OTL WATER CROSSINGS [Archive] - Cape Yorker Forums

mason

20-05-2007, 09:57 PM

burdekinbarra

21-05-2007, 12:38 PM

You'll be right mate, you just got to take it easy. This road can change daily. At the moment there is a low moving across and they will get rain north of coen, but by the time you get there it could be back to normal. Just keep flexible and dont stress. Your on a holiday so whatever happens--happens. Pretty rare for the crossings to be over 1M during the dry unless they have had rain, but if you wait until it drops you'll be right. Bugger all bitumen after Lakeland Downs. Have a great trip

batesy

21-05-2007, 12:54 PM

Welcome to the board, Mason.

Even with a fair amount of water in the crossings you'll still be able to push your bike through - maybe with a little help at times.

I'm going to try and head up to some of the crossings this weekend (hopefully), so I'll see if I can get some pics/updates for you. If not, I'll make a few calls.

burdekinbarra

21-05-2007, 12:57 PM

dont forget your flash tent........

batesy

21-05-2007, 03:34 PM

Also remember to tuck your carby breather hoses up under your tank.

wilfred

21-05-2007, 06:17 PM

manson if you haven't had much experience with water crossings walk all the creeks first because the water here is very clear and the depth is deceiving.
big batesy's suggestion about carby breather hoses is the most important thing to do to your bike if you've not done it already. on the FCR carbys you will find 4 small breather hoses that hang down to the bash plate and if they get blocked or go under water your bike will snuff out in the middle of the creek, now you can run two up under the tank or what i prefer to do is get 4 T-piece joiners (fish tank type will do the job) and some extra hose running 4 up under the tank and 4 in the original position just to be safe. if you do that small mod and walk the creeks so you don't fall in a big hole you will have no trouble at all.
have fun .... hope you like sand

mason

21-05-2007, 09:14 PM

Thanks alot for the help guy's.
As for the carby hose re-routing, it's been planned for quite some time now but I never seem to around to it. Will make sure it's done this week.
By the way Wilfred I love sand and can't hardly wait to be riding it.
Some photos of the OTL would be great Batesy.
I will try and post some photos during the trip.
I will be filming the riding with a helmet cam, so I'll post some video when I get back.

Oh and Burdekinbarra, nice catch mate. If I get something half that size I will be stoked.

Thanks again fellas.

Mason.

Coza

21-05-2007, 09:43 PM

G'day guys, myself and a few mates are doing a 3 week trip to the cape leaving from Melbourne on 1st june 2007.

Mason

3 weeks from Melbourne Quick trip Staight up and back you'll almost be averaging 4 to 500 k's a day, that's every day.

mason

23-05-2007, 07:53 AM

We're actually taking 24 days for the whole trip.
Melbourne to Cairns will be done in 3 days and the same on the way back.
This might sound quick but we have 3 drivers in each car, so we will only
end up driving a day each.
Taking into account a rest day at Cairns, we will have 17 days to do the Cape.
And considering I'm riding that whole section, 17 days will be well and truly enough. I've even nick named my bike "Monkey Butt" as I do believe the old arse is going to get a little tender.

campdog

23-05-2007, 09:28 AM

G'day guys, myself and a few mates are doing a 3 week trip to the cape leaving from Melbourne on 1st june 2007.
6 blokes, 2 4WD's, 1 4WD trailer and 1 trail bike.
I'll be riding the bike(KTM 525) from cairns to the tip and back.
I was wondering what the river crossings on the OTL are like at the moment.
Has there been much rain lately.
The 2 rigs are geared up well enough to tackle some deep water, but i'm not sure how the bike will go as I have drowned a couple of them before. Are we likely to encounter water deeper than 1 meter.
Another thing is, how much of the road between Lakeland and Bramwell Junction is sealed.
Any info would be great, thanks.

Mason

Been back a week from the top.not a lot of water around but the tele track could be different. didnt go near as it was closed and we had a boat behind us. Nolans brook on the tele track maybe one to avoid on a bike as it is crystal clear and looks shallow.but should be ok by then.It took is fair share of victims last year, including me, but all part of the trip.
The roads north are pretty good at the moment and bits of tar are showing up everwhere from lakelands, even tar at the approaches to bramwell and a lot is about to be sealed.lots of road works going on everywhere.
Plenty of bikes there last year as well.

mason

23-05-2007, 05:39 PM

Thanks for the heads up Campdog. I'll make sure I watch out for that crystal clear water.

mason

29-05-2007, 06:12 PM

3 days to go,:) woohoo.

Coza

29-05-2007, 08:14 PM

How long untill you get back? would love to see some pics..

mason

30-05-2007, 02:48 PM

We get back on the 25th June Coza.
But I'll try and post some pics during the trip.

Nedly

31-05-2007, 08:20 PM

3 days to go,:) woohoo.

Not long now Mason, lucky bugga.
Enjoy the trip, look forward to the report on your return.

highlift80

31-05-2007, 08:52 PM

Good on ya mason have fun look forward to seeing your pics when U get back.

batesy

31-05-2007, 08:58 PM

Hope you enjoy yourself Mason... get heaps of pics.

mason

19-06-2007, 10:49 AM

Hey guys, just a few photos from the trip so far.
Will post some more when I get back.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/stoney_05/100_3818.jpg
Queen Fish & and Blue Fin Tuna from Jardine River mouth.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/stoney_05/100_3822.jpg
Wreck of Lightship, Vrilya Point

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/stoney_05/100_3873.jpg
Eliot/Twin Falls

mason

19-06-2007, 11:13 AM

Some water crossings on the OTL,

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/stoney_05/100_3835.jpg
No name on map but a good little crossing with palm trees in water.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/stoney_05/100_3903.jpg
Cockatoo Creek, Nice deep holes in this one.:)

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/stoney_05/100_3910.jpg
Ducie Creek, very soft bottom and dodgy looking black water.

Dipmaker

19-06-2007, 11:53 AM

Great photos, wish I was there as well. Will be in about 7 weeks.

riley

19-06-2007, 06:07 PM

4 days until i leave home getting close now.All most packed.I will post a pic when i am ready to go on friday.

campdog

19-06-2007, 08:32 PM

4 days until i leave home getting close now.All most packed.I will post a pic when i am ready to go on friday.
If your leaving after 6.00 am give me a call on uhf14 when you pass through Johns River, Call copy JW.

batesy

20-06-2007, 11:55 AM

Nice pics Mason.

Hope you're having a ball.

campdog

20-06-2007, 02:29 PM

Looks like you are having fun,great photos.

YOYO

20-06-2007, 07:56 PM

Nice job with the picks Mason. A few questions for you

How was vrilya point. How was the fishing. Campdog caught heaps but that was a few weeks ago are the fish still there.

Nolans brook did you do it and how deep was it. Any problems.

What was the highlight of the trip (besides getting pis*ed every night)
and what would you do differently.

Sorry about all the questions but i leave in 4 days and need all the info I can get my hands on

mason

21-06-2007, 12:29 PM

G'day YOYO,

I rode much of the cape alone which allowed me to see more places,
but it gave me limited time to spend at them. I had to make sure I could catch the cars by the end of the day.
Vrilya Point looked great, but I was only there for about 20 mins.
We did fish between the Jardine river mouth and Crab Island about 1 km offshore and it was unbelievable how many fish we saw jumping, the highlight was seeing Spanish Mackerel jumping up to 10ft in the air.
It's only about 20km south to Vrilya Point so the fishing should be good.

As for Nolans Brook, I use the log bridge off to the side, which is only suitable for bikes. I did speak to a few people that had done it earlier that day, they said it wasn't to bad but to watch out for a big hole in the middle. The crossing looks shallow but as you see in the photo it's deceiving. I found this group checking the depth, and they were standing in the shallow bit!
Not to sure how they went.
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/stoney_05/100_3833.jpg

The best part of the trip was having a few beers (or 10) at Eliot falls.
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/stoney_05/100_3847.jpg
Swimming opportunities in the cape are few and far between, so when we had the chance we lived it up.

The only thing I would change is where we spent most of our time.
8 days were spent at the top, most of which were wasted.
I would have rather spent more time on the OTL.

The other thing is that we took to much crap which made the cars so heavy that they didn't even attempt the OTL. This made my ride a little more dodgy as I saw not 1 person on the southern section between Bramwell and Fruit Bat Falls. All that said and done I still had an awesome time.

Nedly

21-06-2007, 02:57 PM

Mason, awesome shots, thanks.
Can't wait to get there.
I wonder what the boss would say if I told him I'm off now.......hhhhmmm, quite a bit I think.

riley

21-06-2007, 05:04 PM

Great pics Mason looks like a great time had.I would like to see some more if you have them.Cheers

highlift80

21-06-2007, 05:09 PM

Good to see you had the right liquid refreshment to wash down that Cape dust.

mason

21-06-2007, 06:05 PM

Here's a little video of my Father inlaw not getting out of the way in time.
I'm on the bike and he's filming.:)
This little ford is between Eliot and Fruit Bat Falls.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/stoney_05/th_ford.jpg (http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/stoney_05/?action=view&current=ford.flv)

Coza

21-06-2007, 08:28 PM

Those photos put a smile on my face mason there great shots.

highlift80

21-06-2007, 09:40 PM

There was a bit of water when I did the crossing upto Eliot Falls it was just over the hubs did this crossing in 2wd the guy that was following us up to the falls took that little bypass track up and around had to lock his hubs on his Mavrick.lol great place for a dip.

dann

21-06-2007, 10:05 PM

Ahhh... The infamous 'splashing of the in-laws'. Good to see the age-old tradition is alive and well.

highlift80

21-06-2007, 10:22 PM

Followed this Coach upto the Wenlock River we all stood back and watched we didn't think he was going to do it he idled it down to the waters edge and then gunned it across. Mind you though the crossing was fairly built up at the time, it was just a bit over knee deep.

mason

01-07-2007, 07:51 PM

Here's another little bit of water we had some fun in. It's about 5kms from the Tip.
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/stoney_05/th_Movie.jpg (http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/stoney_05/?action=view&current=Movie.flv)

batesy

01-07-2007, 08:04 PM

So, Mason, would you do the trip again the same way, or would you prefer to travel in a group of bikes?

mason

01-07-2007, 10:53 PM

Definately bikes Batesy, probably not an organized tour but a group of mates.
Only problem is finding people to commit. So if I can't it will have to be a tour.
My wife and I are about to have our first baby in November and it's a boy so if I have to I'll wait till he's old enough and do the ride with him. That is such a long way off though unfortunately.

campdog

02-07-2007, 07:09 AM

LAst year we saw a group of quad bikes on a fund raising event i think.Big bikes and they had fun, Its about all my old bones would take I think.

mason

02-07-2007, 09:14 AM

campdog

02-07-2007, 09:39 AM

Quad bikes would be a great way to see the Cape. You could carry so much more stuff. As for being easier on the old body I'm not to sure, It's not that comfortable to stand up all day on them so the corrugations would take a toll after a while.
These guys had a backup crew but had to do their own repairs,one woman end for ended her bike and fixed it up herself and got going again,some done it tuff.

mason

02-07-2007, 10:10 AM

I read about the first quad bike tour to the Cape in Trailbike Adventure Magazine and the lead tour guide rolled his quad on the track to Captain Billy Landing and broke his collarbone, and that was while simply turning around. I have'nt done much riding on them but they do seem easy to roll. The story tells of several rubber side up incidents on the PDR! How do you roll a vehicle on a staight road? The other little problem they have is in river crossings, the rear tyres want to float which means no traction. Everyone on that tour seemed to have alot of fun though.