The very Tip of Australian mainland

On Sunday 15 July, 2012, we reach the ultimate goal of this trip, which is the Tip. The tip of Cape York is traditionally known as Pajinka.
 

We took yet another narrow & rough track suitable for 4WD only,  travelling over a couple of creeks. The drive is through some beautiful rainforest with lots of dappled shade and some flowers. Once we joined up with the main road, if you can call it that, we met lots of traffic going to the same place. We were fortunate to find parking for all our vehicles.

A good rambling but steep climb leads you up and over some small hills and eventually after some 800 or so metres you can see the famous sign that said you have arrived!  We all took lots of pictures both as a group and individual  couples. This is the pinnacle of Australia.

At the Tip of Australia

We returned to the carpark and walked on past to the now abandoned Pajinka Resort just 400 metres from the very tip. It was privately built and then apparently handed over to the Aboriginals, the Injinoo people who are the traditional owners of the land, who apparently did not approve of the resort and let it go to ruins. It seems such a waste to our ‘white man’s sensibilities’. There seems to be a lot of myths and half truths of what happened, A fire guttered the generator plant, the resort created a lot of environmental fall out, the Aboriginals hated it and destroyed it, etc, etc etc.

One of the beautiful flowers at the top

Interesting colours of a oyster fungi growing on a tree trunk

Next stop was Somerset beach for lunch. A lovely picnic and camping area on a beach setting.  We went to see the ruins of the Somerset homestead, one of the Jardine family's homesteads. There’s nothing much is left of it, but it's worth looking at for insight into the European history of the region and the impact of the Jardine  Family on the peninsula. 

Bob sitting astride a cannon at Somerset Homestead

Typical jungle abounds both side - note the smooth track - that didn't last long!

Some mangrove roots

Just down the road is Fly Beach, which is where you will find an extraordinary amount of rubbish washed up from the sea.  Thongs, shampoo bottles, you name it anything plastic. I hear even tv’s and such are found occasionally washed down from Indonesia. Shari said it’s nickname is Thong beach and it is easy to see why. Young Ryan was delighted to find and show us handfuls of these tiny little crabs. Hey curl up into little balls of no more than 1cm diameter.

Lineup of our vehicles on Fly Beach

On the way back to camp we stopped at the fabled ‘Croc Tent’.  This is a shop that is literally in a road side tent that is apparently open seven months of the year selling souvenirs. They even try to ensure that as much as possible their souvenirs are made in Australia. 

Tonight we all chipped in and we had a great pot luck type of feast including a fabulous baked dinner and a variety of other yummy goodness including a giant damper of course.