Cape York locals would not blink at covering any of these distances in a return day trip, something editor Lyndon Keane has discovered comes as a shock to most of our city cousins. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
Do you ever get the feeling you’re just a little bit different to everyone else?
It happens more frequently to some people – especially if you happen to be a near-two metre, tattooed giant – but after some genuinely WTF conversations with my Canberra colleagues and overhearing some wild and wacky comments made by tourists on the road last week, it drummed home just how different those of us who have Cape York as our backyard are to our city cousins.
If you don’t believe me, just consider the following three examples I stumbled upon over the past seven days.
1. How far is far?
You’ve only got to look at some of the distances we drive without batting an eye to work out we don’t see geography quite the same as those who live in places with traffic lights, traffic jams, toll roads and a general feeling of discontent while behind the steering wheel.
When a Canberra colleague mentioned on Wednesday how frustrated they were at the realisation they had to drive 45 minutes to a press conference, I couldn’t suppress an involuntary eye roll and laughter. I casually lobbed back that I’d driven farther than that for a coffee (a topic we will get to soon) on multiple occasions, and that I could list a dozen Cape York families that make round trips of 700 kilometres or more in a day most dry season weekends so the kids can play sport.
The 820km trek that is Weipa to Cairns? I may as well have just told them I was from another planet.
2. Coffee concerns
An important note to coffee-loving visitors: your Cape caffeine hit will likely be more expensive than it is at home in inner city Sydney, and there’s a reasonable chance our local baristas won’t have those rare Ethiopian fair trade beans you discovered in that bougie cafe in San Francisco.
At a roadhouse that shall remain nameless last week, I was unlucky enough to be fuelling up beside some bloke absolutely reeling at having to pay $9 for his cappuccino, because his local – which was at least 3,500km away, based on his South Australian number plates – did the same thing for $2 less.
I’m not an expert, but I reckon if you’re griping about a couple of bucks when the vehicle you’re driving costs the best part of two hundred grand, you’re probably doing life wrong.
3. Overpacking and overthinking
Cape York is undeniably remote, but why is it so many southern visitors pack up their four-wheel drives and caravans like they’ve embraced their inner Burke and Wills and are about to lead a three-year expedition into the vast unknown?
I saw a couple the other day that, I suspect, hold the world record for the number of jerry cans and gas bottles shoved onto one unfortunate roof rack. Kudos to their Tetris ability and aptitude with a ratchet strap, but I stopped counting and started shaking my head at four gas bottles, three or four water containers and about half a dozen diesel receptacles. Dakar Rally crews have packed less before setting out from Paris.
It’s not unusual for me to receive the odd email from tourists before they head north asking questions about what’s happening up in this part of the world, but the one that appeared in my inbox on Saturday night put forward 19 – yes, 19 – queries the sender wanted a “rapid response” to before they left their Gold Coast driveway. I can’t decide whether my favourite question was the one asking what snakes the sender should be cautious of, or the request for a list of spots between Cooktown and Seisia that offer a vegan menu.
Repeat after me: I will not over plan, overpack or overthink my Cape York adventure.
In all seriousness, to those city cousins of ours currently enjoying everything the Cape has to offer, travel safe, have a blast and remember not to groan too much about the cost of your road tripping caffeine fix.
