We did our annual Cape York Peninsula road trip early this year, in June instead of October. It was early in the dry season, the roads were in great shape and we travelled to Lakeland, Laura, Lama Lama National Park, Coen, Wenlock River, Aurukun and Cooktown. All our interviews are up on this blog – and here’s an assortment of pictures from this wonderful part of the world.
Pictures by ABC Open’s Suzie Cray, ABC Far North legend Phil Staley, Lyndal Scobell from Cape York NRM, and me.
MUSGRAVE ROADHOUSE
THE DRIVE FROM CAIRNS TO THE TIP OF CAPE YORK IS ABOUT 1000 KILOMETRES. AT ROUGHLY THE HALF-WAY POINT, YOU’LL FIND THE HISTORIC MUSGRAVE ROAD HOUSE.
It’s about half-way between Laura & Coen, not far from Princess Charlotte Bay, a few hours drive to Pormpuraaw. There’s fuel, food, somewhere to stay, and stories of life on Cape York Peninsula now and way back in the old days.
MUSGRAVE MAP
Musgrave was built in 1887, one of the repeater stations on the Overland Telegraph line. The line ran through stations at Palmerville, Fairview, Coen, Mein, Moreton, McDonnell and Paterson. Musgrave was named after the then Queensland Governor.One of the last original poles that supported the Telegraph line still stands near the phone box outside the Musgrave road house.
It’s been welcoming travellers for over 100 years. They used to come by wagon and on horse-back. These days people drive the Cape York road in air-conditioned comfort, and some arrive by plane, landing at the road house air-strip.
Things have slowed down since the wet season got going this month, but back during the dry, Musgrave had an occupancy rate the envy of hoteliers everywhere — upwards of 90%.
John McDowall puts that down to old-fashioned good value accomodation and the district’s many natural delights. Click the audio player to meet John.
Read more about Musgrave Road House at http://www.musgraveroadhouse.com.au/
And you can visit another telegraph line station, Moreton, at http://www.moretonstation.com.au/index.html
MUSGRAVE ROADHOUSE CAPE YORK ROAD
The Mojowire 