Everyone was up early keen to get on the road again. We left Bramwell Station and headed north. The termite mounds in the area were huge so we took the opportunity to get some photos that indicated how big they actually were..

The road from Bramwell Station was great – mostly unsealed but freshly graded and some bitumen sections.

A right turn onto the Old Telegraph Track saw us heading down to Fruitbat Falls our first stop.

The Toyota Precision Driving team came in hot as per usual with an amazing precision park in the falls carpark!!

Red dust tells no lies…and it was easy to see who had the dirtiest rear end…the Pearl  had the full powder-filled cracks and crevices with a fine film of overall dust…followed by the mighty Titan with a moderate amount of dirt…the Ranger had the cleanest backside of all!!

Fruitbat Falls were magnificent – large sandy bottomed pools at the base of a wide, fast flowing waterfall of crystal clear cool water – the best swim ever according to all. We swam for ages…

Kerry got out her snorkel and goggles for a better view….

Back massages were enjoyed by all….

The spa pools at the top of the falls were also really beautiful for a swim.

Elliot Creek gets its water from the porous sandstone beds which store huge amounts of water during the wet season and then release it into the creek during the dry. Fruitbat Falls are part of Elliot Creek as are the Elliot and Twin Falls further along the Old Telegraph Track which we plan to visit on our return from the Tip of the Cape.

We continued along the Bamaga Road towards the Jardine Ferry river crossing – the road was again a mix of sealed and unsealed  sections. Roadworks were in progress looking like they were preparing to tar the section in the near future.

Arriving at the Jardine River just after 12 midday we were surprised to find the ferry running as we had expected they would (as advertised) be closed for lunch from 12-1 – but the guy we bought the tickets from said they  were trialling opening from 7AM-6PM this season with no lunch break. The fee to cross was $100 which purchased a return journey. Rather than stopping for our lunch as we had originally thought we crossed the river….

The Jardine was full and flowing fairly fast – the barge managed to fit us all on at once and the journey was brief!

Across the other side we continued on to Bamaga and got fuel and some supplies at the grocery store then drove on to our accommodation a further 40ks roughly to Punsand Bay.

We turned off the main road at the Croc Tent (a tacky souvenir shop in the middle of nowhere) and drove out along the Punsand Bay road. Rounding a sharp bend we came upon a “small” river crossing full of bright red water – deceptive as it turned out to be quite deep as we drove through it with a dip in the centre. Dave and Rose came in hot around the bend and hit the crossing in style – managing to get red muddy water splashing over the bonnet of the Pearl who was not impressed…

Our campsite at Punsand Bay was absolute beachfront – stunning aqua water which looked so inviting but no swimming of course due to the crocs and sharks. We set up under the shady trees – our home for the next 4 nights.

Dave was into chillout mode immediately cracking out his book while Rosie blew the leaves off their mats – which had just fallen after setup… this will be an ongoing activity to try and stay ahead of the leaves to maintain the salubrious Wells campsite!!

Trev and Gordie were already on the lookout for “old mates”…..

As it was Father’s Day each Dad relaxed in their own unique way….

Dave having a beer….

Trev relaxing  at the campsite….

And Gordie gave himself  an uppercut to the upper lip while putting up the Hunter’s tent…

Punsand Bay is stunning – and the campsite is well set up for relaxed camping – shame about the crocs and sharks but they had an inground pool which we jumped in to cool off.