28th July

We had to pack up and check out of our room again today but thankfully the camper was ready.Matt had to make a few alterations to the camper so it was lunchtime before we were on the road but gee it was good to be back on the road again!

A few hours later we arrived at Bramwell Station where we planned to stay for a couple of nights. Bramwell Station is a working cattle station but they make most of their money from tourism now.They've set up a bar and dining area which was very welcoming and so were the staff.They even had a poddy calf and a couple of pups running around saying hello to everyone.

29th July

Today we planned to tackle the southern section of the Old Telegraph Line track.A 4wd track that we had heard a lot about and we were really looking forward to doing.We were a bit nervous though as we had heard some horror stories about the OTL and we were travelling on our own - well we were until we got to the first creek crossing and Matt befriended the four guys that were stopped there.So we spent the rest of the day with them.

The first creek crossing was probably the hardest - steep, muddy banks with some big potholes and bumps but Matt made it without a problem and that was the story for the rest of the day.Even at the notorious Gunshot Creek where the bank is near on vertical and drops 1.0-2.0m.Many cards have been damaged (or ended up on their roof) at this crossing.But lucky for us there is a new easier crossing and Matt made it through without any problems.We had a great day driving the OTL and Mel even had a bit of a drive and did a couple of creek crossings.A big thank you to our escorts Bill, Ted, Max & Joe.

We stopped for a quick swim at the beautiful Fruit Bat falls before driving back to Bramwell Station for the night.

30th July

The plan for today was to pack up camp, drive 2 ½ hours north to the Jardine River, drop off the camper and back track 50kms to the start of the northern section of the OTL track.After doing this we stopped for lunch and a quick dip at Elliott Falls and Twin Falls before starting the OTL track.Today we travelled on our own but we were feeling much more confident.The creek crossings today were much more challenging but Matt handled them all without a problem.We finished this section of the track in a couple of hours and were back at the Jardine River to catch the ferry across by 4pm.When we got there the ferry was waiting so we drove straight on and across the river we went.About 1 min after driving on the ferry we drove off it on the northern side of the river and headed to Seisa, with plans to go to the Seisa Fishing Club for dinner - which only happens on Friday nights.We pulled in to the caravan park and were given a site right on the beach - and what a lovely beach it was!We set up camp showered and headed off to the fishing club to meet up with guys we met yesterday.We had a great dinner and a great night out!It was a very friendly place.

31st July

Rest day today!Pottered around in the morning and then prepared a barra lunch for Max, Ted, Bill & Joe and spent the arvo sitting around chatting and have a few beers.The boys decided that since we had supplied lunch they would cook dinner for us.So early that evening we headed over to the boys camp for dinner.Thanks boys!

1st August

Matt spent the morning sorting out the car - the padding under the floor lining had gotten a bit wet on the OTL so Matt took the out the seats in the car and then took out the floor lining to dry it out.Around midday we left camp to drive to 'The Tip' - the northern most point of mainland Australia.We drove north to Lockerbie and then headed north-west to check out the Punsand Bay Resort/Campground - there was a beautiful beach here too!Then we did a short 4wd track back to the main road and continued driving to the tip.We parked the car and walked for about 15 mins over the rocks and down to the water and there we were - at the The Tip!What a beautiful place!Awesome beaches and lovely turquoise water - shame about the crocs!

Matt noticed we had a bit of a mechanical breakage so we headed straight back to camp and missed seeing the ruins at Somerset.That evening we spent a few hours fishing on the Seisa jetty, we didn't catch anything but it was a lovely way to spend the evening.

2nd August

Cruisey day today hanging around camp as the car was at the welders.Matt did a bit of fishing but no luck.We cooked a roast for dinner in the camp over which we shared with Rupeni, the manager of the caravan park.

Mel got woken late in the night by Matt yelling "get the camera.I caught a shark!" so Mel stumbled out of bed and staggered down to the beach but there was no shark in sight!Apparently it must have 'rolled back in to the water and gotten off the line"

3rd August

We decided to drive up to Somerset and maybe do some fishing so back up the bumpy road we went.We pulled in to the beautiful Somerset Beach and had lunch with Matt's new friend Rick and his wife Anne.After lunch we went for a walk and had a look at the ruins and the graves and strolled along the beautiful beach.Then we drove out to Fly Point with Rick and Anne and found a nice little bay out of the wind where the boys did some fishing.No fish but we did see a dugong swimming in the water just out from where we were.

4th August

We caught the ferry over to Thursday Island where we did a bus tour around the island.Almost the entire island is developed so it is like one big town.The tour took us around the island and to the cemetery and the old fort on top of the hill where we got a bit of history on Thursday Island during WWII.And we also got some awesome views of TI and the surrounding islands!After the tour we walked down the main street and went to the Torres Hotel - the most northern pub in Australia - and had a couple of beers.Then we walked down to the other end of town and bought ourselves some cheap crayfish tails to have for dinner.

5th August

This morning we drove out to the Seisa boat ramp and had a look at some WWII plane wrecks and then went back to camp for a yummy lunch of left over cray tails.In the afternoon we went on a fishing charter which was pretty unsuccessful until we came upon a big school of tuna and then it was on!Matt caught a lovely big queen fish and Mel caught a big Spanish mackerel.Matt also fought a shark for about half an hour but it finally broke the line.Mel had never seen so many sharks in the ocean.The fishing guide threw the fish carcasses out in to the water and it was a hark frenzy!They were everywhere and they were BIG!That evening when we got back to camp Rupeni invited us over for dinner and drinks.He had cooked us a lovely fish curry.Thanks Rupeni!