Return From The Cape – The Kindness of Strangers

by Jeff Gunn | Jul 4, 2023 | Australia and New Zealand

Regular readers will likely recall our recent travels on The Gibb River Road and the Oodnadatta Track. Both are actually on the way to somewhere else –  there is, then, much more beyond the final destinations on those two tracks. Not so the Cape York track. Once you’ve made it to the top you simply turn around and do it all over again, albeit typically with a few scenic detours. So, with Cape York successfully reached, we pointed the van south and started thinking about the diversions we might take on the way back down.

Re-crossing the Jardine River, the first short excursion off the track is Fruit Bat Falls. It’s on a delightful section of the river which is warm, crocodile free and has a fairly shallow waterfall- a pit stop for most weary Cape Yorkers either coming or going and a very enjoyable swim regardless. We were looking forward to several more as we headed back south.

One “diversion” we had no plans to take was the alternate route known as the OTT (Old Telegraph Track). Diehard 4×4’ers revel in this very challenging shortcut, famed for its more difficult obstructions and much deeper creek crossings, one specifically, at “Gunshot Creek”. I pulled a clip from a Cape York travel website so readers can get a sense of just how crazy this track can be – most, including ourselves, give this section a very wide berth ! Not possible in a long wheel base 4×4 Sprinter in any case. Check it out…….

https://www.capeyorkaustralia.com/gunshot-creek.html

Contemplation of the OTT option would be moot anyway as we soon faced a rather more serious problem – just after leaving Fruitbat Falls, and quite late in the day we got a flat tire ( the first flat in over 80,000kms of overland travel so can’t really complain ). CertaInly not normally an insurmountable issue ( we carry a spare, and a tire repair kit ) but this was no simple flat tire and in the course of that evening and the early hours of the next day we would become painfully aware of the very precarious situation we had gotten ourselves into. The good news was that, through a stroke of sheer good luck and the kindness of total strangers it all ended well but we had a very stressful night and next day until we reached Coen (over 350kms further south ) and had it replaced. To spare our casual readers the sordid details and complications that emanated from what was a glaring preparatory oversight on my part, I’ll describe the 24 hours that followed the “flat” experience in an appendix at the end of this blog. If you’re up for a roller- coaster saga of sorts, then by all means read it, but if you’re happy just to know we survived ok you can save yourself the few extra minutes of reading – you’ve been warned !

Needless to say the flat experience (and driving restrictions that followed ) meant that our return trip ( to Cooktown this time, rather than Cairns ) would be as direct as the trip up. We simply could not risk any detours driving, as we were, with no ability to change a tire. Another flat ( and plenty of people were getting them ) would spell disaster so it was half-speed ahead ( 40-50km/h ) all the way to Laura until we were safely on continuous bitumen. Almost 600kms of very slow progress ! In time we reached permanent bitumen – no guarantee you can’t have a flat tire there but far less likely than on stony gravel roads – and once back to normal speeds we were soon in historic Cooktown.

Cooktown is a very pretty town and has a real South Pacific island feel to it- the scenery,  the well preserved architecture – and of course, a ton of history. Synonymous with the great British naval captain ( James Cook ) after whom it is named, the town’s river also bears the name of Cook’s famous ship, the Endeavour. The story of how Cook became stuck in the town is a fascinating one, and has been taught to every Aussie school kid. They have certainly done a great job of memorializing him in Cooktown – the statues, the many plaques and the lookout all remind visitors of his skills as a seaman and his lasting impact on Cooktown itself.

Till next week ( and the drive south )…..

Appendix: How A “Simple” Flat Tire Caused 24 Hours Of Gut Wrenching Stress !

I’ll make a very long saga with the flat as brief as I can but need to back up here a couple of years first. Many who buy a Sprinter 4×4 and do a camper build ( as we did ) will switch out the stock 16” wheels (and rather lame OEM tires) for larger 17” wheels and more aggressive A/T tires. We chose very nice Black Rhino wheels and tried and true BFG KO2 tires. In order that the diameter of the original 16” spare wheel/tire ( which we kept ) matched the 4 new 17” wheel/tire combos, we had to modify the tire size on the spare wheel. This, fortunately, we had the presence of mind to do long before we left Canada.

Now, all 5 wheel/tires were compatible in the event of a flat. I went a step further – carefully read the manual re the tire changing process, tested the jack, ensured all relevant parts were where they should be (scattered, in the case of a Sprinter !) and finally, made sure I knew how to lower the spare and could remove it – I did not want to learn this on a remote Australian track !

Good planning, you might be thinking ( I was ). Not so fast. What I had not tested was that the existing Mercedes wheel wrench would fit the ( new ) bolts that came with the new alloy wheels. Nor, sadly, did I ensure that the stock Mercedes wrench had a deep enough “head” to reach said nuts that were ( now ) deeply recessed on the much thicker new alloy wheels. So, here we sat, dusk approaching, far from help, a rapidly deflating tire ( it was not at this point dead flat ) and we could not remove the wheel/tire from the van to switch it with the spare. There was just no way. As desperate as that sounds it was just the beginning of our troubles. Things would soon get much worse.

Fortunately our compressor was strong enough to inflate the tire to make it driveable, but it would require stops every 15 mins just to keep it inflated – that would make for VERY slow progress heading back to Cooktown or Cairns, almost 1,000kms away. And that was “if” the tire leak did not get worse and “if” we did not get another flat. We considered returning to Bamaga, the nearest town – but that would put us even further from civilization, involve another ferry crossing, and still offer no guarantee of a solution – my tires being 17” ( a much less common size in Australia). I was pretty sure the leak was from a hole in the tire sidewall and it would need replacing since such holes are nigh on impossible to repair. We decided to continue south to the nearest roadside pullout, rest for the night and look for help at Bramwell Roadhouse, about 50kms away. We knew the tire would be dead flat in the am but with our compressor we could inflate it enough to reach Bramwell – or so we thought. 

Things then turned briefly for the better – we soon found a nice pullout, limped in and found a level spot to park. Already parked in this large pullout were Warren and Helen, a very helpful couple. Warren, an ex-truck driver carried a considerable array of tools – most importantly a 17mm socket  that matched my wheel nuts. While he had no suitable wheel wrench or breaker bar, he carried an electric impact drill which he said “could remove bolts even off large truck tires”. Surely it would get the bolts off my wheels so we could then change it with the spare. You might think. Despite multiple attempts the bolts could not be removed. Warren was perplexed and it was obvious from the look on his face that he feared there was no way the wheel would ever come off the van, certainly with the tools we were likely to have at our disposal out here.

We slept little that night thinking the worst – that I’d need to call for a flatbed  truck to carry us off the Cape York track (we’d seen two others exit Cape York this way ), and based on our proximity to the top that would easily run many, many thousands of dollars. Worse, it could be days away. Of course no mobile phone reception out here.

As expected in the am the tire was dead flat. This time however, when inflating it, the tire would NOT hold air. Any air. At all. It escaped as fast as it was pumped in. Turns out the sidewall hole was right on the bottom of where the tire came to rest and the distortion caused by the weight of the vehicle resting on it had actually widened the hole so much that all the air that went in just as quickly escaped. Now we faced the real prospect that we could not even limp in to Bramwell Roadhouse. We’d need to be picked up where we were, far from anywhere.. At this point Lois suggested putting the jack under the van to lift it up thus allowing the tire to take its regular shape – perhaps then it just “might” hold some air ? Lo and behold it did, much to our relief, so we pumped as much air in as we could and began a very slow crawl to Bramwell with Warren and Helen playing wingman behind us. Four “air” stops and 90 minutes later we made Bramwell where we had expected mechanical assistance to be available. There was none; “Try Bamaga or Weipa”, they told us ( both much too far on rough tracks for our failing tire to survive ). At this point our tolerance for further bad news was truly limited, but things just did not look good.

What to do ? Possibly, just possibly, if we could find someone with an extended wheel brace/wrench (or heavy duty breaker bar) the gradual manual tension that these tools could apply to the very tight nuts might just allow us to remove the troublesome wheel, where the power tool had failed. We had zero other options. The first guy I approached, “Chris”, advised he may have just the solution – a long breaker bar and a crisp new 17mm socket. Dashing back to the van we immediately tried to remove the wheel nuts – one by one they were pried loose. Praise the lord ! 

Wth the old wheel/tire off we rested the spare against the axle and were about to fit it when disaster struck – the park brake had not been properly applied ( in our excitement at finding the right tool we all jumped into the wheel change without checking ) and the van partially rolled off the jack, nearly hitting Warren who was setting up right near the wheel. No harm to Warren, thank goodness, but a lucky miss it was. Fortunately, and miraculously, also no damage to the disc brake assembly which had landed partially on the free standing spare wheel as the van had moved slightly. Twin disasters averted. The spare was then quickly installed  thanks to the borrowed tool and we could now travel, albeit still slowly, to the first place where the damaged tire could be replaced – likely Coen, still over 230kms away, mostly on very rough gravel. We now had a good tire- but no tools to change it – so avoiding a further flat was the top priority. 

Five more hours of very slow driving to minimize any risk of a second flat and we made Coen very late the next day. Fortunately the only mechanic in town ( who does double duty as a tire guy ) had just one compatible tire in stock – more a road tire than an All-Terrain, but it was the right size. It would do the job – any port in a storm as they say ! Better yet, it was Friday night at 6pm, and he offered to stay to do it on the spot . Did I say we were saved by the kindness of two strangers ? I meant three !

From Coen we had better roads and by Cooktown we were able to  purchase a new 17mm wheel wrench giving us the ability to change any future flats, a huge relief – saga over.

Moral of this story:

Never assume your wheel wrench fits the nuts on your new wheels when you swap out the stock wheels !!!!!!