Bramwell Junction Roadhouse to Gunshot Creek

Sunday 15^th September 2013

                                 The start of Old Telegraph Track, at Bramwell Junction

I knew that the Old Telegraph Track, with its numerous creek crossings, would be harder going than the Telegraph Road which I'd been on for the last 2 days, and also that there were no further food supplies available until the Jardine Ferry crossing, some 125kms north. Water would be plentiful in the creeks, so no problem there, and I thought 2 days worth of food should be enough, reckoning I should be able to cover 125kms in that time.

Wrong!

Within 2 kms from the start of the day's ride I reached Palm Creek, where there were 2 possible ways of getting across.

The first had a very steep drop into a muddy pool:

...and the other, though slightly less steep, was slippery mud all the way down:

After some deliberation I managed to walk the bike, minus its luggage, along the bank of the second approach without getting too muddy. Once across, the ground was very bumpy and it was tough pushing the bike over this terrain:

Large termite mounds continued to be a prominent feature of the landscape:

Occasionally you can see one of the old telegraph poles still standing. Most were removed when the line was decommissioned in 1987:

Next obstacle, some 10kms further on, was the Dulhunty River:

...closely followed by Bertie Creek:

All the rivers and creeks here potentially contain crocodiles. But they have to be crossed somehow and there aren't any bridges. It's just a matter of keeping a very close watch on any movement within the water, and getting across as quickly as possible.

The vegetation changed abruptly from forest to scrub bushland, and the road became covered in deeper and deeper sand, which was impossible to ride through.

I was pushing the heavily laden bike through the deep sand, making very slow progress, when a convoy of 3 4WDs passed by, and one of the occupants handed a cold can of beer to me out of the window. That certainly tasted good.

I caught up with them not long afterwards at Gunshot Creek, probably the most notorious crossing along the whole Track.

There are several approaches available to take across Gunshot Creek, of which only one is really steep and dangerous. Of course, that's the one all the 4WD nuts want to take. The first vehicle I saw coming across, a very new looking Chinese Great Wall, got away with just losing its near side door mirror:

But the next, a Nissan, wound up with a big dent along its side and also frontal damage, having initially got stuck:

It was certainly entertaining watching these idiots trashing their vehicles, and apparently during the June and July peak season the banks of Gunshot become thronged with spectators.

Despite all the traffic, the water in the creek remained quite clear so I decided to cool off for a bit and set up camp for the night in the adjacent site. It had been a tough day with a lot of walking and pushing the bike.

                                         There are easier approaches to Gunshot Creek.

Distance today just 48kms, total so far 962kms.

Bush Camp to Bramwell Junction Roadhouse

Saturday 14^th September 2013

I woke early after a good night's sleep, and was on the road by 7.30am. At about 9.15 I arrived at the next roadhouse, Moreton Telegraph Station, situated beside the Wenlock River:

It was a pleasant enough spot with lots of informative stuff about local wildlife etc. on display, but I was disappointed by the poor range of food on offer, I'd been looking forward to a nice breakfast but all that was available were sausage rolls and a few pies. I settled for a greasy sausage roll and was soon on my way again, pausing to photograph this pole which showed the level the river had reached in various flood episodes through the years:

                             
                                  Plenty of dust gets thrown up when a vehicle goes past

It was only another 42 fairly smooth flat kilometers to the next roadhouse, Bramwell Junction, situated where the new Bamaga road, on the right of this photo, divides from the Old Telegraph Track:

The new road has been built to bypass the difficult river crossings for which this section of the Telegraph Track is famous, and which makes it very popular with 4WD drivers looking to test their skills and their vehicle's abilities. I'm going to follow the Track; not only is it more direct and therefore a shorter route, but also the river crossings should be a bit of a challenge and hopefully fun. It will doubtless be quite rough going, but the end is in sight now, I am only about 170kms from Bamaga, the town closest to the Tip, and about 200 from the Tip itself.

Distance today 73kms, total so far 914kms.

Archer River Roadhouse to Bush Camp

Friday 13^th September 2013

After Archer River, the next facilities are at Moreton Telegraph Station, 125kms away. I knew that I wasn't going to make that distance in one day, given the heat and the generally tough cycling conditions, so I made sure I had enough food and water to last me through an overnight stop somewhere on the way.

I carried 9 litres of water, which added considerably to the weight on the rack:

The road surface was similar to yesterday, plenty of sand made the going fairly slow. And the temperature continued to be in the mid 30s C.
After about 20kms I saw this makeshift roadside grave:

A bit further on was the turnoff to Lockhart River, which had this informative road sign about the local Aboriginal laws:

After about 50kms I came to the junction where the Telegraph Road, heading directly north along the path of the old Overland Telegraph Line, separates from the Peninsula Development Road which turns west towards the mining town of Weipa:

As  might be expected, the Telegraph Road is very straight:

However the surface for the rest of today's journey was pretty good and solid, so I made decent progress. I'd hoped that there might be a river or creek bed to camp at but there weren't any on this stretch of road; pity as I was covered in red dust and really would have loved the opportunity to wash it all off. At least I had enough water for drinking purposes to last me well into the next day. Around 5.30pm, with less than an hour's daylight left, I found a clearing just off the road and set up camp for the night.

Distance today 93kms, total so far 841kms

Coen to Archer River Roadhouse

Thursday 12^th September 2013

The road north from Coen was good bitumen for the first 20km, until it reached a quarantine checkpoint where there was helpful information on the National Parks and the state of the road ahead.

In fact the next 30kms were challenging, due to deep sand on the road which made the going very slow. For much of the day I was averaging only 10km or so per hour. Quite I had to get off and push the bike through stretches of sand.
Conditions gradually improved later in the day and I arrived at the Archer River roadhouse around 3pm.

This was probably the best of all the roadhouses I've visited on this journey, the staff were all friendly and informative, and the burgers were excellent. Also the facilities were very clean.

                                                                Archer River


Distance today 66kms, total so far 748kms.

Musgrave Roadhouse to Coen

Wednesday 11^th September 2013

Heading north from Musgrave a long stretch of the Development Road was being levelled out:

Considering the length of this road, its remoteness and the low number of vehicles using it, also the fact that the surface gets washed away every year during the wet season, it's pretty well maintained.

The terrain became a lot hillier as the route passed through the Bamboo Range:

It was extremely hot all day and I saw a number of small bushfires burning by the side of the road:

I reached Coen, the last town before Bamaga, at around 5.30 after a very tough day's riding, and had a much needed cold beer and a big steak dinner at the Exchange Hotel, which also had decent camping facilities. For some obscure reason it seems to be known locally as the Sexchange Hotel, and the sign on the roof bears this name:

There isn't much to see in Coen; just a general store, pub, and a cafe. Still, apart from roadhouses, it's the last civilisation until The Tip which is still 400kms away.

Distance today 110kms, total so far 682kms.

Hann River Roadhouse to Musgrave Roadhouse

Tuesday 10^th September 2013

The road continued to be straight, fairly flat, and very dusty. Termite mounds were a prominent feature of the landscape, looking like tombstones:

Much of the road has a firm base, as this photo shows, and despite the corrugations it was possible to ride at 18-20kph. But caution was needed because there were occasional sandy stretches which could send the front wheel veering off to the side very suddenly:

Shortly after midday I reached Musgrave Roadhouse, which occupies a historic building which was originally a repeater station for the Overland Telegraph. Attacks from aborigines against these telegraph stations were common, so they were fortified, and the building originally featured gun turrets.

The emaciated state of the cattle grazing by the petrol pumps indicated that this was well into the dry season :

Distance today 63kms, total so far 572kms.

Laura to Hann River Roadhouse

Monday 9^th September 2013
Just outside Laura the bitumen ends, and it's going to be dirt road from now on until the end of the ride. And there's 200km until the next town, Coen:

Fortunately there are roadhouses on the way where I'll be able to obtain food and water. Today's ride was a straight run through to the next roadhouuse at Hann River, which I reached around 1.30pm, in time for lunch which was a big tasty burger.
The Hann River Roadhouse has a resident emu, and a parrot which kept trying to eat my handlebar grips:

There was a map mural showing that there was still a long way to go to The Tip:

I took a walk along the river but didn't see any crocs, though they were said to inhabit the area:

Distance today 78kms, total 509kms.