CAPE YORK July 2007
Our convoy of seven vehicles (all Pajeros) departed Cairns on 30 June 2007 heading north. The destination - “The Tip” Cape York.
Follow the journey with Eric and his excellent photos.
A great team of people, diverse characters all, but melded together and created a spirit of adventure, support and friendship. – We could conquer all…
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Our days vary from viewing historical sites, fishing trips, challenging 4WD tracks (Bloomfield, OTL, and Frenchman’s), river crossings, looking for pigs, gathering fire wood, exploring and photographing diverse flora and fauna, amazing sunsets and scenery, special happy hours, food from the land/sea, shell collecting, exploring new places, poetry by the campfire, croc sightings and drinking margaritas watching the sunset over the Gulf.
Special highlights from the people on the trip are:-
Eric Having to snatch a Toyota Landcruiser up Gunshot so we could go down.
The barra, crab, sushi and rice paper rolls for happy hour.
Helga Standing on “The Tip” the most northerly point on the mainland having already been to the most east, west, and south points.
Good company, great happy hours and a birthday I will always remember.
John Exploring Cape Melville
The Happy Hour Tradition
Mike Reaching bag limits for Barra at Cape Melville.
Wild crocs at the mouth of the Jardine River.
Rodney Conducted tour of Weipa – explanations/history and present use – the mining operations and environmental replanting and the movement of mined bauxite.
The ability to share five days at “The Top” with our youngest son including standing on that point, visiting Thursday Island and the exploration thereof and fishing (albeit with limited catch) along the nearby coastline.
Mary Bush camping at one with nature on the Old Telegraph Track at the Dulhunty – far from the madding crowd.
“The icing on the cake” the Parkers’ special celebration nights to highlight days will remain as a special memory of a great group who came together with the common goal of reaching Cape York.
Lorraine Looking out from the lookout at Cooktown and seeing the beauty in such a country.
A night at Cape Melville – watching the sunset over Flinders Island.
Alan Catching my first “Barra” for the trip at Kalpower on the Normanby River.
Camping on the riverbanks, like the Coen River, great spot, great night –under the stars.
Pat The size of Thursday Island was a surprise to me as I had expected it to be smaller. The amount of Government buildings was amazing. During a tour we took in the amazing views from Green Hill which looked out over several of the Torres Strait islands
Some of us went on a charter fishing trip out from the tip. It turned out to be a great day with several large fish being caught. The highlight was seeing three crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks of the Jardine River.
Tricia Cooktown is a small country town that understandably reeks of history but it was the magnificent view from the top of Grassy Hill that made this town one of the special places of this trip for me. The 360 degree view was breathtaking and although many photos were taken none of them came near to showing its beauty.
Happy hour is always something to look forward to at the end of the day but the ones on this trip were very special. They ranged from gifts being distributed for people who had made fools of themselves or had excelled sometime throughout the day. Besides a little alcohol consumed we had delicacies ranging from mud crab to green pawpaw salad to Sushi. We often had show and tell to display items collected from our day exploring. The thing that will stay in my memory of this trip is definitely the comradeship that developed within the first few days.
Lloyd The sunsets over water.
Driving all day in second gear and meeting the challenges that came up.
Sue The social interaction.
Early morning swims under the waterfall.
Brent Everything we did at Bathurst Bay.
Spending time with such an interesting group of people.
Cassandra Fruit, food and produce acquired off the land and sea.
Swimming at “The Saucepan” – Elliott River.
Bill The local band at the Sesia Fishing Club.
Finishing Frenchman’s track and crossing the Pascoe River. 5.5 hours for 52 kms.
Jen Pearl shopping on Thursday Island.
Boat races at “The Saucepan” Elliott River during happy hour.
26 July 2007—Mareeba—3,225 kms and our trip is at an end with a farewell dinner at the RSL Mareeba.
Thank you to all who shared this wonderful journey, a goal achieved for all of us but made very special by those we shared it with.
Jen and Bill Parker
The recent trippers to Cape York certainly enjoyed some great food whilst on the road. They’ve got together some of the recipes for their wonderful culinary delights. Thanks to everyone for sharing them with us here.
MARGARITA RECIPE – John Heaslip and Mike Shaw
2 shots of Tequila or Mescal
1 shot of Cointreau
½ shot lemon juice
⅔ shot lime juice
Shake vigorously with ice
Serve in a salt crusted martini glass
BANANAS WITH CHOCOLATE - Jen Parker
Quantity of bananas – leave skin on.
Shaved chocolate
Slice banana three quarters way through lengthways.
Insert shaved chocolate.
Wrap in foil. Cook around coals for 10 minutes.
Unwrap peel and serve with fresh cream
STUFFED APPLES – Jen Parker
Quantity of green cooking apples 1 per person
Per apple soak a dessertspoon of sultanas in a half dessertspoon of rum liqueur (or alcohol to suit your taste) and ¼ teaspoon of sugar 1 to 2 hours
Core apple and fill with sultana mixture. Wrap in foil. Cook around camp fire for about 20 minutes or till apple is soft. Unwrap and serve with fresh cream or custard
BURDEKIN PLUM DESSERT – Sue Akeroyd
First climb the tree and shake the limbs. Collect up the fruit that falls. Keep in a bag or bury in sand for a few days to ripen. Eat fresh or chop and simmer in a little water with a spoon of sugar. The natural pectin thickens the fruit mixture. Serve with almond bread or pancakes. Very nutritious.
(Burdekin Plums have a dark purple skin and a lighter purple flesh. Simmered with water produces a mauve coloured jam)
BARRA IN FOIL ENVELOPES – Alan and Lorraine Puckridge
2 small barra fillets boned
1 slice of lemon
Lay out foil sheet, place olive oil on foil, place barra and lemon on foil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Crimp edges to make a sealed envelope. Rake hot coals flat and lay envelope on top. Turn over at 6 to 7 minutes. Take off after a further 6 minutes. Test with a sharp knife it should slide straight through. Serve with salad and a good white wine
MUD CRABS – Alan Puckridge
Cook in a camp oven for 7 to 10 minutes in boiling ocean saltwater.
Cool in saltwater and clean as soon as possible
SULTANA DAMPER on CAPE MELVILLE – Helga Newman
3 cups SR flour
1 teaspoon sugar
30g butter
1 handful sultanas (80g)
Grated zest of 1 orange
½ cup milk
1 cup water
(don’t need to be too precise with amounts)
Soften butter and rub into the SR Flour. Add sugar, sultanas and zest. Make a well in centre, add ½ cup milk and enough water from 1 cup to mix to a soft, sticky dough (use a knife for best results). Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth. Press dough into circle (camp oven size), cut a cross on top of dough, place in alfoil in camp oven and cook with coals on top and bottom of oven for approximately 30 minutes or until damper sounds hollow when tapped.
Either break into pieces or slice and serve as is or with butter, honey or syrup.
CAPE MELVILLE DAMPER – Alan Puckridge
1 600gm packet of breadmix
1 red onion
15 black olives
50g diced salami
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl add yeast with about one and a half cups of warm water. Mix well to a firm dough. Leave stand for 30 minutes to rise. Knead the loaf for a minute or so and leave as a round shape. Oil tin or camp oven. Place loaf in but keep off the bottom. Use 22 heat beads – One ring of beads around the lid and the rest underneath. Check with a skewer at 30 minutes and it may take up to 60 minutes. If the skewer comes out sticky it’s not cooked. Enjoy with anything
CRAYFISH – Constable Andrew
1 fresh crayfish
5 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
Clean and extract crayfish tail. Break up into bite sized pieces.
Fry garlic in hot oil for 1 minute
Stir in soy sauce
Toss in crayfish and cook quickly until flesh is white. Don’t overcook it toughens up.
Serve immediately with white wine
BBQ CRAYFISH – Alan and Lorraine Puckridge
Cut one fresh painted crayfish in half lengthways and wash with sea water.
Place butter and garlic on open side of crayfish.
Place open side down on a moderate to hot BBQ plate. Leave till the crayfish is red and meat is white. Enjoy with a glass of wine.
CURRY PAWPAW – The Thursday Island Cook Book (as prepared by Sue Akeroyd and Tricia Morrow)
1 green pawpaw about 1kg
¼ kg mince steak
2 rashers bacon
1 dessertspoon of curry powder
1 small knob of ginger crushed
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 cup of water
¼ cup peanut oil
1 tablespoon sultanas
Peel the pawpaw, discard the seeds, and cut the fruit into cubes. Heat the oil in a frypan, add the curry and blend. Add pawpaw, mince, ginger, diced bacon and stir over a good heat for about five minutes. Turn down the heat and add sugar, water and sultanas. Simmer till the pawpaw is cooked, about 30 minutes, taking care not to overcook. Serve with rice.
PAWPAW SALAD ALA CHILI BEACH – Eric Newman
1 green pawpaw coarsely grated
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
½ cup sweet chili sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
Juice of one lemon or lime
Pinch of salt
Mix all ingredients and let flavours combine. Adjust ingredients to preferred taste. Serve chilled.
RICE PAPER ROLLS – Tricia Morrow
Chicken breast fillets cooked
Rice Vermicelli (made to directions on packet)
17cm-square rice paper sheets
Small red capsicum (150g), sliced thinly
Bean sprouts
Fresh mint leaves
Coriander leaves
Dipping Sauce suggestions—Sweet chilli sauce or Chilli sauce or Kecap Manis (Sweet Soy Sauce) or Soy Sauce or Wasibi or Oyster Sauce
Place one sheet of rice paper in medium bowl of warm water until just softened; carefully lift from water. Place on board; pat dry with absorbent paper. Position rice paper in diamond shape; place chicken slice vertically down centre of rice paper, top with capsicum, sprouts, mint and coriander.
Fold bottom corner over filling; roll rice paper from side to side to enclose filling. Repeat with remaining rice paper sheets and filling.
SUSHI ROLLS – Sue Akeroyd
Cook some rice. When cooked add a tablespoon of vinegar and stir through. Spread a sheet of seaweed on the table, add a few spoons of rice to one end. Add crab meat, fresh prawns, smoked salmon or spiced meat. Roll up tightly. Chill until Happy Hour. Serve with sweet soy sauce or chilli sauce.
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