Cooktown to Laura

We packed up and left Cooktown on Friday morning, heading for Laura, after stopping to do some souvenir shopping – important things like stubby holders (as if we need more!) and t-shirts.

We drove along Battlecamp Road, where we hit our first real dirt and corrugations. 

The name of the Battlecamp Road comes from the days when the route was used to reach the Palmer River Goldfields.  On one of these trips, on 5 November 1873, a group of about 130 European and Chinese miners and prospectors was attacked by about 500 Aboriginal warriors.  A bloody battle followed, with many lives lost, but most of the victims were Aboriginals, who hadn’t expected that the miners would be carrying rifles, which were far superior to their weapons. 

The road crossed a rainforest covered mountain range, with views for miles, but John wouldn’t stop for  photos – fortunately for him, there weren’t many spots to stop anyway!

We also crossed a few small creeks, thankfully not very deep, as the camper is no longer waterproof – or dustproof for that matter – since our little mishap earlier in the week. 

We stopped for lunch beside the Laura River, just near the Old Laura Homestead.  The homestead was built in the late 1800s as part of the Cooktown to Palmer River goldrush, and renovated and restored in the 1990s.  It is an interesting insight into life at that time; separate living quarters for the Aboriginal stockmen; a slaughterhouse with a meat safe and an enormous chopping block - I'd love to have one this size! - 

the wash-house with the remnants of the old windmill and water tank; the cookhouse and the homestead itself – a two storey building.  Just fascinating to see.

We arrived at Laura around 3.00 and booked into the campground behind the pub.  Basic but clean facilities – and every traveller stayed there!  Met and spoke a number of travellers, some who, like us, were on their way to the tip, and others who’d been there and were on their way south again.  Some were on their second or even third trip to the Cape!

The pub was a typical outback pub, which did meals, so we decided to eat there that night – a limited menu of different types of meat  - chops, sausages, schnitzel – all with the same gravy and mash and vegies!  Not overly fantastic, but overly priced!  But it did mean we didn’t have to cook!

The night sky that night was clear and full of stars – our Japanese students would have loved it! – with a gorgeous  full moon.  The only drawback of that night was the rooster that started crowing at 2.00 in the morning!!!

As a result, we were up early the next morning and on the road by 9.00 heading for Coen.