From Cockatoo Crossing to the Fruit Bat Falls was easy: just one fairly easy creek crossing and then 9 km over the bypass road. The Fruit Bat Falls are falls in the Elliot Creek. Some 7 km further north are the Elliot Falls and Twin Falls, the first also in the Elliot Creek, the second in another creek streaming into the Elliot Creek. Both nice places, I took quite some photos. Both places are great to swim, however I decided to continue on the Old Telegraph Track. The description in the guide was right: this was an exiting stretch with a few deep and interesting creek crossings.
I made camp on the southern bank of the Jardine River, a wide river which in the early days was quite a barrier to reach the most northern part of the cape. The river is more than 100 meters wide. In the early days people crossed the river by car or wagon, later a ferry was put into service. Although the crossing is still an official road, at least up to a few years ago, everybody takes the ferry these days. It is certain not safe to cross the river by foot because of the crocodiles. So far I did not see any croc’s.
All in all, it was a great 4WD experience to follow the Old Telegraph Line. The Cape was really remote and difficult to access in the days that this was the only track north.
