Loyalty Beach Camping

Over the weekend, Jason, Vee, Dave, and Jill took Jason's boat on a weekend camping trip to the mainland. We left on Friday morning, and made the 27 mile crossing in just over an hour. We got to the Loyalty Beach campground, checked-in, and set up camp. Our camp site was right on the edge of the beach with beautiful views over the Torres Straits. Each couple had a small two-man tent under the trees. We didn't bring along any luxury items like air mattresses, but we did bring a small grill and a hot plate for cooking. Once we set up camp, we jumped back on the boat and headed over to Cape York, the most northern point on Australia's mainland. We had a nice ride over in the sunshine and anchored up on the rocks for a bit while we explored. There is a sign there that marks the spot, but it isn't very frequently visited. It is nothing like the crowds of people who visit the southernmost point in the USA in Key West. There was no one else around, and we took our time enjoying the location. The boys spent a little time fishing while the girls picked a nice spot in some shallow water to lay down and relax. We left Cape York and headed back, stopping along the way to visit some beaches. Jason was successful in catching 3 mud crabs, which we took back to camp, and they were not a hit with us. We also stopped to explore a river where it met the sea. It was such a neat spot and really pretty too. On Saturday the weather was not as nice, with some wind, but we went out on the boat to see what we could get into. We tried to go up the Jardine river, which is suppose to have lots of Crocs, but the shallow sandbars wouldn't allow us to pass. We tried another river and had the same problem. With wind and rain causing us problems, we headed back in the afternoon. We had to fight the abundance of sandbars and try and maneuver our way around them to get back to camp. The sandbars went on for miles and miles and seemed to change right in front of our eyes. We finally got back to camp and spent the rest of the day ashore. After dinner at our tents, we went to the campground eatery and had a few drinks while we watched the sunset. We had a fun night and even ate local green ants, which were tart, but not to bad (they're edible and apparently a good source of survival if your lost in the bush). On Sunday morning, we woke up and packed up camp. We took off on the boat to head back, but didn't rush. We island hopped for a few hours before getting back to Thursday Island.