We reached the northernmost tip of the Australian continent after 2 hours of some highly entertaining 4wd-ing through varied terrain covered with an intriguing mosaic of eucalypt woodland and rainforest.

A 15 minute walk then lead us through more rainforest and over a heap of rocks to the tip. The view was crazy amazing, looking down from virtually a cliff onto a white sand beach with turquoise waters surrounded by completely untouched rainforest.

The time it took us to drive to the top from punsand bay was almost just as long as the time we spent taking photos once at the tip, being splashed horrendously by the waves from Torres Strait as they crashed against the rocks!! We turned this into a wet t-shirt competition!

We are standing at the northernmost tip of the Australian continent!

From the tip we could see across to Thursday island…the view was pretty spectacular. Making our way back, we knighted Thomas on the beach as our newest full member of murrumbidgee rover crew, and drove the cars onto the beach for photos before we headed back to punsand bay. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing Marco polo in the campsite pool…crocodile tracks on the beach scared a few of us to safer waters!!

We made a day trip to some WWII plane wrecks the next day, visiting the site where three allied aircraft lie, just out of Bamaga. The most intact was a DC3 that crashed in May 1945 with the loss of 6 passengers and crew. It was a poignant memorial to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in that conflict. The other wrecks were a kittyhawk and a beaufort bomber. A

After the plane wrecks, 2 vehicles headed up to a nearby port to do some crocodile hunting (to no success) while 5 of us in the other car went back to camp. I got some washing done and postcards posted, finding amusement in the post box at reception…an icecream container with a red P for Australia post!!

The friendship ruining game of munchkin (card game similar apparently to dungeons and dragons) that began while the other cars were out exploring went all night. Literally, we started playing around 3, played through dinner and possibly finished at around 11. With ample opportunity to backstab, theive and cheat, huw mentioned that it wasn’t the 24 hours in a small confined car together that was going to kill our friendships, it was this card game!…it was taken quite seriously!!

After having bought the souvenir shop out of everything, and Richard winning a beer on a naive faith in the raiders, we were ready to take the telegraph track back the other way!! We packed up and were driving out by 10 the next morning, hoping we had suffocated some of the bloody green ants in our tents during packing.

Green ants are particularly nasty insects who fall from trees and leaves, multiplying faster than blinking speed, and who seem to have legs of steel and an appetite for blood more so than Robert Patterson!

At the top of Australia!

Bypassing nelsons creek (because really, who wanted their bags washed again) and gunshot, we spent the morning on the highway until we reached a track which took us back into the telegraph. Everything was gravy until we came to sams creek.

Not as deep as nelsons, but full of pot holes, Calistas car went into one of the pot holes, and caught the bull bar on a ledge. For some reason during the scramble to get her pulled out, her winch decided to commit suicide by turning itself on, and due to the water wound in on itself, snapping in a spectacular fashion.

Meaning we had to drive through palm creek…the crossing which nearly toppled toms car and claimed his roof rack on the drove north…without a winch. Camping at cockatoo creek that night, the next day was definately going to be interesting!!