Finding ourselves crawling out along the 4WD track from where we had once been, we all had a chuckle while crossing a rut. Both Buzz and Woody’s wheels became airborne! After emerging from the bush we were greeted once again by our good friend corrugations. Reading about and creating much hype, the ‘famous’ Archer River Roadhouse burger was on the menu for lunch. Probably being so long since a decent burger it was rather delicious, unfortunately nothing compared to the Buxton Burger.
We travelled along the Developmental Track taking us further north until reaching an unmarked road. WikiCamps had shown us this was a 4WD trail to an old abandoned gold mine. Cruising along a path of moderate difficulty, a small descent appeared in front of us. Dropping into low range we took it slowly. An ever so small ditch at the bottom and both Buzz and Woody went ‘bang!’. Woody hit his undercarraige and recieved no damage but after a further inspection on Buzz, a rear box had 4 out of 6 of it’s bolts sheered off and was hanging by a thread! A quick strap to hold it place for the time being and we were off again.
The gold mine itself was very fascinating as much of the machinery was still intact although heavily rusted. Amazing at how it was all just left in the bush as the cost of removing and selling it must of been more expensive. It would of been great if it had some info boards describing some machinery but we couldn’t expect it all!
Back on the main drag we were heading toward the very popular Chili Beach. Along the way was a 70m walk to a lookout of Mt Tozer, this gave a beautiful sight of the heathlands surrounding us. Making it to our destination late arvo we were greeted with a stunning view of a pristine beach! It wasn’t until we disembarked from the car that a pungent smell of rotting fish hit our noses. Having already booked the camp we sucked it up not letting it ruin our time here. Mark took this opportunity before dark to screw Buzz’s underside box back on, with the hope it wouldn’t happen again!
That night a few quiet beverages turned into several and before we knew it the smell had vanished! Mucking around the fire with the music cranking we ended up drinking a fair amount of the traditional Fruity Lexia. With the sun’s rays baking on our tent, the terrible odour of dead fish returning, we were over the moon when Stu volunteered to cook bacon and scrambled eggs on the hotplate! What a great way to recover!
Close by we visited an airstrip built in WW2 that was still used to this current day. It was very interesting with an abundance of information. One info board depicted how a nuclear bomb being detonated in a rainforest environment would compare to a standard situation. Using enough TNT on a stragically built tower, the test was conducted and the bombs were detonated. Scientists scrumaged through the aftermath and recorded their results, discovering such a blast would have positive results if needed in the war. Just before leaving, the old grounds keeper had a serious go at us all for parking on the grass in some shade. Apologising as there were no signs he was relentless to let us know we were in the wrong!
Leaving Iron Range National Park we set up next to Browns Creek. Not being 100% sure if there were crocs or not, swims were kept short in this freshwater creek, there were plenty of bait fish though! Trying our luck again with the net, we jagged about 8 small ones to use as bait! Going for a wood run after such success we stumbled across a large redgum trunk on the ground. Cutting a few decent logs from it, we unknowingly at the time gave birth to Big Red (one hell of a travelling companion).
After having leftover stew in the jaffle iron on glowing coals, meant bedtime for some and a night expidition for others. During their walk along the creek, Mark and Stu discovered the nocturnal wildlife! Spotting a couple of turtles Mark quickly delved into the water and caught one. Showing Nay his find in the tent he gave it a little kiss before releasing again. Seeing some interesting frogs and other types of small fish we talked about having to do more Nocturnal Marine Biology Wildlife Excursions (NMBWE) in days to come.
The following day we were up early and quick to get on the road. Our next big goal in the 4WD catagory was just ahead of us. A famous trail by the name of The Frenchman’s Track was only 2km down the road, it was on our to do list…
23/08/2016 – 25/08/2016