Fruitbat Falls

Today we’d be heading south from Bamaga.

This is the main road out of Cape York towards Cairns: a wide dirt road that was dry enough and had enough traffic on it that periodically we’d pass vehicles going the other way and then have a few seconds of low visibility among all the dust.

Presumably the wind mostly blows westerly here, as the foliage on the western side of the road was a distinct dirty brown colour, whereas it was mostly green on the other side.

We reached the ferry across the Jardine River, which basically runs continuously during daylight hours, but often with a break at lunchtime. Each trip seems to be able to take 3-4 vehicles across; it only takes a minute if there’s no queue.

After heading further south, eventually we turned off the main dirt road onto a narrower dirt road, then headed into the national park to find the very lovely Fruitbat Falls.

I was on the fence about actually going in the water, but then I realised I’d have carried my bathers thousands of kilometres from home for no purpose if I didn’t. And there’s a well-maintained change room nearby.

It was worth it. The water was cool and refreshing. It’s a fabulous spot. This photo from my aunt… I look a bit pained, but actually it was very nice:

After a while we dried off, changed back, then had lunch.

A party of trailbike riders were coming through. It must be quite the adventure for them riding around here. Fun. But noisy.

Back onto the bus. More parties were coming in, so I think we’d done well to beat the rush.

We headed back north again, only to get to the ferry during the lunch hour closure. It gave us time for a toilet stop and a quick look in the shop.

When the ferry master had finished lunch, we somehow bypassed the queue of vehicles. Bus priority. Good to see it in action!

We stopped at Mutee Heads for a look around. As with so many other spots around Cape York, this too had seen development during WW2 – there was a radar station here, and there’s a graveyard and memorial nearby.

We also stopped to look at some of the ant hills along the old telegraph track. Super impressive. Apparently the ants are smart enough to build them to a particular alignment to prevent wind damage.

We got back to Bamaga for a rest, thanking our guides Uncle Tommy and Michael profusely for showing us around over the two days. Tour guides often have great insights, but to have traditional owners of (some of) the land we explored was extra special.

I went for a walk with my sister around the town, found the supermarket, went in and enjoyed the aircon.

And I snapped this bus stop. I’m assuming that, just as on Thursday Island, this is for school buses rather than general public transport.

On TI we’d missed out on some traditional dancing, but we found something to make up for it: the Northern Peninsula Area Cultural Festival happened to be on, in a park across the street from our hotel.

It was a little quiet during the afternoon, but by the evening when we had another look, there was plenty going on, and we happened upon a performance of the Thursday Island All-Stars, which was pretty cool to see.

It’s great to see an effort being made to keeping First Nations culture alive and thriving.

Dinner again at the hotel restaurant, and we had another early start in the morning, as we’d be on the move again.