So we'd made it up to the Cape, though not yet to the very northerly tip of mainland Australia. Rather than explore further on Monday, we decided to collapse at Seisia for a day and relax, sitting in our little hut, Jen catching up on some internet time, and me planning our route back down the Cape. We spent some time chatting to the groups around us as well. There was an older couple who had come up from Cooktown who were regulars at Seisia. A group from Victoria who'd balanced the trip by having their wives fly up to Cairns with the two men making the 3,000km journey up there as a boys trip in their Landcruiser. And a young couple with their son were there for a few days to explore Thursday Island to see whether or not mum and son would be happy living on such a remote island as dad had been offered a job. Its fair to say that, the further from civilisation you get, the friendlier people are!
Beach at Seisia
Another tough day at the office
Jen at camp (catching up on the fantasy football internet gossip!)
Ingenious signs for the shower blocks too (Sheila, I think you'll like these...)
On Tuesday we drove up to the tip itself and had our photo taken with the sign to prove we'd been there!
Jen at the Tip!
We made it!
We'd toyed with the idea of taking a bottle of champagne to open at the tip, but with alcohol limitations in the aboriginal settlements on the Cape and the cost of champagne in this country, we decided we'd make do with a beer back at camp. Luckily for us though we met John Casella and his son Philip, who'd raced from the Hunter Valley in NSW all the way up to the tip in a week! The Yellow Tail winery is their family vineyard, but John had indulged in some French champagne to celebrate their achievement in reaching the tip of Australia, and insisted we share a glass (well, a plastic cup!) with them.
http://www.yellowtailwine.com/john-casella
We drank this with our last rations of English Dairy Milk chocolate and watched turtles coming up for air in the rough strait between the mainland and York Island. We think they were probably Olive Ridley Turtles, an added bonus for reaching the tip.
Then we drove out to Somerset beach, which we'd heard was lovely. We were a little disappointed with it, though the overcast weather perhaps hindered its appearance. We started to head out on the sand track to the east, but didn't make it far as Jen felt we were pushing our luck to be testing poor Priscilla further with a deep sandy track. We turned back, which proved to be a very good decision. Back on the corrugated road towards Bamaga the engine warning light lit on up the dashboard. We stopped. Turned the engine off. Started again.... Fine until we got above 2,000 revs, at which point the light came back on. Mild panic set in. We limped the 20kms back to Bamaga keeping the revs below 2,000 to the mechanic there for testing.
The computer test suggested we had a problem with the fuel pump – the mechanic said these pumps don't stand up to any contamination, and a new pump would be a $6,000 job! Severe panic set in. The first step though was to replace the fuel filter and see whether that would sort the problem – the manager of the shop said there are three types of diesel, Australian diesel, Japanese diesel and Bamaga diesel – Bamaga fuel being particularly low grade and subject to contamination. He said they'd had people with a similar problem get all the way back down to Cairns with the engine light on, but he couldn't guarantee anything. So, with the new fuel filter in and our pockets $215 lighter thanks to remoteness tax payable on all things in Bamaga, we headed back to our Seisia campground for the night to lick our wounds. We made some calls and did some research on the internet, and the news was not good – Bamaga prices dictated a 30% uplift, but it still seemed to be a $3-4,000 if the pump needed overhaul back in civilisation. And that was only if we could get her that far.....
So on Wednesday we got up and set off south. We'd hoped to take our time heading back down the Cape, planning to head out to the East to visit Captain Billy's Landing and Iron Range National Park, but it wasn't to be. Instead we drove around 400kms south around the bypass roads then down the developmental track back to Archer River for the night, one eye on the engine warning light, expecting it to come on any minute. It didn't. At Archer River we met up with a lovely guy who we'd talked to on our way up the Old Telegraph Track a few days before. He was travelling with his family in a 4wd campervan/people carrier, but his radiator had cracked, and he was stuck in Archer River waiting for the part to be delivered so he could fix it. If it didn't arrive on Friday, he'd have to wait another week until the next post delivery plane flew into Archer River – everyone on Cape York has some story of wreckage to tell!
On Thursday we set off south again, and made it a further 300kms to Laura. We were beginning to feel that the pump must be ok, so elected to take a different route back to Cooktown, via the Battlecamp Road. This is meant to be a lovely drive and the same distance as going down through Lakeland then back across the bitumen to Cooktown. We made it fewer than 20kms up the red road before the engine light came back on. We stopped. Started the engine again, the light went off. With the light off, we crawled back to Laura to get phone signal so we could call for roadside assistance. There we spoke to RACQ who got their mechanic in Cooktown on the line. I explained the recent history, and our concern that we had an issue with the fuel pump, expecting to be told he'd come and get us and not to drive any further. Instead, the mechanic (Ray), was a lot more positive and said that as long as we weren't having any issues with power, we should continue on – the engine light may be coming on for a different reason, or we may have an electrical issue.
Not confident, but pleased to hear a mechanic with a different perspective, we set off south again and made it back to the Lion's Den pub, just south of Cooktown. Nice views around Lakeland as the sunset on our way there.
The engine light didn't come back on, and Priscilla didn't seem to be handling any differently to before. At the Lion's Den we had a pizza and a few beers, chatting to a nice couple who were heading to Airlie Beach to manage a carpet business while the owners went on holiday. We inscribed our names on the wall to confirm we'd made it to the Tip, then had another fitful night worrying about poor Priscilla.
On Friday we headed to Cooktown and Ray's vehicle repair and servicing shop. Unfortunately when his mechanic ran the computer check, it confirmed the same error code, suggesting we did indeed have a problem with the fuel pump. The mechanic said they'd had some success with replacing the primer on the filter, as this can sometimes be sucking air which causes the engine light to come on, but it wasn't fail-safe. He said he'd leave it to Ray to talk to us about it. Ray came back later and asked what we'd decided – confusing us to the extreme since we were expecting some guidance from him. He said he thought we should just drive back down to Cairns and see the Nissan Dealer there, which wasn't entirely helpful.
We left, confused and pretty frustrated. I called a lot of diesel mechanics and Nissan dealers in the area, but only found one guy who was familiar with the issue. Thanks to Glen at Nissan in Innisfail though, you were our only ray of light! Glen said this was a common problem, and diesel mechanics in the area were replacing the primer on the filter as a first step to fix the issue. It cost around $400 and couldn't be guaranteed to work, but if it did work, it saved around $3,000. I had another fitful night, during which I decided I didn't want to drive 300kms to Cairns or 400kms to Innisfail, not knowing whether Priscilla would make it, when there was a potential fix they could run in Cooktown. We called back into Ray, who was clearly overrun and working through his Saturday, but agreed to see us again on Monday about ordering and fitting the primer.
We spent the rest of Saturday exploring Cooktown and visiting the Captain Cook Museum (which was excellent), catching up on washing and having a swim at the lovely (if expensive) caravan park.
Sunday was more of the same, we cleaned the car (red dust gets EVERYWHERE!), had a swim in the pool and tried desperately to catch up on the blog – as you may have noticed, we failed on that count!
So week 30 started with a bang, but ended with a whimper. Keep your fingers crossed for Priscilla for us, she's clearly feeling the strain of a year off-road!
Love to all,
Claire, of Jen and Claire Fame
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