The imaginative travellers will see in the ruins of Maytown a ramshackle, 19th century town at the peak of Australia's second largest gold rush. They will understand the feat of the Jardine brothers driving 600 head of cattle through this very difficult country or perhaps picture the tragic battles between the Aboriginal people and the foreign interlopers. The Cape is probably the most visited of Australia's remote areas. Annual visitor numbers well exceed the permanent population. This doesn't mean that you will be constantly tripping over other travellers, far from it. It just means it is a highly desirable place to be. We use bush camps as far as possible and there is plenty of space to feel the area's magnificent isolation.

Difficulty:
Extreme, depending on track conditions.All roads in the region can be very badly corrugated depending on when they were last graded. The tracks we use avoid the worst of it (although you may mot believe it at the time) but there are many creek and river crossings to be made.

Our route:
The Telegraph Track is a highlight of everyone's trip to the Cape. We will use it both ways. We will also use the less known but very attractive Frenchman's Track. Our return to the real world will be by way of the CREB Track with its spectacular mountain and rainforest scenery.We will visit Weipa and Bamaga and spend some time in Lakefield National Park and at Loyalty Beach near the 'tip'. To actually reach the 'tip' requires a fairly energetic 600m walk.

Duration: 16 days

Depart: Mareeba

Return: Cairns

Cost: $ 125 per person per day for two adults in a vehicle. Children are $50 per day.

Optional Tours:

• Estuary or deep-sea fishing from Weipa
• A mines tour at Weipa
• Deep Sea fishing from Loyalty Beach
• Thursday and Horn Islands from Bamaga by ferry and/or air
• Quinken art tour at Jowalbinna Station

History:
Skipping right over the first 40 000 years or so of the area's history, the first European overland contact was by Leichhardt in 1845 and Kennedy in 1848. Kennedy  died for his efforts but others followed. In 1863 the Jardine family drove 600 head of cattle overland and established 'Somerset', near the 'tip', as the area's first permanent settlement. It was a government outpost and their dream was to open a major trading gateway to Asia, describing it as 'the Singapore of the south'. This didn't all go according to plan but the station carried on with beef until quite recently.The discovery of gold on the Palmer River in 1873 sparked Australia's second largest gold-rush. At its peak Maytown had a population of 20 000 and the port of Cooktown grew as its supply point.The overland Telegraph Line, completed in 1887 was the last chain in the link between Brisbane and the state's northernmost point. It remained in telegraph service until 1964 and continued as a local telephone line until 1987.

Recommended reading:
For general information:
Ron and Viv Moon Cape, York - An Adventurers' Guide, Kakirra Adventure Publications, Pearcedale, Vic
Hugh Finlay et al Queensland, Lonely Planet, Hawthorn Vic. 

For history:
The general readings give outlines of the history of the area.
For more details see:
Glenville Pike The Last Frontier, Pinevale Publications, Mareeba
Hector Holthouse River of Gold, Angus and Robertson
Les Hiddins The Complete Jardine Expedition Journals, Corkwood Press, North Adelaide
Les Hiddins William Carron's Narrative of Kennedy's Cape York Expedition, Corkwood Press, Bundaberg 

Children's reading:
Jeannie Baker Where the Forest Meets the Sea, Walker Books, London.