Fourteen days were spent on the continent of which nine was under canvas camping in the wild. An advance party of staff went out three days before the main team to take charge of the vehicles and to collect the kit pre-arranged for the adventure. Permits for the camp areas in the National Parks also had to be collected. When the main team arrived they had one day to become acclimatised, then loading of trailer and vehicles …and off to the wilds of Northern Queensland! Three off road vehicles were used to transport the group. The staff were responsible for supervision and driving. The cadets undertook various duties including cooking, vehicle preparation, equipment stowage, and wildlife safety lookout.

Prior to the start of the expedition, the group visited the aboriginal people of the Mossman Gorge tropical rainforest area, the "Kuku Yalanji" tribe. This gave a unique insight into the daily living of these oldest recognised inhabitants of Australia. The cadets were shown flora and fauna of both benign and dangerous types likely to be encountered on the trip up Cape York. They were given tips and advice to prevent any undue incidents occurring, this must have been taken notice of as no major medical or accidents occurred during the whole time abroad. The sand flies did cause a few scratched legs and arms, although a useful tip was passed on by an outback nursing team we met at Moreton Telegraph Office, three quarters of the way to Cape York, to use baking powder mixed with water as a paste certainly reduced the scratching!

The terrain covered was varied and ranged from arid bush to tropical rainforest and wetlands. Road conditions varied from good tarmac although not a lot of it, wide flat dirt, narrow corrugated surfaces, enormous dips in the tracks for stream and river crossings, soft deep rutted sand, closed in tracks through rain forest, deep rutted tracks through the bush in fact every conceivable type of road/track imaginable with an overriding impression of red dust everywhere. These rough conditions certainly made for some interesting driving at times!!

The further from civilisation the group went, the more wildlife was seen, with spiders, frogs and wild boar predominant. Road kill kangaroo was a common site in this area. The group travelled north to Kalpowar, through Archer River, Weipa, Mapoon and Eliot Falls. In the Marpoon area bauxite is mined for aluminium giving the distinct red landscape. The tracks deteriorated in places with difficult creek and river crossings, and the training on the vehicles came to the fore when one vehicle was punctured and a large log in a creek crossing damaged another. The weather was brilliant, hot and sunny with temperatures into the high 30’s, the area being only 10 degrees south of the equator and very dry from July on. After passing bush fires, travelling very rough roads, narrowing tracks and some water filled holes; the team reached the tip of Cape York…………….absolutely breathtaking!!

The expedition’s objective had been achieved!

Sponsorship was provided by several organisations including the Ulysses Trust without whose assistance, the expedition would not have been possible.