G’day all,
Videos of Wenlock & Pascoe River Crossing below:
Wenlock River_Frenchman Track_QLD
Pascoe River Crossing_Frenchman Track_
After knocking back camping at Bramwell Junction the night before we awoke to our campsite perched on the road at the intersection between two tracks. We packed up and got on our way. Today held the crossing of the Wenlock River and then the rocky and steep, deep Pascoe River.
We continued straight ahead at the intersection and found we were less than a klm away from the Wenlock River. We had aimed to get there the night before and had stopped just before darkness…one foot from gold, huh. Either way the plan worked out fine because you don’t want to rush any river crossing up in the Cape, otherwise you will get caught out.
The descent into the Wenlock River from is steep, no doubt about that. With rain it would be a muddy, slippery slide right down into the river. Luckily for us the river bank was dry and we were able to hold the car from sliding under the weight of the trailer and edge down the steep slope to the river. The bottom of this river crossing is sandy and that means always a risk of soft sand. The crossing is quite long and can be deep too. Off we went, keeping the momentum up and thankfully we did because out in the middle the sad was soft. Closing in on the far bank the ground firmed up again and we pulled out of the river onto a sand bank, turned sharp left and followed a sandy track out of the river. One down, one to go – river crossings that is.
The section of track between the Wenlock and Pascoe River is about 25 klms long and is full of water holes, small creeks, washed out sections and one steep rocky and rutted hill climb. There is a chicken track around the hill climb but where is the fun in that! Yep on, up and over the rocks, giving the suspension a big work out. The trailer was bouncing along behind us and copped a few more bashes to the ill placed number plate…that is going to need straightening.
At the top of the hill the track gets a little easier until your realise that you must be close to the Pascoe. If you are not following a live map or your odomometer you will soon guess where you are heading…get ready for a even steeper, rocky and rutted slide right down and into the Pascoe River. The descent probably starts a 200m back from the river and gets steeper and more rutted the further (or closer to the river) you go. There are a few hefty rocks on this section of the track and holding the car straight is almost impossible…what a challenge.
With about 30m to go there is a slight relief. Stop there and have a look at the crossing. The ground under foot is strewn with boulders and rocks that could catch the unwary out. From my vantage point of the river bank and high clearance as security I ignored the temptation to wander through the crocodile infested river and picked my line best I could…it looked deep and it was! Walk it or be warned, this crossing can catch you out…then again…what worse than wrecking your car is getting eaten by a croc…then again getting your car stuck in the middle then getting eaten by a croc trying to recover it is probably worse…I don’t know what to advise, probably get a 6inch lift, 35 inch tyres and just plough on through. This is what we did…slip and slide down the final 30m trying to keep the car straight and not topple into the river…getting hairy…picked a line slightly up river of the straight crossing, crossed the fingers and drove straight across. The car drove perfectly avoiding all the big rocks like we planned, what a dream crossing and how lucky were we! The trailer made a few clunks and bangs, mostly on the slippery, rocky descent to the river and other than being probably under water for a few moments didn’t seem to hit any rocks…it finally dawned on me that it had floated across behind the car!!!! The water was bonnet height, after recent rain, and on my highly lifted truck, that is deep.
Crossing the river is only half the challenge done. The exit is just as steep, muddy and slippery with some well placed boulders. Don’t stop on the way out of here cause you might not get going again. The saving grace is that the difficult part is only 30m or so. Up we went with ease, 35’s and rear diff lock providing security to towing the trailer and we were through. Pascoe River done.
We stopped to let a little water out the back of the trailer and had a well earned lunch break. Nothing like letting the heart rate get back to normal, huh. Me and the kids walked back down to the crossing for a few photos and crazily I decided to cool off and go for a quick swim. Funnily enough, there was no way I was walking the river only 10 mins earlier but with the adrenalin pumped a swim seemed like the perfect thing to do…what was I thinking!!!
The rest of the Frenchman’s Track is relatively flat and for the most part boring after the heart racing, adrenalin sucking section from the Wenlock to the Pascoe and after 7 klms we were turning right on the main road heading for Chili Beach. What I remember of this road was a windy road, crossing many creeks and then you hit the rainforest where you find more creeks and the road is even more windy. The drive through the rainforest is picturesque and is dotted with a few camping sites (fees apply due to NP). The creeks always spectacular whenever there is rainforest as a back drop.
Eventually we hit Chili Beach and the wind was blowing hard. This was unfortunate because I was really hoping to spend an afternoon soaking up the beach with a spot of fishing. Sand was blowing everywhere so we pretty much set up camp in a sheltered spot and played with the kids balancing on copper logs for the rest of the day.
Chili beach is naturally beautiful, but is an aweful place when the wind blows…only bugger is that it blows more often than not. That’s the trouble with some of the East Coast towards the top end, the beaches are beautiful but you generally can’t swim in them due to crocs and stingers when it is calm and the rest of the time it is ridicously windy.
We retired early and hoped the wind would drop during the night.
Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia