Back to civillisation

Our return from Cape York was one of mixed emotions. I hadn't really enjoyed the trip for the most part and was relieved to be back on the bitumen. Dan had really enjoyed himself but had to cut the trip short due to work commitments. He was hoping to take the road back through Lakefield National Park. I was very glad to be cutting the trip short and returning to civilisation.

We arrived at Lakefield and were met by my mum and dad, who were waiting for us at the roadhouse. We had lunch together and then they went east to Cooktown and we continued south to pick up our caravan and to begin the huge task of cleaning away all the red dust!

While Dan caught up on his work, I spent two full days washing red dust out of every nook and cranny in the car and from our camping gear. Thank god we didn't take the caravan too!

We had left the caravan parked at Mt Carbine Caravan Park for the two weeks we were up The Cape. The owners of the park were extremely helpful and gave us their industrial vacuum to clean out the car. As we were paying for accommodation before and after our trip, they let us store the caravan there at no charge.

Once cleaned and refreshed we set off for  Lakeland Caravan Park and spent the morning of Sam's 10th birthday there. We left midmorning, and passing the huge Black Mountain we arrived at the gorgeous little village of Cooktown, famous as the place where Captain James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs in 1770.

The site of modern Cooktown was the meeting place of two vastly different cultures when, in June 1770, the local Aboriginal tribe cautiously watched the crippled sailing ship– His Majesty's Bark Endeavour – limp up the coast seeking a safe harbour, after sustaining serious damage to its wooden hull on the Endeavour Reef, south of Cooktown.

 

 

 

We checked into the Big 4 caravan Park in Cooktown on a site next to mum and dad. The park is just a short walk into town so we walked to one of the many pubs and celebrated Sam’s birthday with a great pub meal.

Over the next few days we caught up with the Cronan and Woods families on their way through from Lakefield National Park, and Tony and Bernie came up to the Caravan park for a couple of days from Port Douglas.