Saying goodbye to civilisation for a while, we couldn’t resist going out for one last big night in Cairns with our new recruit Stu.  Once fully recovered, we stocked up with bucket loads of tinned food, cryovaced meat from the butcher (Stu’s idea) and long life consumables.  We dropped back down for two days at Babinda to wait for Stu’s custom made 4WD snorkel to be installed (worst destination to wait as it poured rain the entire time!)  Once the snorkel was on, we were off on the next episode, departing the Cairns region which gave us so many unforgettable memories.

Sadly, Brook was still very waterlogged from not having a break while we dived and the torrential rain at Babinda didn’t help.  She found herself back in her home on the roofracks.  The next couple of nights we snuck in car parks where a late night tent set-up was required.  Doing a dodgy with these camps we still had great views of the beach and daintree rainforest as we made way to the Bloomfield.  That night sitting in the Cape Tribulation car park before bed, we were chatting excitedly at what the famous 4×4 track had to offer.

In the previous days to the build up of our adventure, we read about the Bloomfield alternative, the CREB 4WD track.  Hearing this potential route had swallowed over a dozen cars in the past week and closed by the council, our path up north could be interesting.  With the first river crossing being the most serious, the rest was rather smooth sailing.  The Bloomfield was well looked after, although unsealed, it was in good nick.  After a few serious climbs and descents the trucks were having no trouble.  All round it was a fantastic adventure with great sights.  We were awestruck by mother nature, cruising along our surroundings went from lush, thick rainforest to instantly transforming to open forest (like that of the High Country)!  We were even lucky enough to see a sunbaking croc from the lookout!

Reaching the end of the track, we went to the Aboriginal town of Wujal Wujal which had a sign advertising ‘The names so good, you say it twice!’.  Stopping by another waterfall, Queensland clearly had a surplus of these cascading wonders.

After hearing about its great history and being the last major town to have sealed roads, we stopped off at Cooktown.  A breathtaking view from the lighthouse lookout and one last petrol refuel (before prices started getting ridiculous) we hit up Battle Camp Rd.  Waving a final goodbye to the bitumen, we started our brutal relationship with corrugations (previously reducing tyre pressure to 32 psi to ease the pain).

An hour and a half in we hit a pretty camp spot called Isabella Falls.  Here there was also a perfect fresh water swimming hole with an added bonus of no crocs!!  This little hideaway was awesome.  We took the opportunity to relax in the bush and stayed a few days not knowing when the next fresh swimmable waterhole may be.  Having decent fires to cook up a storm we enjoyed swimming through the day and refreshing beer in the arvo.

This next part of the story leaves a sad chip on the shoulder.  As Brook finally had the chance to see fresh air, we pegged her out to dry.  Unfortunately she had an awful gut wrenching tang to her.  We could only put it down to our diving in Cairns that she had been locked away for so long in humid wet conditions.  Sadly her fur was falling off and her time with us was over.  One last Kodak moment and we placed her back in the tub to dispose of her…RIP Brook.

As the days at Isabella Falls swept by, we watched cars burn past returning from the northern roads all caked with red dust and mud.  During a deep philosophical chat one evening, Stu with his cleverly depicted number plate suggested calling his car Woody.  A quick lookover of our car with all doors open and the rooftop tent out, it was looking like a spaceship and was quickly dubbed Buzz.  As Buzz and Woody were back on the road, we were keen to shoot down the main drag where these filthy red cars were coming from.  We were keen to see what Cape York had to offer…