A very peaceful night at Merluna Station and the next morning it was once again pack up and hit the road. Tezza was very wary about traveling to Lockhart River and Chilli Beach because there were a couple to rivers on the map that we had to cross, but we had been told by various travelers how beautiful it is so I persisted. At the turnoff to Lockhart River, there was a group of young travelers just returning from that direction. We chatted to them about the road conditions and decided to go for it. The two rivers we had to cross were the Wenlock River and the Pascoe River and also Brown Creek.
 |
First river crossing - easy - low water levels & a concrete causeway no less!
|
Lockhart River reserve and Kutini Payamu National Park are all aboriginal areas and are restricted "dry" areas. There are big fines for carrying alcohol in these areas. Neither of us drink much alcohol but I am partial to the odd glass of sherry and I had a bottle in the trailer - the only option was drink it or bin it!!
 |
Drink it or Bin it!!
|
 |
Bit deeper at this crossing but no problem
|
 |
Another river crossing
|
We needed fuel and this was only available at Lockhart River so we left the road to Chilli Beach and entered the town stopping first at the Ranger Station to pick up a permit for the National Park. The
Ranger Station was closed and the self-service dispenser was out-of-order! We would have to leave our permit and the booking of a campsite until we arrived at Chilli Beach. We had been told there was phone reception on the beach at Chilli Beach.
(Queensland Parks & Wildlife service advise travelers to book online (the only option) - only problem is there is no internet in these remote places. Good one Queensland government!! - That's what happens when you adopt American methods without considering the remote areas of Queensland without internet connection of which there are many!!)
We headed into Lockhart River for fuel and everything was closed. We finally located a self-service fuel stop which took credit card but could not work out how to use it. Fortunately a friendly indigenous local noticed our predicament and came over to help us. Thank goodness for helpful locals!
 |
Finally get fuel with the help of a friendly local
|
We then traveled on to Chilli Beach along narrow dirt road through lush green rainforest
 |
The track to Chilli Beach
On arriving at Chilli Beach we checked out the various campsites before going onto the beach to see if our information was correct and that there was phone reception. There was so we proceeded to book our site online and all was well. There were only a few campers - probably only about half a dozen so we had plenty of sites to choose from as they stretched for some distance beside the beach. We chose one close to the beach but not too close for once again we were in croc country.
|
 |
Taken from our campsite only a few metres from the beach
|
The only facilites were drop toilets at each section of the campground but they were new and clean and only a short walk away. We hung our bush shower up in a tree to warm the water for our evening shower and went exploring on the beach. Once again we met up with our friends Jody & Ray from WA who had arrived at Chilli Beach the day before us and were camping a little further up the beach.
 |
Chilli Beach in one direction and..........
|
 |
.........Chilli Beach in the other direction - Crowded hey???
|
Camps sites were located just off the beach behind the tree line and accessed by a sand track parallel to the beach - large sites & all very private surrounded by rainforest.
 |
What fabulous scenery!!
|
 |
Sundown at Chilli Beach
|
 |
Sunset
|
