Around Bamaga

After a bit of rain over night, it meant for a bit of a slow start until things started to dry out and it was Sunday after all.

Did a bit of a tidy up in the Karavan and washed the floor. Funny how the mop had a distinct red hue to it! It is just the red dust that lives in the area.

After being here for several days I decided that I had better connect the grey water hose to the Karavan tank and let it drain around the trees nearby. As luck would have it, the outlet hose after the stop valve decided to fracture. So I had to get it off and cut a piece from the end of the hose to replace it. All takes a bit of time.

Then it was off to find the aircraft wrecks that litter this part of the world. As it was so close to New Guinea during WW II, it was often a place that aircraft landed or crashed at. Wrecks that are very visible include a Beaufort bomber and a DC 3 while there are some remnants of Kittyhawk fighters around. The jungle and inaccessibility have swallowed up other wrecks along with other war time debris although the remains of hundreds of fuel drums still are very visible.

While looking for these wrecks, I found other tracks that seemed to have been used so I followed with most leading to either nothing or another road. One can never be sure what might be down these tracks as there are very few and often indistinct signs.

Later on, I visited Muttee Heads Beach with its glorious sand. It was an important landing point during WW II for unloading supplies. There are a few pylons are still visible near the beach.

Further along on the Headland is radar tower that still stands and unused. The tracks getting to these locations are quite rough but to see these pieces of history make it all worthwhile.

So then it was back to the Karavan. It was time to refill the water tanks as I have not filled since Cooktown and had a few showers and done some washing. I shared the filter and hose with a fellow camper to fill up then connected the mains to the Karavan.

Now it was time to sit and read my book for a while before having dinner which was frozen left over pasta from 2 nights ago. 

So another interesting day has past and I am a bit wiser to the military involvement in this area. Sadly a number of servicemen lost their lives in this area for one reason or another. Air crashes were and are still an issue up here as occurred near Lockhart River a few years ago and the memorial stands at Bamaga Airport.