Monto to Atherton

Heading North

We had intended to head up to Cape York after the school holidays, mid July, well after the wet season. But reports were coming in to say the roads on the cape were drying out and the grader had been through (most of the roads are dirt and a lot are just tracks). Also, the Jardine Ferry was operational again after the wet season (the only way to get across the Jardine River to the very tip of Australia by road). So instead of meandering slowing north, we decide to head straight up and do our exploration of Cape York before the school holidays started on the 1st of July. Dry season school holidays are horrendously busy on Cape York.

Duaringa RV stop

Our first overnight stop was at Duaringa RV stop. $5 a night donation, no power or water, but there were toilets, hot showers, a dump point, potable water to fill our van and a WiFi hub, something we hadn’t seen before. From a distance it looked like an electric BBQ near the information centre. It had WiFi and charge points for iPhones etc.

Emerald

The free camp in Emerald is between the rail line and the highway. Very close to both. We decided to get an unpowered site at the Emerald Caravan Park, much quieter. We splurged on takeaway from a fabulous Thai restaurant to celebrate my birthday. Fantastic Food, highly recommend them. ‘Emerald Thai Food ‘

Road side free camp

Our next overnight stop was a free camp at “Gravel Pit’ Cnr Rocky Creek Road and Gregory Development Road. Excellent spot, clean, quiet at night even though it was close to the highway. No amenities, just a hard flat surface perfectly angled to stay hitched overnight. We use WikiCamps a lot while we are travelling to find these spots to stay as well as dump points and water stations.

Some very large loads frequent this highway. These two were 8 metres wide with lots of police escorts. Pulling off the road into the bushland with a caravan to let them pass was a bit tricky.

Hotel Euramo

We free camped at the back of Hotel Euramo, which became known as ‘Hotel Euramo Yacht Club‘ during the 2023 floods. Locals came in their tinnies (small boats) to catch up and support each other and for a drink and meal. Keep in mind this is crocodile country. We had a lovely afternoon chatting to the publican and locals, who entertained us with stories of the local area. We usually have a meal at pubs that provide free camping, but the kitchen wasn’t opened. This area is mostly sugar cane and banana country. There are over 250 varieties of sugar cane and 7 varieties of banana grown in Australia)

Photos below also show Cardwell (just south of Hotel Euramo) where we have a tradition of stopping for one of their famous “Crab Sanga’s” (sandwiches)

Atherton

From Hotel Euramo we stopped in Tully for the dump point. We visited the Tully Sugar Mill in 2019, you can see our blog here. We then passed lots of sugar cane fields and banana plantations, then up the range to the Atherton Tablelands to the town of Atherton. We stayed 3 nights at the Atherton Holiday Park where we could stock up on supplies, get washing done, repack the car and also store the van while we explored Cape York in our tent.