Cape York to Cairns via Cargo Ship

We took a huge leap of faith during our past adventure to Cape York Peninsula when we loaded both our 4WD vehicle and Jayco camper trailer aboard a cargo ship for the trip from Seisia near ‘The Tip’, south to Cairns in Queensland.

This added another adventurous component to our Cape York trip that’s for sure!  It was a little heart stopping watching our vehicles swaying in the breeze as they made their way down Seisia Jetty for loading onto a cargo ship along with containers, vehicles and other goods. 

The MV Trinity Bay provides freight and cargo services across Torres Strait and Cape York Peninsula. This ship allows for a limited number of passengers, and we thoroughly enjoyed our two nights aboard being well looked after by the crew, along with the other 20 or so passengers.  This was by no means a cheap experience, but we felt it was worth every dollar we spent. 

This was truly our sort of cruise!  We thoroughly enjoyed the early mornings on deck watching a new day come to life as we made our way from the most northern tip of Queensland, following the coast south to Cairns.  Watching the sun set in the west from the deck was just as enjoyable. 

Whilst the small cabins were comfortable, the nearby engine noise was a little daunting at first.  It was just one of those things we got used to very quickly, and yet another aspect of what made this experience unique.  The shared bathroom facilities were great, and with not many passengers on board, there was certainly no queuing and wait time.  The meals provided to both passengers and crew were always delicious and very ample.  Passengers had easy access to drinking water, tea, coffee and biscuits all through the day. 

Needless to say, our first stop once we docked and unloaded in Cairns was a car wash to remove all that salt spray, as well as the Cape York red dirt that we’d accumulated over two weeks or so.  We would certainly recommend this voyage by cargo ship; we truly enjoyed the experience.