Cape York road Upgrade-Fact or Fiction?

KFT · Guru

Cape York road Upgrade-Fact or Fiction?

bill12 · Guru

Seeing is believing. My nephew lives at Bamaga , and the only reason I don,t visit him is the exorbitant charge to cross the Jardine. The local native title mob own the barge,and destroyed the ford, so everybody would have to go on the ferry, and then doubled the price.you either pay it or go back.The new bridge and an ungrade to the road would be great, but don,t hold your breath. Bill

navynurse · Senior Member

I was just up there and the ferry opperator told me that they were expecting the bridge to be in within 2 years.
Time will tell
Allan

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

The fee for the ferry includes camping anywhere at the tip (except the caravan park) for as long as you stay.
Great value and very convenient, in my view.
If they build a bridge and improve the road it will destroy the tip experience forever, so I for one hope it never happens, but I expect it will.

Cheers,
Peter

Sheba · Guru

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
The fee for the ferry includes camping anywhere at the tip (except the caravan park) for as long as you stay.
Great value and very convenient, in my view.
If they build a bridge and improve the road it will destroy the tip experience forever, so I for one hope it never happens, but I expect it will.

Cheers,
Peter

Have to agree with you totally Pete_n_Margaret. I lived up the Cape for a number of years in the '80's and I'm just hoping the Powers-that-be don't destroy it. I believe it is changed a lot from when I was there even.
The number of "terrorists" who go up every year has increased a hell of a lot since my time there. In those days you were lucky to get between 3-5 thousand vehicles a year. Big difference now. I couldn't believe it when I found out they'd put a Bridge over the Wenlock.
I hate to think about the result of a Bridge over the Jardine.
Cheers,
Sheba.

bill12 · Guru

Australia is for EVERYONE, not just a privelidged few.While more people will probably have a detrimental effect to the top, progress won,t be stopped, and I for one, would like to see a bridge over the Jardine, and a better road to the top. Bill

-- Edited by bill12 on Thursday 14th of November 2013 01:16:20 PM

KFT · Guru

I was watching an episode of 4wd TV and in the story they mentioned the number that visited that year(not sure which year) as 55,000.

Seems it is already a bit crowded. A sealed road and a bridge will likely make it even more so.

what are the effects of that? more caravan parks? wear and tear at the "TIP"? more vandalism?

be interesting to see how the authorities deal with that.

frank

Sheba · Guru

Bill, I have no objection to anybody being able to access all areas of the Cape, as long as they appreciate and respect it for what it is. The "TIP" sign has already been stolen at least once in the last few years.

Even when I lived there, on the East Coast north of Lockhart River, we would get [every year] idiots who would shoot anything that moved, including Domestic Livestock.

Not to mention the Flora and Fauna that was stolen and Illegally shipped Overseas, as well as to markets further South.

Where do you think the nickname "Terrorists" for Tourists [meaning any-one who doesn't actually live there] comes from ?

Cheers,

Sheba.

-- Edited by Sheba on Thursday 14th of November 2013 11:39:26 PM

bill12 · Guru

We have "terrorists" here , and I make a living from the tourist industry, and have done for over 25 years. The vast majority are great people, and its only a small percentage that are a pain in the proverbial. Shuting everything off because some people stuff up is not the way to go, and people just need to be better educated .The vast majority want to protect these places, and I hope it allways is this way.Being ellitist and stopping access is not the way to go. Bill

by the way its $130 to cross the 300m to the other side of the Jardine, one way.Its $120 return for the 8klm to Magnetic island and back for me.

-- Edited by bill12 on Thursday 14th of November 2013 08:34:18 PM

Sheba · Guru

bill12 wrote:
So you reckon that some people have more right to see the more remote parts of OZ than everybody else.Tell me, why are you better than others who have the same rights? I believe EVERYBODY should have the chance to see these places.

That's not what I'm saying at all Bill. It used to be that to "Do the Cape" was a special event, precisely because it wasn't just as easy as driving up the road. It used to be a real remote Wilderness area. It's not any more.
Now it's no big deal, and with that last bridge, it will be even less. I know the road is still not sealed all the way yet, but it's a lot better than when I lived up there.
I'd love every-one in this country to see the Cape properly, and realise just what a special place it is.
Some seem to make a race of it. They try and get up and back as soon as possible. Why bother if that's what you're going to do. You won't really see anything, and you'll never appreciate the place.
CHeers,
Sheba.

-- Edited by Sheba on Friday 15th of November 2013 12:02:38 AM

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

bill12 wrote:
Australia is for EVERYONE, not just a privelidged few.

ALL of Australia is NOT for everyone and it has nothing to do with privilege.

It is about the choices some wish to make.

For it to be otherwise there could not be a dirt road in the country.

Cheers,

Peter

03_troopy · Guru

yes it is, All of Australia is for ALL Australians.

03_troopy · Guru

Having said that, Some places are better off being left as they are to lessen the impact millions of tourists would cause to the area. But they call it progress, and that is something you'll never stop. Better than an area being hijacked by a select few that jack up the prices so that only effluent OS tourists can afford.

And yes I meant to spell it that way.. ;)

bill12 · Guru

So you reckon that some people have more right to see the more remote parts of OZ than everybody else.Tell me, why are you better than others who have the same rights? I believe EVERYBODY should have the chance to see these places. All it needs is a bit of control, like in Kakadu , for example.Do you want these places just for yourself?It seems that way. Bill

johnq · Guru

As farmers we used to find that the yobbos responsible for damaged fuel tanks, signs and so on and for cut fences were from the country, a fact that was so often apparent to country police from the place of access to properties and timing.

The dumped cars and VB cans and bottles that litter country roads are not from tourists either.

Then again, the longrassers in Darwin and elsewhere are something else again. If there are beer bottles broken in the sand, guess who?

Admittedly the groups in hire campers do create their own messes. However there are plenty of truckers who litter.

Australia is one big dump, country and urban areas. Similarly public toilets have always been fouled and damaged. It was that way forever, long before young student backpackers. I was raised by a family who collected the rubbish and I taught my children the same.

Goodness knows how to reverse that, but more roadside skip bins, strategically located, would be a good idea, as might be the odd camera. The penalty for littering public areas with glass in particular should be severe.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

I guess some would bituminse the OTT as well?
A great deal (most) of Australia is also private property and is not open to everyone.........or is it OK to camp in anyone's back yard without asking?

Cheers,
Peter

bill12 · Guru

How did camping on private property come into this? You seem to want to stop everybody from seeing remote parts of OZ.The last time I went up the OTL, Telstra had bulldozed bypass tracks around the most hardest parts to put in a communications cable, so it was quite easy. You would like to stop them, Also? In case your wondering, Cape York is part of Australia, and people should be able to see it. Bill

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

bill12 wrote:
You seem to want to stop everybody from seeing remote parts of OZ.The last time I went up the OTL, Telstra had bulldozed bypass tracks around the most hardest parts to put in a communications cable, so it was quite easy. You would like to stop them, Also? In case your wondering, Cape York is part of Australia, and people should be able to see it. Bill

I have absolutely no interest in stopping anyone who is prepared to make the effort from seeing this country.

I do not, however, see a need to provide the best of roads for them to do it, however. That usually destroys much of what was there in the first place.

The tip of Cape York is private property and the owners/controllers of that land will determine the conditions of visiting rights. Exactly the same applies to most of this country, whether it be pastoral land, Aboriginal land or freehold land. If you wish to see these lands, you must request permission and that permission may or may not be granted.

Cheers,

Peter

johnq · Guru

What private property are you referring to though? It is an innocent question.

The native title given for areas of Cape York excluded use for commercial purposes. It granted the right to camp, hold ceremonies, fish and hunt.

What deliverables, in particular what camping rights to what land and facilities, apart from a passage across the Jardine do the Aborigine operators of the Jardine ferry supply?

If there are no other deliverables, or if one cannot opt out of them, then the complainants about the ferry being an expensive rip-off have reason to get annoyed.

Unless someone has better information, the bridge across the river was a late promise by the previous government.

Sheba · Guru

I wish you would read our Posts properly Bill.

Cheers,

Sheba.

03_troopy · Guru

It's the same all over Bill. A few exclusionists, in positions of power decide they want to keep an area excusively from access to the general population. They tell you it's for cultural or conservationary reasons and use any excuse to keep the average person out. They say tourists littering or damaging the area is the reason why they do it, but in truth, it's the big tourists dollars that they are after. Or in our case down here with Stockton Beach, who know's what their ulterior motive is. NPWS has claimed damage to sand dunes is one of the reasons why they want to shut people out of Stockton Beach, along with damage to "middens" (aboriginal mounds of discarded shellfish shells). The bloody sand dunes are always moving and never stand still, how can 4WD tracks damage them when they aren't even in the same place a month later. NPWS is shutting down access to many of the bush tracks in National Parks for quoted similar reasons such as damage to fire trails, when in fact it's 4WD enthusiasts who maintain and keep the fire trails open in many cases.

well that's my rant for now.. i'm going for a beer...

bill12 · Guru

I seem to remember that the promised bridge over the Jardine was made by Warren Enshe(I hope I got that right), the Liberal member for Cook, and whip in the present Lib Govt.I am against anybody stopping access by average aussies to any of our iconic destinations for any reason.It just seems too elitist for me. Australia is for all Australians. Bill

ps I just checked , and it was Labors Albenese who propsed the bridge, but Enstsh (lib) supported it. My apologies.

-- Edited by bill12 on Saturday 16th of November 2013 04:15:34 PM