Mount Carbine Caravan Park – Last year when we first began researching our Cape York trek we made numerous enquiries about where we could leave our caravan. The name that kept coming up in a variety of forums was Mt Carbine. There were a number of reasons for this and they included the stunning bushland location, great amenities, fabulous owners/hosts Nikki and Darryl, and the icing on the cake, free storage for the caravan.

Well we weren’t disappointed, it was everything, and more, that we had heard about. Nikki and Darryl were incredible people and hosts and really enhanced our stay.  We had an area all to ourselves with some undercover parking and a great fire pit.  We spent a couple of days doing final preparations for the trip.

We were so excited to see a family of Tawny Frogmouth birds which are very similar to owls but are actually part of the Nightjar family. They are very hard to see as they blend in to the trees where they roost.  We also had amazing moonlit nights.

Day One, Mt Carbine to Archer River

We set off with great excitement and anticipation of what was to come. Shane led the way, followed by Ray and I, then Doug and Sue.  We had about a 200 km drive before we hit the first of the gravel roads just north of Lakeland.

Each car was fitted with a two way radio and we were Oddbods 1 (Shane & Kerry), Alby1 (Ray & Jude) and Emu1 (Doug & Sue). We kept in regular radio contact with each other and the chatter was initially about the stunning countryside we were driving through. Before we knew it, we were onto the first of the gravel roads. Overall the first section was in pretty good condition as it had recently been graded. However there was plenty of dust kicked up by each car so we had to keep a fair distance between us so we could be sure of seeing clearly. Shane was great on the radio constantly advising us of any deep dust holes/dips/corrugations/cattle on the road etc.

We stopped for a break at some of the roadhouses which were quaint and full of character. Hann River Roadhouse had an emu which followed us very closely, Musgrave Roadhouse was first built as an overland telegraph station in 1887, Moreton Telegraph Station also built in 1887 on the Wenlock River.

Finally late afternoon we made it to Archer River Roadhouse where we would camp for the night. There weren’t too many people there and we made camp at the bottom of the paddock. We were able to have a fire and cooked jaffles for tea.

STAY TUNED FOR PART THREE – WE MAKE IT TO THE TIP/TOP!