Our campsite at Vrilya

Our "kitchen" view

Cam and Dan

Crossing Crystal Creek

Cam and Dan on the rope swing in Crystal Creek

Vrilya Point

What a fantastic spot. I could have stayed here for a week! The drive in was rough and corrugated to say the least. These were probably the worst corrugations we had encountered on this entire trip – but so worth it. Crossing the log bridge over Crystal Creek added another fun twist.

After driving onto the beach, we headed north for about 7 km’s and camped just up near the point. The low tides created some great little paddling holes to cool down and clean off each day without the fear of crocs. The kids really enjoyed fossicking on the tidal flats, with some fabulous shells, starfish, and corals to be found. Everyone agreed that this would definitely be a two night stop-over.

The kids from a family that camped a bit south from us came and invited us to their bon-fire that night. A 3 metre tree trunk set upright in the sand and more driftwood layed teepee style around it, made for a raging fire. It burned for hours, and even at around 3:00am that morning, you could still see the upright embers standing of the central stump.

Decision making time could not be put off any longer though. Where were we going from here? Although Cape Melville was on our return agenda, it would need more nights than we had available. We decided that this would have to be left for a return trip – someday. Steve and I desperately wanted to do the CREB track but Terry and Deb really wanted to take their girls snorkeling on the reef. We all agreed that we would travel as far south as we could together, but Steve and I would head to the Lions Den to check if we could actually do the CREB and Terry and Deb would continue to Cape Trib to do their snorkeling. We would all meet in Cairns for a couple of nights to re-group.

Everyone happy, we left Cape Vrilya, but not without taking a refreshing last swim in the clear waters of Crystal Creek on the way out.