Charge Of The Midgets_Cape York Posties Pt.1

steamboat

Getting the hang of it
The Widgee's:bees: how i remember the Widgee's,got bitten and pissed on in Tin Can (by the Widgees that is),couldn't stop scratching all the way to Townsville:bang: absolute misery despite liberal coating's of local remedy of I/2 Detol mixed with Eucaliptus oil,thank god on that occasion I wasn't on a bike
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
The Widgee's:bees: how i remember the Widgee's,got bitten and pissed on in Tin Can (by the Widgees that is),couldn't stop scratching all the way to Townsville:bang: absolute misery despite liberal coating's of local remedy of I/2 Detol mixed with Eucaliptus oil,thank god on that occasion I wasn't on a bike

Those little suckers are a real curse....and you can't even hear or see 'em!!
After day2 I looked like a disease-riddled leper (and boy, it's still itching NOW).
Bewdiful one day, perfect the next....my arse!! (wait, got bitten, ahhh, pissed on...there, too).
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Finally the sun’s out!!!!:lao
……and time to whiz past Steve’s, Tanya’s and Piston’s (the 4-legged member of the trio :so) chateau to say Goodbyes… admire Steve’s “workshop” in daylight (a big fold-out table with superb views across Tin Can Inlet, where he earns their keep by repairing and servicing all the small-engined stuff of the Caravan Park like chainsaws/ mowers and the like :thumbs:).

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Bellies are still aching from last night’s laughter on our way to the barge.
Vehicle and camping permits are bought at the IGA-supermarket in town…

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Looks good?:glu

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Some different sort of fun…:eek:

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…before the ramp goes up

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“You’re not serious, aren’t you?” :looney::looney:

The skipper gives us some tips and tries to talk us into a return-ticket by dropping prices :p

“Tide’s pretty high still…. just follow the cars onto the bypass-road and exit at kilometer11….make that kilometer18 for you!

Just off the ferry, the tracks disappear into the bush; the crossing’s cruel on the two cc-dwarfs.

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The bypass road is rough and hard-going, the ruts aren’t too deep but harsh enough to make both ends bottom out continuously.:eek:
At km11 we’ve had enough of it, it’s getting warm, too…let’s see if we can make the beach, catch a breeze…and if the water’s low enough for us to find a tiny strip of hardpack, too narrow for cars, but enough for us, perhaps?
BINGO!!!!:thumbs:

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And so starts an 80km dream-run up the Eastern Shores of the Biggest Sand Island in the world.

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One word: MAGIC!!!

I’ll let the pics do the talking as we’re flying up the hardpack past Eurong, climb up the timber-reinforced hill into Happy Valley for drinks and nibblies…
No fuel needed, we should be good for at least 300k’s sand-riding, having topped up in Rainbow Beach.

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Goodie blocking the runway:)….

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The “Maheno” Wreck….and some of the tour-guides are STUMPED at the sight of the 2 CT’s: :eek::eek:
“Never seen one of those on the island…but last week there were a couple of guys on big enduros, rode side-by-side on the Indian Head Bypass and crashed into eachother, had to be flown out with broken wrists, both of ‘em….” :(

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Go north, my friend….
Getting towards dead-low tide, the beach gets wider and wider…speeds are up apart from the creek-crossings. Some of them very shallow and wide, just wetting a section of beach…others a little deeper with sharp entries and exits.

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Past more Coloured Sands formations at Red Canyon

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We’re taking our time…. ride into the soft stuff higher up till the nose sinks too deep, sit and just gaze into the surf…what an incredible place!!!

It’s mid-afternoon when we finally hit the end of the beach near Indian Head, a big, rocky outcrop with only one way around it….the Bypass Road.
This is strictly 4WD-only….guess why?

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A lousy 7-8k’s to the Waddy Point Camp turn-off…
The heat is stifling… the going EXTEMELY slow and very, very physical.
It’s deep and loose, the tracks are trenches filled with roots and pockets of loose/deep sand, we start to learn to tell consistency by shades and hues of colour.

That’s in between endless bogs, pushes, ripping the front-end out of the loose stuff after getting bogged…..rivers of sweat, soaked helmets, gloves slipping off all the time, boots barely hanging on.:bang::bang:

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Add 3k’s from the ridge down to Waddy Point Camp and there’s 11k’s in 2.5hrs of fighting, cursing, screaming in frustration, pushing, shoving and heaving….and laying down by the side of the track in total exhaustion, gulping our water-bottles into a vacuum-pack.

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By the time we stand in front of the Ranger’s office at Waddy Point, we’re totally stuffed, leaning against the bikes, barely able to stand.

“Bookings required for this camp-site! For bookings call….yaddayadda”
Needless to say, that by now we’re totally out of mobile-reach.
Of fark, gimme a BREAK !!!

The Ranger shows up and decides that’s it’s fine for us to stay “but close the gate, the whole place is dingo-fenced….ahhhh….and there are showers in the toilet-block at the far end….even 3min hot one’s if you’ve got a spare dollar!!”

I coulda kissed him…:so

KNACKERED!!

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The afternoon turns golden… then dark within 20 minutes as we’re setting up camp and get the dehydrated curry-beef-pasta-whatever going....
On any other day I wouldn’t feed this crap to a dog… tonite it's a 5-star banquet.
Let’s top it off with another muesli bar for dessert.

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Then listen to all the rustle in the bush around us for a short while….
Sleep comes like being hit with a club, by 8 o’clock we couldn’t give a rat's arse if the whole island would be floating to Antarctica…

~130k’s total, 10hrs

Gosh…WHAT A DAY !!!!
:glu:glu
 

goodie

...
MIDGES, Pete. They're called Midges!!

"Hervey Bay council: (extract)
MIDGES

There can be a downside in living in a beautiful area like Hervey Bay, for example who wants to work when we can be enjoying the outdoor lifestyle. This downside includes the nuisance factor associated with midges.

There are two main types of midges: biting midges, which are more commonly known as sandflies and the non-biting variety called Chironomids."


Well... the non-biting ones didn't really worry us, BUT the females of the biting ones, fell instantly for Pete! He's got the battle (scratch) scars to prove it! Luckily, I've been ignored (by the litttle suckers) - and I didn't complain.
 
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moike

Old Fahrt
Midges.

Sue was attacked by them south of Broome, but they passed me by. I guess they're fussy.
Sue was in agony until a traveller suggested dabbing windex on the bites. No cure, but some significant relief!
 

jefflthomas

Tour Pro
thought doing the Alps on a two wheeled Bavarian dumper truck was a little mad :drool:

:wow: but now you've gone completely postal!! :doh:
 
P

Punisher

Guest
Frazer is beutiful, honey mooned their, did all that by 4x4 bus. I still remember walking to the Z men (aussie ww2 Commandos) training grounds and having dingos run up to me to see what i was.
 

jefflthomas

Tour Pro
you got some damn fine BOTM winning pics there Pete :so

loved the beach & surf stuff....but i'm guessing they were taken in April

so ineligible for the BOTM you know i'm talking about :doh:

really tics me off!! :bang:

were you still on the ride in May?

 
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