The Peninsula is different from the
areas around it. You can travel along the
eastern coast of Queensland, then venture into the outback, and
continue to parts of the Gulf Savannah all on the same trip, but Cape
York is a destination on its own and
needs separate planning and preparation.
***z-below-paragraph-one.shtml***
It is remote, needs a four wheel drive vehicle, and knowledge of
alcohol restrictions if you carry any alcohol.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy How to Get to Cape York Australia
There are two roads in the eastern half of the southern
third of the peninsula (in the west there is also the Burke
Developmental Road). The straightest, and the most used road up is
the inland way that goes north
from
Mareeba
through Mt Molloy, Mt Carbine, Lakeland and Laura up towards
the Tip. The less used, the coastal
road, goes up from Cairns,
past Port
Douglas, through Daintree
National Park, Cape Tribulation and
Bloomfield
Road to Cooktown.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Cooktown - Cape York Australia Cooktown
is a great town
full of history. It was here that Captain James Cook and his crew
stayed for weeks while their ship was repaired. The waterfront is now a
big park, with Cook's statue,
information on the story, and a cairn marking the exact spot where they
stepped to the land.
But of course, in Cook's days, there was no town. The town was founded
100 years later thanks to a nearby gold rush. It's from those days that
the old buildings, pubs and the pioneer cemetery are from. There is
also the James Cook Museum, a lookout point on Grassy Hill, a
historical cemetery, and Botanic Gardens. Places
to stay in Cooktown include hotels
such as West Coast Hotel and Cooktown Hotel, as well as other
accommodation such as Sovereign
Resort. North of the town are Hope Vale, Coloured Sands and
Elim
Beach.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Laura and Lakeland Downs - Cape York
Australia
Back in Lakeland on the 'inland way', the
Peninsula Developmental Road continues north
towards Laura - another town with some
interesting history. It is most famous for some of the best Aboriginal
rock art in Australia, in a few different galleries. But there is also
some European history from the old gold rush
days, and some remains of the old Cooktown-Laura Railway. There is a
hotel, and two
camping grounds in town.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Lakefield NP and Old
Laura Homestead - Cape York Australia
North-east of Laura (and north-west of Cooktown) is Lakefield National
Park. It is
Queensland’s
second largest national park but unlike Daintree in the south and Iron
Range in the north, it has no tropical rainforests. It has open
woodlands with termite
mounds and wetlands great for bird watch, as
well as river
estuaries that are home for crocodiles.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Central Peninsula
North of Lakefield National Park is Musgrave,
which is an old
telegraph station. North of Musgrave in Coen - a small township with
grocery shops and an old pub. North of Coen is a turnoff to Mungkan
Kaanju National Park,
which, like Lakefield, protects open woodlands and not rainforests, at
least in its western, accessible, part. Further
north, at Archer River, there is Archer
River Roadhouse.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Lockhart River and Portland Roads
As you continue driving north after Acher River, on your right-hand
side is a turnoff to Lockhart River and Iron
Range National Park. Lockhart River is an Aboriginal
community with the area's only fuel station and grocery shop, as well
as a historical airport and the beautiful Quintell Beach. Portland
Roads, further north, on the other side of the national park, is a
small non-Aboriginal community on a small beach.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Iron Range National Park -
Cape York Australia North of Lochart River is Iron Range National Park – a
park
that protects tropical rainforest and is a good place to see the
peninsula's unique birds and animals. There is a walking track that
starts
from the Rainforest Camping Ground that takes you through the
rainforest. There are
camping areas in the southern parts of the park as well as on Chili
Beach.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Weipa - Cape York Australia
Back on the Peninsula Developmental Road, a bit futher north is a
left-hand turnoff to Weipa – the
largest town in the northern third of the peninsula.
The reason for Weipa's size is the world’s
largest bauxite deposit that is mined here. Places to stay are Heritage
Resort, Albatross
Bay Resort, the
Anchorage and Weipa Camping Ground.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Old Telegraph Track - Cape York
Australia
Back on the main road towards the tip of Australia,
you’ll drive along Telegraph Road
before you come to the start of the Old Telegraph Track.
Serious and exprienced four wheel drivers may find it too easy, but
for an average traveller it can be more or less challening. There
are Bypass
Roads to get around the Old Telegraph Track in case you don't like
to drive through the water.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Jardine River National Park - Cape
York Australia
In the northern end of the Old Telegraph Track and Bypass Roads you
drive through Jardine
River National Park
- a large, remote national park with tropical woodlands. In the
northern end of the
track is the Old
Jardine River Ford, and not far west is the super expensive Jardine
River Ferry
that takes you across the river to the Northern Peninsula Area.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Northern Peninsula Area
North of Jardine
River is Northern
Peninsula Area. The
largest town up here is Bamaga. There are some WWII airplane wrecs
scattered around the town, and
there are more WWII relics at Mutee Head. The second largest community
is Seisia,
which has a wharf popular with fishing.
Other communities include
Umagico, Injinoo and New Mapoon.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Tip of Cape York North
of Bamaga
is the road to Lockerbie. From Lockerbie, two roads
go north. The westernmost one goes to Punsand Bay
Resort, and the easternmost one goes to the historical Somerset
ruins and Somerset Beach, as well as the northernmost
point of mainland Australia.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Torres Strait Islands - Cape York
Australia
North of the Tip of Australia are Torres Strait Islands. Thursday Island
is the
most populated of the
islands, with a town of 2300 people, and some of the things to see
include Japanese Pearl
Memorial at the cemetery, the lookout at Green Hill Fort, and the All
Souls Quetta Memorial
Church.
Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Here's a Cape York map, where I have
tagged the
places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to
see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom
it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if
you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat"
in the top right hand corner.
Note:
This site uses
British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will
find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all
correct in the language used in Australia.
Disclaimer: Although
best efforts have been made to ensure
that all the information on this site is correct,
gondwananet.com is not to be blamed should there be a mistake.
Copyright notice:
All contents of this website are strictly protected
by the Law of Copyright. What
does that mean?