5TH JULY 2013 -  FLINDERS HIGHWAY,  QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA

 Sorry to leave Julia Creek as I found it relaxing in the sun, but hit the road we must – still places to visit on our way back down to the Sunshine Coast. We are taking it day by day on where to go & what to see trying to avoid going over the same routes as previously. Today we are heading down part of the ‘Dinosaur Trail’ – yes I did say Dinosaur. There is a lot of evidence in this area of Australia of those ancient creatures having lived here. Unfortunately the road surface is poor today with lots of humps & bumps – most unusual. Richmond is the first town on the trail with a big tourist attraction called Krontasaurus Corner with a giant statue to greet visitors as they arrive in the town. The dinosaurs in this area were all marine creatures, though in other areas they were land species. There is evidence at Winton of a stampede with very visible footprints on the rocks there, probably when the meteor hit the earth & killed all the living creatures of that time. Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll manage to get there as I have been told it is amazing.

Dinasaur at Hughenden

 

Onto Hughenden with another beautiful big dinosaur statue. Here we stayed in another council provided RV base. There is a funny story attached to this one. It is necessary to have a permit from the Info centre which we duly did. Paid our $6 for one night & were told to go to the local showgrounds (shown the exact spot on the map provided), where we would see several other vans which had arrived that morning. On arrival there we couldn’t see any vans so continued around behind some buildings & there they were. We noticed they were all hooked up to power & water & thought ‘Wow, this is a good deal’, so of course set ourselves up likewise. Within about 1/2 an hour up comes a council man asking who gave us permission to camp there at which we produced our permit. ‘Oh no’ says he – ‘you can’t camp here. You’re supposed to be back in the carpark outside the showgrounds’. After explaining that we had been specifically told to come into the showgrounds, he & we decided they needed better signage & the information staff needed to be a bit more specific. He was very nice about it & didn’t blame any of us so it all ended up as quite a joke & all 4 vans had to pack up & move. As it was we managed to get near the only tree for shade which was on the boundary fence. Again we had a really nice ride round their local bike trails & I even managed a haircut my first for a long time. Feel human again now. Left after our one night to head to Porcupine Gorge about 70kms away which had to be booked at Info Centre again. Duly arrived to find someone on our site & no one in the van. Waited for about an hour & had a cuppa, still no one, so we parked in another site & went off to do the gorge walk before it got too hot. A big steep walk down to the bottom of the gorge with amazing white sandstone rocks which looked like waves. We wonder if they were once under the sea? It was quite an intrepid little journey exploring down there, with lovely pools of water here & there, some quite busy with fish about 6 inches long. The main feature is a very large red cliff face which looks like a pyramid, with a very nice clear but cold pool at it’s base. After our long walk in the heat we were glad to have a dip in it’s refreshing water, having had the foresight to wear our swimmers although we had the pool to ourselves. Then relaxed & ate our picnic lunch sitting on some fairly warm rocks to dry out before attempting the steep climb back to camp. Back at camp there was now someone parked behind us in the site we had stolen temporarily & still the squatters in our site, though this time they were in residence & Stu sorted it all out at last. So finally set up & relaxed in the shade & dinner over we have just had a wild animal making a lot of noise outside the van & though I shone the torch & saw eyes, couldn’t make out what it was. Disappointing.

Pyramid at Porcupine Gorge

 

7th – Overcast morning & slightly humid leaving Porcupine Gorge, temp 21deg at 7.30am. Lots of Brahmen cattle on the road including quite a few cute little calves which were a first. Again we are not entirely sure of our destination – footloose & fancy free! We may end up in a caravan park, the first in 10 days, so time to catch up with laundry etc. It has cost us $16 for those ten nights as we paid a small amount for the National Park & $6 for the RV park at Hughenden. It’s the longest stretch we have had all trip. The wedgies & cleanup crew are having a change of diet today as we saw a wild pig on the road, also saw a feral cat at roadkill, about the 4th in recent weeks. Have also seen roos, emus, horses, camels, eagles & crows, all within 1/2 an hour. By mid morning the clouds have lifted to the usual clear blue sky as we pass through several cute little ‘towns’ with barely more than a pub, but all tidy & with lots of character. Several still had the hitching rails for the horses outside & lots of saddles & memorabilia displayed.

Prairie Pub

 We ended the day at our 11th freebie in as many days where a pleasant warm evening was spent. We were invited to watch TV at a ‘neighbours’ who had satellite, specifically to watch auto racing for the afternoon but declined, not being a fan of that sport. He had it all set up under his awning & a few others joined them for the evening watching one of the Aussie ‘soaps’.  Woken by a few trains during the night as we were adjacent to the railway line.

 

Wed 8th – Another glorious morning after a warm night. Lovely countryside heading to Charters Towers with 100’s of QLD wattles roadside, glistening in the morning sun with little roadside grasses with seedheads tinged pink. The trees are lush and green & distant ranges are blue. We actually had to stop at a railway crossing for another of those long trains, hauling sulphuric acid to the mines I suspect. What it’s use would be I cannot say. We soon reach Charter’s Towers, a large historic town with beautiful buildings which have been well maintained or restored. Met up with a solo lady traveller from our nights freebie & had a coffee & a long chat with her. She comes from Newcastle NSW & travels every winter to QLD for the winter in her very nice large campervan. By noon the temp is 27deg as we head from Charters Towers towards Townsville, still undecided as to our destination. We came across a very large freebie which was not in our book which was some distance from the road, so decided to investigate. A big mistake as Stu took the wrong dirt track & ended up by the river with not much room to turn the van. By then two more vehicles had followed us down which made it worse. With lots of backing etc we once again got out of a tight spot, took the right turn & found a very large, barren & windy area with toilets only. Lots of vans who looked as if they had been there some time. It didn’t appeal at all to us but hunger beckoned so we lunched & set off again. About an hour later we investigated a little camping ground south of Townsville – looked rather run down but on investigation the ablution block was reasonably new & clean & it bordered a National Park & was cheap ($25) so decided to give it a go. It was owned & run by an 87 year old ex German man called Fred, very fit & looked more like 67. He had bought the land 20+ years ago with a dream of turning it into a resort. It has it’s own wetland plus another small lake he developed himself along with the many trees he planted. For some reason his dream didn’t eventuate & with age both he & the park have declined. Personally we think he started it too late in life with not enough capital. He informed us the 170 acres of land was worth over a million dollars but of course no-one is going to pay that, & as he said, what would he do with all that money now anyway. So he will probably continue on as he has done & make what he can. It was fairly quiet while we were there but we enjoyed it because of that & the park was alive with gorgeous little wallabies, plus the walk through the National Park which we took the next day. We could see the huge potential of it all & felt quite sad for the poor old guy who really was quite a sweetie.

The slide

Bottom of the Slide

 

Wallaby at Mountain View Lake Caravan Park

9th – Fairly windy this morning but lovely & warm, & a good morning to tackle the walk through the National Park. We were not impressed with the start of the track which took us through a weedy, grassy wilderness. We would not have contemplated walking through without the tractor width track that dear old Fred mows through it as the initial stages are on his land. Naturally we are conscious of snakes & make noise as we go along & it is not long before Stu spots one in sun at the side of the track. It moved of very quickly into the long grass & being behind Stu I did not see it, but apparently it was about a metre long. Within 5 minutes we had seen another 3, two very small babies & a medium sized one. Fairly unsettled by now we very bravely continued on as the long grass discontinued and it became more woodland. It took about an hour to reach the place we were seeking, about 5kms from the camp. A wonderful series of cascades & and rock pools & a gigantic ‘slide’ of wet rocks which ended in a large, clear pool at the bottom. Apparently many people do use it as a slide but it looked a bit dangerous to us. We were more enthralled by the oasis of native palms & other trees & the warmth, tranquillity & privacy – the perfect place for a ‘skinny dip’. The water was cool & refreshing & the rocks warm enough to dry out on while we had a snack & drink before setting off on the return journey. I found myself a long forked stick & dragged it along as we went, creating as much noise as possible, & luckily we didn’t spot any more local reptiles. On giving Fred a description of the large one he informed us it was an Eastern Brown snake, very venomous!!! I keep reminding myself that they are as worried about us as we are about them but hope I never have to test the theory. Adventure over, we headed into Townsville in the afternoon & wandered along the lovely long esplanade almost getting blown away. Stuart then took me out for dinner at a nice restaurant across from the water & we headed home in the dark, probably the first time we have done so in a long time. We headed off next morning for a new destination & had to say goodbye to all our little wallaby friends & all their little joeys with heads poking out of their pouches.



Waiting for the train

 

2ND JULY 2013 – OVERLANDERS WAY, NTH WEST QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA.

Waking to a 5deg morning is a bit of a shock but the Billabong at Camooweel is glassy with lovely reflections before we left. On a morning like this it’s a joy to be on the road with lots of wedge tailed eagles cleaning up the overnight roadkill. We nearly got a couple through our windscreen as they were loath to leave their breakfast as we fast approached. Would have been a great photo shot with their wings spread wide, but murphy’s law – didn’t have the camera on my knee as I usually do. There seem to be a number of big rigs & 5th wheelers on the road today, luckily not going our way to hold up the traffic. We did have a huge bus at camp last night with two slideouts, & a car on trailer behind as well, & was just one rather elderly man & his faithful german shepherd dog. Has been on the road for 8 years.

We finally leave the very flat land behind & experience trees & hills as we near Mt Isa which is a big mining centre. Again our second time here so we just stop for morning tea & continue on though taking a different route from last visit. The mornings seem to go quite quickly we find, but by two in the afternoon it is a drag & we are glad to stop for the day by three. We are now on the ‘Overlanders Way’ which stretches from Tennant Creek in NT to Townsville in QLD, taking in little outback towns as we go. On arrival at our overnight stop we discover a gravel road which goes to an old township, so decided to take the bikes for a spin & get some much needed exercise. It wasn’t the easiest track with quite a few sandy patches, a few we had to walk through, some we persisted through doing little skids & almost getting stuck. Have to admit on the way back I even managed to fall off but luckily it was sand so didn’t have any injuries at all & we both thought it quite a joke. Two old fogies out on their mountain bikes looking for adventure. As for the old town, there was not a single sign of it left. If we had taken the 4WD we could have gone a lot further & found the old railway tunnel & a waterfall (probably dry like the rest of the landscape). Anyway it was a good 11km ride after sitting so long in the car each day. The camp was absolutely crammed that night so good that we got there early.

 

Wed 3rd, got a late start due to being jammed in by other vans & when we did finally get free, two very inconsiderate road trains had blocked the exit so we had to wait again. Temperature this morning was 2deg at 7.30am so we have had to put another cover on the bed. Lovely sunny, calm morning though so we didn’t mind that & as soon as we head off in the car we soon warm up. The landscape is still quite hilly with rocky escarpments as we head towards Cloncurry which is the home of the Flying Doctor Service which started in 1928, & also a copper mining town these days though formerly mined uranium. Most of the towns on this route were also the main stock route for this area & have a great Droving history (thus the name Overlanders Way). Rodeos are an annual event in the area but unfortunately they are mostly held around April/May so no riding the bulls for me??? By now the temperature has risen to 22 so not a bad day at all.

Thurs 4th. We have now reached another little droving town called Julia Creek which is a beef, wool & mining district of McKinlay Shire. There are four little towns which make up the the shire with a population of 1000 between them over a land area of 40,728 square kilometres. It’s a tidy little place with all services although like most of these little country places they are unplanned & a bit jumbly with industrial businesses often between houses. They all have wonderful huge wide roads which are a pleasure to drive or ride on. Their main streets often have covered parking situated in the middle of the road to keep the cars cool in the heat of summer. Its main claim to fame is firstly their award winning Visitors Centre, secondly their reputation as an RV friendly town, thirdly a rare little animal. The Visitors Centre cost $2.3 million, $1 million of which was donated by the nearby mining company (I think BHP). It is not large & modern, in fact it is partly made from little recycled ‘Fettlers’ cottages & is quite different & suits the area well. The landscaping is superb, as it seems to be everywhere we go. Guess with the raw materials they have on hand in this country it’s not too hard but we do give them credit for the job they do. The other claim to fame is a very small rare animal called the Julia Creek Dunnart. This tiny bright eyed creature is an insect eating marsupial only found in the Mitchell grass downs of Nth West QLD. It is very like a mouse but is a separate species & is endangered. One only live one is on display in the Visitors Centre. , Another thing of interest here is ‘The Walkabout Hotel’ of Crocodile Dundee fame, formerly called the Federal Hotel & built in 1900. It & several other buildings in the town featured in the film. By co-incidence we saw Paul Hogan himself on TV here a couple of nights ago & it was interesting on being questioned about how hard it was for him to have instant fame & perform the part. He said it was no problem at all as he was just being himself & I hadn’t realised that he actually produced, directed & acted the whole thing. He is looking quite old but is just the same & is here in Oz doing a one man comedy show. I really liked him as he appeared honest & fun. Anyway, getting back to Julia Creek, it provides a brilliant free RV park beside a creek just out of town & it would take enough vans for a rally. All users are meant to be totally self contained as there are no toilets etc provided & although there are taps, it is not allowed to fill up caravan tanks with it. Lots of camper trailer tried to get away with it but there is a check done several times a day.. The council run it & have just put in a brand new road from the township to the park. It’s downside is that it is quite near the main highway (roadtrains), & the railway line which carries ore etc to Townsville day & night & the trains are up to 2km long!!! It’s not so bad when they are full, but when they return in the middle of the night empty they really clang along the lines & of course they have an engine at front, middle & rear. Amazing! Luckily we again got a good spot so not too close to the noise. We really enjoyed our two nights there – handy to use our bikes to go up town several times & the locals were friendly & helpful. And to top it up we had phone signal & internet – great.

Julia Creek Campground

Julia Creek Visitor Centre



 

 

28TH JUNE 2013 - TOP END NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA

28TH JUNE 2013 – TOP END NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA

With Katherine behind us we spend a hot & noisy night at King River, the noise due to all the road trains journeying through during the night. Some of them obviously think it is a great joke to toot long & loud in the middle of the night as they pass. The Stuart Highway goes from Darwin to Adelaide so is an extremely busy highway for road trains & nomads. So a bit bleary eyed we set off at 8am, – we are almost robotic when packing up each morning after doing it for several months. Temperature is 20deg, & our intention is to have a stopover at Bitter Springs for a nice hot dip in their gorgeous crystal clear waters.

Third time at Bitter Springs

 

 

Bitter Springs

   This is another revisit but this time we take our snorkels & follow the spring downstream a little way – although no fish or anything alive that we can see, it is non the less a little green wonderland of mosses etc & being still quite early there are very few others sharing the pleasure. Would have liked to linger longer (sounds like pidgin english), but time to hit the road & get to our next stopover by 2pm in case it is busy, & it does prove to be the case. We manage to get an OK site without a problem & have time to relax, Stu manages to print off some ‘For Sale’ signs for the van – it is surprising how quickly people notice them but alas, no bites yet. Speaking of bites, there are so many varieties of ants here, tiny ones, huge ones & in between, green ones, orange, black, brown etc. Some bite if one is not careful, most just a nuisance though they haven’t come into the van much & usually only tiny ones. Stu is still struggling with his bites from Darwin though I think he has a few fresh ones as well.

Next little town we pass through is Elliot, another small place mostly aboriginal, with historic statues of an old pioneer family in their nice park. It seems to have improved since our last visit. We have to refuel again – ($1.90) as we are turning onto the Barkley Highway towards QLD & there are few fuel stops to come for some time. Unfortunately from that point we head directly into the wind & you can almost watch the needle on the fuel gauge going down! The traffic is mostly going the opposite direction towards Darwin & is like a constant stream of nomadic white ants. So begins the peak season plus school holidays – so glad we won’t be caught up in that!. For us it is seems like the slowest, most boring drive we have done being such a slow crawl & the landscape is totally flat & lifeless - far worse than the Nularbor. After another fuel stop & then finally our next overnighter at which we had the choice of sitting in the sun with little flies to annoy us, or in the very blustery wind which they didn’t like – neither did I! Retreated into the van. The carpark nowhere near full & the wind rocked us to sleep – not quite like a lullaby. Another nice sunrise but the temperature down to 13 –brrr. So it’s another day, & probably another 400 kms on this boring, boring highway.

Boring Barkley Highway

  No towns, one roadhouse to pass. We are definitely ‘bucking the trend’ now & we can just hear the nomads going north to Darwin saying ‘silly people, they are going the wrong way’. We would happily have stayed longer in Darwin in the warmth but we need to allow time to sell the van & car before returning home, so the obvious place to do so is from my son’s place back in Sunshine Coast.  Not much warmth there either  at present & still some rain. 

Hurrah, along the way we see some flowering gums covered in buds, ready to bloom in their colours of red, yellow or white. Back in WA a lot of the wildflowers will be preparing to burst forth sometime this month through to September. Also sight several eagles cleaning up the roadside carnage. Would have been great photos. We are so, so glad to reach our destination today at Camooweel Billabong.

Brolgas at Billabong

Our guide at Drovers Camp

 We had a night or two here 2 years ago & loved it. It is a huge area & could easily take a couple of hundred vans, but it is not nearly so nice this time with a lot less water & of course the dratted wind. And certainly nowhere near as busy as then either, we could have taken our pick of sites. Although there are less birds in number I still managed to sight or photograph brolgas, cormarants, pelicans, egrets, ducks, all of whom I felt quite sorry for, huddled together in the windy conditions. As we decided to stay two nights & hope the wind eased by then, we spent a pleasurable & interesting morning at the local ‘Drovers’ Museum’. We woke to a temperature of 9deg so it was good to have something to do, myself wrapped up like it was Siberia. It was sunny enough but the wind just cut through like a knife. Anyway we spent 3 hours of listening & looking, learning a great deal about the old droving days. They also had an art gallery there with some very talented artists’ work to peruse, mostly to do with the drovers lives & times. And incredibly it was all free manned by volunteers. We did think about doing a couple of days work for them in return for free parking but the wind has put us off doing so.

17TH JUNE 2013 – DARWIN, NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA

Departing Kununurra it’s not long before we cross the border into the Northern Territory again – no quarantine to worry about travelling from this direction but we do have to alter our clocks forward 1 1/2 hours. One of the first signs we see tells us ‘We like our lizards frilled, NOT grilled!’ No towns to go through today & a freebie for overnight. Because of the time change that evening is lighter & longer but the next morning is darker & only 8 degs which meant we were a little slower to leave our bed. At the small township of Timber Creek we top up with fuel $2.05. Timber Creek is a very small town, large aboriginal population, but very clean & tidy with IGA supermarket/general store, roadhouse, & Butcher. A sign outside the latter stated ‘Our meat is tough, fatty & tasteless’ – reverse psychology I’d say. Guess if it didn’t come up to expectations there would be no room for complaint! The town was all nicely landscaped with a nice park in which we saw lots of parrots, the first for a couple of months. Soon we cross the large flowing Mary River & walk across the very long bridge to watch for saltwater crocs – yes, we are back into croc country. Didn’t spot any though. Further along we have our eyes peeled for a property with the name ‘Coolibah’. Some of you may have watched an Aussie TV series ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ – about a family who own an outback station & their day to day lives. We always wondered where it was exactly not thinking we would ever drive by. We managed to find it on a map & sure enough passed right it’s gateway. Felt like being cheeky & driving down to see them, but I remembered the homestead was a long, long way in from the road, along their own very red, dusty one – not good for taking our van along, so had to be content to take a photo of gateway & sign. Another freebie that night, nice & shady to beat the higher temps.

Wednesday 19th we arrive in Katherine by 9am feeling on familiar ground as we of course visited on our last trip up the centre. Katherine is a busy little town with large Information Centre, Woolworths Supermarket & a small shopping mall as well as all the services required for a thriving community. There are always lots of road trains, caravans & motorhomes etc as it is a good stocking up place after many, many kms of nothing with traffic comverging from Darwin, Alice Springs & WA. Fuel is slightly cheaper @ $1.60. And talking of road trains, as we travelled on towards Darwin we managed to get stuck behind an oversized truck with a pilot in front & behind. Because we have a CB radio & they were using the same channel, we could hear the conversation between them all which was quite amusing. The language wasn’t always ‘pure’ but it was mate this & mate that & we learned a few new truckie terms. I have to say they are extremely careful & skilled in what they do & also considerate in trying to let a few of us pass. We knew exactly when they were going to let us through thanks to the radio. The truckie would instruct the pilot to pull aside, let only two vehicles through, & then to ‘close the door’ by closing the gap on the right again.

The roadside in this area is strewn with a bush with beautiful cyclamen coloured flowers & is called Turkey Bush. We did see it last trip but it seems to be flowering particularly well this year. That night in the freebie Stu got talking to a guy in the van next to us on his own, & it turned out they had both gone to the same radio school in the UK but just a year apart. Naturally there was lots of talk of the ‘old days’ round a campfire which we certainly did not need for warmth. Stu reckons Aussie is full of pyromaniac, alcoholic fishermen. There are so many vans with boats on top or pulling a trailer with one behind the motorhome. We never saw evidence of many catches though – would have been nice to have a feed of nice fresh fish. Unfortunately fish is just as expensive or worse than at home. Anyway we had a nice time talking to an assortment of people including a couple of very nice young frenchmen.

 

Aboriginal artist painting a digeridoo

 

Sunset at Mindil Beach

 

On the 20th we arrived in Darwin about 10.30am & headed for the same caravan park we stayed in last time. They don’t take bookings so we were concerned we wouldn’t get in. Luck was with us & we were given a nice shady site not hemmed in by other vans. The weather is overcast but a lovely temperature with a nice breeze. It felt strange to be back as we hadn’t really planned to do so this time. However having passed through WA quicker than anticipated, a week in Darwin is not really too bad. Nice to stay put for awhile. There has been growth in the two years since our last visit with new housing estates close by & road improvements. At least we know our way around a bit. It’s a good chance to do a bit of cycling which hasn’t been easy in most places though it has to be done in the mornings before it heats up too much. There is a pool in the park so afternoons are better spent there or reading in the shade. It’s such a pity that with some lovely beaches here it’s too dangerous to swim because of the saltwater crocs who come in from the rivers – & of course the stingers too. We are so lucky in those respects in dear little NZ. At least it’s only the cold that keeps us out of the water. So in general it becomes a very relaxed week though we did do a trip to Berry Springs about an hours drive from Darwin - another place we had visited last time. It is a natural warm spring with lovely cascades which flow down to two huge pools & is very, very popular. The following day we took a short ferry trip across Darwin Harbour to a place called Mundorah accompanied by another couple from the caravan park. It proved to be pretty boring though we had a very nice lunch of Barramundi & salad. Unfortunately if we had known we could have taken our bikes on the ferry & got some exercise over there, & with swimmers we could have used the resort pool. The resort is apparently going to close in the near future through lack of patronage. Not surprised as there is not much to attract people though we enjoyed the ferry ride & the view of Darwin city from the water which was very hazy to more burning off. One of the things I disliked was waking each morning to the smell of smoke but it does create wonderful sunsets one of which we witnessed from the Mindel Beach night time market on the Saturday evening. It has such a great atmosphere with entertainment, from music to whip cracking. A number of aboriginal artists were painting on the spot, one very talented young woman had her daughter of 5 or 6 painting as well & the talent was amazing. People watching in the cool evening air , cool drink in hand is our favourite. There is such a cultural mix of people in Darwin & the food stalls have so many different ethnic foods it’s mind boggling. Hundreds of people line the beach at sunset with cameras clicking madly & it’s a real family attraction, one we were happy to repeat again.

Bee Eater posing

Mandorah Beach across water from Darwin



 

 

13TH JUNE 2013 – KUNUNURRA, KIMBERLEY WEST AUSTRALIA.

Another day, another destination. Temperature 27deg at 8.30am, filled up with fuel $1.99. Apart from the price of the latter I just love this part of the country, with the blue mountain ranges in the distance & the morning sun setting off the bright green of the trees & the orange roadside grasses, red earth & rocky escarpments. We witnessed a controlled burn off not far from the highway & a few burnt Boab trees, though because they store water in their bottle-like trunks, I think they do survive??? At the moment most of them are bare but apparently if they have leaves on it is a prediction of rain as they catch the rain on their leaves in order to store the water. It is amazing the surprising sights there are sometimes. This morning we saw a group of cyclists pedalling along the highway – why anyone would want to do that way out in the middle of nowhere in that heat I have no idea. Some of them were well behind poor things – luckily there are not too many hills. As we approach Kununurra we see hundreds of acres of Sandalwood trees which are processed locally & are used all over the world in the perfume industry.

Kunanurra has population of approximately 6000, an average rainfall of 790mm & a temperature range of 15-25deg in the wet season & 30-39deg in the dry. It originally existed as a cattle town with cattle numbers reaching a peak of 800,000 head in 1978. It is the youngest town in Australia established in 1960 to service the Ord River Scheme. The Ord River was dammed in 1971 to form a storage reservoir supplying water to one of Australia’s largest & most ambitious irrigation schemes. Argyle Downs, a one million acre cattle station was flooded to create a vast & beautiful lake, the largest man made lake in Australia. Lake Argyle is classed as an inland sea covering over 1000 sq kms & holds approximately 32 times as much water as Sydney Harbour. Without agriculture, Kununurra would not exist today growing large amounts of melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, tomatoes, pawpaw, bananas etc. The lake is also a major tourist attraction with full day boat tours available.

Another major industry in the area is the Argyle Diamond Mine, at which the unique & rare pink diamond is found as well as other fine diamonds. Visitors from all over the world come to view the collection made by the local firm of Kimberley Fine Diamonds. There is a large aboriginal population too & some very good aboriginal art is produced in the region. One of the popular things made by these people are carved Boab nut shells which are really nice when done properly. I was offered several which I could have bought very cheaply but sadly I couldn’t bring them back to NZ.

Swimming pool at Lake Argyle Resort

Lake Argyle

Dam wall Lake Argyle

Arriving at our caravan park we meet up with our kiwi friends again & view a delicate pink sunset by Lake Kununurra on which the park is set, viewing a freshwater croc who seems to be a regular each evening. The next day the four of us took a boat trip of the Ord River itself. Picked up at 11.30am by bus & driven 70kms to Lake Argyle, visiting the old Durack Homestead en route. This lovely old building had to be removed from it’s original site to make way for Lake Argyle. It’s history was so precious that it was totally rebuilt with it’s original materials on the present day site as a museum. The bus then continued on to the Lake where the river starts by the dam wall. The views of Lake Argyle are very beautiful & I was able to take a couple of photos by the ‘infinity’ pool belonging to the Resort on the shores there. The boat trip proved to be a wonderful excursion with a great captain full of knowledge of the history & flora & fauna of the area. The men were particularly impressed by the boat which had 3 x 350hp outboard motors & moved rather well! There were many freshwater crocs to spot & photograph as well as beautiful scenery, lots of birds etc. A delicious assortment of home baking & tropical melons was provided for afternoon tea on the banks of the river in a permanently set up picnic area (built by the boat company). The final thrill was a race between our boat & another one also owned by the same company – great fun! After a journey of 55kms we watched the sunset & were delivered right back to the shore of our caravan park. It was a fantastic day enjoyed by all.

"Freshie" Ord river

 

Tranquil waters Ord river

 

Soldier, natures creation, Ord river

 

Reflections Ord river

 

Next day our kiwi friends left to head to Katherine in NT, so Stuart & I did a bit of fossiking around the town, visited the local market, & caught up with cleaning the caravan & car etc. We made a decision to book another tour to an area called El Questro, once a large cattle station of one million acres, but now a tourist resort. It is currently owned by an American family who subleased 100,000 acres out to a cattle farmer, keeping the remaining 900,00 for the resort. It is a pastoral lease from the government & has been for almost 100 years & the lease expires in 2015. It is possible to camp there but is only suitable for offroad vehicles. We did think about driving out there but when we weighed up the costs (it is very expensive even to camp), we decided it would be a nice relaxing day to take the tour. So collected from the caravan park at 6.30am by a big off road coach, we set off over the very dusty corrugated road. The bus was so comfortable we hardly noticed. Our first stop was Emma Gorge & waterfall which was a 1 hour walk each way over a very rocky track, however with the correct footwear not a problem for most of us though a couple of ladies did turn back before the end. At the end of the trail after passing some gorgeous little pools of an amazing green, we arrive at the impressive Emma Gorge plunge pool. Unfortunately the waterfall was only a shower but the pool was a delight to swim in & although we expected it to be very cold we discovered it was fed by warm springs so was not too bad at all. It was a race to find where the spring fed in through the large rocks at the base, but a joy to sit in once found & everyone was very generous & we all had a turn. Some children (not with our group) found another tiny pool on a rock ledge & were delighted because the rest of us were too old & doddery to climb up there.

Zeberde springs El Quetro Nature Park

 

Well refreshed, we wandered back to the bus at the resort & were served a delightful morning tea of cake & fresh tropical fruits in the outdoor dining room together with tea or coffee, then it was back onto the bus for our next destination. Another swim at Zebedee hot water springs. This was a delightful area of Liverstona Palms with their black trunks, & a myriad of small pools again fed by warm spring water. Most of us found a pool of our own in pairs, swapping now & again (the pool not the partners)! It was such a relaxing, tranquil place it would be lovely to stay for hours. But as is the way with organised tours, it was off again, this time to the station for a delicious lunch in the restaurant there. We had a choice of Barramundi or steak, with salad & chips. We both chose the Barra as we had been wanting some nice fish & it proved to be a great choice & was mouthwatering. Off again for the last part of the tour, the boat trip up the gorge, this time on a very slow little boat with a Hamilton jet engine. I think they only had that engine because the river is quite shallow at times, & also quite rocky. We had a youngish pilot who I am sure was Maori & also another older guy who was a Kiwi & gave the commentary & entertained us with his guitar, singing & poetry. We were told that when we got to the end of the gorge we would be given a warm welcome by some of the local wildlife & imagine wallabies or roos or such like. To our surprise when the boat was launched onto a sandy beach, all of a sudden loads of catfish & ‘spitting’ fish arrived beside the boat. The latter had everyone in fits, as every time someone leant over the side they spat at you. It was amazing how far they could do it. Apparently they do it to insects who then land in the water & the fish are able to catch them. They were also joined by a very large Barramundi. Our captain could actually lean over & catch the catfish in his hands. ‘Bubbly’ or orange juice was then handed around with more tropical fruit & then it was time to return to the bus for the journey home, accompanied by a rather nice sunset before the dark settled at 5.30pm. Luckily we were the first to be dropped back at our park, so it was nice to have a hot shower. a light meal & head for bed.




Burn off near Kununurra

 

11TH JUNE 2013 – BUNGLE BUNGLES, KIMBERLEY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Up early to leave at 7.30am as we have a big day driving into the amazing area of the Bungle Bungles in the Purnululu National Park, leaving the van behind at Spring Creek with other vanners. I’m sure most of you will have seen photos of them in all the Aussie tourism brochures? (Large sandstone domes of orange & grey horizontal bands). It has been a tourist destination since 1983 & gained World Heritage status in 2003. It is estimated to be approximately 360 million years old, rises over 200 metres & was formed during the Devonian age, which means it was originally under the ocean. It has taken about 20million years of erosion to carve the domes out as they are today. The grey banding is formed by cyanobacteria & the orange is the result of oxidised iron compounds within the layers. All this makes for an amazing formation which is only open from April to early December dependent on weather conditions. Access is only granted to 4WD vehicles. It is possible to camp with a tent or camper trailer in basic campsites with water & toilets, but impossible to take a caravan. Naturally there are several tours available, either by fixed wing plane, helicopter, or big offroad bus. Our ex pat kiwi friends did the fixed wing & loved it – $175 each for 30 minutes.. Would be fantastic to see but we like to get in amongst things ourselves. With the usual cloudless blue sky we travel 100kms of extremely rocky, corrugated, dusty road & the first really bendy road we have been on as well. I think Stu is going to join the next rally at Paparoa as he did really well with six creek crossings to boot. We have learnt by now that it’s not always a good idea to go too slow on these sort of roads, so Stu had let our tyres down to about 24psi instead of 40 which apparently helps not to get a blowout & is also a bit more comfortable, & travelled at a reasonable speed for the conditions. All quite adventurous for a couple of seniors! The scenery was quite nice & by the time we arrived at the National Park the temperature was about 27deg. Another couple we have become friendly with followed in their own 4WD – far enough back not to eat too much of our dust.

Entering Echidna Chasm

Echidna Chasm

Echidna Chasm

 The first attraction was Echidna Chasm which is another 20kms from the Visitor Centre. There is a two km walk trail through a spectacular long chasm with livistonia palms, & striking colour variations dependent on the angle of the sun beaming into the chasm from the 200mtr high ridges above. Great for photography! Nearby we did the short walk to Osmond Lookout, which takes in the grandeur of the Osmand Range & Red Rock Creek. No time to waste though, so it was off to the other end of the park, another 50km drive. By this stage we hadn’t actually seen any domes & were becoming worried that they were not going to come up to expectations.

Wattles and Ranges

Bungle Bungle Domes



Carpark in Bungle Bungles

  Thankfully we were wrong & they really are a great sight & we were able to wander on a trail among them. My photos don’t do them justice but they really do look like the advertised photos. After lunch with our friends in the shade of the supplied gazebos it was off to Cathedral Gorge, a very lovely cavern with pools & like a large ampitheatre with honeycomb weathering on the walls. Now in the 30’s so we were glad to sit & relax in the lovely cool atmosphere provided in there, with the looming cliffs & evidence of waterfalls which must cascade down the walls during the wet season. It had been a great day but we had to make sure we got back over the road & creek crossings before dark, & it proved be a slow journey due to a very slow vehicle in front & there is no place to pass. Of course we had to stay well back to avoid his dust & our friends well back behind us to avoid ours. To make matters worse there was a grader working on a very bad corner & what a mess it was, so that held us up as well. However all was well & it was back to a lovely cold drink & a nice cool shower & early to bed.

On our way out of Bungle Bungles

 

8TH JUNE 2013 – KIMBERLEY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Two nights out from Derby spent in freebies again, the first very large & had about 50 vans there, all parked on lovely hard surfaces. The second right on top of cliffs & what a beautiful view we all had, overlooking a small valley & out to the distant ranges blue in the distance. It was a little breezy which was a distinct advantage as we are now back in to higher temperatures & don’t expect them to go down from here on in. Between the two we visited Fitzroy Crossing, a small town with a population of about 1500, mostly aboriginal, & situated on the Fitzroy River. It has a visitors’ centre (not open because it was Sunday) which also contains the shire offices & the library, & also a supermarket, a caravan park, a Post Office, an Inn (1897), a police station, & a roadhouse. The supermarket, Roadhouse & Inn are run by the Aboriginal Community. The average temperature is 35.7C with a minimum of 19.2. The Fitzroy Valley contains some of the best cattle lands in the Kimberley.

Geikie Gorge

  20kms out of the town is the Geikie Gorge which we visit & take a one hour boat excursion on the Fitzroy River. The cliffs are magnificent & are what was once a Devonian reef so it is possible to find marine fossils in the rock faces which are full of colours & textures. Freshwater crocs inhabit the river & although we saw quite a lot of very small ones, I am sure some of the mamas & papas were around somewhere. A very wellspoken & well educated young Aboriginal woman was both pilot of our boat & commentator & we were all very impressed. Our tour started at 9.30am & it was delightful being out on the water but we were glad not to be doing a later tour as the temperature was rising quite quickly.

Spot the Croc

 

Colourul Cliffs

 

The third night & another very large freebie at Mary Pool, over a causeway to a lovely treeshaded area beside the Mary River. We were lucky to be there early & gain a possie looking over the water. It wasn’t long before it all became quite busy & we met up with people from previous stops. We are all so much ‘on the same page’ with our ages & situations in common so it isn’t hard to find a topic of conversation. In conversation with a nice couple we mentioned that we were intending to sell our van before returning to NZ, & much to our surprise they showed an interest. Later in the day they came to inspect it & seemed quite impressed, & as we are heading to the same place next we will have further contact with them. They went away armed with information about it so here’s hoping, though naturally we are not getting too excited yet. Between conversations our time was spent reading in the shade, or in my case chasing small birds trying to get photos in order to identify them. Some of them are so small it’s almost impossible. When driving we see quite large flocks of tiny ones & they are too quick to identify but I would guess they may be finches as I know they have quite a few of those in this area.

Red Dragonfly

 

 

Heading on now we reach Halls Creek, larger than Fitzroy Crossing & again a large population of aborigines.  Temperature was 27deg at 8.30am.  It's a pleasant enough place & we laughed about the large IGA store there was very well stocked & owned by Asians - just like NZ.  Fuel is now $1.84.

Further along the landscape was really nice, with orangy coloured grasses by the road & lots of trees & distant ranges & intermittent rock formations.  By 10am temperature rose to 30deg .  After a two hour drive from Hall's Creek we find our next overnighter called Spring Creek & we were lucky to get there early enough to get shade.  We meet up again with the couple interested in the van & sadly they had realised it wouldn't fit in the space back home.  We all agreed to drive out to the Bungle Bungles next day & leave our vans behind in the care of other vanners as the road out there is far too rough for towing.