in the north, Pormpuraaw in the west and Lakefield
National Park in the east. It is a nice place to stay
with accommodation and a camping ground.
Or it
may be worth a stop
- the roadhouse sells takeaway food,
meals, drinks, souvenirs and basic groceries.
There is also
afuel station and
an airstrip.
It is a
historical place that
was built as a telegraph
station for the Old
Telegraph
Line.
You can still see the graves
of the early pioneers under a mango tree.
The station was named
after Sir Anthony Musgrave who was Queensland's Governor
when the station was built.
In the
1930s Musgrave was
bought into Shepard family - and is today
still run by the members of the same family.
In the 1970s the station was turned into a roadhouse, and the
accommodation and cafe were built in 1980.
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
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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.