Travel Pics From Here and There

Somehow these photos got out of order when I loaded
them so please excuse the story jumping around a bit

In the far north of West Australia there is a little know
area called the “Bungle Bungles” there are more people
flown in for a quick look by helicopter than folk who
drive in as we did, (we also took a helicopter flight too.)

The area is known for the dozens of “Plum Pudding” like
rock formations which are 100/200 feet high and several
hundred yards around the base, it is well worth
putting up with the rough track to get there.

Yes that’s me wading across the Jardine River in far
north Qld. and YES there are crocodiles in that river,
there is an odd mix of adrenalin and testosterone
that can cause men to do strange things.

Only a few short years ago the intrepid traveler who
wanted to go to the tip of Cape York Peninsular had to
ford the Jardine River at this spot, now-a-days there
is a vehicular ferry only a couple of miles down stream.

Because the adrenalin/testosterone levels were
running high I had decided to ford the river on our return
trip, in the photo I am about half way across, (it’s about
200 yards from bank to bank) and it wasn’t until I reached
about this spot on the way back that I even thought
about crocs.

The ford is seldom used now so rather than just drive in
and hope for the best the idea is that you “walk” the river
first, zig-zagging around a bit to make sure there are no
holes, trees or sunken 4WD vehicles to impede you progress.

This one was taken from the ferry crossing the Jardine
River on the way up to the top end.

This is a safe and, for the adventurous type, dull way
to do it.

This Car Wash is one of the many beautiful clean creeks
to cross on the trip to Cape York, there are no crocs here,
this trip still rates as one of the “Adventure” 4WD trips
in Australia.

This shot shows us just launching our craft into the
river, having made our preparations; putting a tarp on
the front to reduce the water flow into the engine bay,
(the bow wave keeps water out to some degree)
reducing tire pressures to improve traction, making
absolutely certain the vehicle is in 4WD Low Range 2^nd
gear.

The intention is that we will not stop, change gears or in
any way break our steady progress during the crossing.

To get a little perspective on this venture, the spot is
1,000 miles north of Cairns and very remote a fairly
conservative estimate for salvage from here would be
$2,500 plus the cost of repairs that were needed, so
not something to be undertaken lightly,

The good news is that everything went exactly to plan
AND I didn’t get eaten by a crocodile, and boy did it
feel good, for a short time we were pioneers !!