Once the mechanic opened we discovered that Woody seemed to need more than just a change of oil filters, so we decided to limp down to Laura where it would be cheaper to fix. Giving Stu a head start we lounged by the Coen river and left 3 hours later. With Stu only being able to reach a max of 60km/hr we arrived at Laura at the same time and said farewell to the relentless bumping of the corrugations! That would have been the longest 250km Stu has ever done.
Arriving at the quaint township of Laura we got wind that the Army was about to leave town and to celebrate the band was playing at the pub. After a little exploring we stumbled across their workmanship of an ANZAC memorial and a giant outdoor sports complex (we even shot some hoops!) We ended up staying behind the pub with the rarity of having asian bartenders with minimal english in the middle of the outback! Dancing in barefeet to the band we began chatting and boogying with the locals. After the bar kicked us out at 10pm, we kicked on with them out the front until midnight. It was an honour to meet the locals including the well respected elders.
The following morning we visited Split Rock which had a vast array of Aboriginal Art. Having traveled further inland, we were feeling the heat with absolutely no breeze. This rock art was great to browse through as it included echidna, spirits, bats, turtles and other interesting outlines painted in Ochre. These were dated back to 13,000 years ago!
Even though Stu’s car was still struggling, we decided to take a detour through The Old Coach Road to Chillagoe via the Maytown Ruins. On a map the track looked similar to The Frenchman’s, but it wasn’t until 15 minutes prior to the journey Nay read that we should allow around 8 hours for the small 80km journey. As they say, she’ll be right!
The first 50km flew by as we sped along on solid dirt road until our first obstacle was before us. Taking the relatively easy descent, we kept rolling with excitement as to what the next 30kms had to offer. We could not get over how frequent our surrounds were changing to now a dry arid bush. The track kept on the uphill as we continued our climb. When we encountered some controversial rock steps, we relocated smaller rocks to help get us up the path that was best suited. Arriving high on the hill we took the opportunity to walk 400m to a rock cliff for a stunning view of our surrounds. Absolutely breathtaking to say the least, especially knowing how remote we were.
Making it to the R. L. Jack Memorial, we took the 4WD track to continue a loop that wasn’t marked on the NP map. It wasn’t until the point of no return where we stopped to assess the next obstacle – a sheer 700mm vertical drop in the track. With a slight re-arrangment of the logs and rocks at the bottom, we went for it! With Woody in front, he crawled down first as the homemade ramp heaved under his weight. Buzz followed after unscrewing both underside boxes to increase his rear clearance, for one hell of a heart thumping experience. This track was instense and after crawling down some more rock steps only 200mm from a cliff edge, we made it to camp. 16 out of 30km in 5 hours was exhausting and we were glad to be sitting around the fire watching the replays of the days events.
With an early rise the next day we were keen to hit Maytown. Only 14kms to go we thought it couldn’t get worse from the day before… oh how wrong we were! Returning to the ‘main track’ after the loop, someone had kindly put duct tape on a sign to mark the path we had just conquered. We now knew the track was called ‘Death Hill’! Around every corner there was more steep inclines to climb and hills to crawl down. That morning had Buzz’s wheel almost 1m in the air, Woody almost tipping as Mark and Nay jumped on the bullbar to stop it rolling and another 4 hours on the track. At this stage, Woody’s mechanical problem was becoming worse and we were thankful to have made it through the Old Coach Road!
Before making it to the site of the Maytown Ruins we had a few points of interest through the old Palmer River Goldfields. There were plenty of mine shafts at various depths and a fascinating old steam powered battery used to crush the rock collected to filter out gold. We even had fun exploring a small mine cave dug under the road. There was also a restored old shed with a Melbourne made boiler that was used back in 1882!
The main attraction of this unreal detour was before us – Maytown Ruins. This town was like most run down abandoned ruins but had some quirky characteristics. A small tin shack housed the general tourist info including a guest book, newpaper clippings, photos and a map of the town. It wasn’t until driving along the run down main drag we discovered plaques along the bluestone gutters. With each plaque was the owner’s name and the title of their building that once stood. This old bluestone guttering was even ‘as new’ as the day it was laid.
To his demise, when returning to the car Mark discovered Buzz had a hole in the side wall of his tyre. After trying like buggery we couldn’t get it off to throw on the spare. Instead we plugged it up with resin, pumped her up and limped along until the next big tyre shop.
We ended up crawling out of the wonderous ruins of Maytown and made our way towards Chillagoe. About 160kms to go at 4pm, Woody struggled to even make it to 50kms/hr. It was at 7pm we packed it in and pulled over onto a paddock, which we called home that night. Within 20 minutes we were having dinner and laughing about the Old Coach Road taking over 9 hours to complete a measly 80km. As we retired to bed we had an early alarm set and hoped Woody would pick up to make it to our next destination…
19/09/2016 – 27/09/2016