Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Day 175–176 15th to 16th September; Carnarvon
Today we are moving on and thus beginning our journey back to Melbourne. We have allowed ourselves 17 days to get back, but first of all we are going to travel 230 km to Carnarvon keeping a close check on the radiator, which is showing signs that it is not going to last the trip back home to Melbourne, a distance of some 4500 km! Carnarvon looks like our best chance of getting it seen to before having to cover large distances down the West Australian coast, with great gaps between towns. Then of course there is the Nullarbor!!!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Day 169–176 8th - 15th Sept; Coral Bay
Had a leisurely pack up today as there is only a short 145 km drive from Exmouth to Coral Bay. We were ready to leave by 9.30 a.m., so once again we idled out of the caravan park and down into town for a few last minute grocery items and the regulation coffees for the trip. I was still conscious of the Millennium Pajero’s radiator, so we took it pretty easy on the way. This being the case the temp gauge still kept creeping up the dial at times. Anyway we made it to Coral Bay intact and secured a spot at the Bayview C.P. for 5 nights. Coral Bay is a very relaxing place, with one pub, two caravan parks, directly opposite the beach, a set of shops within a “plaza” type set up which contains a newsagent, bakery / café, small supermarket, gift shop and some tour booking shops. There are also a couple of eatery / restaurants attached to each of the caravan parks and a petrol station.
The place is set up so that if you wish to take a tour on to the reef, you can do so. If you want to take an organized fishing trip this is also possible. Quad bike tours were available as well. You could also access parts of the beach in your vehicle if you wished. The other option was simply to sit back and relax on the beach in the bay, that is opposite the caravan park, where you could also step off the beach and snorkel over the coral for which this area of W.A. is famous!!! What a choice! I was suffering, at this stage from “choice stress”. I didn’t know whether to relax a “little bit”, or relax “a whole lot”!!!!! We ended up choosing to relax a whole lot. In fact we enjoyed relaxing so much that we decided to extend our stay for another 2 nights just to round out our visit to a full week. We also figured that by the time we had finished at Coral Bay, it would be time to “seriously” push on for home. This would give us approximately 17 days to do this and so we decided to make the most of our “last hurrah” in the sunshine before crossing back down over the Tropic Of Capricorn and in to the cooler weather of the south. Our visit to Coral Bay also represented the last “item” that we had on our “to do” list for this trip and so after its completion we had no real plans. Any places we got to see after this were a bonus for all of us We all had snorkeling gear to use whilst at Coral Bay and every one enjoyed the opportunity to do so. Jasmine took to the snorkeling caper very well and was very adept at it, especially in the shallows, where she would use her hands in the sand to pull herself along through the water. Daisy was a bit more spooked by what she saw under the water and also found the goggles a little unsettling and uncomfortable. Liv and Rube were also keen, although they were both a bit “scaredy” when they didn’t have their “Daddy” with them in the water. Both of them seemed to have a phobia about stingrays and thought that they would become the victims of another Steve Irwin type attack!!! Ahhhh girls!!!! Andy, well she was just completely happy to sit on the beach, soak up the sun, read her book and make the most of her last few weeks of not having to face the realities of “normal home life”, if there is such a thing. We both could not think of a better place in which to attempt to do it.
The place is set up so that if you wish to take a tour on to the reef, you can do so. If you want to take an organized fishing trip this is also possible. Quad bike tours were available as well. You could also access parts of the beach in your vehicle if you wished. The other option was simply to sit back and relax on the beach in the bay, that is opposite the caravan park, where you could also step off the beach and snorkel over the coral for which this area of W.A. is famous!!! What a choice! I was suffering, at this stage from “choice stress”. I didn’t know whether to relax a “little bit”, or relax “a whole lot”!!!!! We ended up choosing to relax a whole lot. In fact we enjoyed relaxing so much that we decided to extend our stay for another 2 nights just to round out our visit to a full week. We also figured that by the time we had finished at Coral Bay, it would be time to “seriously” push on for home. This would give us approximately 17 days to do this and so we decided to make the most of our “last hurrah” in the sunshine before crossing back down over the Tropic Of Capricorn and in to the cooler weather of the south. Our visit to Coral Bay also represented the last “item” that we had on our “to do” list for this trip and so after its completion we had no real plans. Any places we got to see after this were a bonus for all of us We all had snorkeling gear to use whilst at Coral Bay and every one enjoyed the opportunity to do so. Jasmine took to the snorkeling caper very well and was very adept at it, especially in the shallows, where she would use her hands in the sand to pull herself along through the water. Daisy was a bit more spooked by what she saw under the water and also found the goggles a little unsettling and uncomfortable. Liv and Rube were also keen, although they were both a bit “scaredy” when they didn’t have their “Daddy” with them in the water. Both of them seemed to have a phobia about stingrays and thought that they would become the victims of another Steve Irwin type attack!!! Ahhhh girls!!!! Andy, well she was just completely happy to sit on the beach, soak up the sun, read her book and make the most of her last few weeks of not having to face the realities of “normal home life”, if there is such a thing. We both could not think of a better place in which to attempt to do it.
Day 166 – 169 5th - 8th Sept. Exmouth.
Today we had decided that we would attempt our longest one day drive of the trip, from Karijini to Exmouth, which we had calculated to be over 700 km. The day was overcast, surprisingly and looked as though it may rain. We were packed and on the road by 8.30 am and headed for Tom Price, which we reached by 9.30. Here I needed to access the internet to do some banking whilst Andy did some quick grocery shopping. We were on the road again by 10.20 and heading westward to Paraburdoo a further 70 km. Here we had a fuel stop and then pushed on through the Pilbara towards the Coast highway. It was travelling along this road that we encountered our first rain since Longreach in QLD, on the 1st June. This continued on and off for quite a few hours as we travelled closer to the coast.
The landscape varied between rugged mountains with rocky outcrops to flat plains with saltbush and saltpans. There was however one constant though, that is the red dirt!!! Always red dirt!! Onward we pushed. Lunch once again consisted of a road side stop at one of the free camping areas with salad sandwiches thrown together out of the back of the camper. Simple, cheap and effective. We joined the coast road again at Nanutarra Roadhouse and continued on down towards Carnarvon for 120 km before turning off towards Exmouth, still with 180 km to go. We finally, as the sun was setting over the Cape Range National Park, made it into Exmouth at 6.15 p.m. Interestingly after almost 5 and a half months of travelling, Exmouth represents the furthest point on the Australian continent from Melbourne, as the crow flies.
We booked in at the Caravan Park in town, which was very well appointed. They had had quite a deal of rain during the day, which is unusual, so it was a little wet under foot, but we managed to settle in once again with the minimum of fuss. Everyone was really looking forward to a good hot shower after 4 days without one. Ruby and Liv have developed into such responsible young women. They both are fantastic at taking the younger girls to the showers with them and making sure that they bath properly, which is a fantastic help to both Andy and myself. Ruby is also especially good at getting dinner underway when we are late getting into a camp site, while Olivia is sensational at setting the camper up and organizing all the bedding etc. They have both really excelled in these areas as the trip has progressed. Andy and I are really proud of them both!!!!
Exmouth is a sleepy little town that was originally founded to service the Naval Communication centre that was set up on the cape in the 60’s. Nowadays the place is really geared towards fishing, tourism and diving activities as a result of its proximity to the Cape Range National Park and the Ningaloo Marine National Park. We used the few days that we had there to check out the town and some of the beaches as well as stocking up before we headed to Coral Bay which is at the southern end of Ningaloo Reef system. Even though it is over 1200 km from Perth, you can see that it is still a holiday destination for people from down south, as there are plenty of holiday houses as well as a new large marina that is being developed with residential blocks and waterfront views. We decided that we would not make the trip to camp in at Cape Range N.P. , as we had heard that you could not be guaranteed a spot at a camp site and that the whole N.P. was rather exposed weather wise. We therefore decided that we would head for Coral Bay instead, as it offered virtually the same types of experiences as Ningaloo.
After 3 nights at Exmouth we were ready to move on.
The landscape varied between rugged mountains with rocky outcrops to flat plains with saltbush and saltpans. There was however one constant though, that is the red dirt!!! Always red dirt!! Onward we pushed. Lunch once again consisted of a road side stop at one of the free camping areas with salad sandwiches thrown together out of the back of the camper. Simple, cheap and effective. We joined the coast road again at Nanutarra Roadhouse and continued on down towards Carnarvon for 120 km before turning off towards Exmouth, still with 180 km to go. We finally, as the sun was setting over the Cape Range National Park, made it into Exmouth at 6.15 p.m. Interestingly after almost 5 and a half months of travelling, Exmouth represents the furthest point on the Australian continent from Melbourne, as the crow flies.
We booked in at the Caravan Park in town, which was very well appointed. They had had quite a deal of rain during the day, which is unusual, so it was a little wet under foot, but we managed to settle in once again with the minimum of fuss. Everyone was really looking forward to a good hot shower after 4 days without one. Ruby and Liv have developed into such responsible young women. They both are fantastic at taking the younger girls to the showers with them and making sure that they bath properly, which is a fantastic help to both Andy and myself. Ruby is also especially good at getting dinner underway when we are late getting into a camp site, while Olivia is sensational at setting the camper up and organizing all the bedding etc. They have both really excelled in these areas as the trip has progressed. Andy and I are really proud of them both!!!!
Exmouth is a sleepy little town that was originally founded to service the Naval Communication centre that was set up on the cape in the 60’s. Nowadays the place is really geared towards fishing, tourism and diving activities as a result of its proximity to the Cape Range National Park and the Ningaloo Marine National Park. We used the few days that we had there to check out the town and some of the beaches as well as stocking up before we headed to Coral Bay which is at the southern end of Ningaloo Reef system. Even though it is over 1200 km from Perth, you can see that it is still a holiday destination for people from down south, as there are plenty of holiday houses as well as a new large marina that is being developed with residential blocks and waterfront views. We decided that we would not make the trip to camp in at Cape Range N.P. , as we had heard that you could not be guaranteed a spot at a camp site and that the whole N.P. was rather exposed weather wise. We therefore decided that we would head for Coral Bay instead, as it offered virtually the same types of experiences as Ningaloo.
After 3 nights at Exmouth we were ready to move on.
Day 163–166 2nd to 5th Sept. Karijini National Park
Port Hedland is the hub for all the iron ore that is mined from Newman. However we were keen to get to Karijini and so did not worry about spending time doing the port tour or any of the mining related stuff. This being the case, we used it as a jump off point to get to Karijini N.P. which was some 300 km to the south in the Pilbara. We left Pt. Hedland at around 11.30 and made it to Karijni by mid afternoon. Coming out of town for the first 100 k’s or so landscape was pretty plain and flat, but as we drove further south the landscape began to change gradually as mountain ranges became more common. The mountains in The Pilbara take on an almost purple hue as the sun strikes them and are really quite beautiful and stark, especially as this colour contrasts so vividly with the rich red coloured rock that dominates the landscape. These national park itself is situated right next to the mining town of Tom Price, which has 2 of the highest peaks in W.A., right next to it. We were gradually gaining altitude the more we travelled. We were headed to the Dales Gorge Campground, which is the main camping area in the National Park and being bitumen all the way is very popular with all types of campers. We were allocated a pretty campsite and the camping area had drop toilets and some gas b.b.q‘s, but there was no water available, so no showers and bring your own drinks! Wednesday morning dawned and it was Daisy’s 4th birthday. We had a beautiful morning with her and she was so excited about the whole thing. We had decided that we would explore the gorges around Dales Campsite on this day. I was quite surprised when I found out that we were actually camped within about 400 metres of them. From where we were camped it just looked like we were surrounded by savannah type grasslands with no hint that there were these fantastic gorges any where nearby. We thought that we would allow a couple of hours to explore them, thinking that this would be enough for the younger kids, but ended up spending about 6 hours doing so. We visited Circular Pool, which was fed by water from underground springs, where I had a swim and then walked along the gorge through which the small stream flowed. The gorge was lined with lush grass, reeds and paperbark and river red gums. We continued our walk until we reached Fortesque Falls which had a lovely plunge pool. We had a short rest and then headed on a further 200 metres to Fern Pool. This gorgeous pool about 50 m by 40 m, was filled with light blue coloured, pristine water that flowed over a 4-5 metre waterfall. It had a board edging and ladder at one end, so that entering and exiting the water was a breeze. All of us enjoyed a swim at this pool. It was difficult to comprehend where the water to fill these pools was coming from because above the gorges there was no indication that there was any water nearby, or had been any water nearby for a very long time. That evening we celebrated Daisy’s birthday with a dinner of Burritos and white chocolate mud cake, accompanied by party hats and whistles. Thursday we headed off for 50 km’s along the dirt road to the other gorge section of the park known as Weano Gorge. This gorge section is quite different from the Dales area. The gorges are a lot narrower and more diverse and in many ways more spectacular, but not necessarily better! They are also more complex and more difficult to enter, so we were mindful of how much we might be able to negotiate before Jassy and Daisy found it too difficult. Most sections of the gorge walks required feet getting wet and a few required total immersion in order to reach your destination. The little ones however, once again rose to the occasion and were able to complete most of the walks and enjoyed them as well. Both Jas and Daisy have become remarkably sure-footed and dexterous when it comes to negotiating rocks and steep, slippery inclines and as for Liv & Ruby, they just love the challenge and the experience. We didn’t manage to complete all the walks in this section of the park, but we were very happy with what we managed to do n the time that we had. It would however be easy to spend 4 or 5 nights in this beautiful place, even without showers!!!
The next morning we were heading for Exmouth, a distance of some 750 km, which we had decided to attempt in one day.
The next morning we were heading for Exmouth, a distance of some 750 km, which we had decided to attempt in one day.
Day 161–163 31st Aug– 2nd Sept; Cape Leveque to Pt. Hedland
Our aim for today was to leave Cape Leveque by 8.30 am and make our way back to Broome where we needed to do some quick shopping to stock up supplies for Daisy’s birthday, which we were going to celebrate whilst at Karijini, fill up with fuel, get some Maccas for lunch as a treat and try to make it to 80 Mile Beach Caravan Park. We were a little delayed leaving and so didn’t drive out of Kooljamon until about 9.15. We made good time down the track, however my fuel gauge was showing that we were getting dangerously low on fuel. I had miscalculated the amount of driving that we would do at Cape Leveque. Andrea talked me into turning off at Beagle Bay to get a top up there. No luck. It was Sunday and the fuel depot and store was closed. I was still pretty confident that we could make the distance, however the 8 kms that we traveled into Beagle Bay for no result would have used up valuable fuel and there was no more fuel until Broome. We pushed on and pretty soon the sealed section of road gave way to the unsealed section which was pretty rough and corrugated and not good for smooth driving and petrol consumption. We finally made it back onto the bitumen some 20 km from Broome and then onto the main h.way in to town. We had 9 km to go and my orange fuel warning light had been on for at least 40 km. I can usually get about 60 km before it empties completely. We reached the main turnoff about 3 k’s from the centre of town. I say to Andy I think we might be alright. Just as I say it the car splutters….Oh no. The car rolls to a standstill.. Only one thing for it, I grab an empty jerry can and begin to hitch into town. I was lucky to get a lift from the 2nd car that passed me. It was an Aboriginal couple driving a pajero, with 2 young kids in it. The youngest was a baby 6 weeks old. They graciously gave me a lift to the servo, while I sat in the back nursing a 20 litre jerry can and feeding a 6 week old baby its bottle. Quite bizarre!! Got the petrol and a lift back within 30 mins and we were away again. We left Broome at 2.15 and subsequently our chances of making 80 mile beach were nil. We drove until about 4.30 until we reached the Stanley Rest Area, a road side rest area where we decided to free camp for the night. This was fine! These rest areas are specifically set up for travelers and are especially prevalent in W.A. where there are such great distances between towns. For example we were travelling from Broome to Pt. Hedland which is a distance of approx 730 km and there was not one town between these 2 places. The rest areas usually have level areas on which to set up, toilets, sometimes water, picnic type tables and chairs and are usually well back from the road. We were set up fed and in bed by 8.30 and up next morning and on the road again by 7.40 am. We decided to push on to Pt. Hedland. By 9.30 we had reached the 80 Mile Beach Caravan Park turnoff, so we decided to travel the 10 k’s to the coast to have a quick look at this and get a coffee and some pastries for morning tea, which we had heard were available and yummy. They were right!! Had a quick look at the beach and back out on to the hiway. Topped up at Pardoo Roadhouse about 170 k’s fro m Pt. Hedland and then continued on arriving there at about 1.00 pm. We once again managed to secure the last available spot at the Cooke Point Caravan Park for an overnight stay. Since leaving Cape Leveque yesterday we have travelled 950 km’s and only passed through one town!!!! Radiator holding. Phew!
Day 158–161 28th – 31st August Cape Leveque
By 10.00 a.m. we were away from Broome and heading up the Cape Leveque Road. This was a distance of 210 km from Broome the first 90 or so of which was a fairly rough unsealed section. After 90 km’s the road becomes sealed for the rest of the trip to Cape Leveque. As the road slices its way north it passes quite few turn offs to isolated Aboriginal Communities, many of which are gradually awakening to the power of the tourist dollar. After about 10 km travelling along the sealed section of the road we turned off to visit the community of Beagle Bay, which was originally a mission set up by the Dominican Fathers, early last century, but has a beautiful white washed brick church in the style of the gothic Lutheran churches. It is quite a beautiful church and is adjacent to a P -12 Catholic School that has roughly 120 students, mainly Aboriginal, on its books. The altar of the church and its surrounds is inlaid with mother of pearl shell and these and the rest of the decorations in the place were all collected and made by the aboriginal members of the community. We spent about 45 minutes or so here and had a chat to the local priest before departing for our destination. We arrived at Kooljamon some 45 minutes later. One of the first things we saw as we were setting up was whales about a km off shore splashing and breaching. This was to be a common occurrence for the remainder of our stay. We had a beautiful campsite on a low cliff top facing westward overlooking the sea. In a short while the Ellks came and checked out where we were and as there was vehicle access to the beaches, we drove down onto the beach for a swim. This place is fishing, snorkeling and swimming heaven. It was decided that drinks on the beach at sunset was the order of the day, something we were to do for the next 2 nights as well. A great way to end the day!! The next morning (Friday), we made the trip with Jon and Megan, to Lombadina, which is another Aboriginal Community about 12 km south of Cape Leveque. They have a bakery where they bake and sell their own bread within the community and if you are quick enough you can snaffle a few loaves. We planned to do just that and head down to the beach at this place and spend the rest of the day there. We managed to purchase the last loaf and the last 4 bread rolls that were available. Once again access to the beach was by 4wd, so this we did and drove a few km’s down it until we found a suitable spot in which to set ourselves up. Lomdadina has to be one of the most beautiful beaches that I’ve seen. We were the only ones on it. We all enjoyed eating the still warm bread with heaps of butter and jam whilst sitting on the beach. The day was glorious with not a cloud in the sky and the most inviting looking water in which to swim. The tide was still high when we arrived, but as it retreated (remember this area has 6-8 metre tides) it revealed shells and rock pools which the children enjoyed exploring. Drinks on the beach at sunset once again. Saturday morning Jon, Megan and their brood dropped by to say their farewells as they were heading back to Broome for a few weeks before beginning their journey back down south. We had really enjoyed our couple of days with them in this paradise. We had the rest of the day to ourselves and as the weather was beautiful and the water temp. about 25 degrees, we headed for the beach once again This time we drove on to the fishing beach where there were a few people set up for the day. It wasn’t difficult to find a spot however where there was no-one else around. There is something extremely satisfying about being able to drive on to a remote beach and choose a place to set up for the day and then just relax and enjoy the surroundings! We had a fantastic day enjoying the warmth, the blue skies and the pristine waters of the bay here. It really is a divine area that is pretty well untouched, although one wonders how long this situation will last, especially as the rumours are that within the next few years the road will be sealed the whole way to the cape! That evening we enjoyed drinks and nibbles once again as the sun set over the Timor Sea and the whales played offshore in the distance. The next morning we were hoping to be away early so that we could cover as much distance as possible to get to Port Hedland some 900 km distant. After that Karijini N.P. beckoned.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Day 148-158 18th to 28th August; Broome
Ahhh! Beautiful Broome!!! A great place to relax and chill out. We had booked into the Cable Beach Caravan Park, which was one block back from Cable Beach and roughly 5 k’s from Broome township. It was a near perfect place to be positioned especially since we had not really had a chance to “beach it” since we had left Maroochydore in late May. So the kids were really keen to spend as much time as possible on it. Cable beach is even more beautiful than the photographs convey, with a wide expanse of powdery white sand and beautiful turquoise coloured water, stretching on for miles. At the same time, just behind the dunes, the white sand blends with and is then consumed by the bright red sandy soil that is prevalent throughout Northern Australia. All of Broome is watered by the Artesian basin that covers a huge area of that part of Australia as well, so wherever this water is applied quite verdant tropical gardens and lawns grow. Of course after 10 days off road the amount of washing that had accumulated and the state of our clothes was something to behold, so it took a good 5 days before we has that under control and had also restocked our “pantry”. Some friends from Melbourne Jon & Megan Ellks, were also staying at the same park, so we spent some time catching up with them and their children. Other than that we filled our days with trips into town, viewing the “Staircase to the Moon”, markets, sunset nibbles and drinks on the beach with the Ellks and the McGrinders (our Gibb Road partners), camel rides on Cable Beach. The Shinsu Matsu (Festival of the Pearl), was also on whilst we were in town, so we went and viewed some of the street parade festivities as well. Liv & Rube also went to the famous open air cinema with Rachel to see Mamma Mia, which they really enjoyed. I also got the radiator problem attended to in the hope that it might just get us back to Melbourne without any further problems, (only a distance of some 6,000 km!!). Broome itself is an interesting mixture of cultural influences. The Japanese obviously, from the pearling days, a Chinese influence as well as Indonesian and Aboriginal cultures and of course the influence of the European settlers and the cattle industry n the Kimberley region. It has a collection of up market restaurants and cuisine that reflect these influences. The newer architecture in the town also reflects this heritage. It was a very interesting town to spend some time in. We had booked 3 nights at Kooljamon camping area at Cape Leveque, beginning on Thursday 28th Aug and the Ellks were also going to be there with us. On Monday 25th Aug we said goodbye to the McGrinders, who were also taking off to Cape Leveque for a few nights, before heading south through the middle of W.A. and home to Esperance. It was sad to see them go as we had forged a strong bond and friendship with them whilst travelling over the Gibb and at Broome for almost 3 weeks now.
By Wednesday afternoon we were ready for the next section of our journey and that evening at sunset we bought a bunch of chips and drove down onto Cable Beach and had our dinner on the beach., along with a drink or two!!! Our plan was to leave next morning and spend 3 nights at Cape Leveque, some 200 km north of Broome, then back through Broome, on towards Pt. Hedland and through to Karijini National Park in the Pilbara.
By Wednesday afternoon we were ready for the next section of our journey and that evening at sunset we bought a bunch of chips and drove down onto Cable Beach and had our dinner on the beach., along with a drink or two!!! Our plan was to leave next morning and spend 3 nights at Cape Leveque, some 200 km north of Broome, then back through Broome, on towards Pt. Hedland and through to Karijini National Park in the Pilbara.
Day 137–148 8th to 18th Aug; The Gibb River Road
We drove out from Kununurra towards Wyndham for about 55 km before we came to the Gibb turnoff. The road is some 660 km through to Derby of which about 550 km’s is unsealed and in various states of repair. We were bound for El Questro Station which is only 60 – 70 k’s along the road. For those of you who don’t know, the Gibb River Road is the “must do” legendary road if you wish to experience the Kimberley region of W.A. and it gives access to some of the most spectacular and beautiful scenery in not only W.A. but the whole of Australia! We were all pretty excited to be finally here and doing it. Just about everybody who has travelled the road has some story about what it did to their car or trailer. Tyres seemed to be the main problem with just about everyone experiencing at least one puncture.
El Questro: We arrived at El Questro station (ELQ) turnoff, with no mishaps and proceeded for the next 25 km to the station township, where there was a choice of camping and accommodation facilities and amenities. We booked in to an unpowered site for 3 nights and set up next to the Pentecost River which is one of the main rivers that flows through the station, which incidentally is around 1,000,000 acres in size. We spent the rest of the day having a look around the “township”, which is set up for tourists and has its own store, airstrip, heli-pad, fuel, restaurant, bar. Using the township as a base you can visit the numerous gorges, rivers and lookouts on the property, which we intended to do over the next few days. As sunset approached we gathered our drinks and nibbles and headed off in the cars to Saddleback Ridge Lookout, which has a viewing platform and table, to take in the view and the dusk light. The trip to the top of the ridge was strictly by 4wd only and the Millennium Pajero had to dig a little deep to make it to the top, but once there the view was spectacular. Jasmine and Daisy really set the scene up there in their Cinderella and Snow White dress up costumes as well.
The next morning (Sat), we decided to take off for a look at El Questro Gorge, which is one of the more challenging of the gorge treks that you can attempt, but does, however have various stages that you can attempt and if not confident to continue, you can turn back. This was really handy to know bearing in mind that we had Jassy and Daisy also walking with us. The track winds it ways along the creek bank, criss-crossing the creek at various times. The vegetation was lush with palms and ferns nestled between the sides of the gorge, which in some places was only 7 – 8 metres wide. After clambering over rocks and through the creek for about an hour, we reached the point at which we thought we should stop as the little ones would find it difficult to go any further. Our efforts at this stage were rewarded with a dip in the gorgeous little pool at the base of the falls at this particular point. After luxuriating here in the water and sunlight for about an hour, we decided to head back to the car and to the “township”. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the campsite and having a dip in the river. Our sunset drinks this evening involved a trip some 10 – 12 km’s away to Blanco’s Lookout. Once again only accessible by 4wd and requiring some reasonably rugged creek crossings and climbs to get there. Once there though, again the setting was absolutely superb. The lookout juts out above a sweeping curve in the Pentecost River, with magnificent views of the East Kimberley ranges. By this stage of the trip, Andrea and Rachel were getting very well acquainted with the Vodka, Lime & Sodas each night……DANGER!!!! Meanwhile back at the camp we had a stew simmering on the fire and Chook and Rachel and the kids, if they were good, were about to experience the delights of a camp stew cooked in a camp oven…..oooooooooohhhh yum…..look I’m drooling!!!!!!!
Sunday morning nobody seemed to be feeling the effects of the previous nights stew, too badly, so we got moving early so that we could get to Zebedee Springs to take in the hot springs for a few hours in the morning. After 12.00 noon they close these springs off to the “plebs”, so that the high-flyer clientele can come in and enjoy the area without having to deal with stinky, bogan-like campers such as ourselves. It was only a short drive and walk into the springs and we arrived at them at about 8.15 a.m. The springs are in rock pools nestled between palms and cycad plants. They were so relaxing that we didn’t leave until 11.45. They were just beautiful and it was great to give ourselves a good soaking in water that was heated to about 32 degrees and to get rid of a bit of the dust that was ground into our skin. After experiencing the delights of this area we headed back to camp to chill for the rest of the afternoon. That evening we (the 4 adults), had booked to go out for dinner at the El Questro Restaurant, with Ruby and Liv to babysit the younger ones. This we did and enjoyed a very nice meal in very pleasant surroundings. It was a fitting end to 3 fab nights at the station.
Monday morning we packed once again and headed out of the station back on to the Gibb Road. We planned to back track about 15 km’s to Emma Gorge, which has a resort and still part of El Questro. Once again we dragged the little ones out of the car and cajoled and bribed them along the 1.5 km track, until we reached the head of Emma Gorge, which contains a beautiful plunge pool at the base of the Emma Falls. The pool and the water cascading from the falls were surprisingly icy, due to the fact that it was in shade for most of the day, but I still couldn’t resist a swim as the water looked so inviting. I managed to immerse myself and started to swim the 40 or so metres across the pool to the waterfall, which although not running strongly, was still dropping from a height of about40 – 50 metres. It felt like little bullets trying to penetrate my scalp as they hit my head! I tried to stay under the waterfall for as long as possible while Andrea set up a photo, but the icy droplets hitting my head were that painful that I thought that my head was going to split open!!! I quickly made my way out and went to warm myself in the little thermal pool that was adjacent to the plunge pool, where the younger kids were playing. We made our way back down to the car park and had lunch on the lawn at the resort. Our destination for the day was Home Valley Station, some 60 km distant. It was now almost 2.00 pm so we pushed on westward and crossed the Pentecost River, which at this time of the dry season is an easy crossing. From here it was a 5 km drive to Home Valley.
Home Valley had only recently re-opened for the season after an $18 million refurbishment, and had lush grass, a new pool that was not yet opened, a restaurant and bar and a great set up, with stables and working areas, as it is actually a working station. However the prices were exorbitant. They were asking $65 per night for the campsite, if we included all our kids and had a powered site as well!!! As it was went for an unpowered site which saved us $15 and told them that we only had one child. Even this way we still paid $35 for the night!! The whole place was set up for families, but they had priced themselves way out of the family market. Quite ridiculous!! Anyway we only needed a place to stay for one night as we were moving on early the next morn.
Tuesday we were aiming for Mt Elizabeth Station, which was some 260and km distant. We managed to be on the road by 8.30 am with the McGrinders leading the way. We were gradually climbing in altitude as we travelled westward and passing through varying types of rugged landscapes. The road had a deal of loose rocky surface and although reasonably smooth a fair amount of concentration was required to avoid traveling over these rocks and damaging the tyres! After 2and a half hours we came across a sign saying “Ellenbrae Station: 5km ahead. Drop in for a cuppa”. “O.K”. we said and radioed ahead to Chook and Rachel to suggest a stop for morning tea. As we turned off the road for the 5 k drive to the actual station Andrea said ,”Wouldn’t it be great if they had scones and jam and cream?” I agreed but didn’t think it likely. As we approached the “homestead” we found a lovely “oasis” with beautiful shade trees and an open air “café”, which was actually part of the living room of the homestead and a sign that said “Fresh Scones Jam and Cream”. You can well imagine the screams of delight from within the M.Pajero when this was seen!!!! So we stopped….And it was great!!!
So here we were in the middle of the Kimberley, sitting in a beautiful open air, shady tearoom having morning tea. Quite surreal really. After this we pressed on again arriving at the Mt. Elizabeth Station turnoff at around 4.00 pm. The road had been a combination of smooth graded road, corrugated patches, washouts and river crossings, pot holes and soft sand. Now we needed to negotiate the final 30 km stretch along the station road to the actual station area. We camped in the basic bush camp area, but we still had access to flushing toilets and showers. We spent a very comfortable evening here and were all in bed by about 8.30 pm and awake by sunrise (6.00 a.m.) on the Wednesday morning.
After packing we decided that before we left the property for our next destination, which was Mt. Barnett Roadhouse and the Manning Gorge Campground, we would grab some homemade cakes and slice from the homestead kitchen and head out for morning tea, to one of the waterholes on the Hann River which is also located on the property. The road was pretty rough, so we dropped both the camper-trailers beside the road and proceeded for a further 10 km until we reached the river. It was another beautiful, secluded spot with its own private swimming beach that was great for the little kids to swim in. We then made our way back out of Mt. Elizabeth Station onto the Gibb Rd and continued westward. We stopped beside the actual Gibb River for a bite of lunch and arrived at Mt. Barnett Roadhouse about mid afternoon. Mt. Barnett is owned by the local Aboriginal Community and is the approximate midpoint along the road. It is here that you can buy fuel and food and also pay for your entry to the Manning Gorge campground. We paid for 2 nights camping and made our way along the 5km track down to the campground. There was plenty of room for us to find a spot which is well and good because there were plenty of people who came into the area to camp each day. It’s not surprising really because it was a beautiful spot. The camping area was a short walk from a large pool type lake on the Manning River, where you could cool off and was still enough and shallow enough for the children to have a swim. You also needed to negotiate this pool to get to the other side so that you could then walk the 2 km across a rocky escarpment to the Manning Falls. Once again this was a spectacular waterfall with a series of plunge pools and swimming holes attached. We spent several hours here, having packed lunch, snacks and water for the trip. Liv, Ruby Chook and myself spent quite a deal of time jumping off the waterfall ledges into the pool below, which was at least 20 feet deep and very refreshing. We had allowed ourselves 2 nights at this magical place, and were very tempted to stay for another night and just spend the day chilling out by the rock pool swimming area. However we decided that we had better keep moving on.
Friday morning we drove out of the campground to the road house and topped up with petrol. I also noticed that my radiator had sprung a bit of a leak, so I had a look at it and took some stop gap measures to make sure the leaking was controlled and then we pushed on westward once again. This time we were headed for Silent Grove and Bell’s Gorge. We stopped about 15 kms down the road at another swimming hole, called Galvan’s Gorge. There was a short 1km walk to this waterfall and plunge pool, so once again we stripped off and into the water we went!!! There was also a rope hanging over the pool so we made good use of it. The waterfall was also very pretty with the entire waterhole only being about 30m by 50 m and encircled by paperbark trees and palms. After this was lunch form the back of the camper and then back into the car for the push on towards Silent Grove. The road had improved markedly and most of the time we were able to sit comfortably on 80 – 90 km/h. By 3.00 pm we had arrived at another roadhouse at Imantji, which is another Aboriginal Community. As we drove into the car park we saw that there was an outdoor eating area with a T.V. set up and the Olympics were being broadcast for any of the travelers who wished to drop in and get a fix. They also served espresso coffee, which also brought whoops of delight from some of the inhabitants of both cars. So once again here we were in the middle of the Kimberley, drinking espresso coffee and watching the Olympics in the middle of the afternoon!! It doesn’t get much better really does it? Incidentally, that turned out to be the only vision of the Olympic Games that any of us saw for the whole time that they were on!! Next stop Silent Grove which is a camping area within the King Leopold Ranges National Park. We had collected some wood for the fire and reached our destination by 4.00 pm. Two nights were set aside for our stay here. The campground was beautiful. Very quiet and surrounded by the hills and trees. It also had fresh drinking water from taps pumped and piped straight from a nearby stream, flushing toilets once again and showers, albeit cold ones. Although in the Kimberley a cold shower usually means a temp of about 24-25 degrees. Ruby whipped up another of her dampers which we consumed after dinner and everything was sweet. Silent Grove is about 10 km from Bells’ Gorge which is the place everybody comes to see when you camp at this destination. The walk to the gorge is an easy 1.5 kms and the gorge is a series of waterfalls, cascades, pools and gorges that winds its way through the area. We did this walk on the Saturday and everybody loved the place. It was probably the best place for swimming that we had come across so far. The girls, Chook and myself had a great time as the photos attest to and we could have stayed there for most of the afternoon! However the younger children were getting tired, which is not surprising considering the amount of walking that they done over the past week. When we arrived back at camp, once again Ruby got back on the job and she whipped up another damper for afternoon tea and so we had damper with butter and jam with a cup of tea. Just wonderful!!!
Sunday morning we were all away by 8.30 am after 2 nights at Silent Grove and heading towards Windjana Gorge, a distance of about 100 kms. On the way we crossed through the King Leopold Ranges, which once again were quite spectacular, with rugged rocky peaks and outcrops and wide golden grassed valleys with river red and ghost gums lining the creeks, many of which were still flowing. We arrived at Windjana at 12 noon, which is pretty much the earliest that we have arrived at any campsite during the whole trip. We were all set up by 1.00 pm. Although the campsite was not as pretty as Silent Grove, it had the same level of amenities and so was very comfortable. About mid afternoon, after listening on the radio to the Tigers smash the Hawks, (yellow & black); we set off to explore the gorge. Windjana is a striking outcrop of ancient limestone that was originally 300 + million years ago, a coral reef, similar in size to the Great Barrier Reef. As a result is has thousands of fossils encased within the limestone, many of which are visible to the naked eye. The gorge is also home to several hundred freshwater crocodiles, many of which were sunning themselves by the waterholes with in it. On our walk through we counted in excess of 50 in the space of 5- 600 metres. After spending about 2 hours taking in the sights of the gorge we headed back to camp to prepare the evening meal and discuss tomorrows plan, as we were all heading for Broome. After 10 nights of unpowered camping, cooking and cold showers, we were all looking forward to reaching this town and hopefully securing a campsite at one of the caravan parks. Aside from this we were out of food and really didn’t have another meal left between us. Securing a site at a caravan park was something that we had heard would not be that easy, with thousands of grey nomads spending 4 – 5 months of the year there and monopolizing the available sites. We decided that we would aim to be on the road by 8.00 am and heading for Derby, some 140 km away. Then we would push to be at Broome by about 1.00 p.m., some 170 m further on! We were all in bed early in readiness for the quick departure in the morn.
We were all awake and moving by just after 6.00 am, and breakfasted, packed and in the car by 7.45. A great effort. The last 140 km off the Gibb Road into Derby were a breeze, with the sections of unsealed road very well maintained due to the proximity of mines in the area and the last 110 km sealed. By 9.30 we had reached Derby. By this time Rachel and Chook were able to get mobile phone reception and rang through to the Cable Beach Caravan Park, which they had stayed at previously. She was able to get them to hold a site for themselves and us, but if we weren’t there by 2.00 pm they would give it away. We were in…You beauty, the pressure was off. The rest of the trip into Broome was easy and we arrived at the caravan park by 1.30 pm and checked into the last available powered site. It had been a memorable 11 days on the Gibb road and we had had a ball with Chook, Rachel and their children Maddie and Lachie. Now we were really looking forward to some “down time” in Broome and a chance to soak up the sun on beautiful Cable Beach.
El Questro: We arrived at El Questro station (ELQ) turnoff, with no mishaps and proceeded for the next 25 km to the station township, where there was a choice of camping and accommodation facilities and amenities. We booked in to an unpowered site for 3 nights and set up next to the Pentecost River which is one of the main rivers that flows through the station, which incidentally is around 1,000,000 acres in size. We spent the rest of the day having a look around the “township”, which is set up for tourists and has its own store, airstrip, heli-pad, fuel, restaurant, bar. Using the township as a base you can visit the numerous gorges, rivers and lookouts on the property, which we intended to do over the next few days. As sunset approached we gathered our drinks and nibbles and headed off in the cars to Saddleback Ridge Lookout, which has a viewing platform and table, to take in the view and the dusk light. The trip to the top of the ridge was strictly by 4wd only and the Millennium Pajero had to dig a little deep to make it to the top, but once there the view was spectacular. Jasmine and Daisy really set the scene up there in their Cinderella and Snow White dress up costumes as well.
The next morning (Sat), we decided to take off for a look at El Questro Gorge, which is one of the more challenging of the gorge treks that you can attempt, but does, however have various stages that you can attempt and if not confident to continue, you can turn back. This was really handy to know bearing in mind that we had Jassy and Daisy also walking with us. The track winds it ways along the creek bank, criss-crossing the creek at various times. The vegetation was lush with palms and ferns nestled between the sides of the gorge, which in some places was only 7 – 8 metres wide. After clambering over rocks and through the creek for about an hour, we reached the point at which we thought we should stop as the little ones would find it difficult to go any further. Our efforts at this stage were rewarded with a dip in the gorgeous little pool at the base of the falls at this particular point. After luxuriating here in the water and sunlight for about an hour, we decided to head back to the car and to the “township”. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the campsite and having a dip in the river. Our sunset drinks this evening involved a trip some 10 – 12 km’s away to Blanco’s Lookout. Once again only accessible by 4wd and requiring some reasonably rugged creek crossings and climbs to get there. Once there though, again the setting was absolutely superb. The lookout juts out above a sweeping curve in the Pentecost River, with magnificent views of the East Kimberley ranges. By this stage of the trip, Andrea and Rachel were getting very well acquainted with the Vodka, Lime & Sodas each night……DANGER!!!! Meanwhile back at the camp we had a stew simmering on the fire and Chook and Rachel and the kids, if they were good, were about to experience the delights of a camp stew cooked in a camp oven…..oooooooooohhhh yum…..look I’m drooling!!!!!!!
Sunday morning nobody seemed to be feeling the effects of the previous nights stew, too badly, so we got moving early so that we could get to Zebedee Springs to take in the hot springs for a few hours in the morning. After 12.00 noon they close these springs off to the “plebs”, so that the high-flyer clientele can come in and enjoy the area without having to deal with stinky, bogan-like campers such as ourselves. It was only a short drive and walk into the springs and we arrived at them at about 8.15 a.m. The springs are in rock pools nestled between palms and cycad plants. They were so relaxing that we didn’t leave until 11.45. They were just beautiful and it was great to give ourselves a good soaking in water that was heated to about 32 degrees and to get rid of a bit of the dust that was ground into our skin. After experiencing the delights of this area we headed back to camp to chill for the rest of the afternoon. That evening we (the 4 adults), had booked to go out for dinner at the El Questro Restaurant, with Ruby and Liv to babysit the younger ones. This we did and enjoyed a very nice meal in very pleasant surroundings. It was a fitting end to 3 fab nights at the station.
Monday morning we packed once again and headed out of the station back on to the Gibb Road. We planned to back track about 15 km’s to Emma Gorge, which has a resort and still part of El Questro. Once again we dragged the little ones out of the car and cajoled and bribed them along the 1.5 km track, until we reached the head of Emma Gorge, which contains a beautiful plunge pool at the base of the Emma Falls. The pool and the water cascading from the falls were surprisingly icy, due to the fact that it was in shade for most of the day, but I still couldn’t resist a swim as the water looked so inviting. I managed to immerse myself and started to swim the 40 or so metres across the pool to the waterfall, which although not running strongly, was still dropping from a height of about40 – 50 metres. It felt like little bullets trying to penetrate my scalp as they hit my head! I tried to stay under the waterfall for as long as possible while Andrea set up a photo, but the icy droplets hitting my head were that painful that I thought that my head was going to split open!!! I quickly made my way out and went to warm myself in the little thermal pool that was adjacent to the plunge pool, where the younger kids were playing. We made our way back down to the car park and had lunch on the lawn at the resort. Our destination for the day was Home Valley Station, some 60 km distant. It was now almost 2.00 pm so we pushed on westward and crossed the Pentecost River, which at this time of the dry season is an easy crossing. From here it was a 5 km drive to Home Valley.
Home Valley had only recently re-opened for the season after an $18 million refurbishment, and had lush grass, a new pool that was not yet opened, a restaurant and bar and a great set up, with stables and working areas, as it is actually a working station. However the prices were exorbitant. They were asking $65 per night for the campsite, if we included all our kids and had a powered site as well!!! As it was went for an unpowered site which saved us $15 and told them that we only had one child. Even this way we still paid $35 for the night!! The whole place was set up for families, but they had priced themselves way out of the family market. Quite ridiculous!! Anyway we only needed a place to stay for one night as we were moving on early the next morn.
Tuesday we were aiming for Mt Elizabeth Station, which was some 260and km distant. We managed to be on the road by 8.30 am with the McGrinders leading the way. We were gradually climbing in altitude as we travelled westward and passing through varying types of rugged landscapes. The road had a deal of loose rocky surface and although reasonably smooth a fair amount of concentration was required to avoid traveling over these rocks and damaging the tyres! After 2and a half hours we came across a sign saying “Ellenbrae Station: 5km ahead. Drop in for a cuppa”. “O.K”. we said and radioed ahead to Chook and Rachel to suggest a stop for morning tea. As we turned off the road for the 5 k drive to the actual station Andrea said ,”Wouldn’t it be great if they had scones and jam and cream?” I agreed but didn’t think it likely. As we approached the “homestead” we found a lovely “oasis” with beautiful shade trees and an open air “café”, which was actually part of the living room of the homestead and a sign that said “Fresh Scones Jam and Cream”. You can well imagine the screams of delight from within the M.Pajero when this was seen!!!! So we stopped….And it was great!!!
So here we were in the middle of the Kimberley, sitting in a beautiful open air, shady tearoom having morning tea. Quite surreal really. After this we pressed on again arriving at the Mt. Elizabeth Station turnoff at around 4.00 pm. The road had been a combination of smooth graded road, corrugated patches, washouts and river crossings, pot holes and soft sand. Now we needed to negotiate the final 30 km stretch along the station road to the actual station area. We camped in the basic bush camp area, but we still had access to flushing toilets and showers. We spent a very comfortable evening here and were all in bed by about 8.30 pm and awake by sunrise (6.00 a.m.) on the Wednesday morning.
After packing we decided that before we left the property for our next destination, which was Mt. Barnett Roadhouse and the Manning Gorge Campground, we would grab some homemade cakes and slice from the homestead kitchen and head out for morning tea, to one of the waterholes on the Hann River which is also located on the property. The road was pretty rough, so we dropped both the camper-trailers beside the road and proceeded for a further 10 km until we reached the river. It was another beautiful, secluded spot with its own private swimming beach that was great for the little kids to swim in. We then made our way back out of Mt. Elizabeth Station onto the Gibb Rd and continued westward. We stopped beside the actual Gibb River for a bite of lunch and arrived at Mt. Barnett Roadhouse about mid afternoon. Mt. Barnett is owned by the local Aboriginal Community and is the approximate midpoint along the road. It is here that you can buy fuel and food and also pay for your entry to the Manning Gorge campground. We paid for 2 nights camping and made our way along the 5km track down to the campground. There was plenty of room for us to find a spot which is well and good because there were plenty of people who came into the area to camp each day. It’s not surprising really because it was a beautiful spot. The camping area was a short walk from a large pool type lake on the Manning River, where you could cool off and was still enough and shallow enough for the children to have a swim. You also needed to negotiate this pool to get to the other side so that you could then walk the 2 km across a rocky escarpment to the Manning Falls. Once again this was a spectacular waterfall with a series of plunge pools and swimming holes attached. We spent several hours here, having packed lunch, snacks and water for the trip. Liv, Ruby Chook and myself spent quite a deal of time jumping off the waterfall ledges into the pool below, which was at least 20 feet deep and very refreshing. We had allowed ourselves 2 nights at this magical place, and were very tempted to stay for another night and just spend the day chilling out by the rock pool swimming area. However we decided that we had better keep moving on.
Friday morning we drove out of the campground to the road house and topped up with petrol. I also noticed that my radiator had sprung a bit of a leak, so I had a look at it and took some stop gap measures to make sure the leaking was controlled and then we pushed on westward once again. This time we were headed for Silent Grove and Bell’s Gorge. We stopped about 15 kms down the road at another swimming hole, called Galvan’s Gorge. There was a short 1km walk to this waterfall and plunge pool, so once again we stripped off and into the water we went!!! There was also a rope hanging over the pool so we made good use of it. The waterfall was also very pretty with the entire waterhole only being about 30m by 50 m and encircled by paperbark trees and palms. After this was lunch form the back of the camper and then back into the car for the push on towards Silent Grove. The road had improved markedly and most of the time we were able to sit comfortably on 80 – 90 km/h. By 3.00 pm we had arrived at another roadhouse at Imantji, which is another Aboriginal Community. As we drove into the car park we saw that there was an outdoor eating area with a T.V. set up and the Olympics were being broadcast for any of the travelers who wished to drop in and get a fix. They also served espresso coffee, which also brought whoops of delight from some of the inhabitants of both cars. So once again here we were in the middle of the Kimberley, drinking espresso coffee and watching the Olympics in the middle of the afternoon!! It doesn’t get much better really does it? Incidentally, that turned out to be the only vision of the Olympic Games that any of us saw for the whole time that they were on!! Next stop Silent Grove which is a camping area within the King Leopold Ranges National Park. We had collected some wood for the fire and reached our destination by 4.00 pm. Two nights were set aside for our stay here. The campground was beautiful. Very quiet and surrounded by the hills and trees. It also had fresh drinking water from taps pumped and piped straight from a nearby stream, flushing toilets once again and showers, albeit cold ones. Although in the Kimberley a cold shower usually means a temp of about 24-25 degrees. Ruby whipped up another of her dampers which we consumed after dinner and everything was sweet. Silent Grove is about 10 km from Bells’ Gorge which is the place everybody comes to see when you camp at this destination. The walk to the gorge is an easy 1.5 kms and the gorge is a series of waterfalls, cascades, pools and gorges that winds its way through the area. We did this walk on the Saturday and everybody loved the place. It was probably the best place for swimming that we had come across so far. The girls, Chook and myself had a great time as the photos attest to and we could have stayed there for most of the afternoon! However the younger children were getting tired, which is not surprising considering the amount of walking that they done over the past week. When we arrived back at camp, once again Ruby got back on the job and she whipped up another damper for afternoon tea and so we had damper with butter and jam with a cup of tea. Just wonderful!!!
Sunday morning we were all away by 8.30 am after 2 nights at Silent Grove and heading towards Windjana Gorge, a distance of about 100 kms. On the way we crossed through the King Leopold Ranges, which once again were quite spectacular, with rugged rocky peaks and outcrops and wide golden grassed valleys with river red and ghost gums lining the creeks, many of which were still flowing. We arrived at Windjana at 12 noon, which is pretty much the earliest that we have arrived at any campsite during the whole trip. We were all set up by 1.00 pm. Although the campsite was not as pretty as Silent Grove, it had the same level of amenities and so was very comfortable. About mid afternoon, after listening on the radio to the Tigers smash the Hawks, (yellow & black); we set off to explore the gorge. Windjana is a striking outcrop of ancient limestone that was originally 300 + million years ago, a coral reef, similar in size to the Great Barrier Reef. As a result is has thousands of fossils encased within the limestone, many of which are visible to the naked eye. The gorge is also home to several hundred freshwater crocodiles, many of which were sunning themselves by the waterholes with in it. On our walk through we counted in excess of 50 in the space of 5- 600 metres. After spending about 2 hours taking in the sights of the gorge we headed back to camp to prepare the evening meal and discuss tomorrows plan, as we were all heading for Broome. After 10 nights of unpowered camping, cooking and cold showers, we were all looking forward to reaching this town and hopefully securing a campsite at one of the caravan parks. Aside from this we were out of food and really didn’t have another meal left between us. Securing a site at a caravan park was something that we had heard would not be that easy, with thousands of grey nomads spending 4 – 5 months of the year there and monopolizing the available sites. We decided that we would aim to be on the road by 8.00 am and heading for Derby, some 140 km away. Then we would push to be at Broome by about 1.00 p.m., some 170 m further on! We were all in bed early in readiness for the quick departure in the morn.
We were all awake and moving by just after 6.00 am, and breakfasted, packed and in the car by 7.45. A great effort. The last 140 km off the Gibb Road into Derby were a breeze, with the sections of unsealed road very well maintained due to the proximity of mines in the area and the last 110 km sealed. By 9.30 we had reached Derby. By this time Rachel and Chook were able to get mobile phone reception and rang through to the Cable Beach Caravan Park, which they had stayed at previously. She was able to get them to hold a site for themselves and us, but if we weren’t there by 2.00 pm they would give it away. We were in…You beauty, the pressure was off. The rest of the trip into Broome was easy and we arrived at the caravan park by 1.30 pm and checked into the last available powered site. It had been a memorable 11 days on the Gibb road and we had had a ball with Chook, Rachel and their children Maddie and Lachie. Now we were really looking forward to some “down time” in Broome and a chance to soak up the sun on beautiful Cable Beach.
Day 133–137 4th – 8th Aug; Kununurra
Heading north along the Great Northern Highway saw us entering into the landscape of the Kimberley, with red stained rocky mountain escarpments and hills covered with golden coloured spinifex and Mitchell grass. The highway wound its way through and past the O’Donnell, King Leopold and the Carr Boyd Mountain Ranges, not far from the Argyle Diamond Mine. We stopped at Warmun (Turkey Creek) for a bite to eat and to top up with fuel. We managed the bite to eat, but they were out of unleaded fuel. Luckily I had just enough in the tank to make it to the next roadhouse (Doon Doon) 95 km’s away. From here it was an hour or so into Kununurra.
We arrived there around mid afternoon and had decided to check out the “Big 4” caravan park, Ivanhoe Village Tourist Park, knowing that it was shady and had a nice pool! We were shown our site down in the camper trailer section of the park and immediately introduced ourselves to the people who backed on to us, David (Chook) and Rachel McGrinder and their 2 young children Maddy and Lachlan. Maddy was the same age as Jassy, so the connection was made!! Before setting up though I quickly changed the damaged camper tyre so that it could be repaired.
Kununurra was a great place. It has a very relaxed feel and is located on Lake Kununurra, which is some 60 km below Lake Argyle on the Ord River. Lake Kununurra was developed when Lake Argyle was built in order to catch the extra water from Lake Argyle that could not be stored in that lake. The town has just about everything you need, (except a Mitsubishi Dealer), as well as some nice cafes and knick knack shops and the visitors centre is very good as well. Kununurra is the jump off point for many of the tours that you can do of the Kimberley, Bungles, etc., so it has a major airport that can handle jet aircraft.
Once again we were using our stay in Kununurra as a stocking up point before heading west along the Gibb River Road later in the week, so we made the most of some “free” time there to swim, shop, grab some internet time and for the older girls to catch up on some school work. I got my tyres checked and rotated which was due having at this stage travelled some 15,000 km on them since leaving Melbourne. We also did some sightseeing, making our way out to Lake Argyle for a look. Here we called in for a look at the old Durack Family Homestead, which was shifted to its present site when the building of the dam flooded its original position. The lake is just huge. Apparently during flood times its capacity is 70 times that of Sydney Harbour!!!!!!!! We also went out to the local melon farm at Ivanhoe to sample their wares and down to the Ord River at Ivanhoe Crossing.We quickly became friendly with the McGrinders, who hail from Esperance in W.A., and before too long Andrea and Rachel were organizing drinks, nibbles and dinners between the 2 families. David or Chook as he likes to be called and Rachel were planning on heading down the Gibb Road as well, but were going to leave a day or 2 before us. However Rachel contracted some type of stomach bug which laid her low for a day or so and this meant that their departure time would now be the same as us. So that settled it, we were traveling together for the Gibb Trip. We decided that we would allow about 5 -6 days for this trip and so set about stocking up for it ready to leave on Friday morning.
We arrived there around mid afternoon and had decided to check out the “Big 4” caravan park, Ivanhoe Village Tourist Park, knowing that it was shady and had a nice pool! We were shown our site down in the camper trailer section of the park and immediately introduced ourselves to the people who backed on to us, David (Chook) and Rachel McGrinder and their 2 young children Maddy and Lachlan. Maddy was the same age as Jassy, so the connection was made!! Before setting up though I quickly changed the damaged camper tyre so that it could be repaired.
Kununurra was a great place. It has a very relaxed feel and is located on Lake Kununurra, which is some 60 km below Lake Argyle on the Ord River. Lake Kununurra was developed when Lake Argyle was built in order to catch the extra water from Lake Argyle that could not be stored in that lake. The town has just about everything you need, (except a Mitsubishi Dealer), as well as some nice cafes and knick knack shops and the visitors centre is very good as well. Kununurra is the jump off point for many of the tours that you can do of the Kimberley, Bungles, etc., so it has a major airport that can handle jet aircraft.
Once again we were using our stay in Kununurra as a stocking up point before heading west along the Gibb River Road later in the week, so we made the most of some “free” time there to swim, shop, grab some internet time and for the older girls to catch up on some school work. I got my tyres checked and rotated which was due having at this stage travelled some 15,000 km on them since leaving Melbourne. We also did some sightseeing, making our way out to Lake Argyle for a look. Here we called in for a look at the old Durack Family Homestead, which was shifted to its present site when the building of the dam flooded its original position. The lake is just huge. Apparently during flood times its capacity is 70 times that of Sydney Harbour!!!!!!!! We also went out to the local melon farm at Ivanhoe to sample their wares and down to the Ord River at Ivanhoe Crossing.We quickly became friendly with the McGrinders, who hail from Esperance in W.A., and before too long Andrea and Rachel were organizing drinks, nibbles and dinners between the 2 families. David or Chook as he likes to be called and Rachel were planning on heading down the Gibb Road as well, but were going to leave a day or 2 before us. However Rachel contracted some type of stomach bug which laid her low for a day or so and this meant that their departure time would now be the same as us. So that settled it, we were traveling together for the Gibb Trip. We decided that we would allow about 5 -6 days for this trip and so set about stocking up for it ready to leave on Friday morning.
Day 130–133 1st – 4th Aug.Purnululu N.P. (Bungle Bungles)
After a restock in Hall’s Creek, which was remarkably sedate after what we had heard the previous evening, we headed north along the Great Northern Highway for 110 km’s until the turnoff in to Mabel Downs Station and the access road to Purnululu N.P.
The road is for 4wd only, with caravans not allowed and camper trailers at own risk. Needless to say we were a little anxious about what surprises the 60 km trip into the visitors centre might hold. The road was actually a beauty, with delightful scenery as it wound its way through the rugged ranges and grassy hills towards the camping grounds. There were half a dozen creek crossings which were easily negotiable, even with a camper trailer and made the drive more interesting. We managed to complete the 60 km’s in about an hour and 45 mins.
After checking in at the visitors centre we headed for the southern n campground known as Walardi which was a further 12 km from the visitors centre. The campsites were great, with plenty of shade ad although there was not any water in the creeks there was tap water available, pit / drop toilets as well communal fire pits.
The road is for 4wd only, with caravans not allowed and camper trailers at own risk. Needless to say we were a little anxious about what surprises the 60 km trip into the visitors centre might hold. The road was actually a beauty, with delightful scenery as it wound its way through the rugged ranges and grassy hills towards the camping grounds. There were half a dozen creek crossings which were easily negotiable, even with a camper trailer and made the drive more interesting. We managed to complete the 60 km’s in about an hour and 45 mins.
After checking in at the visitors centre we headed for the southern n campground known as Walardi which was a further 12 km from the visitors centre. The campsites were great, with plenty of shade ad although there was not any water in the creeks there was tap water available, pit / drop toilets as well communal fire pits.
Day 129–130 31st July – 1st Aug. Hall’s Creek
This was a stopover place to prepare for our trip in to Purnululu N.P. also known as the Bungle Bungles. We arrived in town and checked the information centre which was excellently stocked with information, funnily enough, about the area. We weren’t too sure about staying in town but had heard that Old Hall’s Creek, about 15 km’s out of town was quite nice. We decided to check this out. It was a nice setting, but pretty dry, dusty and too expensive, so we drove back into town and booked in at the caravan park there which was comfortable, with a nice pool and large camp sites.
That night was an interesting one, as from about 5.00 p.m. on wards, the local Aboriginals began their “partying”! The caravan park seemed to be sandwiched between 2 groups of them, with the pub also close by and each group yelling and screaming and gradually becoming louder and louder as the evening progressed. They were on the streets mainly and of all ages and it sounded like it was really going to get ugly as the police had been called to a number of different “squabbles” that had occurred. Thankfully they all ran out of energy by about 10.00 p.m. when the cacophony reached its peak and after this the whole place quietened down and we were able to get some sleep
That night was an interesting one, as from about 5.00 p.m. on wards, the local Aboriginals began their “partying”! The caravan park seemed to be sandwiched between 2 groups of them, with the pub also close by and each group yelling and screaming and gradually becoming louder and louder as the evening progressed. They were on the streets mainly and of all ages and it sounded like it was really going to get ugly as the police had been called to a number of different “squabbles” that had occurred. Thankfully they all ran out of energy by about 10.00 p.m. when the cacophony reached its peak and after this the whole place quietened down and we were able to get some sleep
Day 127 – 129 Across the Tanami 29th to 31st July
There was a bit to pack away this morning so we were a bit slow out of the blocks. Finally got everything on board by about 10.00 a.m. and said our farewells to our Tru-Blu camper friends the Freemans. We had a few things to complete in town before we could leave, so we attended to these, got a coffee from Maccas, made a few phone calls before we were out of range and at about 11.30 a.m. headed off up the Stuart highway towards Halls Creek some 1240 km distant. The Tanami turnoff is 20 k’s north of Alice Springs and the first 140 km or so is bitumen to Tilmouth Well Roadhouse.
After lunch here and a petrol top, up we pushed on. The road was reasonably rough but we were still able to maintain a speed of about 75 -80 km/h for most of the time. The road actually skirts the edge of the Tanami Desert and is quite picturesque along the way with the landscape alternating between low hills covered with rock or spinifex to flat open plains of red dirt and sand. Everything is just so amazingly red. Everywhere you look. The stuff just gets into everything. Your hands become ingrained with red and it takes days of washing to get rid of the colour.
We pushed on into the afternoon and started wondering where we were going to stop for the night. We hadn’t quite covered the distance that we’d hoped due to our rather tardy departure from Alice. At this stage we were tailing a road train, which it turns out was carrying fuel to one of the mines located further up the track. We had been eating this blokes dust for quite a few km without any hope of getting around him. We came to a wayside stop and pulled over for a few minutes. There was a couple of “greys” also doing the same and I asked them where they were headed. They explained that they were going to try to reach a place called Renehan’s Bore, which was some 80 – 90 k’s distant. By this time it was about 3.45 pm and 80 -90 km represented well over an hour’s travel. Andy wasn’t keen because it meant that we would be setting up very close to dark, which is difficult with the younger children. I talked her into it so we decided to try and make Renehan’s. I needed to get around this truck first as he as only travelling at about 40 km/h. This is where the UHF radio is very handy as I was able to chat to the truck driver and ask him if it was all clear to overtake as I could not see a thing in front of him due to the dust. He gave me the all clear and we were away. We pulled in to Renehan’s, which was a way side stop at close to 5.00 pm with the sun sinking low in the sky.
There were 4 or 5 other people at the spot, which had a water tank but no toilets, so we decided to follow a narrow track off the road behind the stop. Here in the scrub behind the stop was 6 -7 other campers who had set up and were either heading north or south. So here we are at least 400 km from the nearest town, in the middle of nowhere and there are still people camping near us.
Andrea got straight into organizing the dinner and keeping Jassy and Daisy out of the way whilst the older girls and I set up the camper. By sunset we were all set up and ready for dinner. It was a very quiet evening and we were all tucked up in bed by 9.00 pm with only the sounds of the desert to listen to, aside from Ruby and Jasmine’s snoring.
A magnificent desert sunrise greeted us the next morning and we were able to welcome it with bright eyes and bushy tails. As we idled out of our little camp spot in to the rest area to get some water from the tank where the rest of the travelers were camping, we had a chat to a couple with 2 young kids and who were towing an “Ultimate” camper. The usual conversation ensued, you know, “Where you off to? Kununurra then Broome. How long on the road? Couple of months.. Where you from? Bulleen in Victoria. Really we’re from Montmorency”. So once again here we are on the middle of the Tanami Track and camped almost next to us, is a family from the next suburb to us. You are never really far from home when you travel it seems
Our aim for the day was to make it to the Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater, a distance of 540 km. If we do make it, it will be a very good effort, remembering of course that we pick up an hour and a half when we cross in to W.A. Our next stop however, is Rabbit Flat “Roadhouse” some 150 km northward. It is the most remote roadhouse in Australia and quite an iconic place to see…. If you like roadhouses that is! Everything is served to you from behind mesh wire. As we were travelling up the road sitting on the usual 80 km/h or so, this Landcruiser Ute with AAT/KINGS written on the side, came flying past us. It looked like a mechanic’s truck, which leaves us wondering where he would be going to fix a bus around here? Perhaps a bus has broken down in Halls Creek and this the quickest way there?!?!....We push on to Rabbit Flat. Upon arrival, there are 4 or 5 four wheel drives waiting to be filled up and incredibly an AAT/Kings tour bus that is heading south from Halls Creek and has broken down. It has all its undercarriage doors and its engine bay doors open. Apparently the road ahead was so rough that the bus had destroyed 6 shockers and blown all the airbags!!!!, and they still had 700 km to go!!!!
After a fill up at about $2.50 per litre we headed off once again with the information that the road deteriorates markedly about 70km up the road, past the gold mine, until the W.A. They were right, it did. In some sections it just wasn’t possible for us to travel quicker than about 30 – 40 km/h. One could only wonder what was happening in the Chariot of Love! After the border it was much the same for the next 125 km until we reached the Aboriginal Community Bililuna for another fuel top up before the run of 60 or so km’s up to Wolfe Creek. Here the road smoothed out somewhat and we reached the campsite at 4.50 pm (W.A. time). This equated to 9 hrs travelling time for the day. Phew!!! The Chariot was intact, although on bumpy roads the cutlery drawer tends to rearrange itself and quite often we find the knives where the fork should be etc. Hardly a problem though.
Of course because we had gained an hour and a half time wise, upon entering W. A., this meant that the sun now set at 5.00 pm instead of 6.30 pm as it had in the N.T. But even worse it meant that instead of rising at roughly 7.00 am it would now be well and truly risen by 6.00 am. In a camper trailer when the sun rises, kids rise!!!! Danger!!!!
Wolfe Creek was a beautiful spot and nowhere near as scary as the movie, with a roughly a dozen camp spots dotted amongst the trees and grass and drop toilets available. After the day’s activities we were well and truly stonkered so once again it was early to bed and early to rise, although I did stay up a little later than the others to have a look at the brilliant star-filled night sky. It is so quiet at night in the desert, that it can be un-nerving, but then again so is Jasmine’s and Ruby’s snoring.!!!
Sunrise was at 5.50 am and we were all up by about 6.10. There was no great hurry to move today as Halls Creek was only a short 145 km drive. Nevertheless we were ready to go by 8.55, so we drove out and up to the crater to check it out. The crater was formed by a meteorite strike some 300,000 years ago and was originally about 120 metres deep. Over time it has gradually filled in with sediment and is now only about 20 metres below the level of the surrounding plain. It is a quite a striking (pardon the pun) setting especially as much of the surrounding country side is so flat. Of course Jassy and Daisy were fascinated by the idea of “the big rock” falling from the sky and were intent on replicating the event by chucking as many rocks as they possibly could into the crater!!
After leaving Wolfe Creek we took it nice and easy into Hall’s Creek along a road that became increasingly better maintained. There was much maintenance work being done on this section in preparation for the wet season. This part of the road was also different because we had entered the southern end of The Kimberley region and the landscape had changed markedly with rugged hills and rock outcrops beginning to appear. We left the dirt for bitumen once again at 11.50 a.m. as we turned on to the Northern Highway for the 20 km run into Hall’s Creek.
One thing that really struck us about the Tanami Trek was the amount of burnt out, abandoned or wrecked cars that there were within eyesight of the road. Olivia and Ruby counted over 60 of them along its length and I reckon we had passed at least 15 – 20 before they started their tally!!!
After lunch here and a petrol top, up we pushed on. The road was reasonably rough but we were still able to maintain a speed of about 75 -80 km/h for most of the time. The road actually skirts the edge of the Tanami Desert and is quite picturesque along the way with the landscape alternating between low hills covered with rock or spinifex to flat open plains of red dirt and sand. Everything is just so amazingly red. Everywhere you look. The stuff just gets into everything. Your hands become ingrained with red and it takes days of washing to get rid of the colour.
We pushed on into the afternoon and started wondering where we were going to stop for the night. We hadn’t quite covered the distance that we’d hoped due to our rather tardy departure from Alice. At this stage we were tailing a road train, which it turns out was carrying fuel to one of the mines located further up the track. We had been eating this blokes dust for quite a few km without any hope of getting around him. We came to a wayside stop and pulled over for a few minutes. There was a couple of “greys” also doing the same and I asked them where they were headed. They explained that they were going to try to reach a place called Renehan’s Bore, which was some 80 – 90 k’s distant. By this time it was about 3.45 pm and 80 -90 km represented well over an hour’s travel. Andy wasn’t keen because it meant that we would be setting up very close to dark, which is difficult with the younger children. I talked her into it so we decided to try and make Renehan’s. I needed to get around this truck first as he as only travelling at about 40 km/h. This is where the UHF radio is very handy as I was able to chat to the truck driver and ask him if it was all clear to overtake as I could not see a thing in front of him due to the dust. He gave me the all clear and we were away. We pulled in to Renehan’s, which was a way side stop at close to 5.00 pm with the sun sinking low in the sky.
There were 4 or 5 other people at the spot, which had a water tank but no toilets, so we decided to follow a narrow track off the road behind the stop. Here in the scrub behind the stop was 6 -7 other campers who had set up and were either heading north or south. So here we are at least 400 km from the nearest town, in the middle of nowhere and there are still people camping near us.
Andrea got straight into organizing the dinner and keeping Jassy and Daisy out of the way whilst the older girls and I set up the camper. By sunset we were all set up and ready for dinner. It was a very quiet evening and we were all tucked up in bed by 9.00 pm with only the sounds of the desert to listen to, aside from Ruby and Jasmine’s snoring.
A magnificent desert sunrise greeted us the next morning and we were able to welcome it with bright eyes and bushy tails. As we idled out of our little camp spot in to the rest area to get some water from the tank where the rest of the travelers were camping, we had a chat to a couple with 2 young kids and who were towing an “Ultimate” camper. The usual conversation ensued, you know, “Where you off to? Kununurra then Broome. How long on the road? Couple of months.. Where you from? Bulleen in Victoria. Really we’re from Montmorency”. So once again here we are on the middle of the Tanami Track and camped almost next to us, is a family from the next suburb to us. You are never really far from home when you travel it seems
Our aim for the day was to make it to the Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater, a distance of 540 km. If we do make it, it will be a very good effort, remembering of course that we pick up an hour and a half when we cross in to W.A. Our next stop however, is Rabbit Flat “Roadhouse” some 150 km northward. It is the most remote roadhouse in Australia and quite an iconic place to see…. If you like roadhouses that is! Everything is served to you from behind mesh wire. As we were travelling up the road sitting on the usual 80 km/h or so, this Landcruiser Ute with AAT/KINGS written on the side, came flying past us. It looked like a mechanic’s truck, which leaves us wondering where he would be going to fix a bus around here? Perhaps a bus has broken down in Halls Creek and this the quickest way there?!?!....We push on to Rabbit Flat. Upon arrival, there are 4 or 5 four wheel drives waiting to be filled up and incredibly an AAT/Kings tour bus that is heading south from Halls Creek and has broken down. It has all its undercarriage doors and its engine bay doors open. Apparently the road ahead was so rough that the bus had destroyed 6 shockers and blown all the airbags!!!!, and they still had 700 km to go!!!!
After a fill up at about $2.50 per litre we headed off once again with the information that the road deteriorates markedly about 70km up the road, past the gold mine, until the W.A. They were right, it did. In some sections it just wasn’t possible for us to travel quicker than about 30 – 40 km/h. One could only wonder what was happening in the Chariot of Love! After the border it was much the same for the next 125 km until we reached the Aboriginal Community Bililuna for another fuel top up before the run of 60 or so km’s up to Wolfe Creek. Here the road smoothed out somewhat and we reached the campsite at 4.50 pm (W.A. time). This equated to 9 hrs travelling time for the day. Phew!!! The Chariot was intact, although on bumpy roads the cutlery drawer tends to rearrange itself and quite often we find the knives where the fork should be etc. Hardly a problem though.
Of course because we had gained an hour and a half time wise, upon entering W. A., this meant that the sun now set at 5.00 pm instead of 6.30 pm as it had in the N.T. But even worse it meant that instead of rising at roughly 7.00 am it would now be well and truly risen by 6.00 am. In a camper trailer when the sun rises, kids rise!!!! Danger!!!!
Wolfe Creek was a beautiful spot and nowhere near as scary as the movie, with a roughly a dozen camp spots dotted amongst the trees and grass and drop toilets available. After the day’s activities we were well and truly stonkered so once again it was early to bed and early to rise, although I did stay up a little later than the others to have a look at the brilliant star-filled night sky. It is so quiet at night in the desert, that it can be un-nerving, but then again so is Jasmine’s and Ruby’s snoring.!!!
Sunrise was at 5.50 am and we were all up by about 6.10. There was no great hurry to move today as Halls Creek was only a short 145 km drive. Nevertheless we were ready to go by 8.55, so we drove out and up to the crater to check it out. The crater was formed by a meteorite strike some 300,000 years ago and was originally about 120 metres deep. Over time it has gradually filled in with sediment and is now only about 20 metres below the level of the surrounding plain. It is a quite a striking (pardon the pun) setting especially as much of the surrounding country side is so flat. Of course Jassy and Daisy were fascinated by the idea of “the big rock” falling from the sky and were intent on replicating the event by chucking as many rocks as they possibly could into the crater!!
After leaving Wolfe Creek we took it nice and easy into Hall’s Creek along a road that became increasingly better maintained. There was much maintenance work being done on this section in preparation for the wet season. This part of the road was also different because we had entered the southern end of The Kimberley region and the landscape had changed markedly with rugged hills and rock outcrops beginning to appear. We left the dirt for bitumen once again at 11.50 a.m. as we turned on to the Northern Highway for the 20 km run into Hall’s Creek.
One thing that really struck us about the Tanami Trek was the amount of burnt out, abandoned or wrecked cars that there were within eyesight of the road. Olivia and Ruby counted over 60 of them along its length and I reckon we had passed at least 15 – 20 before they started their tally!!!
Day 123 – 127. 25th – 29th July Alice Springs
After settling at Alice, I found out that the computer part I had been waiting for had been delivered to the A. Springs Post Office where it was not accepted and so has been returned to Sydney. Not happy!!!! However after some quick phone calls and pleading the couriers have promised that it will be delivered some time Monday.
This gives us 3 full days to prepare for our run up the Tanami Track.
The M.P had mysteriously broken a door handle so this needed to be attended to. Andrea suggested a wrecker after the local Mitsubishi Dealer quoted me $360 plus a 5-day wait from either Sydney or Adelaide. The wrecker just happened to be wrecking a similar model Pajero to the model that I have, so I picked one up for $50 and fitted it myself…..$310 ahead!!!!
Our Tru-Blu friends Pete and Leanne & family were occupying the site next to us so that was great. Their eldest daughter Steph is a year older than Liv, so our 2 older girls were really enjoying some company of the same age. Leanne also had a very special espresso coffee machine which she very willingly shared with us, so that made the mornings even more enjoyable, if that was possible!!
We also used the time to finish off some sightseeing, visiting the Royal Flying Doctor headquarters and also the Alice Springs Desert Park. Both of these were excellent. The Desert Park occupied a full 5 hours of our time and gave tremendous insight into the landscape, flora and fauna of Central Australia as well as information about bush tucker and Indigenous culture and values. We all highly recommend this excursion.
After organising the food and car and computer stuff on Monday we were ready to brave the Tanami and get back to warmer climes on Tuesday.
This gives us 3 full days to prepare for our run up the Tanami Track.
The M.P had mysteriously broken a door handle so this needed to be attended to. Andrea suggested a wrecker after the local Mitsubishi Dealer quoted me $360 plus a 5-day wait from either Sydney or Adelaide. The wrecker just happened to be wrecking a similar model Pajero to the model that I have, so I picked one up for $50 and fitted it myself…..$310 ahead!!!!
Our Tru-Blu friends Pete and Leanne & family were occupying the site next to us so that was great. Their eldest daughter Steph is a year older than Liv, so our 2 older girls were really enjoying some company of the same age. Leanne also had a very special espresso coffee machine which she very willingly shared with us, so that made the mornings even more enjoyable, if that was possible!!
We also used the time to finish off some sightseeing, visiting the Royal Flying Doctor headquarters and also the Alice Springs Desert Park. Both of these were excellent. The Desert Park occupied a full 5 hours of our time and gave tremendous insight into the landscape, flora and fauna of Central Australia as well as information about bush tucker and Indigenous culture and values. We all highly recommend this excursion.
After organising the food and car and computer stuff on Monday we were ready to brave the Tanami and get back to warmer climes on Tuesday.
Day 122 – 123. 24th – 25th July. Glen Helen Resort to Alice Springs
Today we were headed back towards Alice Springs along Larapinta Drive before turning left and heading westwards for 80kms to the outer MacDonnell Ranges to Glen Helen Resort and gorge, which is located at the western end of Namitjira Drive.
Glen Helen Gorge is at the head of the Finke River and is at the start of a spectacular series of gorges that are to be found all along the MacDonnell Ranges right back to Alice.
The resort itself is a camping ground that caters for camper trailers as well as caravans and motor homes. It also has safari tent type accommodation as well as bungalow type rooms. There is a chalet with a bar and restaurant as well. Overall the place has a rustic “hunting lodge” type feel, which was quite charming and appealing.
Not long after setting up, another Melbourne family Leanne and Peter Freeman and their 2 daughters Steph and Charlie, whom we had met at Uluru, also arrived unexpectedly. So they set themselves up beside us on the only grassed campsite area in the campground.
We had struck up a friendship with Pete & Leanne which was based upon mutual camper trailer admiration. Within an hour of us setting up at Uluru a few days before, they had rolled in with an on road version of our Tru-Blu camper. Ours was about 8 months older than theirs, so we immediately began comparing the similarities and differences between the 2 models.
The evening was particularly chilly and the next morning I was somewhat surprised when I awoke up and was making a cuppa, that I noticed what looked like ice crystals forming at the base of the hand operated water pump in the kitchen.
I turned and looked at the thermometer on the fridge. It showed the internal fridge temp as 0.6 degrees whilst the outside air temp was –1.7 degrees. I felt like jumping into the fridge to get warm!!!!
The strange thing is that because the desert air was so dry, there was no dew or ice on the cars or tents at all.
Before leaving Glen Helen we had a short walk down to the gorge, which has a permanent waterhole, although the water was very cold and only flows after substantial rain.
After this it was back in the car after a petrol top up ($2.25 c/l) for the drive through the ranges back to Alice.
On the way we dropped in at a few gorges as well. Ormiston Gorge was the first. This was once again spectacular, even though there was very little water in the waterhole there. There was however a heap of German tourists there fresh from their World Youth Day festival in Sydney and now making the most of their time here by doing a little bit of sightseeing. Many Germans tourists in the outback seem to have an obsession with trying to catch and or feed as many species of native wildlife as they can. At Ormiston there was one bloke, whilst being watched by his travelling companions, who was trying to pat a resident endangered rock wallaby. Having succeeded in this he then began to feed it some orange, which of course it took eagerly. I was pretty peeved at this due to the fact that there are numerous signs requesting that wildlife be left alone. So the girls and I moved further on to another spot, before I said something I regretted.
When we returned the fella was in the process of feeding the critter some kind of snack bar. I couldn’t resist so I ‘had a crack’ at him about it. The puzzled looked he gave me made me realise that he had no idea that he could possibly be doing something that may be harmful. One of his female companions had a go at me as well telling me to take it easy, as there was ‘no problem’.
I left before I started swearing at them!!!
We wound our way through the range along the road stopping a few more well known places, such as Stanley chasm. We chose not to explore this one as they were charging for entry and it was going to cost us about $50 to get in!!! I have bit of a thing about paying to see naturally occurring phenomena, because somebody thinks they “own it”.
Last stop before getting back to Alice was Simpson’s Gap, which is about 20 k’s from Alice.We arrived in Alice by about mid afternoon and managed to secure a spot at the same caravan park and the same site as when we had previously visited.
Glen Helen Gorge is at the head of the Finke River and is at the start of a spectacular series of gorges that are to be found all along the MacDonnell Ranges right back to Alice.
The resort itself is a camping ground that caters for camper trailers as well as caravans and motor homes. It also has safari tent type accommodation as well as bungalow type rooms. There is a chalet with a bar and restaurant as well. Overall the place has a rustic “hunting lodge” type feel, which was quite charming and appealing.
Not long after setting up, another Melbourne family Leanne and Peter Freeman and their 2 daughters Steph and Charlie, whom we had met at Uluru, also arrived unexpectedly. So they set themselves up beside us on the only grassed campsite area in the campground.
We had struck up a friendship with Pete & Leanne which was based upon mutual camper trailer admiration. Within an hour of us setting up at Uluru a few days before, they had rolled in with an on road version of our Tru-Blu camper. Ours was about 8 months older than theirs, so we immediately began comparing the similarities and differences between the 2 models.
The evening was particularly chilly and the next morning I was somewhat surprised when I awoke up and was making a cuppa, that I noticed what looked like ice crystals forming at the base of the hand operated water pump in the kitchen.
I turned and looked at the thermometer on the fridge. It showed the internal fridge temp as 0.6 degrees whilst the outside air temp was –1.7 degrees. I felt like jumping into the fridge to get warm!!!!
The strange thing is that because the desert air was so dry, there was no dew or ice on the cars or tents at all.
Before leaving Glen Helen we had a short walk down to the gorge, which has a permanent waterhole, although the water was very cold and only flows after substantial rain.
After this it was back in the car after a petrol top up ($2.25 c/l) for the drive through the ranges back to Alice.
On the way we dropped in at a few gorges as well. Ormiston Gorge was the first. This was once again spectacular, even though there was very little water in the waterhole there. There was however a heap of German tourists there fresh from their World Youth Day festival in Sydney and now making the most of their time here by doing a little bit of sightseeing. Many Germans tourists in the outback seem to have an obsession with trying to catch and or feed as many species of native wildlife as they can. At Ormiston there was one bloke, whilst being watched by his travelling companions, who was trying to pat a resident endangered rock wallaby. Having succeeded in this he then began to feed it some orange, which of course it took eagerly. I was pretty peeved at this due to the fact that there are numerous signs requesting that wildlife be left alone. So the girls and I moved further on to another spot, before I said something I regretted.
When we returned the fella was in the process of feeding the critter some kind of snack bar. I couldn’t resist so I ‘had a crack’ at him about it. The puzzled looked he gave me made me realise that he had no idea that he could possibly be doing something that may be harmful. One of his female companions had a go at me as well telling me to take it easy, as there was ‘no problem’.
I left before I started swearing at them!!!
We wound our way through the range along the road stopping a few more well known places, such as Stanley chasm. We chose not to explore this one as they were charging for entry and it was going to cost us about $50 to get in!!! I have bit of a thing about paying to see naturally occurring phenomena, because somebody thinks they “own it”.
Last stop before getting back to Alice was Simpson’s Gap, which is about 20 k’s from Alice.We arrived in Alice by about mid afternoon and managed to secure a spot at the same caravan park and the same site as when we had previously visited.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Day 121 – 122 23rd – 24th July Palm Valley via the Mereenie Loop
We had the choice to travel back along the bitumen around to Alice Springs and then back out to the MacDonnell Ranges and Palm Valley, some 500 kms, or take the unsealed Mereenie Loop (200 km) instead. It would seem a no brainer considering the difference in distance. However it was very difficult to get an accurate assessment of what state the loop road was in, in order to make a decision. Some said it was really rough and that they wouldn’t take their old Holden Ute on it. Others said that it was o.k.
We elected to take the road less travelled and set off on The Loop.
The Mereenie Loop travels through Aboriginal Land and a permit is required ($2.20). It was roughly 200 km in length of which 180 was the roughest road that we had travelled on so far!!! The corrugations, in some places felt like they were about 12 inches deep.
Having said that the Millennium Pajero and the Chariot of Love handled it all in their stride. Mind you everything that wasn’t tied down in the camper had been given a fairly severe shaking, but nothing was broken. The thing seems to be rock solid!!!
The same can’t be said of my teeth! In fact a few days later coincidently when back in Alice Springs, I lost part of a filling. I’m blaming the Mereenie Loop!!
After 200km we were back on the bitumen and at Hermannsburg, the old Aboriginal Mission, which was where the famous Aboriginal artist Albert Namitjira was based.
We had a quick stop at the store and then back tracked on to the 4wd drive track into Palm Valley to spend the night.
Palm Valley has a very pretty campground with in the Finke River National Park accessed by driving along the bed of the usually dry Finke River. The weather was clear but cool and we didn’t arrive at the camp until 5.00 pm. So it was all hands on deck to set up, cook dinner and get the little ones rugged up, fed and bunked down for the evening.
Very cool that night!!
Next morning we breakfasted and packed up whilst chatting to the couple that were camping nearby and were also from Melbourne. We then drove the 4km 4wd track from the campsite up to Palm valley, along the dry creek bed. The 4wd is fantastic for being able to access so many places that many people aren’t able to except by organised tour groups.
Palm Valley is a remnant patch of vegetation left over from the age of the dinosaurs, with specific palms and cycads, found only in this part of Central Australia and patches of rainforest close to the east coast.
Jassy and daisy are both feeling the pinch after almost a week of long walks and cold weather so we need to take it easy on them over the next few days.
We elected to take the road less travelled and set off on The Loop.
The Mereenie Loop travels through Aboriginal Land and a permit is required ($2.20). It was roughly 200 km in length of which 180 was the roughest road that we had travelled on so far!!! The corrugations, in some places felt like they were about 12 inches deep.
Having said that the Millennium Pajero and the Chariot of Love handled it all in their stride. Mind you everything that wasn’t tied down in the camper had been given a fairly severe shaking, but nothing was broken. The thing seems to be rock solid!!!
The same can’t be said of my teeth! In fact a few days later coincidently when back in Alice Springs, I lost part of a filling. I’m blaming the Mereenie Loop!!
After 200km we were back on the bitumen and at Hermannsburg, the old Aboriginal Mission, which was where the famous Aboriginal artist Albert Namitjira was based.
We had a quick stop at the store and then back tracked on to the 4wd drive track into Palm Valley to spend the night.
Palm Valley has a very pretty campground with in the Finke River National Park accessed by driving along the bed of the usually dry Finke River. The weather was clear but cool and we didn’t arrive at the camp until 5.00 pm. So it was all hands on deck to set up, cook dinner and get the little ones rugged up, fed and bunked down for the evening.
Very cool that night!!
Next morning we breakfasted and packed up whilst chatting to the couple that were camping nearby and were also from Melbourne. We then drove the 4km 4wd track from the campsite up to Palm valley, along the dry creek bed. The 4wd is fantastic for being able to access so many places that many people aren’t able to except by organised tour groups.
Palm Valley is a remnant patch of vegetation left over from the age of the dinosaurs, with specific palms and cycads, found only in this part of Central Australia and patches of rainforest close to the east coast.
Jassy and daisy are both feeling the pinch after almost a week of long walks and cold weather so we need to take it easy on them over the next few days.
Day 119 – 121. 21st – 23rd July. Kings Creek Station - Kings Canyon
After leaving Uluru, we backtracked about 150 kms to the turn off to Kings Canyon. The day was still overcast and cold and we decided that we would stay at Kings Creek Station, which is a working cattle and Camel station about 40 k’s shy of Kings Canyon. It offered bush like camping as an alternative to the resort set up down the road at the Kings Canyon Resort. It also sold fuel and basic supplies. Another advantage was that here we could have campfires, something that was very attractive when the temperatures were dropping into the single figures during the night. This also meant that there was the possibility that Ruby would be able to mix up one of her dampers and that we would be able to devour it as well!?!?!?
Finally the place offered the best “real espresso” coffee in the outback!!!
The station is also the largest camel farm in Australia, offering camel for both export and consumption.
We visited Kings Canyon the next day and this was spectacular even though the weather as not. We all walked a fairly arduous 6 –7 km around the rim of the canyon, completing a loop back to the car park. The canyon walls and rock faces are basically 400 million year old sand dunes that have been turned to stone through the ages. They are just spectacular!!
We had one more night here before pushing on once again to the West MacDonnell Ranges.
Finally the place offered the best “real espresso” coffee in the outback!!!
The station is also the largest camel farm in Australia, offering camel for both export and consumption.
We visited Kings Canyon the next day and this was spectacular even though the weather as not. We all walked a fairly arduous 6 –7 km around the rim of the canyon, completing a loop back to the car park. The canyon walls and rock faces are basically 400 million year old sand dunes that have been turned to stone through the ages. They are just spectacular!!
We had one more night here before pushing on once again to the West MacDonnell Ranges.
Day 116 –119 18th – 21st July; Uluru
All excited this morning as we load up ready for our trip to that icon in the centre of Australia; Uluru. We travel south for some 200 k’s and have lunch at the roadhouse where we turn right to follow the Lasseter Highway westward out towards “the Rock”. The Red Centre is precisely that, although I must admit that I was expecting the vegetation to be a lot sparser than it was. Mt. Connor came into view after about an hour and a half. This is another monolith and is quite often mistaken at first glance for Uluru. However it is actually about twice the size of Uluru and quite impressive in its own right.
The landscape as we get closer to our destination gradually becomes more sandy, but there is still plenty of vegetation in the form of grasses and spinifex as well as desert she oaks amidst low desert hills of sand. It is quite beautiful to drive through and observe. Even though you are travelling through the centre of the country the amount of traffic that this road carries is quite amazing and it seems that every couple of minutes you are passing a couple of cars, most of which have a caravan behind them and a couple of grey heads in the front passenger seat.
The kids were all beside themselves when Uluru was first spotted in the distance through the desert landscape.
We had booked three nights at the Voyages Yulara Resort and were allotted quite a private campsite at the end of one of the campground streets. This was right next to a walkway, which led to a viewing platform in the sand dunes, where we could view the rock, and the Olgas at any time of the day.
We settled in quickly and promptly made our way through the dunes for drinks at sunset. The temp was quite balmy so we were able to wear shorts and shirts. Just fantastic!!!
Day 117: Saturday
The morn was bright and sunny when we awoke. However the wind picked up to the point that the rock was closed to climbing, but we hadn’t really planned to climb it anyway. We had decided that we were going to walk around the base, a distance of 9.4 km.
As we drove towards the rock after entering the National Park the rock came in to view properly. Everyone was immediately struck by the starkness of this monolith. It looks as though it has just been “plonked” in the middle of the desert by some unknown force, so abruptly does it rise from the surrounding plain. You just have this urge to keep taking photos of it to try and capture its “essence” Amazing!!!
The wind had really picked up by the time we reached the base of the rock. However all the troops were up for a walk to explore it, so off we took.
The base walk was an excellent way to get a feel for the size of Uluru and also explore and observe all the facets that make up the rock. Liv and Rube did it in their stride and were fascinated by the information presented at the various information posts that are located at various point around the trail. Jas and Daisy did really well. Jas walked all the way around with out help while Daisy was carried at intervals, but still walked the majority of the way. Needless to say by the time we finished the circumnavigation they were well and truly ready for a rest back at camp. The wind had picked up to point that I had real fears that our camper canvas may well have been ripped off the base of the trailer!
Day 118: Sunday
Next day dawned sunny but the temp had dropped appreciably and the wind was coming from the southwest and was cold. A visit to the beautiful Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) was on the cards. We decided to undertake part of the Valley of the Winds walk, but opted to walk only 5.6 km instead of the 7.5 km loop. These are another amazing formation and seem to compliment Uluru perfectly. The domes rise so starkly from the valleys beside them where there are beautiful ghost gums, and River Red Gums that are able to grow as a result of the rainwater that becomes trapped in pools nearby.
The Olgas fascinated jasmine. She loved walking through the valley even though there was an icy wind.
After turning around for the walk back to the car we found a rock face protected from the wind, on which to shelter. We all basked in the sun whilst we ate our snacks and had a drink and watched the bird life around us. A truly beautiful place.
Day 119 Monday
The temperature had steadily dropped during the time we were at the rock and this day actually started off overcast with a light drizzle at times. The rock was shrouded in cloud and couldn’t be seen at all until about 7.45 am. However then the cloud began to lift and we were treated to the rock in another mood!
We were due to leave today so we sadly packed up, but before we left had one last trip into the N.P. to visit the Cultural Centre at the base of Uluru. Here we learned a bit, more about the spiritual significance of the rock for the Aboriginal people, the bush tucker and art of the area. There were also local aboriginals at the centre who were painting authentic art that would then be sold at the art gallery shop with in the centre.
After hot chocolates, (of course), we very reluctantly bade farewell to “The Rock” and headed off towards Kings Canyon (307 km).
The landscape as we get closer to our destination gradually becomes more sandy, but there is still plenty of vegetation in the form of grasses and spinifex as well as desert she oaks amidst low desert hills of sand. It is quite beautiful to drive through and observe. Even though you are travelling through the centre of the country the amount of traffic that this road carries is quite amazing and it seems that every couple of minutes you are passing a couple of cars, most of which have a caravan behind them and a couple of grey heads in the front passenger seat.
The kids were all beside themselves when Uluru was first spotted in the distance through the desert landscape.
We had booked three nights at the Voyages Yulara Resort and were allotted quite a private campsite at the end of one of the campground streets. This was right next to a walkway, which led to a viewing platform in the sand dunes, where we could view the rock, and the Olgas at any time of the day.
We settled in quickly and promptly made our way through the dunes for drinks at sunset. The temp was quite balmy so we were able to wear shorts and shirts. Just fantastic!!!
Day 117: Saturday
The morn was bright and sunny when we awoke. However the wind picked up to the point that the rock was closed to climbing, but we hadn’t really planned to climb it anyway. We had decided that we were going to walk around the base, a distance of 9.4 km.
As we drove towards the rock after entering the National Park the rock came in to view properly. Everyone was immediately struck by the starkness of this monolith. It looks as though it has just been “plonked” in the middle of the desert by some unknown force, so abruptly does it rise from the surrounding plain. You just have this urge to keep taking photos of it to try and capture its “essence” Amazing!!!
The wind had really picked up by the time we reached the base of the rock. However all the troops were up for a walk to explore it, so off we took.
The base walk was an excellent way to get a feel for the size of Uluru and also explore and observe all the facets that make up the rock. Liv and Rube did it in their stride and were fascinated by the information presented at the various information posts that are located at various point around the trail. Jas and Daisy did really well. Jas walked all the way around with out help while Daisy was carried at intervals, but still walked the majority of the way. Needless to say by the time we finished the circumnavigation they were well and truly ready for a rest back at camp. The wind had picked up to point that I had real fears that our camper canvas may well have been ripped off the base of the trailer!
Day 118: Sunday
Next day dawned sunny but the temp had dropped appreciably and the wind was coming from the southwest and was cold. A visit to the beautiful Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) was on the cards. We decided to undertake part of the Valley of the Winds walk, but opted to walk only 5.6 km instead of the 7.5 km loop. These are another amazing formation and seem to compliment Uluru perfectly. The domes rise so starkly from the valleys beside them where there are beautiful ghost gums, and River Red Gums that are able to grow as a result of the rainwater that becomes trapped in pools nearby.
The Olgas fascinated jasmine. She loved walking through the valley even though there was an icy wind.
After turning around for the walk back to the car we found a rock face protected from the wind, on which to shelter. We all basked in the sun whilst we ate our snacks and had a drink and watched the bird life around us. A truly beautiful place.
Day 119 Monday
The temperature had steadily dropped during the time we were at the rock and this day actually started off overcast with a light drizzle at times. The rock was shrouded in cloud and couldn’t be seen at all until about 7.45 am. However then the cloud began to lift and we were treated to the rock in another mood!
We were due to leave today so we sadly packed up, but before we left had one last trip into the N.P. to visit the Cultural Centre at the base of Uluru. Here we learned a bit, more about the spiritual significance of the rock for the Aboriginal people, the bush tucker and art of the area. There were also local aboriginals at the centre who were painting authentic art that would then be sold at the art gallery shop with in the centre.
After hot chocolates, (of course), we very reluctantly bade farewell to “The Rock” and headed off towards Kings Canyon (307 km).
Day 112 - 116 14th to18th July; Alice Springs
Have used the time in Alice Springs to do some repairs and maintenance to the camper as well as buy some equipment that will make life easier for us, such as a 12 / 240 volt fluoro lamp to hang in the kitchen, a ground sheet to lay under the camper floor to stop stones piercing it. Refilled gas bottles, new batteries for torches etc, as well as the never-ending battle to keep 4 kids fed and happy and generally just preparing for our next foray down to Uluru and Kata Tjuta.
Alice we found to be a great spot with plenty to see and do and has a very pleasant climate at this time of the year. The days were about 20 – 25 degrees although the nights dropped to about 1 – 2 degrees, which was a bit of a shock for us.
MacDonnell Ranges C.P. is very good. Well kept and neat with clean amenities and communal living / cooking areas.
The older girls took the time to catch up on some schoolwork, which is really only something that they can do when we stop at a spot for an extended period of time.
Jas & Daisy are pretty tired and really need a bit of quiet catch up time. So this being the case we took it pretty easy and kept the sightseeing to a minimum. We did however still manage to visit the Old Telegraph Station, Anzac Hill, School of the Air, as well as the obligatory visits into town to have coffee and take in some of the numerous art galleries that display Indigenous art. As I said earlier we found Alice to be really pleasant with a great town centre and mall area (Todd Mall).
I had hoped to spend some good blocks of time to catch up on “the blog”, seeing as though internet access was going to be possible. However my computer power pack decided to *@#! itself and so I could not run my computer once the battery had expired. Consequently I had to arrange for a part to be sent from Sydney, which would take at least 5 days.
It’s really cold at night here and the girls are going to bed with layers and layers of clothing on, which is quite a change from the bathers and shorts of a few days ago.
By Thursday night we were ready to take off for Uluru, which is almost a full days drive for us (480 km). We are planning on spending about a week away from Alice, visiting the Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon, Palm Valley and the West MacDonnell Ranges.
Alice we found to be a great spot with plenty to see and do and has a very pleasant climate at this time of the year. The days were about 20 – 25 degrees although the nights dropped to about 1 – 2 degrees, which was a bit of a shock for us.
MacDonnell Ranges C.P. is very good. Well kept and neat with clean amenities and communal living / cooking areas.
The older girls took the time to catch up on some schoolwork, which is really only something that they can do when we stop at a spot for an extended period of time.
Jas & Daisy are pretty tired and really need a bit of quiet catch up time. So this being the case we took it pretty easy and kept the sightseeing to a minimum. We did however still manage to visit the Old Telegraph Station, Anzac Hill, School of the Air, as well as the obligatory visits into town to have coffee and take in some of the numerous art galleries that display Indigenous art. As I said earlier we found Alice to be really pleasant with a great town centre and mall area (Todd Mall).
I had hoped to spend some good blocks of time to catch up on “the blog”, seeing as though internet access was going to be possible. However my computer power pack decided to *@#! itself and so I could not run my computer once the battery had expired. Consequently I had to arrange for a part to be sent from Sydney, which would take at least 5 days.
It’s really cold at night here and the girls are going to bed with layers and layers of clothing on, which is quite a change from the bathers and shorts of a few days ago.
By Thursday night we were ready to take off for Uluru, which is almost a full days drive for us (480 km). We are planning on spending about a week away from Alice, visiting the Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon, Palm Valley and the West MacDonnell Ranges.
Day 110 – 113; 12th to 13th July Gunlom Falls to Daly Waters
Made an early start today and were on the road by about 8.30 a.m. and still not sure that we are doing the right thing by going to Alice and leaving this beautifully warm climate. Decide that we will let the car decide in which direction we shall travel. We were headed for Katherine to do a quick restock of food and buy some yummy pies for lunch. Car decides that Alice Springs is the go, so we begin the 110 km before push down south along the Stuart highway to Alice Springs. We have decided to try and make Daly Waters and the iconic pub and caravan park that is situated there. All the kids travelled well and we swallowed 470 k’s for the day.
We managed to make the pub by about 5.00 pm and secured a camping site just in time to set up before the sun set. Decided that dinner at the pub was the order of the day. The food was good and hearty with big servings and the beer was cold.
Daly Waters attracts all types of travellers from backpackers to the ubiquitous grey nomads, from all over Australia and the world and we could hear many different accents as we gathered around the bar for drink.
Entertainment was also provided and this kept us entertained for a few hours until it was time to fall into bed and refresh ourselves for the following day’s travel!
13th July Daly Waters to Devils Marbles.
Once again on the road by 9.00a.m.after a sleep interrupted by the partying of a group of backpackers from Ireland, Germany and Denmark.?!?!?!?
Heading for the Devil’s Marbles today, a distance of 507 kms. Once again the troops all travelled well and were keep fed and happy whilst in transit, by Andy, who always manages to supply just enough food to keep everybody satisfied. This is not an easy thing to do when you have 6 hungry mouths to feed and fairly sizeable distances to cover. We passed through a number of towns including Elliot (look it up), where we stopped for lunch and Tennant Creek. Didn’t stop here as we were keen to push as far south as possible in order to give ourselves the best chance possible to reach Alice Springs the next day at a reasonable time. Finally pulled in to the Devil’s Marbles are quite spectacular as you can see from the photos.
14th July Devil’s Marbles to Alice Springs
Woke to a clear but somewhat more crisp morning than we had been accustomed to. Obviously heading south and gaining height above sea level as we headed inland was making a noticeable difference to the overall temp. Decided to scale the largest of the marbles and watch the sunrise. As you can see the photos show quite a remarkable landscape. Liv and Rube climbed down ahead of us and on the way down copped an earful from a “grey nomad” lady who wasn’t happy with us “spoiling” her photo opportunity for a Devil’s Marbles sunrise by being on top of the rocks in her view!!!!
How inconsiderate of us!!!! Sometimes we are just grateful that the “nomads” generally don’t have “off road” vans because that means that we can get away from them on the rough stuff from time to time.
Drove out from the Marbles and proceeded down the Stuart Highway, stopping off at Wycliffe Well Roadhouse, the UFO capital of Australia for some petrol and then gunned it on the highway. Stopped for lunch at Tea Tree a mainly Aboriginal community and ate that in the park. Back in the M. Pajero for a leisurely cruise through Aileron and on to Alice, where we booked ourselves into the MacDonnell Ranges Caravan Park for 4 nights.
We managed to make the pub by about 5.00 pm and secured a camping site just in time to set up before the sun set. Decided that dinner at the pub was the order of the day. The food was good and hearty with big servings and the beer was cold.
Daly Waters attracts all types of travellers from backpackers to the ubiquitous grey nomads, from all over Australia and the world and we could hear many different accents as we gathered around the bar for drink.
Entertainment was also provided and this kept us entertained for a few hours until it was time to fall into bed and refresh ourselves for the following day’s travel!
13th July Daly Waters to Devils Marbles.
Once again on the road by 9.00a.m.after a sleep interrupted by the partying of a group of backpackers from Ireland, Germany and Denmark.?!?!?!?
Heading for the Devil’s Marbles today, a distance of 507 kms. Once again the troops all travelled well and were keep fed and happy whilst in transit, by Andy, who always manages to supply just enough food to keep everybody satisfied. This is not an easy thing to do when you have 6 hungry mouths to feed and fairly sizeable distances to cover. We passed through a number of towns including Elliot (look it up), where we stopped for lunch and Tennant Creek. Didn’t stop here as we were keen to push as far south as possible in order to give ourselves the best chance possible to reach Alice Springs the next day at a reasonable time. Finally pulled in to the Devil’s Marbles are quite spectacular as you can see from the photos.
14th July Devil’s Marbles to Alice Springs
Woke to a clear but somewhat more crisp morning than we had been accustomed to. Obviously heading south and gaining height above sea level as we headed inland was making a noticeable difference to the overall temp. Decided to scale the largest of the marbles and watch the sunrise. As you can see the photos show quite a remarkable landscape. Liv and Rube climbed down ahead of us and on the way down copped an earful from a “grey nomad” lady who wasn’t happy with us “spoiling” her photo opportunity for a Devil’s Marbles sunrise by being on top of the rocks in her view!!!!
How inconsiderate of us!!!! Sometimes we are just grateful that the “nomads” generally don’t have “off road” vans because that means that we can get away from them on the rough stuff from time to time.
Drove out from the Marbles and proceeded down the Stuart Highway, stopping off at Wycliffe Well Roadhouse, the UFO capital of Australia for some petrol and then gunned it on the highway. Stopped for lunch at Tea Tree a mainly Aboriginal community and ate that in the park. Back in the M. Pajero for a leisurely cruise through Aileron and on to Alice, where we booked ourselves into the MacDonnell Ranges Caravan Park for 4 nights.
Day 103 – 110; 4th - 10th July; Kakadu National Park
We powered out of Darwin ready for our next adventure into Kakadu N.P. Whilst on the Arnhem Highway and before entering the National Park, we stopped at Adelaide River for the obligatory “Jumping Crocodile” Cruise, which everybody really enjoyed and where we managed to get our fair share of “croc excitement”. Further on saw a stop at “Window on the Wetlands” and lunch at the “Bark Hut Inn”, which is basically a hotel / wayside stop that resembles a 1960’s / early 70’s toilet block and which has camping facilities as well as food and drink etc.
Continuing on we entered the iconic park, took the regulation photos and arrived at Jabiru booking into the Kakadu Lodge Resort, which is just down the road from the famous crocodile shaped hotel, whose name escapes me at this moment.
Jabiru was a great kicking off point to visit places such as the East Alligator River, Ranger Uranium Mine, Ubirr Rock and the fabulous Aboriginal artwork that exists in the area. The park had great facilities with a big pool in the centre of it.
We ended up spending 3 nights there with our “new” friends Darren & Janine Green and their children James, Ben, Nicholas and Sarah!! From here they departed to Katherine and on to Alice Springs to catch the Ghan back to Adelaide so that they could then drive on to Melbourne.
We moved on to Cooinda Lodge Resort for another 3 nights. This was another very comfortable camping ground / resort, with a pool, bar, bistro, restaurant etc. Cooinda is around the corner from the Yellow Water cruises and is relatively central to areas such as Nourlangie Rock, Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls. The camping area was also quite attractive and the area in which we were situated was quiet and bushy. The good thing about these places is that we always managed to meet great people who have plenty of good stories and experiences to share and advice to give you if you need it.
The Yellow Water cruise was terrific as was Nourlangie Rock. We took the Jim Jim Falls road out to see the Twin Falls and if time and young ones permitted, Jim Jim Falls. Very heavy corrugations for 60 or so km’s followed by a 10 – 12 km 4wd section with a reasonably deep river crossing across the Jim Jim Creek to the Twin Falls cark park. From here we walked to the river where we were transported via a boat upstream to another section of the river. Here we then disembarked to clamber over rocks and boulders to reach the falls. It was quite a test for the younger girls, but well worth the effort, even though we couldn’t swim in the pool at the base of the falls, due to the suspected presence of Saltwater Crocs. We decided to give the Jim Jim Falls a miss due to the difficulty of the walking track. After our 3 day stay we needed to move on.
From here we travelled to the southern section of the park to Gunlom Falls. This place is famous as the waterhole in which the scene from Crocodile Dundee was filmed where the female lead character gets attacked by a crocodile whilst she is bathing. The falls themselves descend over 100 metres off the Arnhem Land escarpment into an emerald green coloured pool. Above the falls is a series of crystal clear pools in which you can swim. Just magnificent!!!
The ranger was a local aboriginal fella who also gives evening talks and slide show presentations relating to the history of the area etc.
We stayed here for a further 2 nights. We were also able to have a campfire here so we were treated to one of Ruby’s damper creations cooked in the camp oven!!!!!!!
The time had come for us to push on back down towards Alice Springs and we were still in 2 minds as to whether we were going to go all the way down or turn right at Katherine and head across to W.A.
Continuing on we entered the iconic park, took the regulation photos and arrived at Jabiru booking into the Kakadu Lodge Resort, which is just down the road from the famous crocodile shaped hotel, whose name escapes me at this moment.
Jabiru was a great kicking off point to visit places such as the East Alligator River, Ranger Uranium Mine, Ubirr Rock and the fabulous Aboriginal artwork that exists in the area. The park had great facilities with a big pool in the centre of it.
We ended up spending 3 nights there with our “new” friends Darren & Janine Green and their children James, Ben, Nicholas and Sarah!! From here they departed to Katherine and on to Alice Springs to catch the Ghan back to Adelaide so that they could then drive on to Melbourne.
We moved on to Cooinda Lodge Resort for another 3 nights. This was another very comfortable camping ground / resort, with a pool, bar, bistro, restaurant etc. Cooinda is around the corner from the Yellow Water cruises and is relatively central to areas such as Nourlangie Rock, Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls. The camping area was also quite attractive and the area in which we were situated was quiet and bushy. The good thing about these places is that we always managed to meet great people who have plenty of good stories and experiences to share and advice to give you if you need it.
The Yellow Water cruise was terrific as was Nourlangie Rock. We took the Jim Jim Falls road out to see the Twin Falls and if time and young ones permitted, Jim Jim Falls. Very heavy corrugations for 60 or so km’s followed by a 10 – 12 km 4wd section with a reasonably deep river crossing across the Jim Jim Creek to the Twin Falls cark park. From here we walked to the river where we were transported via a boat upstream to another section of the river. Here we then disembarked to clamber over rocks and boulders to reach the falls. It was quite a test for the younger girls, but well worth the effort, even though we couldn’t swim in the pool at the base of the falls, due to the suspected presence of Saltwater Crocs. We decided to give the Jim Jim Falls a miss due to the difficulty of the walking track. After our 3 day stay we needed to move on.
From here we travelled to the southern section of the park to Gunlom Falls. This place is famous as the waterhole in which the scene from Crocodile Dundee was filmed where the female lead character gets attacked by a crocodile whilst she is bathing. The falls themselves descend over 100 metres off the Arnhem Land escarpment into an emerald green coloured pool. Above the falls is a series of crystal clear pools in which you can swim. Just magnificent!!!
The ranger was a local aboriginal fella who also gives evening talks and slide show presentations relating to the history of the area etc.
We stayed here for a further 2 nights. We were also able to have a campfire here so we were treated to one of Ruby’s damper creations cooked in the camp oven!!!!!!!
The time had come for us to push on back down towards Alice Springs and we were still in 2 minds as to whether we were going to go all the way down or turn right at Katherine and head across to W.A.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Day 95 – 103 25th June - 4th July. Darwin
We drove out of Litchfield via the less used northern exit, which involved a 70 – 80 km gravel road and joined the bitumen again near Berry Springs. which is about 50 k’s from Darwin City. We arrived at Darwin virtually 3 months to the day after leaving Melbourne.
Checked out a few caravan parks with the intention of being as close to the city as possible. Found what seemed to be suitable place called Malak C.P., which was originally set up as accommodation for the workers who came to Darwin to rebuild it after Cyclone Tracey. This was not far from the Marrara Football Stadium. Each site had its own basic ensuite however the campsites didn’t really suit our camper layout, plus the hot water was solar powered and our unit was in the shade for most of the day. To top it off one of Darwin’s busiest roads was within spitting distance of the site, so from about 5.30 in the morn onwards the noise was pretty awesome.
After 2 nights of this we decided to find another place to stay. This we found at Free Spirit C.P. Palmerston, which is about 20 k’s from Darwin city centre. This was much better. After 3 months of travelling we were all looking forward to a bit of “down time in a “city”. We were also looking forward to catching up with long time Getson family friends, Bev and Jeff Hutchison and their family, who have lived in Darwin for about 15 years.
We stayed in Darwin for 8 nights and saw many of the sights, such as the wharf precinct on Darwin Harbour, the City Centre itself, which is very relaxed, the Museum, which has much info about Cyclone Tracey and the rebuilding of the city and the Mindal Beach Night Markets and much much more, which we all enjoyed.
To top it off Mugga Trish (Getson), decided that she couldn’t stand to be away from us any longer and jumped on a plane to join us for a few days. The girls had no idea that this was happening, so when I arrived back from the airport with her, they nearly wet their pants with excitement. She had arranged to stay with our friends the Hutchison’s.
Bev and Jeff’s eldest daughter Suzanne and her husband Peter own a bird sanctuary and B n B type set up called “Feathers Sanctuary”, so we had a visit and tour of this during feeding time, which was fantastic.
Whilst staying at Free Spirit C.P. we ran into a great couple, Darren and Janine Green from Melbourne, who both grew up in Monty and Greensborough. Coincidently they also had 4 children although closer in age to each other than our lot and Janine incredibly grew up around the corner from our home in Monty and was best family friends with our next-door neighbours. Small World!!!!
Subsequently we struck up a friendship with them and decided that we would travel to Kakadu together when it was time to leave Darwin.
Darwin was all that it was purported to be! A decent sized well laid out, attractive tropical capital city, where the people are friendly, the weather, especially at this time of the year, is great and there is plenty to see. It is easy to see why so many people go up there for a holiday and end up staying forever.
Jeff and Bev: If you read this thanks for the lovely time we had with you. It was great to catch up in your “home town”. All the girls and myself really enjoyed spending time with you. Liv and Rube even appreciated your sense of humour Jeff and Daisy and Jassy often talk about “Jeff and Grandma Bev”.
Checked out a few caravan parks with the intention of being as close to the city as possible. Found what seemed to be suitable place called Malak C.P., which was originally set up as accommodation for the workers who came to Darwin to rebuild it after Cyclone Tracey. This was not far from the Marrara Football Stadium. Each site had its own basic ensuite however the campsites didn’t really suit our camper layout, plus the hot water was solar powered and our unit was in the shade for most of the day. To top it off one of Darwin’s busiest roads was within spitting distance of the site, so from about 5.30 in the morn onwards the noise was pretty awesome.
After 2 nights of this we decided to find another place to stay. This we found at Free Spirit C.P. Palmerston, which is about 20 k’s from Darwin city centre. This was much better. After 3 months of travelling we were all looking forward to a bit of “down time in a “city”. We were also looking forward to catching up with long time Getson family friends, Bev and Jeff Hutchison and their family, who have lived in Darwin for about 15 years.
We stayed in Darwin for 8 nights and saw many of the sights, such as the wharf precinct on Darwin Harbour, the City Centre itself, which is very relaxed, the Museum, which has much info about Cyclone Tracey and the rebuilding of the city and the Mindal Beach Night Markets and much much more, which we all enjoyed.
To top it off Mugga Trish (Getson), decided that she couldn’t stand to be away from us any longer and jumped on a plane to join us for a few days. The girls had no idea that this was happening, so when I arrived back from the airport with her, they nearly wet their pants with excitement. She had arranged to stay with our friends the Hutchison’s.
Bev and Jeff’s eldest daughter Suzanne and her husband Peter own a bird sanctuary and B n B type set up called “Feathers Sanctuary”, so we had a visit and tour of this during feeding time, which was fantastic.
Whilst staying at Free Spirit C.P. we ran into a great couple, Darren and Janine Green from Melbourne, who both grew up in Monty and Greensborough. Coincidently they also had 4 children although closer in age to each other than our lot and Janine incredibly grew up around the corner from our home in Monty and was best family friends with our next-door neighbours. Small World!!!!
Subsequently we struck up a friendship with them and decided that we would travel to Kakadu together when it was time to leave Darwin.
Darwin was all that it was purported to be! A decent sized well laid out, attractive tropical capital city, where the people are friendly, the weather, especially at this time of the year, is great and there is plenty to see. It is easy to see why so many people go up there for a holiday and end up staying forever.
Jeff and Bev: If you read this thanks for the lovely time we had with you. It was great to catch up in your “home town”. All the girls and myself really enjoyed spending time with you. Liv and Rube even appreciated your sense of humour Jeff and Daisy and Jassy often talk about “Jeff and Grandma Bev”.
Day 91 – 93 23rd to 25th June; Litchfield National Park
Made our way out of Douglas Springs to Adelaide River and visited the War Cemetery. This was a beautiful space dedicated to those military personnel and civilians who lost their lives in the air raids on Darwin during W.W.2.
Pushed on to Litchfield N.P., which is about 130 k’s south of Darwin, to continue our quest to find the best swimming water hole in Australia. Due to its proximity to Darwin, it was quite busy at the park and we checked a few places to stay but these were full. Decided to stay at Wangi Falls, arriving there at about 5.30 pm. Managed to snare one of the last campsites in the campground sharing a large site with a couple from the Latrobe Valley. Fairly basic camping facilities were available with toilets and cold showers, but surprisingly no lights or power in the amenities block.
Wangi Falls has a lovely swimming area, but unfortunately this was closed when we were there because of the suspected presence of “salties”. The boardwalk and walking tracks were also closed for the same reason.
Next day we had a great day at Buley Rockholes and Florence Falls. We all spent a couple of hours swimming At Buley in these cascading waterholes in the most crystal clear water that I have seen. The girls all decided that this was the best swimming that they had been to so far. Florence Falls was also great, with 2 waterfalls plunging off a 20 m or so cliff. The place was very popular and pretty well full of travellers such as us as well as tour groups etc. Of course there were the standard crazy German “backpackers” who jumped off the top of the falls thus risking death or severe spinal injuries. Thankfully they were ok, but only in body, not mind!!!
We spent 2 nights in Litchfield because by this time we were pretty keen to get to Darwin and spend some time checking it out.
Pushed on to Litchfield N.P., which is about 130 k’s south of Darwin, to continue our quest to find the best swimming water hole in Australia. Due to its proximity to Darwin, it was quite busy at the park and we checked a few places to stay but these were full. Decided to stay at Wangi Falls, arriving there at about 5.30 pm. Managed to snare one of the last campsites in the campground sharing a large site with a couple from the Latrobe Valley. Fairly basic camping facilities were available with toilets and cold showers, but surprisingly no lights or power in the amenities block.
Wangi Falls has a lovely swimming area, but unfortunately this was closed when we were there because of the suspected presence of “salties”. The boardwalk and walking tracks were also closed for the same reason.
Next day we had a great day at Buley Rockholes and Florence Falls. We all spent a couple of hours swimming At Buley in these cascading waterholes in the most crystal clear water that I have seen. The girls all decided that this was the best swimming that they had been to so far. Florence Falls was also great, with 2 waterfalls plunging off a 20 m or so cliff. The place was very popular and pretty well full of travellers such as us as well as tour groups etc. Of course there were the standard crazy German “backpackers” who jumped off the top of the falls thus risking death or severe spinal injuries. Thankfully they were ok, but only in body, not mind!!!
We spent 2 nights in Litchfield because by this time we were pretty keen to get to Darwin and spend some time checking it out.
Day 90 – 91:- 22nd to 23rd June; Douglas Hot Springs
Headed closer to Darwin today through Pine Creek and Adelaide River to a place called Douglas Hot Springs. It is located about 60 k’s off the main highway and was well worth the visit.
We arrived in the early afternoon and the temp was in the high 20’s or low 30’s. We obviously were keen to set up and explorer the springs area. The camping area was quite dry and dusty with pit toilets, although the area did have taps with bore water available, which always makes life a bit easier.
We all ventured down to the river area where we found the Douglas River flowing through the bush. The water temp was normal for a river in this region, about 22 –24 deg. Very refreshing and clean. However flowing into this river via a smaller creek was heated water. The water bubbled to the surface from underground at a temp of between 60 – 70 degrees, which of course was far too hot to bathe in. But by placing yourself in an area away from where the hot water surfaces you could find a spot where the temperature suited you.
The base of both rivers is sandy so you could just sit or lie on the bottom of the stream and let the water wash over you. We must have spent 3 to 4 hours in the water. It was beautiful and very relaxing.
When we woke up next morning we all made our way down to the creek again for an early morning dip. A great way to start the day.
We arrived in the early afternoon and the temp was in the high 20’s or low 30’s. We obviously were keen to set up and explorer the springs area. The camping area was quite dry and dusty with pit toilets, although the area did have taps with bore water available, which always makes life a bit easier.
We all ventured down to the river area where we found the Douglas River flowing through the bush. The water temp was normal for a river in this region, about 22 –24 deg. Very refreshing and clean. However flowing into this river via a smaller creek was heated water. The water bubbled to the surface from underground at a temp of between 60 – 70 degrees, which of course was far too hot to bathe in. But by placing yourself in an area away from where the hot water surfaces you could find a spot where the temperature suited you.
The base of both rivers is sandy so you could just sit or lie on the bottom of the stream and let the water wash over you. We must have spent 3 to 4 hours in the water. It was beautiful and very relaxing.
When we woke up next morning we all made our way down to the creek again for an early morning dip. A great way to start the day.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Day 85 – 90 17th to 22nd June: Katherine / Leilyn (Edith Falls)
Pushed on 100k’s up the road to Katherine, to continue our exploration of the Territory.
We stayed at Shady Lane C.P. located about 7 km’s out of town on the road to the Katherine Gorge, and this was very comfortable. Very shady with clean amenities and a nice pool, which the girls loved and of course “the greys” to keep a lid on things ever getting out of hand. Katherine also gave us our first taste of tropical N.T. weather. It also introduced us more closely to the indigenous culture of northern Australia. The Territory has recently introduced quite stringent limitations on the purchasing of alcohol by both blacks and whites as well as the policing of the availability of Pornography. They are also far stricter on the consumption of “grog” in public. Whenever purchasing alcohol i.d. must be shown and you cannot purchase more than $100 worth in one day. Exposure to the way that the Indigenous culture operates with in the white society structure was quite an eye opener for us. It has been great for the girls and us especially, to see how the other half live.
Went out to see Katherine Gorge in the Nitmilik N.P.. There was a great visitor’s centre, which had fantastic information. The boat rides up the gorge were very exy so we opted to walk up to the look out and see the main gorge only.
After a few days in Katherine we stocked up for the next week or so and then drove 62 km’s up the road to Leilyn (Edith Falls), which is also part of the Nitmilik N.P.
This was another beautiful place with a waterfall and huge plunge pool as well as some walks to some upper pools with further pools, just waiting to be explored. We all had a great time (again) . The campsite was also a beauty. Unpowered sites, with watered grassed areas and with access to hot showers, water and power within the amenity blocks.
We had 2 nights at this place before moving on again.
We stayed at Shady Lane C.P. located about 7 km’s out of town on the road to the Katherine Gorge, and this was very comfortable. Very shady with clean amenities and a nice pool, which the girls loved and of course “the greys” to keep a lid on things ever getting out of hand. Katherine also gave us our first taste of tropical N.T. weather. It also introduced us more closely to the indigenous culture of northern Australia. The Territory has recently introduced quite stringent limitations on the purchasing of alcohol by both blacks and whites as well as the policing of the availability of Pornography. They are also far stricter on the consumption of “grog” in public. Whenever purchasing alcohol i.d. must be shown and you cannot purchase more than $100 worth in one day. Exposure to the way that the Indigenous culture operates with in the white society structure was quite an eye opener for us. It has been great for the girls and us especially, to see how the other half live.
Went out to see Katherine Gorge in the Nitmilik N.P.. There was a great visitor’s centre, which had fantastic information. The boat rides up the gorge were very exy so we opted to walk up to the look out and see the main gorge only.
After a few days in Katherine we stocked up for the next week or so and then drove 62 km’s up the road to Leilyn (Edith Falls), which is also part of the Nitmilik N.P.
This was another beautiful place with a waterfall and huge plunge pool as well as some walks to some upper pools with further pools, just waiting to be explored. We all had a great time (again) . The campsite was also a beauty. Unpowered sites, with watered grassed areas and with access to hot showers, water and power within the amenity blocks.
We had 2 nights at this place before moving on again.
Day 80 – 84 12th to 17th June:- The Savannah Way to Mataranka
Day 80:- Lawn Hill to Kingfisher Camp.
We reluctantly left Lawn Hill to continue north even though we were going to be entering the N.T. within the next few days after having spent more than a month in Qld.
We travelled 10 k’s to Adel’s Grove which is a “Camping Resort” set up for those visiting the area who don’t wish to deprive themselves too much of their luxuries. Adel’s Grove also has the last fuel supplies available for more than 500 km so I took the chance to fill up as well as stock up on ice and bread. Our next fuel stop would be at Borroloola, some 520 km away and right on the limit of the distance that I can get on a tank of petrol in the Millennium Pajero.
We were heading to a campsite known as Kingfisher Camp (KFC), some 150 k’s away and accessible via private roads through Cattle Stations.
We left and travelled across Lawn Hill Station for some distance. We crossed 2 more cattle stations ending up on Bowthorn Station on which KFC is situated. The countryside was typically dry and dusty. It was a great drive and amazing to think that we were travelling for hours across one property. We were very pleasantly surprised when we found a lush shady campground with watered lawns and fireplaces and hot showers with running water straight from the billabong of the Nicholson River. For the first time for almost 2 months we were able to light a fire so I did.
Here we met Dennis and Helen who were travelling across Qld heading for Perth. They were also travelling the Savannah Way and we were more than happy to travel with us (Safety in numbers) for the next few days.
Day 81:- To King Ash Bay
Got ready early, about 8.30 knowing that we had more than 400ks to cover on fairly average dirt roads. As is nearly always the case, just as you are ready to go someone walks up to you and wants to discuss your trip or theirs, or compare your camper with theirs so we didn’t end up leaving KFC until after 9.00 am. We once again followed station roads for another 60 k’s which brought us out onto the Savannah Way proper, about 30 – 40 k’s north-west of Doomadgee. So far so good. The M.P. was running beautifully and the Chariot of Love was just lapping up the rough roads as though it as getting a massage. Then we gunned it up the “highway” towards Hells Gate Roadhouse, which up until recently supplied fuel for travellers. However the owner apparently became so sick and tired of people whinging about the cost of fuel etc, that he said, “bugger you all” and shut up shop. We were about 50 k’s from the Qld / N.T. border and the road conditions deteriorated markedly. The corrugations felt like they were about a foot deep and it didn’t matter what speed you travelled at, it was impossible to find a comfortable travelling pace where it didn’t feel as though every bolt in the car was shaking itself to pieces or that your teeth were gonna fall out!!!
Crossed into the N.T. at roughly 12.15 EST.
The road improved dramatically and we were soon bolting along at about 80 – 90 k’s per hour most of the time. We lunched on the side of the road and we were now travelling through Aboriginal land with lots of river crossing although all were very shallow.
Arrived at Borroloola round about 5.00 pm having travelled 540 k’s on the one tank of fuel. Borroloola is a predominantly Aboriginal settlement. Filled up here and took on about 90 litres of a possible 95.
Drove past the Caravan Park, which was right next to the pub and didn’t look too inviting so decided to head 40 km’s out to a fishing camp closer to the Gulf, called King Ash Bay. This is a very popular fishing settlement with many southerners coming up here during the winter months and staying for 4 or 5 months. So there is a combination of semi-permanent type accommodation as well as camping facilities. Our travelling companions Helen and Dennis were also with us and had already found a campsite. Once we were set up we were then entertained for a few hours by one of the local residents, who had a serious “hi-fi” set up and proceeded to play every type of song from the 70’s & 80’s. Pete & Jenny Fearnside would have been loving it!!!!
Slept well in rather warm tropical type conditions, and awoke ready for the next step of the journey.
Day 82: To Butterfly Springs
We had heard from a number of people along our travels, that if we were going “to do” the Savannah Way, then we must make a stop at Butterfly Springs. Because we had our travelling friends Denis & Helen with us, we had new found confidence to tackle this rather remote route through to the Stuart Highway. We only needed to travel about 240 k’s today, but this was good because we really didn’t know what the state of the track would be. We left King Ash Bay at 9.00 am and continued back to Borroloola to refill. Then meandered down the Carpentaria Hwy (sealed) until the Savannah Way turnoff heading for Roper Bar (unsealed). The road was far worse than the day before and most of the time it was difficult to reach 60 km/h consistently. In some sections the road was little wider than a cart track!!! However the route presented no real problems for us besides the usual shaking you so much that you feel like your fillings are going to fall out?!?! Denis and Helen had moved on further ahead of us, not having anything to tow, but we caught them up when they were waylaid due to a flat tyre. The road proceeded northwards through the Limmen N.P. and was quite remote. The temp was picking up and we were really looking forward to reaching our destination as we had heard that Butterfly Springs was the only place within this N.P. where you could safely swim without being eaten by a crocodile. Finally reached the camp ground at about 2.00 pm and found that despite the remoteness of this place that there was still 2 other campers at the site!! This was not a problem as there was still plenty of room to pitch a couple of tents. After setting, we made our way down to the waterhole. Here we found a delightful lagoon about 60 metres in length and about 20 metres wide at its widest point. It had a waterfall trickling into it from the escarpment above, which in a few weeks would have stopped running. It was just perfect and very close to what you call and oasis in the wilderness. We spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between the waterhole and our campsite. That evening we had a campfire and spent a very pleasant time chatting with our travelling companions and enjoying a few drinks, hundreds of kilometres away from the nearest town.
Day 83: To Mataranka
Our aim today was to make it to Mataranka on the Stuart Hwy, which of course is the main road linking Adelaide with Alice Springs & Darwin. We were on the road by 9.15, again making our way north. As we moved northward towards the southern side of Arnhem Land, the vegetation became gradually lusher with those beautifully inviting lagoons and billabongs that you see in travel brochures, becoming more of common. How inviting they look, but what lurks within them ready to chew on you?!?!?!?…….
We reached the most northern point of the Savannah Way and took a left turn and made our way to the famous Roper Bar, which is the causeway that crosses the Roper River into Arnhem Land and allows local aboriginals access to that land. We had lunch outside the Roper Bar “Store” which opened at 1.00 p.m. and closed at 4.00 p.m. (Sunday). Took the cars across the Roper River at the bar, which was only about 15 cm deep. The girls decided that they wanted to walk across the bar after they saw some young aboriginal girls fishing from it. After they had walked about 15 metres they decided that it was too slippery and turned back. Just as well ally because we found out later that the place was infested with “salties”.
The water for these pools rises from about 300 metres below the surface at a constant temperature of 32 degrees Celsius and is crystal clear. We must have spent about 6 hours in there over the day that we were there.
Mataranka is also the location for the classic Australian novel “We of the Never Never” and the homestead that was used for the movie is located on the property.
As mentioned we stayed here for 2 nights, which allowed us to clear away some of the dust that had caked the car, camper and ourselves during the previous weeks travel from Mt. Isa. A very relaxing place to spend a day or two.
Have noticed also that the further north that we travel, the greater the number of backpackers and younger travellers there are, particularly Europeans and Brits. There are enormous numbers of these people jammed into “Wicked Campers” as well as Britz and Maui vehicles. This makes for a welcome change from the “eternal grey nomads”, who of course are everywhere spending their children’s inheritance!!!!
We reluctantly left Lawn Hill to continue north even though we were going to be entering the N.T. within the next few days after having spent more than a month in Qld.
We travelled 10 k’s to Adel’s Grove which is a “Camping Resort” set up for those visiting the area who don’t wish to deprive themselves too much of their luxuries. Adel’s Grove also has the last fuel supplies available for more than 500 km so I took the chance to fill up as well as stock up on ice and bread. Our next fuel stop would be at Borroloola, some 520 km away and right on the limit of the distance that I can get on a tank of petrol in the Millennium Pajero.
We were heading to a campsite known as Kingfisher Camp (KFC), some 150 k’s away and accessible via private roads through Cattle Stations.
We left and travelled across Lawn Hill Station for some distance. We crossed 2 more cattle stations ending up on Bowthorn Station on which KFC is situated. The countryside was typically dry and dusty. It was a great drive and amazing to think that we were travelling for hours across one property. We were very pleasantly surprised when we found a lush shady campground with watered lawns and fireplaces and hot showers with running water straight from the billabong of the Nicholson River. For the first time for almost 2 months we were able to light a fire so I did.
Here we met Dennis and Helen who were travelling across Qld heading for Perth. They were also travelling the Savannah Way and we were more than happy to travel with us (Safety in numbers) for the next few days.
Day 81:- To King Ash Bay
Got ready early, about 8.30 knowing that we had more than 400ks to cover on fairly average dirt roads. As is nearly always the case, just as you are ready to go someone walks up to you and wants to discuss your trip or theirs, or compare your camper with theirs so we didn’t end up leaving KFC until after 9.00 am. We once again followed station roads for another 60 k’s which brought us out onto the Savannah Way proper, about 30 – 40 k’s north-west of Doomadgee. So far so good. The M.P. was running beautifully and the Chariot of Love was just lapping up the rough roads as though it as getting a massage. Then we gunned it up the “highway” towards Hells Gate Roadhouse, which up until recently supplied fuel for travellers. However the owner apparently became so sick and tired of people whinging about the cost of fuel etc, that he said, “bugger you all” and shut up shop. We were about 50 k’s from the Qld / N.T. border and the road conditions deteriorated markedly. The corrugations felt like they were about a foot deep and it didn’t matter what speed you travelled at, it was impossible to find a comfortable travelling pace where it didn’t feel as though every bolt in the car was shaking itself to pieces or that your teeth were gonna fall out!!!
Crossed into the N.T. at roughly 12.15 EST.
The road improved dramatically and we were soon bolting along at about 80 – 90 k’s per hour most of the time. We lunched on the side of the road and we were now travelling through Aboriginal land with lots of river crossing although all were very shallow.
Arrived at Borroloola round about 5.00 pm having travelled 540 k’s on the one tank of fuel. Borroloola is a predominantly Aboriginal settlement. Filled up here and took on about 90 litres of a possible 95.
Drove past the Caravan Park, which was right next to the pub and didn’t look too inviting so decided to head 40 km’s out to a fishing camp closer to the Gulf, called King Ash Bay. This is a very popular fishing settlement with many southerners coming up here during the winter months and staying for 4 or 5 months. So there is a combination of semi-permanent type accommodation as well as camping facilities. Our travelling companions Helen and Dennis were also with us and had already found a campsite. Once we were set up we were then entertained for a few hours by one of the local residents, who had a serious “hi-fi” set up and proceeded to play every type of song from the 70’s & 80’s. Pete & Jenny Fearnside would have been loving it!!!!
Slept well in rather warm tropical type conditions, and awoke ready for the next step of the journey.
Day 82: To Butterfly Springs
We had heard from a number of people along our travels, that if we were going “to do” the Savannah Way, then we must make a stop at Butterfly Springs. Because we had our travelling friends Denis & Helen with us, we had new found confidence to tackle this rather remote route through to the Stuart Highway. We only needed to travel about 240 k’s today, but this was good because we really didn’t know what the state of the track would be. We left King Ash Bay at 9.00 am and continued back to Borroloola to refill. Then meandered down the Carpentaria Hwy (sealed) until the Savannah Way turnoff heading for Roper Bar (unsealed). The road was far worse than the day before and most of the time it was difficult to reach 60 km/h consistently. In some sections the road was little wider than a cart track!!! However the route presented no real problems for us besides the usual shaking you so much that you feel like your fillings are going to fall out?!?! Denis and Helen had moved on further ahead of us, not having anything to tow, but we caught them up when they were waylaid due to a flat tyre. The road proceeded northwards through the Limmen N.P. and was quite remote. The temp was picking up and we were really looking forward to reaching our destination as we had heard that Butterfly Springs was the only place within this N.P. where you could safely swim without being eaten by a crocodile. Finally reached the camp ground at about 2.00 pm and found that despite the remoteness of this place that there was still 2 other campers at the site!! This was not a problem as there was still plenty of room to pitch a couple of tents. After setting, we made our way down to the waterhole. Here we found a delightful lagoon about 60 metres in length and about 20 metres wide at its widest point. It had a waterfall trickling into it from the escarpment above, which in a few weeks would have stopped running. It was just perfect and very close to what you call and oasis in the wilderness. We spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between the waterhole and our campsite. That evening we had a campfire and spent a very pleasant time chatting with our travelling companions and enjoying a few drinks, hundreds of kilometres away from the nearest town.
Day 83: To Mataranka
Our aim today was to make it to Mataranka on the Stuart Hwy, which of course is the main road linking Adelaide with Alice Springs & Darwin. We were on the road by 9.15, again making our way north. As we moved northward towards the southern side of Arnhem Land, the vegetation became gradually lusher with those beautifully inviting lagoons and billabongs that you see in travel brochures, becoming more of common. How inviting they look, but what lurks within them ready to chew on you?!?!?!?…….
We reached the most northern point of the Savannah Way and took a left turn and made our way to the famous Roper Bar, which is the causeway that crosses the Roper River into Arnhem Land and allows local aboriginals access to that land. We had lunch outside the Roper Bar “Store” which opened at 1.00 p.m. and closed at 4.00 p.m. (Sunday). Took the cars across the Roper River at the bar, which was only about 15 cm deep. The girls decided that they wanted to walk across the bar after they saw some young aboriginal girls fishing from it. After they had walked about 15 metres they decided that it was too slippery and turned back. Just as well ally because we found out later that the place was infested with “salties”.
The water for these pools rises from about 300 metres below the surface at a constant temperature of 32 degrees Celsius and is crystal clear. We must have spent about 6 hours in there over the day that we were there.
Mataranka is also the location for the classic Australian novel “We of the Never Never” and the homestead that was used for the movie is located on the property.
As mentioned we stayed here for 2 nights, which allowed us to clear away some of the dust that had caked the car, camper and ourselves during the previous weeks travel from Mt. Isa. A very relaxing place to spend a day or two.
Have noticed also that the further north that we travel, the greater the number of backpackers and younger travellers there are, particularly Europeans and Brits. There are enormous numbers of these people jammed into “Wicked Campers” as well as Britz and Maui vehicles. This makes for a welcome change from the “eternal grey nomads”, who of course are everywhere spending their children’s inheritance!!!!
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