​The next morning at Loyalty beach, Stu discovered that he left his swag over on T.I.  He came to the conclusion that he still wanted a bed in reserve.  Moving to Seisia Caravan Park for some change in scenery, we lazed in the sun until the mechanic was open Monday.  Still being able to roll start Woody, we visited the mechanic who explained the simple problem of the starter.  Luckily for us as we retired to Punsand Bay along the corrugations, the rumbling was enough to get things going again.  Woody was back in full working order!  With slight miscommunication and the beauty of a swimming pool at Punsand Bay, the swag had no owner to pick it up at the Seisia wharf and ended up going walkabout, R.I.P swag.

Leaving the luxury of a swimming pool, we explored a couple of old plane wrecks which to our suprise, were large segments of the old bombers.  The next remote location on our list was Mutee Head.  Back south down the Cape, we slipped off onto a narrow sandy track.  Just when we thought we were heading nowhere, the vast mouth of the Jardine River was before our eyes.  Lowering the tyre pressure again, we booted off onto the incredibly soft sand until stopping on the foreshore with not a soul for kilometres.  During the sunset, we feasted on more namus and even spotted a cheeky croc before he dropped down into the depths of the ocean.

The time had come to make our way back across the mighty Jardine River.  To our luck as the power was out when we initial went over the crossing and as such, we couldn’t pay by card for our $99 ticket.  We were supposed to pay on the return trip but only after the ferry did we realise that no one had asked us and we cruised over at no charge!!
School holidays were now in full force and the roads had trails of red dust everywhere from all the cars – thankfully we were heading south!  We decided to bypass the north and head back down on the southern section of the OTT.   Resting a little way in, we camped at the insane crossing of Gunshot (infamous for its entries and exits at an 80 degree incline!)  We were able to have a swim here and watch people on the track but unfortunately missed watching someone do the incredible drop in.  When it was our turn to tackle the obstacle, we took the ‘chicken’ track which was still a feat in its own.  Stu needing MaxTrax to gain traction on the exit, Mark punched it a little harder and made it out!  We did leave a little souvenir on the novelty tree, a thong marking our ‘She’ll Be Right Tour 2016’.  

We found the southern section to be a lot tamer than the northern.  Less obstacles in between the shallow river crossings meant for an easier yet fun adventure.  Staying another night on the OTT at Birdie Creek we made most of the deep infinity pool next to the shallow crossing.  We went to town on a couple of dead trees with Stu’s axe and cranked a fire.  Big Red happily sat by and watched us party away.  Waking up in the quiet bush surrounds, we were coming close to our final challenge, Palm Creek.

Birdie Creek Boat Race Competition
After some funny attempts of Mark making bark and leaf boats, we all jumped on the bandwagon.  Stu (left), Nay (middle) and Mark (right) made for a heated competition.  Nay came out victorious and the boys boats had a sad death as they collided and sunk.

The last time we had seen Palm Creek was when we camped there on the journey north.  Back then it was a steep climb out which could of almost been impossible for us to make it through.  Slightly concerned we may of had to drive all the way back through the OTT and onto the bypass road, we still ventured to see what was in store for us.  Luckily with all the holiday goers the once steep section had been scraped out to an achievable exit.
Gathering an audience, Buzz crawled down the steep hill into the dry riverbed.  As there was a large ditch at the bottom of the exit, just as he was about to crawl out there was a loud bang!  This time the rear left box decided to sheer off!  As the crowd cringed, Nay explained to them that it was only a matter of screwing it back on.  Woody up next also took the entry with ease.  With roughly the same rear clearance, Woody punched it out of Palm Creek and  smashed his rear bumper to a 90 degree angle.  Some manipulating as we jumped on the back bent it to its original position!

The infamous OTT, both northern and southern sections, were conquered!  As we drove away back down to Coen we were excited by such an accomplishment with only minor setbacks.

Once back on the Developmental Road to Coen, Woody decided to pack it in as he struggle to go faster than 60km/hr.  With an unknown diagnosis we limped back to our oasis by the Archer River.  Stu was cursing at Woody and Mark took the time to screw the box back on Buzz.   Back on the red dusty corrugations we continued the crawl to Coen only 66km from where we camped.  2 hours later we arrived to watch the Bulldogs defeat GWS at the local pub.  Retiring to the Coen river we lounged around patiently waiting for the mechanic to help us with Woody…
19/09/2016 – 25/09/2016