Friday, 22 August 2014

Bramwell Station

On Saturday 16 August about 9.30am we left Weipa to go to Bramwell Station.  After 72K of corrugation on the Peninsula Development Road we took the shortcut to the Old Telegraph Road at Sudley to Batavia Downs on a 4 wheel drive track and our first stop for morning tea was at Moreton Telegraph Station. 



Termite mounds are everywhere in northern Australia and Cape York, but nowhere on the peninsula are there so many large impressive ones as around Bramwell Junction.  There are about 70 species of termites and although called ants, they are not related to ants at all - their closest relatives are bees and wasps. They eat cellulose which they get from wood, leaves, grass, bark and even cattle and other herbivore droppings.  They live in nests under ground.  The mound is built on top of the nest for ventilation.   Mounds come in different colours depending on the soil used in the construction.  They come in different shapes and sizes.  Termites are an important part of the tropical ecosystems, forming soils and recycling nutrients. 

 
We enjoyed morning tea here at Moreton Telegraph Station originally opened in Sept. 1887.
 
Sunset from Bramwell Station.   Area 1340 sq Km of wild and remote country on the northern Cape - most northern cattle station.  We stayed here for one night, enjoyed a 2 course meal with new friends and some live entertainment with Gary Doyle from Cairns (who was flown up on the mail plane that comes here once a week).
 

 
 
 

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