N: Burketown to Adels Grove

We arrived at Burketown late – it had been a long, dusty day of rough roads and river crossings so we stayed in a cabin that was a converted shipping container. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds. Mum stayed up late and watched the Pies beat West Coast in a ripper game. The next morning we fished unsuccessfully and very successfully got attacked by swarms of midgies. We packed up and left for Adels Grove. We arrived, set up then went for a swim. We where going to stay 3 nights and its great that we did. The next day we swam and also went to Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park where we did a short walk to the “Cascades” where we swam then went back to camp. That night on the fire we cooked pizzas in the camp oven and they were great! We also cooked cakes and sweet potatoes. The next day was Dad’s birthday. (happy birthday to you.....etc) We did a walk to Indarri falls which is where the postcards pictures are shot. There were lots of tame fish there hoping that we would feed them.

N: Robinson River community

N: Mum’s cousin and law have been living in the community for 2 terms on a Carey exchange program. Ahhhhh air conditioning. Went for a walk around the community to see the school, the shop and the river, on the walk we also met some of the locals. We planned to stay only one night but ended up staying two. In the night a pregnant lady who had gone into labour knocked on our door because Lyn was running the clinic, nobody heard so she went to the public phone and called the house I woke and john came answered the phone apologized then Lyn rushed out. The next day we watched a plane came to extract the lady to more advanced medical services but it was too late so the delivery was performed at the clinic. While the delivery was happening Georgie and I went to school, at play lunch I played rugby and did the same at lunch.When we left we tired to cut some kms off our trip by taking a rugged back road but we ended up having to back track because it was to rugged.

Gg: Robinson River

Gg: For an exchange on behalf of Carey High School, mum’s cousin’s husband was teaching in an Aboriginal community, Robinson River’s, primary school. His name is John, and his wife is Lyn, and Lyn found work at the local clinic as a nurse. They were obviously very popular around the community, which was well populated with friendly kids who smiled and smiled and seemed to do nothing else.

Upon arrival, mum and I went in to see John in the school, where he introduced us to the classes and the classes to us, and also where I found out about the kids’ smiling and giggling habits. After he’d shown us the school, John took the whole family over to see Lyn and then back to the house they were living in. It was so air conditioned that often I felt genuinely cold.

That afternoon, at five o’clock, some kids came to pick some vegies from the vegie garden John was growing. So, when they came, they asked me to come play a game they called ‘batting’. We played at the school, where I learnt the names of Nova, Trilby, Cohen and Kathy. When some other kids came along, we took photos of them because it was the first time on the trip that we had even had proper conversations with Aboriginal kids or people.

John and Lyn led the way to the river that evening, to show us. We took more photos of the kids, and, as far as I know, none of the scenery.

Sleeping in an air conditioned house was one good thing, but unfortunately, as Lyn was on call, a woman came in the night knocking on the door because she was going into labour. Nobody heard, so we assume she walked home and brought money to the phone box and called from there. Noah said he heard the phone ring (I didn’t though; I slept through the flood in Fairfield in 2003), and maybe he heard Lyn get up, take the call and take her to the clinic. She must have called Air-med, which is just like the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia but it reaches Robinson River, unlike the RFDSA, because later on in the morning we watched the plane come in. The woman gave birth to a boy.

That day, Noah and I went to school. I met another one of the kids: Claudia.

Our temporary teacher, Malcolm, came to dinner that evening and we had a delicious BBQ.

Robinson River, our first, and probably last, Aboriginal community of the trip, was one of the most friendly places I think we’ve been to.

Mataranka to Borroloola

N: Mataranka was great there were peacocks and a thermal pool.

The peacocks wandered around and would eat out of your hand, and the thermal pool was at a perfect body temperature. After a swim and dinner we went to the bar to watch the Pies smash the Swans (good old Collingwood forever they now how to.... etc). The next day it was to hot to do much so we swam and did a 1.2km walk to “Stevie’s hole” (named after a local tour operator) were we swam.

The next day we drove to Borroloola, a fair drive.

After a while we stopped at Daly Waters which consisted of a pub, a house and a caravan park. Not long after we stopped at a roadhouse to get lunch, petrol and this was were we turned off onto the Carpentaria highway. Cape Crawford was our next stop and 200kms further was Borroloola, yay. We set up and went to the Pub for Dinner. the next day we went to King Ash Bay where we fished but to no avail, I was as sick as a Dog (can someone get me a bag?!).

Darwin to Katherine:

N: We arrived at the Big 4 caravan park at Darwin and had lunch in the sticky humid weather. After setting up we had a swim in the pool constantly heated by the sun’s immense rays, it was humid, well over 50%. We drove into the CBD which was massive compared to the towns we had recently stayed in. In the city we bought supplies for the rest of the week then went back for another swim. The next day we went to the Aviation Museum home of the B-52 bomber that took up the entire space of the hangar (other inhabitants of the hangar included helicopters, smaller planes, memorabilia, and mechanical equipment. After wandering around there for a while we went for another swim. On Sunday we went to the Mindil Beach Markets. Food was up the north end and useless junk was up the other. Countless varieties of foods including camel, roo and crocodile. Useless stuff included Kangaroo scrotums, cane toad purses, crocodile feet and worthless clothes. Performers doing backflips off bins, juggling fire sticks on a ladder held up by ropes, and playing 6 didgeridoos at once. Also at our stay at Darwin we visited the museum/art gallery home of Sweetheart a giant crocodile that started to attack boats and was captured as a safety measure. After packing up we set of to Merl Camping Area in Kakadu national before going to our camping area we went on a Guluyambi Tour where we learnt about bush tucker, spears, plants and we even saw saltwater crocodiles.

We set up our camp at the Merl camping area which much to our surprise had facilities. When it was close to sunset we drove 20 min down the road to Ubirr rock where we did a twenty minute walk around the area and up to the lookout to watch the sunset over the Kakadu floodplains.

The next day we stayed at Cooinda which had a pool! We had a swim set up camp and after a delicious meal of Irish Stew (my favourite) we had a drink down at the bar.

In the morning we did a 3km walk to Yellow Waters home to storks, cranes, magpie geese and Jabirus (a lot more! too many to name). After the walk, breakfast and packing up camp we set off to Gunlom falls. We arrived at 1:30-2:30 pm and after realising that sand flies inhabited the area and cane toads infested it we headed to Katherine. After setting up camp at Katherine we cooked microwavable pizzas in the camp oven on our stove!!

GG: Darwin to Borroloola

Gg: In Darwin, there’s an aviation museum (that I wasn’t really interested in…) and against my wishes, we had a look around. Info about Amy Johnson (first female to fly solo from England to Australia) and other pilots accompanied half of a B52 Bomber that took up well over half the hanger.
Next (still in Darwin), we went to the Mindil Beach Market for dinner. I had Mexican and a smoothie. It seemed like a very popular place.
As well as those two things, we went to a general museum/Aboriginal art gallery. There was an exhibit on boats, one on science and one about different freaky creatures that we looked at. Also, we saw Sweetheart, the gigantic salty (saltwater crocodile).

After Darwin, we rove to Kakadu NP where we had an Aboriginal-run boat tour along the East Alligator River. Apart from that and a two metre brown snake, there wasn’t much at Kakadu.

Then we stopped at Katherine for a night that held the no-oven-so-let’s-use-the-camp-oven inconvenience. It was pretty much that mum and I bought frozen pizzas and there was no oven, so we used the camp oven (dad saved the day again).

Following Katherine was Mataranka Homestead, which acts as a home to the Mataranka Thermal Pool, which, unfortunately, was a bit like a communal bath and gave us all a cold.

Borroloola is now and today we’ll try our luck with fishing!

N: Nitimulik (Katherine) Gorge and Litchfield NP

N:

On arriving at Nitimulik (Katherine) Gorge we were all hot and bothered, so immediately after setting up camp we went to the swimming hole. We where staying here for two nights on a powered site. The next day we would be going on a canoe trip up to the first gorge, where wee could swim and look at indigenous paintings.

We got up early as we were due down there at 8. We had breakfast and then went to down to the boat ramp to board our canoes. After mum and I finally worked as one, we rowed down the river, most sandy banks of the river were fresh water crocodile breeding areas. After a short stop on a rocky area we proceeded down the river to the first gorge where large boats and smaller boats were moored. After getting all our things out of barrels we found ourselves a shady spot and jumped in. In the middle of the river there was a rock protruding about a metre above the water and on the opposite side a ledge to get up on. We jumped off it several times and then had a look at the rock art. On the way back Georgie and Dad sped off while I was pulling mum in the canoe along so I could get on. Mum and I paced it hard enough to catch them and a race was declared; mum and I got a lead but George and Dad were hard on our tails. After some mishaps, the canoes thudded as they collided at halfway mum and got out in the lead again after the collision and got around ten metres tip to tip but the gap was closing, fortunately the line came in refuge of two buoys strung 20m apart. We unloaded and went for a swim while trying to get blood back into our legs. The water was cool and refreshing, we then went for a steep 1km walk up to a look out where views down the river were seen and light was shed on rock formations and aboriginal heritage.

We packed up on an absolute scorcher of a day and then drove back into town were we got petrol and did the weekly shopping, that night we went to Douglas Daly Tourist Park we only spotted it in a magazine and thought that’s where we’re going. After setting up we went to find the thermal pool, we found a sign saying twin pools but wasn’t it and after some more exploring we found it was just about body temperature was great to swim in. The next day Georgie and I went down to the thermal pool and waited until mum then dad came after dad had a swim we went down to the arches where you could float through into the waterhole at the arches there were two ways to go and thank goodness we chose the right one because it was the right one a log sat wedge between the rock that we had to swim under. The waterhole was not great but served to cool us down. The walk back was hot and we cooled off in the thermal pool. We packed up the next day and drove to Litchfield national park where the camping choices were either Buley's Rockhole, Florence Falls or Wangi Falls (pronounced one guy). We had a look at Florence falls campground, and Buley’s Rockhole Campground but neither suited our needs. The heat was blistering so we had a swim at Florence Falls, which was great. We then moved on to Wangi which was perfect, we set up and then went and had a swim, there were two falls. On one, if you climbed up a bit there was a deep pool up on the rock face! The next day we swam and did a 1km walk that walked through monsoon forests which where home to thousands of Flying Foxes. When we got back we slumped back into the water. The next day we packed up, had a swim and set off to Darwin! 42ks was unsealed but I felt somewhat at home while bumping along on the corrugations.

Gg: Victoria Crossing to Litchfield NP

Gg:

Near Victoria Crossing is Sullivan’s campground, which was where we stayed.

No swimming, no amazing walks, nothing of those sorts. Just a campground with a picnic bench and a spot for a fire (on which we cooked Irish stew ... mmm).

So, there’s not much to say about it.

But then Katherine Gorge was very nice.

The swimming spot was in part of the Katherine River, and you’d swim off a special jetty (but it was under maintenance, so we swam off the boat ramp).

Most spectacular, though, was hiring canoes and canoeing up the Katherine River through the first gorge (out of, oh, six) to a lovely swimming place. Then back down the river to the campgrounds. It was beautiful.

After Katherine, we traveled north to Douglas Daly, which had a beautiful thermal pool ... aahhhhhh.................

Litchfield NP, which had Florence Falls, Buley’s Rock hole (above the falls), Wangi Falls... and others that I can’t remember. We swam in two of those spots—just not Buley’s Rock hole. We loved swimming to a little (but deep) warm pool, but it was popular so we would wait till nobody else was there.

And now, Darwin!

The Gibb River Road

N: Our first stop was at the Mowanjum art gallery which was still on the sealed section of road, where they seemed to be making lots of money to fund the quirky new architecture which from the sky would look like the Wandjina (a major West Kimberly dreaming spirit) which would be quite a feat when completed.

We then savoured the 60km sealed section until the corrugations, sand and river crossings. We turned onto the Tunnel Creek road where we would stay at Windjana Gorge luckily it was only 23km down the road.

5km or so down the road we saw a completely new sign to us ‘creek crossing’ it scared us but luckily it was dry. We got to the gorge left the trailer and walked along the sandy trail spotting fresh water crocs in the Lennard River.

We got back. set up camp, had a cold shower, then had an experimental dinner of bacon, tomatoes and beans.

The next day we walked/waded through Tunnel Creek it was truly amazing and also home to a variety of water life; crustaceans, Yabbies and Catfish.

We then headed off to Bell Gorge.

Our first river crossing wasn’t that bad but after that they got progressively deeper, no problem for the X-Trail (thank goodness). Bell Gorge was great we had a swim in the pool below the falls a breathtaking sight and surprisingly warm water greeted us after the moderately difficult (very rocky) walk, we walked back in half light then set up camp. We packed up and set off to Manning Gorge where we would stay for 2 nights instead of the normal 1. We arrived and went to the river, where, when going on the walk to Manning Gorge, you had to swim across with your shoes and other gear in a polystyrene tub which were supplied on the side of the bank. We swam, then went back to camp for dinner. Georgie and I slept out under the stars with a mosquito net draped over the two stretchers. In the morning we got ready to go to Manning Gorge, we met another Victorian family who we accompanied on the walk. We stopped in the shade opposite the falls. The pool that the falls ran into was the deepest and covered the most area. We swam under the falls and to the other side where the noise was deafening, we swam back and mucked around a bit longer and then left. We had drinks with the family we met, I then I wandered back over and slept out again. We left for the longest day on the Gibb River road which was over 300km on the terrible dusty, corrugated road. We had lunch on the side of the Gibb River then proceeded along the road. ‘Thump’ what was that? Just a rock ‘thump’...‘thump’.... ‘thump’ ‘thump’ ‘thump’ ‘thump’ ‘thump’ ‘thump’. Damn we’ve got a flat, we walked out to hear a hissing sound and to see the tyre airless (we were also praying that the rim wasn’t busted).

After jacking the car, unscrewing the wheel, getting the wheel off, getting the spare out putting the spare on and at last putting the busted tyre away to then drive away. We were planning to get the tyre fixed at Home Valley Station, as where we just came was the roughest patch of road Home Valley mechanic had already had 18 tyres to fix. The fix was temperamental and couldn’t be fixed permanently (a side spike, we had bought new tyres for the car and trailer which had thicker rubber than the old ones, but the side/wall of the tyre is still weak which spelt disaster for us). We drove on to El Questro Wilderness Park where we would stay for 3 nights to explore the wonders and indulge in the facilities. We arrived after dark leaving us hungry and tyred (get it ha!ha!). We set up wearily and literally fell into bed.

The next day we did a 2.6km return walk to El Questro Gorge to have a swim.

The walk took us through rainforest areas and rocky banks of creeks and streams, we stopped at the halfway pool but it was too small and becoming quite crowded, so we went on to the next pool and swam there.

When we got back we did nothing until dinner then we saw the Buddy Tyson show which had whip cracking, lassoing, general stupidity and some alright but mostly lame jokes.

The next day we did a 9.6km return walk to Champagne Springs which had thermal springs and also a waterfall which ran into a pool.

The thermal spring was unfortunately covered in a green algae slime thing that looked and was completely disgusting.

We swam in the pool and walked back and went to bed early after the big day out.

We unfortunately had to leave on this day so we packed up, but we got to stop at Zebedee springs on the way to Diggers Rest station where we stayed next. We arrived at a crowded Zebedee springs but it was great anyway (the springs where thermal).

We finished the Gibb River road with only one flat “wahoo”. We had lunch in Wyndham then went on to Digger Rest Station were the movie “Australia” was being filmed starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. We set up, watched some TV at the homestead and went to bed. The next morning we came to have our horse ride. After choosing our helmets we sat down and waited I went back to the car to put some stuff away then saw H.J I went back to tell the family Georgie didn’t believe me but I didn’t care then he came round to the bench we were sitting at and said; “how are you going gang” we said “pretty good” and he walked off and talked to his son.

Our horse rides were great, I went on a horse called Johnny who was pretty obedient (especially after Laddie the horse I had on my last horse ride). After the horse ride I played pool with an actor in the movie and beat her. We packed up and moved on to Kununurra.

Derby

N: The first thing in Derby that we did was visit the hollowed out Boab Prison Tree, it was used when transporting aboriginal prisoners from surrounding places to Derby.

Our first stop for accommodation was the Kimberly Entrance caravan park to see if they had cabins as a special treat for mum for her birthday but they didn’t have any available (because of the Rodeo that at the time we had no idea about) so we went to the Derby Lodge for a cabin but it wasn’t very inviting (all they had was 3 beds a broken TV and a tiny fridge) so we headed off to the Boab Inn who had two adjoining rooms (they didn’t actually adjoin).

We stayed there for the night throughout extreme partying because of the rodeo which was on that weekend (we surmised).

We then went to the caravan park until Monday when we headed off down the Gibb River Road (a treacherous, bumpy, corrugated road with river crossings) see next entry.

That afternoon we went to the rodeo to see the Buckjump and the Open Bull Ride, at one stage in the bull ride an angry heifer got out of the stockyards and ran around the rodeo grounds while every one climbed on or higher on to the stands to get a look at the cow and also to get out of its way, the only people who weren’t running away were a few station workers and the recovery team who chased the heifer everywhere and then finally cornering it in the stockyards opposite to where the other heifers and bulls where kept.

The next day we attended a special church service in the local nursing home for the disabled aboriginal residents, 2 Mowanjum people had come to attend and also to sing to them. Our two friends Wally and Margaret (Margaret was also mum’s old high school teacher) were conducting the service.

After the service we went shopping and then had lunch which was just sandwiches(as per usual), we then had a great swim at the Derby Memorial Pool.

We had dinner at Wally and Margaret’s accommodation and then slept, unsure of what lay ahead.

Derby and the Gibb River Track

Gg:
After the luxury (if you dare say it was luxurious ... I think it’d be better if I describe it as niceness, actually) of the Boab Inn, we stayed in the Kimberly Entrance Caravan Park—still in Derby.

The rodeo was on that weekend (or week maybe), too, so we decided to have a look. We were just in time for the end of the controlled horses, the whole section of wild horses and the whole part of the bulls buck-jumping. The wild horses weren’t too crazy or anything (but they were still quite rowdy), but the bulls were stubborn and much angrier than the horses (or possibly the bulls were simply stronger). The first bull refused to leave the ring for quite some time, though in the end the cowboys brought in the cows to lure him. The only other thing that stood out significantly to me was when a cow escaped and ran around a bit ... but was soon herded back into the ring where it rested for quite a while.

After Derby we began the Gibb River Road, with people commenting that “you’ll be fine, we got across with a Nissan x-trail and a camper trailer, too” and also that “ooh, you won’t be able to stand the rocks with that thing”. So we set off to find out which comment was right.

The first night was stayed at Windjana NP—Windjana Gorge. We did the Windjana Gorge walk and the next day the Tunnel Creek walk (claustrophobic in there, much to my disliking).

On the second night we camped in Silent Grove, and walked Bell Gorge. The swimming spot was beautiful; the cool water was perfect for that day.

Our third and fourth nights were spent at Manning Gorge, where we met another family.

On the Manning Gorge walk (to Manning Falls) we walked with the family and swam with them, and had drinks later that night ... so the day was lovely (only one problem ... but that’s the other family’s story to tell).

In El Questro, which was our next stop, we had many walks: the El Questro Gorge walk, the Champagne Springs (no that does not mean the springs dribble champagne, much to mum and dad’s disappointment, I think) walk, and Zebedee Springs (warm water ... mm).

The next day of driving was mainly spent on REAL SEALED ROAD (hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!!!!!) and we drove through Wyndham to get to Digger’s Rest Station (where I fell in love with the kids ... no, no, no, the little young goats, those kids ... they sucked on your fingers since they thought they had milk).

Then the next day Noah and I had one hour horse rides and mum and dad had three hour ones ... but before those, have you ever heard of Hugh Jackman (Foxtel ads, X-men, The Prestige)????? Well for all of you who’ve heard of him, HE SAID, “HEY HOWZIT GOIN’” TO ME AND I REPLIED, “YEAH GOOD THANKS!!!” Because there’s a new movie named Australia they’re filming, and he’s in it with Nicole Kidman, and they were filming at Digger’s Rest, while we were there. If you see it, you’ll see a big boab tree (big at the bottom, then gets skinnier towards the top, with boab nuts) and I’ve touched it, as well as the Lucky Boab Nut (it’s really big, you can’t pick it, you’re not allowed).

N: 5/8 - 10/8 Cape Leveque

N: The road up to Cape Leveque was horrendous; the amount of swerving around the road to find the smooth bit was ridiculous, the road was a lot sandier then the Tanami which slowed us down, but added to the excitement which made the trip more interesting. We got to Beagle Bay missionary and stopped for lunch, also at Beagle bay was a church which its shrine was made up of pearl shells.

We got going and headed of on the last stretch, on arriving we were told that Cape Leveque boasted great swimming, fishing and snorkeling (at low tide).

After setting up camp we went down to the swimming beach to test the theory of great swimming, when we arrived at the beach after a walk over the board walk. The water was impossibly clear and warm.

The water as we get further north gets warmer. The next day fishing was tested and swimming we walked right around Cape Leveque to the fishing beach, we used squid as bait (see Dampier creek blog entry) we cast in and nothing until Dad felt the pull on his line he reeled as fast as he could and then let and continued to do so (he did this because the line he was using was not very strong at all, after being satisfied with the fishes physical strength the line broke what a pain in the ………. I gave up and went home empty handed, dad stayed on half an hour or so longer but to no prevail. We went back and relaxed in the hammock. The next day we attempted to snorkel at low tide as we told was the best time it sucked I knocked my shin on a rock it bleed and bleed. We tried fishing on the western beach which was closest to our camp. The waves were massive it literally pounded my line it to the dirt. We packed up and went to another spot on the fishing beach I cast in with dads rod while he prepared mine (he replaced the old line with new 25 pound line and because it is so big there you couldn’t get much line on the rod. Mum came and cast in her line “yawn” and wait hold on she got something, she reeled in a 28cm blue tusk fish to small chuck it back. That was all the excitement for the day, we came home once again.

The next day we made plans to drive down to the beach on an extremely sandy track it involved letting our tyres down to 18psi (the were all ready down to 24 at the front and 26 at the back) we drove down and thank goodness we didn’t get bogged, I caught a tiny something (Saddle Tailed Sea Perch?? Red Emperor??), we drove back empty handed once again and stayed our last night and left for Middle Lagoon. Where we set up camp on a extremely hot day, went for a swim, had an ice cream, had a shower, made a fire, cooked bread on the fire, went to bed, woke up, celebrated mums B’day with a massive breakfast.

Gg: After Broome

Gg:

Traveling north of Broome is Cape Leveque Road, which points to Cape Leveque, the hook above Broome you’ll see on maps.

Cape Leveque has a beautiful beach (no jellyfish may I add), clear blue-green water serving as a home to many, many fish and sea life including garfish—we think we saw one where we were swimming!

The waves had quite a variety of sizes, from “sashimi makers” (the big ones—that’s Noah’s name for them) to tiny bumps, so half the time we were running from the water, and the other half of the time we were just standing, unmoved, as well as body-surfing on the medium ones.

That wasn’t all the entertainment, though—fishing was a hit. In the first few seconds that mum had cast her line in, she caught what we thought was an undersized coral trout, but it turned out to be an undersized blue tusk fish. Also we liked watching the serious fisher people fillet their 16 or 17 kg and their 14 or 15 kg narrow barred Spanish mackerels.

Each night, Noah and Dad made delicious bread—sultana or plain—with the camping oven (using the tripod, you hang it over a fire).

Then we traveled not very far back down Cape Leveque Road to Middle Lagoon, yet another great place. Swimming and fishing were still two favourite things to do—and though we didn’t fish, some men offered us some sort of large fish (10, 11, 12 kg??), an offer we had to turn down (fine with me, I hate fish).

After Middle Lagoon, we traveled the rest of the way back down Cape Leveque Road, and turned off to go to Derby, where we are now. We have stayed the first night in the luxury of the Boab Inn (for mum’s birthday, 10^th August), and been out for dinner in a restaurant off Jetty Road (literally—it’s the jetty!).

Gg in Broome

Saturday –

Our first day in Broome, Saturday, we just hung around the caravan park and had a brief look around.

Sunday –

On Sunday, we had a better look around Broome and the beaches. Just beside the caravan park we’re staying in there’s Town Beach, and 6kms down there’s Cable Beach, the main one (but I’d rather a beach without jellyfish I think ...).

Monday –

Monday night was the first night of the Staircase to the Moon. It wasn’t the best night for it; it wasn’t really dark enough, but it was still quite beautiful to see. During the day, we had another squiz at Broome and swam in the beaches ... I was until I saw the jellyfish ...

Tuesday –

That night was the proper Staircase to the Moon, including the Staircase Market (it was something like that, anyway). You should have seen the crowd! There were plenty of people there to see the Staircase to the Moon and the market ... but just as the moon came up ... a cloud blocked it from view, aw!

Wednesday –

While the boys were at Cable Beach, mum and I walked into town, where we looked around: again! Well, you can blame us, Broome is really interesting! When we came back, we found that they were having another go at the market because of the last night’s mishap ... but I don’t think it went very well. Still, they tried!!

We spotted a photo of the perfect Staircase to the Moon, it happened a few years ago and that was the most beautiful picture of the moon I’ve ever seen.

Thursday –

The boys’ fishing trip! They caught a Wolf Herring, Spanish mackerel and some little fishies, while, once again, mum and I went into Broome!!

But also we saw Blades of Glory, the one with the guy from Napoleon Dynamite in it (“ohh, that movie!!”), in (or should I say out!!) the historical Sun Pictures outdoor theatre, which is pretty much in a (quite large) backyard, like a drive-in without the cars, with the only roof a blanket of stars. I know this is very commercial, but I recommend going there immensely – it doesn’t matter if you don’t like the movie, the jets that fly over the theatre are so low it’s amazing to watch (a gasp escaped the bewildered crowd as the jet flew gracefully over)!!

Friday –

This morning, Noah and the boy next door, Django, found a coconut lying in the middle of one of the caravan park roads and Noah had a mad attempt at opening it with the axe. He was successful, and somehow managed to slice the remaining pieces of coconut (the edible stuff, not the milk though) into two so Django had a bit and we shared a bit, but the problem was it was off, and only Django liked it, so in the end Django (who’s four, by the way) had a whole coconut to himself!!

Anyway, at the moment it’s lunch time (two o’clock to Melbournians) so I’d better go eat my soup, but at three o’clock, your five o’clock for all you people in Melbourne, mum and I will be sitting on camels, striding along the beach, and then later on all of us will be bunched up in a huddle, watching the sunset. I know it sounds kind of boring, but over here sunset is quite a tourist attraction!!

Broome - Fishing in Dampier Creek

N: We set off in the medium size boat with George our guide and ten other fishing hopefuls down Dampier creek. Dampier Creek was a massive saltwater water way that was amongst a maze of saltwater mangroves that were home to an array of fish.

It took half an hour before we got to the spot where we put in the first crab net in, the net had a lamb neck which is high in fat so the crabs can smell it. We put in other nets containing various other types of high fat meats. After putting in the nets we headed off to our first fishing spot where I didn’t even get a nibble (neither did dad I think), a girl was first to catch something she reeled in a Trevally which, lucky for her, was large enough, then a man behind me caught a blue nosed salmon which was large enough, he again caught some sort of ray which had tangled up with dad’s and my line (George had to cut our lines then attach another sinker and hook we soon got fishing again with no luck.

We set of down the river again and pulled out the crab nets nobody got anything until I pulled out a female crab that was too small so back it went.

We put the nets back in and went to another fishing spot where I got nothing again which sucked, a different man caught a Grunter (Javelin Fish) which became relevant to its name.

We pulled in the crabs I got another tin little crab which got out before I could pull it on board.

We went to our next fishing spot where everybody but me started to catch little fish Grunters and Trevally except for me. I got nibbles though dad caught dozens and then just as it seemed bleak I caught the biggest fish: a Narrow Barred Spanish Mackerel which was too small “great!” I cast in again and again and again, the bait just kept getting stolen until I cast it in again and caught a Wolf Herring which wasn’t edible. So we went back to camp with nothing!!!!!!

29/7 - 4/8 Basking in Broome

G: After 5,600 km we’ve arrived in Broome. Broome is WA’s answer to Byron Bay. Instead of ‘hippies with money’, the dominant tourist set here is the ‘Howard generation on super’. For instance, the local craft market doesn’t have a chai tent, sellers of incense or Buddha statures or that incessant bongo drumming. The famous Cable Beach is beautiful and pounds out friendly but powerful surf. The township is built on Roebuck Bay several kms from Cable Beach. The tourism industry is thriving with an odd combination of young European backpackers driving cheap beaten up cars and tent camping. And, the grey nomads in big 4WDs and all mod cons caravans or super ‘why leave home’ campervans.

We have been lucky to arrive in time to see the ‘staircase to the Moon’, a phenomena where Moon rise coincides with a super low tide over the mud flats that creates a scene that looks like a steps rising towards the Moon. Hundreds of people line the foreshore and vie for camera angles.

We are basking in the sunshine in Broome and enjoying a week off driving and dust. We have a fantastic campsite in a local caravan park from where we can gaze out over impossibly blue waters of Roebuck Bay. We are 50 metres from the water’s edge at high tide and 500 metres at low tide – the tidal range is 8 metres.

Unfortunately, today is howling windy and I was up at midnight banging in some extra tents pegs but otherwise it’s been very relaxing. We are having a week of hanging about the beach, Noah has hired a surfboard at Cable Beach, we've been out on a fishing trip on the Dampier Creek and the girls are going on a camel ride this afternoon.

We will hit the corrugations and dust again on Sunday when we drive up to Cape Leveque.

26/7 - 28/7 Darngnu Gorge - Fitzroy Crossing

GG:

After roughly 180 km from Sturt Creek, we arrived in Halls Creek, where the rodeo was to be held that weekend. Unfortunately, because of the rodeo, no accommodation was available, leaving one option: drive on 289 km to Fitzroy Crossing. Luckily, there were more available sites there and we were accommodated.

That next day we took a guided boat tour of Darngnu Gorge, focused on the crocodiles and rock faces with a few dreamtime stories and a bit about the freshwater mangroves.

It was a great addition to the trip ... hopefully there’ll be more of that type of thing!!

Tanami (N's point of view)

N:The Tanami track

Flat, dusty and corrugations equals The Tanami Track the plains made up of spinifex grasses and the unique termite mound metropolises.

Day 1

There are many words to describe the track, mine from a passenger point of view is boring. The only thing that changed on the first day was the distance between a set of corrugations, the wildlife was little more than a dead cow and a few eagles/falcons. The only thing that was interesting were trashed cars (scarily interesting). We camped on the side of the road; no designated camping site just a small clearing that held our camp. The only worry about the place was that is was a home to thousands of cows that walked along the back of a channel running parallel 10 metres behind our tent. The facilities were a shovel and some toilet wipes, tea was pesto and supper was a delicious damper cooked by moi.

Day 2

Termite mounds became the rave on the rugged landscape that surrounded the narrow corrugated track. Traffic was a 3 dog road train and a few very daring drivers towing several ton caravans, ironically we saw 2 remnants of caravans that had rolled, splattered then had been looted and left as few panels. We got half way to Halls Creek, at Rabbit Flat road house $2.08 for unleaded. Ouch! As we got there a road train we had passed earlier, which later passed our camp was unloading diesel. We drove on 100 kms or so then set up. Camp was a recommended area. A mosquito laden site, several metres from Sturt Creek. Sturt Creek was a beautiful, tree lined waterway with plenty of water still in it. A haven for Tanami travellers, wild horses and brolgas. For dinner I made a fantastic pasta bolognaise and Dad made chocolate cake.

Day 3

50 something clicks from were we stayed was Wolfe Creek crater thousands of years later from impact was a 20 metre deep crater home to surprisingly green vegetation, it was believed to be 120 metres deep but has been filled in by sand. We conquered the Tanami “woo hoo” we stopped at Halls Creek and had some grub then looked for accommodation but because the rodeo was the next day it was all booked, so of we went to Fitzroy Crossing 289 ks from HC, where we stayed in a luxurious grassy powered camp site.

The next day we explored the wonders of Geike gorge national park (traditionally Darngnoo) we walked out to a sandbar and had lunch there, mum, Georgie and I went on a boat trip and spotted heaps of fresh water crocs “crikey!”.

Day 4

“Yee ha” Broome here we come, a boring driving day ended up lucky sneaking in to a camp site at Roebuck Bay, after setting up camp we headed down to Cable Beach and had a dip and a bit of look around, while you’re in a rainy day we’re swimming it up at Broome!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 5

We swapped our cramped camp for a site down near the beach, went for a swim, waves weren’t that good but was alright I went down to the camels and patted one it stunk like ……… a lot of cars go down to the other side of the beach just because they can, weird, we went shopping then had tea. Started writing this, slept.

Day 6

Finished this

24/7 to 26/7 crossing the Tanami

G: How many spare tyres do you need for the Tanami Track? This was a question that plagued me in the middle of several nights. Before we left Alice Springs, I bought one more. So now we had 2 spares for the car and now 2 for the trailer. Not to mention the satellite phone, extra fuel, spare water and food. The expedition set forth with great trepidation and relief.

The Tanami Track is the 1,000km short cut from Alice Springs to Halls Creek. I’ve longed wanted to do it ‘because it was there’. The track is really an outback highway that carries tourists, a few locals and road trains ferrying cattle and supplies to the communities and mines. The track is sealed in part, mostly over floodways to reduce washouts. The majority of the road is dirt, some significant sections well formed but otherwise corrugated to varying degrees. We would all collectively sigh when the juddering of the corrugations was suddenly silenced by bitumen. The sounds of silence would generally only last a few moments before we ploughed back into the machine gun rattle.

The trick with driving on corrugations is to find the sweet spot which is a combination of the best surface and speed to minimize the shuddering. The best bit of road is usually on the opposite side. The Tanami was once considered a horror road however you could now drive it in a two wheel drive vehicle. (I wouldn't recommend it especially towing). The local aboriginal community guys drive around in Commodores but you wouldn’t buy a second hand one off them. The Tanami is littered with abandoned cars, mostly rolled and burnt out. Presumably this is the final resting place for the above cars. The road is also littered with tyres and carcasses. Tyres and rubber fragments and exhaust pipes that highlight that you still need to take the road seriously.

However, like all the roads up here, the real danger is animals. You could almost consider yourself lucky if you hit a kangaroo instead of a whole piece of prime beef, a horse or a camel. There are carcasses and plenty of live ones from all of them here. (We saw some fantastic looking wild horses next to the road). It does make great close up viewing of eagles. Unfortunately, eagles also become victims.

Once the Tanami crossed into WA the road conditions changed from a 6 car wide graded road to a 2 car wide track with nasty corrugations and washouts. A road without rhythm. There was no sweet spots. Fortunately this improved as we got closer to Halls Creek.

The major refueling point along the way is Rabbit Flat, Australia’s most remote road house. Petrol was $2.08/litre.

Our first bush camp was just in off the road out of the shawl of dust was thrown up by passing vehicles. We lit a fire and Noah made a scrumptious apple damper in the camp oven.

The second bush camp was next to the Sturt Creek in WA, a postcard picture of white gums and billabongs. In the night, Robyn and I listened to wild horses galloping by moonlight down the drive river bed next to our camper.

After two and a half days we arrived in Halls Creek with all our spares intact.

11/7 to 23/7 G's comments

G: Summary of go to here. First full day we made it across the border passed Renmark. We pulled off the road into Lyrup Flats NP. A beautiful river wetland area where the locals all seem to camp with their car bonnets up. Huh(?).

Next day was a very long drive via Morgan, Burra, Hawker through to Leigh Creek. We had tried to camp in Parachilla, a scene from a Western movie comprising pub, outdoor fire and collection of old railway workers’ cabins. However, there was no room in the Inn or even for camping as town was completely booked out with 200 American tourists. We drove on to Leigh Creek and stayed in a cabin. Luxury.

The adventure now really begins. The next significant town is Marree, the beginning of the Birdsville and Oodnadatta tracks. Marree was a significant station on the old Ghan train line that the Oodnadatta track follows. It also has the tin shed club rooms of the Lake Eyre Sailing Club! The Oodnadatta track commences with an ominous warning about entering remote country. The relics of the railway and mounds of ancient natural springs make this a fascinating route. We skirted Lake Eyre South, a vast basin with a mirage of real water receding. We stayed at Coward Springs, an oasis right out of an Abbot & Costello movie complete with date palms and camels.

The next day, more diverse country. The vegetation and landforms are constantly changing from green vegetation, red sand and undulating to flat arid and stony. We arrive in Coober Pedy, a fascinating but foolish place. It should have been our answer to Las Vegas.

It’s 750km from Coober Pedy to Uluru. The only saving grace for us was that it was sealed so we were spared dust and corrugation. Interestingly the camp and hotels at Uluru are called Ayers Rock Resort. The resort bit is to soften you up for the financial slug they charge for everything.

The next destination on the Central Australia has to be Kings Canyon. It truly is a wonder. You walk around an ancient eroded sandstone landscape that has created a palace of domes, rock pools and sheer escarpment.

From here we shook and rattled around the Mereenie loop to Glen Helen. About 200 km of dust, sand and corrugation, a warm up for the Tanami. We bush camped and awoke to a very frosty morning with the trailer water pump frozen.

After 3,600 km we have arrived in Alice Springs. Civilisation. Warm showers, no dust, kid’s playground. ‘Aah this is living Kel’. Three days to relax and prepare for the TANAMI. I feel it’s like a pending trial to which all our plans, contingencies, spares and communications may be tested. Not to forget patience over 3 – 4 days of rough road.

11/7 to the 15/7

N: The first few days were pretty good especially the first day because the driving went really quickly, but there was nothing really special about our first night in Lyrup flats national park except for the scenery which was flat and but contained lot of bird life, mum also spotted a fish, carp probably which inspired me to have a bit of dangle unsuccessfully.

It is roughly 600ks from Kyabram to Lyrup flats and is about 90ks out of Morgan where we originally planned to stay on our first night.

The next days drive was shorter but less to get excited about because the landscape got a lot flatter and pretty much consisted of saltbush dirt and a little bit of sand.

Our plan of the day was to stay in Parachilna but on arriving at the town we found that all accommodation was booked out by a group of 200 American tourists which left us annoyed and on a dark road against dad rules (no driving in the dark to avoid a collision with any wildlife mainly Kangaroos) so we went onto our original plan to go on to Leigh Creek 35 Ks on.

We ended up staying in a motel because it was to dark to set up the Camper trailer; it also gave us the advantage to leave earlier in the morning.

We set off the next day to coward springs which was only a short drive compared to the other days but was on a dirt track from Lyndhurst 36 Ks out of Leigh Creek.

The next town on from lyndhurst was Maree the start of the famous Birdsville track and also the Oodnadatta track where we would be heading after a short break, both roads/tracks bore an unnerving Remote areas ahead sign explaining the needs for 4wding requirements.

After setting up the camper trailer we indulged ourselves in a natural spa before having a fire heated dinner and damper.

In the morning we rebuilt the fire and experimented with an old sandwich maker which produced 3 fine toasted sandwiches.

We headed of to Coober Pedy where we are staying now in the oasis caravan park. Where we have explored a opal mine and the local shops, the town is said to be the opal capital of Australia and fair enough because the town is opal crazy and every shop has something to do with opals.

30/6 to 8/7

N:Before the trip to Broome I went to my uncle’s farm (Georgie went to Warburton at a friends holiday house) after mum dropped me of she went to her parents place in the Katamatite Township for the night. She came back the next day and me and my cousin Mat drove the X-trail around and then mum left for her last working week for a term. Russell (my uncle) shot a fox in the top paddock with the .17 calibre rifle he shot it at 144 yards on the run we went around the sheep in the morning and found a carcass of the lamb that the fox had been feeding on. We did some shooting of the slug gun at an empty drum I got my eye in( the night before I had some shots with the .22 and none of them hit the microwave I was shooting at) then we marked lambs I picked them up and put them on a bench where they were drenched, injected, their tail (and if they were a boy then their Balls as well) had a ring put around them to cut the circulation off so they would fall of (painful stuff) then their were branded with a special paint. Taking them back was fun though on the 4 wheeler. We went out spot lighting and got three hares and no foxes, we did see a lot of foxes but didn’t get any. The next day all we did was drive and shoot we went around the sheep in the land cruiser we and mat took turns at driving. We shot with the open sighted .22 for me the first time and the other with the scope and of course the slug guns. We went out spotlighting again; we got a fox it fell in the water and Russell had to walk right up to the channel crossing to get it. We drove to Numurkah to met with my grandparents who would have me for the next few days before we would then finally head off for Broome!!!