Tip of Woop Woop: 6th October 2016 - Travelling north across the Jardine River to Seisia

Leaving Bramwell Junction we travelled north on more rough roads......... We did have one extra bit of unplanned travelling - having left Bramwell Junction and travelled about 20 mins up the road, Terry suddenly remembered that we had forgotten to fill up with fuel!! An absolute no, no when you travel in these remote areas when you have no idea how long before you can top up again. Our rule is wherever there is fuel, we will always top up (we made that decision after coming very close to running out on the Dampier Peninsular last year). So we did a U'ee and drove back to Bramwell Roadhouse before heading north once again!!

Back on the dusty road again

The Jardine River Ranger Station

The Camping Area beside the Ranger Station

Before you cross the Jardine River you have to stop at the Ranger Station and purchase a permit - this permit includes the return river-crossing on the ferry, a permit to travel & camp (but not the cost of camping) in the Indigenous area. $130 - HOW MUCH!!!!!!

Crossing the Jardine River

The Jardine River

Jardine River Ferry

Terry drove the car & trailer onto the ferry and was greeted by the friendly crew - "How y' going, old timer?" "Who?" says Tezza looking around - "does he mean me???"

The Jardine River is a known home to some very big crocodiles. Once the ferry broke down in the middle of the river and a guy decided to swim the spare part out to the boat - he was taken by a crocodile and died.

An alternative to this ferry is the old Jardine River crossing a short distance away but it is quite precarious and many vehicles get stuck there. The main danger however, is the number of large crocodiles often seen there. A few days later we heard about a family (mother, father & young child) who tried to cross there with a trailer only to get stuck in the middle. The husband had to leave the vehicle, detach the trailer and connect it to the winch with the rope around a tree. Unfortunately the wife was left in charge of the winch controller and turned it the wrong way disconnecting the trailer so the guy had to go back into the water and connect the trailer again. He then had to do the same thing with the car. Luckily for them they arrived safely on the other bank but it could have been a whole different story!!

We then traveled on passing through Bamega to Seisia where we booked into the caravan park for a a couple of nights. Seisia, a small community has a lovely beach and has a dock from which the boats leave for Thursday Island in the Torres Strait. A few days later we made the trip to Thursday Island.

Seisia - end of season so plenty of camp sites to choose from

As we had arrived early in the day, we decided to take a drive up to Punsand Bay. We had be given various opinions from other travelers as to which place was the better place to stay. We returned in time for a leisurely dinner having decided that we would move on to Punsand after our 2 nights at Seisia. The road to Punsand Bay is very rough in places.