From the tip to Coen

Well this day started beautifully and ended up our most terrifying and challenging so far. After waiting a little while for our turn on the ferry we headed to Fruit-bat and Elliot falls. We left the caravan at the entrance and just took the car in. Some lovely falls even viewed through the rain. After booking back up we drove to Bramwell where we pulled over for lunch and an ice cream. Hit the road again I think just after 2 pm and headed for Archer river. Along the way we had our little incident in a very unassuming ‘Dip’. Coming out of the dip we started bouncing significantly and then felt a huge pull. Once stopped it was very evident the van was no longer hitched. Luckily for us unhandy Zuidema’s 2 helpful and handy people stopped to help us. We jacked up the van and then re hitched it although the locking mechanism looked like it wasn’t working. We limped along for 2 hours arriving at Archer River roadhouse for the night. We set up camp with some of our rescuers, Ian and Pam who drove slowly with us to make sure we arrived alright. We had a few calming drinks and enjoyed dinner and a chat.
When we woke up this morning Jamie was on the phone to RACV and Q to find out our options. We were going to have to wait a day or 2 and then it looked like we’d be towed back to Weipa. We really didn’t want to do this as the road to Weipa was horrible.
Decision made: limp 65kms to Coen where we believed there was a mechanic and at the very least we could get a powered site. And be closer to bigger towns. It was a relief to finally arrive in Coen 2 1/2 hours later for the 65 kms. We are staying out the back of the pub and as we paid for our night we were introduced to the mechanic, Moody. He was one interesting man but we have a new hitch ordered and on the overnight truck from Cairns. Moody said we should be on our way by Sunday lunch time. But who knows. I feel anything could happen between now and then. We can only hope🤞🙏. I’m happy to have the past 2 days behind us and if it takes longer to repair then it takes longer. At least we have a nice spot in the busy little camp area. After all this a couple of beers and pub meal was just the thing to relax us for the night. A very busy pub so we sat with 4 young guys from near Emerald QLD. They were a bit of fun to chat to, then we retired to bed while I aaaume they drank the night away as they did every night of their trip! ……Well Moody came through!😀👏🏻. At 11:30 Saturday morning he walked into the campground carrying our new cruise master hitch. He sat down where we were camped and fitted it as well as fixing the wiring in the plug that was damaged. Moody then headed off to, or back to the pub. Jamie and I also celebrated with a couple of beers at the pub also. Seats were limited so we sat with an interesting couple and shared stories as you do. Every time we see these two road signs (cattle on roads) we laugh and wonder what makes some so strong and nasty that they can and want to lift our car just up the road versus the cattle who happily just cross the roads. 🤣🤣Read more