Wilsons Promontory to Cape York by bike - Jardine River to Seisia

Day: 034
Date: Wednesday, 30 August 2006
Summary: Riding from Jardine River Ferry to Seisia.
Start: Jardine River Ferry
Finish: Seisia
Daily Kilometres: 51
Total Kilometres: 4135
Weather: Warm to hot and sunny with easterly winds.
Accommodation: Camping at Seisia Campground , Queensland.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli bars and scroggin/gorp
  Lunch:  Two pies
  Dinner:  Fish, chips and salad for dinner.
Encounters: None really.  Saw some Army truck learner drivers heading south towards the Jardine River ferry.  It recalled memories of 35 years ago when my National Service job was leading a platoon teaching soldiers to drive trucks.
Highlights: Reaching the sealed road just before getting to Bamaga was a relief.  The morning had again been hard riding on sand and corrugations, and the sealed road signalled the virtual end of such roads.  The road construction crew that was staying at the same campground at the Jardine River last night have apparently just finished upgrading the road from Bamaga to the tip of Cape York.
Lowlights: My camera has malfunctioned/jammed and I can’t get it working.  I tried calling Barb to see if there was anything in the Manual, but it was no help.  She got a Canon Helpline number and I’ll try that tomorrow.  If no success, I guess I’ll buy a disposable for the final pictures of my trip to the Cape tomorrow.

Journal:
I had trouble getting to sleep last night, maybe because the trip is almost over, or maybe because I had too much Diet Coke before going to bed (probably the latter!).  I spent the sleepless time thinking about what the next adventure might be.  I got up at 6am when the camp started stirring and had a leisurely pack up and breakfast, since the ferry wasn’t due to begin operating until 8am.  As it turned out, the ferry had some engine problems and I didn’t get across until 8:30am.

Yet again, the road was a lot worse than I remembered and the 45km to Bamaga involved plenty of walking through sand and innumerable corrugations.  The country was mostly dry undulating forests with some good views here and there.  Along the way, I met the German family I had first met at Archer River several days ago who were now on their way back down the Cape .

Just before arriving in Bamaga, when I finally got some mobile phone reception, I called the campground at Seisia (on the beach 6km from Bamaga and adjacent to the jetty where I will catch the boat back to Cairns next Monday) to see if I could get a cabin.  They had nothing available for tonight, but I should be OK for the remaining nights, so I said I would come and camp there tonight and move into a cabin tomorrow.

I rolled into Bamaga, literally, since there was a long downhill sealed road, about noon (3.5 hours for 45km) and found the bakery where I had a couple of pies for lunch.  I then went to the store and bought some replacement sunglasses and a replacement bike lock, before riding the 6km to Seisia.  I checked in, set up camp, showered, and generally lounged around for the afternoon before getting fish and chips for dinner at the local café.  I’ll ride to the 35km to the tip of Cape York tomorrow, but won’t leave until I’ve had a chance to call Canon about my camera.  I would like to get to the tip around noon so that it would be exactly 34 days from the moment I left the southern tip of Wilsons Promontory, but it may not work out depending on the road and the camera.