Cape York - Day 20, Wenlock River to Chilli Beach 05/07/2018
Our camp here on the Wenlock is my favourite of the trip so far, last night the skies cleared and we were treated to a brilliant sky full of stars and this place has a very peaceful relaxed feel about it. Future trips to this part of the world will definitely include a stop over here.
After packing up we continued on the Frenchman's Track, the exit out of the Wenlock was straight forward and we then had 30 odd kms of rough and rutted tracks with a few small creek crossings and washouts to negotiate.
Just after midday we came across a large group of 4wds who had just crossed the Pascoe in the opposite direction to us and on the exit one of them had rolled a tyre off the rim. After chatting to them we started our descent down the into the river. I really probably should have walked this first section as it was several hundred metres of steep rutted track with washouts and wombat holes. At times I couldn't see the track over the bonnet and with no spotter or prior look at the track we managed to scramble down in 1st gear low.
Just before the river there is a turn around and we stopped here for a look at the river the crossings, the girls jumped out as their nerves were shot... They had avoided being in the 4wd on most of the crossings on OTT and this entry was probably more full on than anything we had driven to date. The river crossing was deep and rocky and I used my lovely daughters and wife as rock markers so I knew which large rocks to avoid, the theory being if I didn't hit a loved one I would avoid being hung up on a large rock.
After strapping on the water bra (thanks again Hoggy) I plunged into the water and crawled across without issue and without hitting any of the girls. We don't have any pictures of the river crossing as everyone was in the water... You'll have to wait for the video.... The next challenge was the exit which was a little muddy and rutted but again our little Triton that could just crawled up and successfully drove the exit without getting stuck. I've lost count of how many times we've had people look at our 4wd and completely disregard it and tell us we had no chance for us to prove them wrong... Makes me smile every time and the look on their faces after watching is priceless.
From here it was another few kms of rough slow track until we hit the Portland Roads Rd which was our way to Chilli Beach. This was our first disappointment of the trip and Chilli Beach is not a place we are looking to return to anytime soon. Our campsite was relatively protected from the wind but it was small and the beach was nothing special, National Parks had recently cleared the rubbish from the beach but it was still pretty average in our opinion. We've stayed at better north QLD beaches and the drive out is really not worth the effort (not including the epic adventure of the Frenchman's track).
Distance travelled = 99km
After packing up we continued on the Frenchman's Track, the exit out of the Wenlock was straight forward and we then had 30 odd kms of rough and rutted tracks with a few small creek crossings and washouts to negotiate.
Just after midday we came across a large group of 4wds who had just crossed the Pascoe in the opposite direction to us and on the exit one of them had rolled a tyre off the rim. After chatting to them we started our descent down the into the river. I really probably should have walked this first section as it was several hundred metres of steep rutted track with washouts and wombat holes. At times I couldn't see the track over the bonnet and with no spotter or prior look at the track we managed to scramble down in 1st gear low.
Just before the river there is a turn around and we stopped here for a look at the river the crossings, the girls jumped out as their nerves were shot... They had avoided being in the 4wd on most of the crossings on OTT and this entry was probably more full on than anything we had driven to date. The river crossing was deep and rocky and I used my lovely daughters and wife as rock markers so I knew which large rocks to avoid, the theory being if I didn't hit a loved one I would avoid being hung up on a large rock.
After strapping on the water bra (thanks again Hoggy) I plunged into the water and crawled across without issue and without hitting any of the girls. We don't have any pictures of the river crossing as everyone was in the water... You'll have to wait for the video.... The next challenge was the exit which was a little muddy and rutted but again our little Triton that could just crawled up and successfully drove the exit without getting stuck. I've lost count of how many times we've had people look at our 4wd and completely disregard it and tell us we had no chance for us to prove them wrong... Makes me smile every time and the look on their faces after watching is priceless.
From here it was another few kms of rough slow track until we hit the Portland Roads Rd which was our way to Chilli Beach. This was our first disappointment of the trip and Chilli Beach is not a place we are looking to return to anytime soon. Our campsite was relatively protected from the wind but it was small and the beach was nothing special, National Parks had recently cleared the rubbish from the beach but it was still pretty average in our opinion. We've stayed at better north QLD beaches and the drive out is really not worth the effort (not including the epic adventure of the Frenchman's track).
Distance travelled = 99km
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