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

Day: 035
Date: Thursday, 31 August 2006
Summary: Riding from Seisia to tip of Cape York and return.
Start: Seisia
Finish: Seisia
Daily Kilometres: 35
Total Kilometres: 4170
Weather: Warm to hot and sunny with south-easterly winds.
Accommodation: Cabin at Seisia Campground , Queensland.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Bacon and egg roll
  Lunch:  Snacks
  Dinner:  Hamburger and chips for dinner.
Encounters: It seemed that many people and groups I had met in the last week converged on the tip of Cape York today.  Firstly, as I passed a little souvenir shack about half-way to the Cape, the members of a tour group I had met three days ago (who must have been told a cyclist was coming by the driver of a vehicle that passed me earlier) came out to the side of the road and clapped and cheered me past.  Secondly, when I finally reached the Cape, Barry and Jan, one of the couples who had offered me dinner at the Jardine River two nights ago were there to greet me.  Thirdly, a couple of trail bike riders I had met a week ago in Lakefield NP were just arriving at the Cape as I left.  Additionally, a number of other people around the Cape at the time came up to me and said they had seen me on the road earlier, etc., and wanted to know more about the trip.  All in all, it was like a reunion of old friends and made it a very pleasant day.
Highlights: On my way riding back from the Cape , there was a great stretch of a couple of kilometres of gradually downhill narrow hard-packed red clay road which wound through an exotic leafy and cool rainforest.  With no bags on the bike and the pleasure of having completed the mission in my mind, it was a fast and exhilarating descent.
Lowlights: Only that I couldn’t get my camera fixed and had to buy a disposable for the last photos of my trip.

Journal:
I slept well, in contrast to the previous night, and took my time packing up and getting some breakfast in the morning, before calling Canon to see if there was some way to unjam my digital camera.  Unfortunately there was not, so I rode to the small nearby supermarket and bought a disposable camera to use for the remainder of my trip.

I then set off for the tip of Cape York , taking a little-used rough back road for the first part of the trip, before joining the main road to the tip.  Actually, “main” is a bit of an exaggeration, since it was still quite corrugated and sandy in parts, and not very busy. Nearer to the Cape it narrowed as it passed through some very pretty rainforest.  The total journey was 35km, but without bags on the bike, it was an easy and quite fast ride.  From the end of the road there is a boardwalk through some rainforest before the path leads over a rocky headland and down to the tip where there is a sign.  It was a bit of a struggle pushing the bike over the rocky trail, but I wanted to take it to the tip.

On the way to and from the tip, I met quite a number of people I had encountered on the road in the past week, and enjoyed chatting with them all.

I reached the actual tip about 11:30am and symbolically tipped my little jar of salt water from the southern tip into the sea, while one of the people I had met along the road took a picture of me with my new disposable camera.

It was a beautiful sunny and warm day.  On the western side of the Cape , back from the rocky tip, was a sweeping brilliantly white sandy beach lapped by a calm and perfectly clear aquamarine sea and bordered by verdant rainforest.  Offshore was a sizeable sea-going yacht that would have looked at home next to any South Pacific island.  On the eastern side, the sea was swept by a brisk south-easterly wind which caused some whitecaps, and the sea was more translucent than transparent.  In all directions and at all distances could be seen big and small islands, all looking exotic and enticing.

I hung around at the tip for about an hour savouring the moment and taking in the view.  There was a steady stream of tourists, a number of whom were taking the opportunity to cast a line into the sea in the hope of catching something, and a story to tell.  I didn’t see any fish get caught.

I then walked slowly back to the road and rode straight into Bamaga, enjoying the sense of accomplishment and completion.  In Bamaga, I bought some sandals and a pair of shorts (to double the size of my casual wardrobe) and then returned to the campsite at Seisia where I dismantled my camp and moved into the basic cabin that will be my home until Monday when the cargo boat I am booked on leaves for Cairns. I will spend tomorrow cleaning some of my gear, which is all permeated with fine red dust, and visiting a library with internet access about 10km away to file the final part of my trip diary.  I have booked a day trip to Thursday Island for Saturday and will take it easy on Sunday.  From Cairns I am catching a train to Brisbane , which will take about a day and a half, and then a train from Brisbane to Gosford which will take a day.  I will be home on Saturday evening, 9 September 2006.