Saturday in Broome

Saturday, 31 July

First up this morning was a visit to the weekly Courthouse Market, along with nearly every other tourist in Broome. We were lucky enough to get a parking spot right outside the entrance to the gaol, which is right next to the police station, with is directly opposite the courthouse – obviously saves a lot in transportation costs! Well, there were plenty of pearl (?) jewellery stalls, food stalls tie-dyed clothing stalls, soap and candle stalls, bead stalls and only one produce stall, whose stock consisted of pumpkins and rocket!

We decided to check out another couple of caravan parks and after seeing the Roebuck Bay and Mango Caravan Parks, we feel that Broome Caravan Park certainly isn’t at the bottom end of the scale! Mango was absolutely disgusting – wouldn’t stay there in a fit!!! It is unfortunate that because all the caravan parks are completely booked out during the season, there is really no competition and, therefore, no incentive to improve the standards. Cable Beach charge $40 a night for an unpowered tent site, which is plain exorbitant.

After hearing a glowing report about the Mango Farm at 12 Mile, we decided to check it out after lunch. Well, we can now say we have been there and don’t need to go back. A small mango farm, with an even small “restaurant” that serves pizza and ice cream, has a few plastic tables and chairs and nearly as many backpacker staff. We settled on a rather flavourless mango ice cream each and fought off the mozzies while eating them.

Pearl Luggers

Friday, 30 July

This morning we headed into town (again) to mail some postcards and have a wander around before our scheduled pearl lugger tour. We discovered an old picture theatre (still in use) that was half inside and half outside. The projectors and some of the deck chair seats were under cover, the remainder of the deck chairs and the screen were outside. It was like a museum, with the old projectors and advertising posters – we were able to just wander in for a look, just great.

The pearl lugger tour was part of the pearl farm tour from yesterday and today we were able to look at a couple of the old luggers, as well as the heavy hard helmet diving gear – it was amazing how the divers managed to get into the final rubber/canvas suit through the neck opening, considering the amount of thick woollen clothing being worn! The divers were in the suits for 12 hours at a time, so when the diver surfaced, a small bottle on a rope was lowered inside the suit (12 hours is a long time to hold on!) for the diver’s comfort. The tour concluded in the pearl shop – where else???

We decided to treat ourselves to lunch and while we were eating, a couple at the adjoining table came over, said they were from Hobart and asked if we were on the cruise ship? Nice to know we look the cruisey types. So, of course, we had to go and look at the ship, which was cruising between Broome and Darwin – it was a very intimate cruise ship.

Back to the caravan park to wait for the mail to arrive and a package from family at home. We spent a couple of hours reading the lovely letters and drawings from the grandchildren, birthday card and other mail, as well as a very exciting video put together by Dave. We were able to watch small videos and photos of the families, as well as some photos of Dave’s recent trip to Washington and Oslo. Made us rather homesick.

A lovely hot day, without being uncomfortable. Now, if only the mosquitoes would disappear! Cairns mozzies carry dengue, Darwin and Kakadu carry Ross River, Kununurra mozzies carry encephalitis and I don’t want to know about the Broome mozzies.

Pearls!

Thursday, 29 July

This morning we headed along the Cape Leveque Road on the way to the Willie Creek Pearl Farm. The first 14 kms was sealed, then it was red bull dust and corrugations until we reached the mud flats – dry, fortunately – for the final 5 kms before the farm.

Wow – the colour of the sea water was just fantastic! The most superb blue, due to the limestone deposits evidently being suspended in the water. We had a very entertaining and informative “lecture” on the cultured pearl industry in Australia, as well as learning about how the pearls are actually cultivated. The men in the audience were a little horrified as to where the implant is actually made in the oyster (brought a tear to many a manly eye, and laughter from the women!). Following the supplied refreshments of wonderful coffee and damper made with beer, we boarded a boat for a tour of Willie Creek and a look at some oysters in the “Naughty Nursery” – oysters that weren’t destined to be good pearl builders. The tide of 10 metres was almost full in and running so fast that foam was created on the surface. After seeing how the oysters are suspended in their frames (usually some kilometres out to sea in clean water), we moved slowly up a creek among the mangroves to view the obligatory crocodile. He/she is a well trained crocodile and moves out on to the mud flats when the tide is low and the creek no longer exists!

Back to the reception building and the pearl showroom for some retail therapy. It didn’t take Cat long to select an $80,000 collar. I did spend a bit more time before making a contribution to the Australian pearl industry economy.

On the return journey through the mud flats, bull dust and corrugations, we came across a Wicked camper (fellow travellers will know these, for all you others it is a very old Kombi style van rented out to the likes of backpackers and usually with a top speed of 80 km/h) being driven by two mature age females and stopped in the bull dust. They should never have attempted this 4WD road in such a bomb, and the car in front of us stopped to offer assistance.

All in all, it was a good morning – one received his “fix” of red dirt driving and the other increased the family heirlooms!

We also decided today not to make the 100 km (each way) drive to Beagle Bay – neither of us could stand the corrugated road for such a long period of time.

Pearl Shopping

Wednesday 28 July

Last night we decided to take the advice of a regular tourist to Broome and give the markets a miss and view the Staircase to the Moon from a beach near the port – that way we wouldn’t have to worry about 5,000+ other people being in the same place at the same time. The moon was due to rise at 6.39 pm, so we were at the boat ramp beach shortly after 6.00. The sun set about 5.30 pm, so it was nearly dark by the time we arrived. A few people were on the beach collecting boats from the water, then they left. If became very, very dark, very, very quickly and there was only one other car in the car park. We had the car doors locked – it was very dark and very hot, then it became very humid in the locked car. The moon did rise at the given time and we had a lovely view of the moonlight across the water. It did seem strange watching the moon rise over the Indian Ocean (the angle of the peninsula allows this to happen. I must say, a locked car in a dark carpark didn’t really compare to sitting under a palm tree at Palm Cove and watching the moon rise over the Coral Sea!

This morning we returned to the information centre, which is about 200 metres from the end of the airport runway! We made a couple of bookings and enquiries for the next couple of days and then hit the shops – it felt so good to walk around proper shops, etc. One of us headed for Mitre 10 (guess who???) while the other headed for the pearl shops (no need to guess), of which there are no shortage. Broome pearls are HUGE and some of them cost more than diamonds (might have to return to Kununurra). Most of the pearl shops have now been visited, with a couple earmarked for a return visit.

This afternoon we decided to check out Cable Beach – wow, what a magnificent beach. Beautiful blue water and white sand stretching for miles – and so, so hot! We will return early one morning for a walk.

As we were driving away from the beach, we discovered another pearl shop, so just had to stop for a look and make a small purchase. There was also a nice souvenir shop close by and another T-shirt has been added to the collection in the cupboard!

We also checked out other caravan parks in Broome, and they all seem to be of a similar standard. The Cable Beach Caravan Park is very cramped and dusty, at least we have a large site, even if the amenities block leaves a lot to be desired.

Broome

Tuesday, 27 July

This morning we were packed up and on the road, heading towards Broome, by 8.15 am. Not far out of Derby we came across a large snake across half of the road and he hadn’t been there longer than a few minutes because only his head was flat. He definitely wasn’t a little snake!

The road today was similar to the last few days of travelling, a good, wide road, flat with long straights and a one lane bridge across the Fitzroy River. With the temperature reaching 31 degrees before 9.00 am, we knew we were in for another hot day.

We have been worried about the standard of the Broome Caravan Park as we have heard some bad reports about caravan parks in general at Broome and were prepared for the worst. The park certainly isn’t the best we have stayed in, but a long way from the worst. Our site is large, with both a mango and a frangipani tree for shade but the ground is very sandy/dusty with only a little bit of grass. The amenities block is of the older style but certainly adequate for our needs (I am soooo glad at all times that we have our own shower!!!).

Our first port of call this afternoon was the Visitors’ Centre – mainly to find out where all the pearl shops are! The nice lady informed us we were very lucky as the Stairway to the Moon is happening tonight and we must watch it (only happens once a month). We spent a fair bit of time finding the places where we could actually watch the moon rise over the water and not become frustrated this evening.

Another important discovery this afternoon – Broome shops have glass windows! How nice to be back in civilization – the town even has concrete gutters and a McDonalds.

Cat was a bit upset that I didn’t publish any photos of him on the flight to the Horizontal Waterfalls, so here is one …

Prison Boab

Monday, 26 July

Our final day in Derby was HOT! Definitely hot! I was able to take the washing off the line only an hour after hanging it out.

This morning we first headed back to the Derby Jetty to see it without water – definitely a difference to high tide. Following a look at the mud, we drove out of town to the Boab Prison Tree. This tree is actually hollow, has an opening for a doorway and was used in the 19th Century as a prison for recalcitrant Aboriginals. Today it has significance to the local indigenous population and is now fenced off. This didn’t seem to worry the large amount of native bees which had created a couple of hives in the trunk.

A quick trip to Woolworths and the service station, then back to the air conditioner – and the ironing!

Horizontal Waterfalls

Sunday, 25 July

A lovely warm morning, just right for having breakfast on the shadecloth patio! It did become rather hot by the afternoon, though.

This morning was our second big light plane adventure – this time the plane was much smaller and only held six people, including the pilot (who seem to be getting younger with every flight!!!). Why isn’t there any such thing as a new Cessna? As we were going to be flying over water, we actually had to wear our life jackets throughout the flight, and kept our fingers crossed they wouldn’t get wet – too many crocodiles and sharks around here.

Our flight took us over the immense tidal flats around Derby before heading inland across the military survival training area to the north of Derby. Flying at 3500 feet, it wasn’t too bumpy until we descended to 2500 feet to fly around the Horizontal Waterfalls. These falls occur because of the extreme tide movements and the large volume of water cannot move through the small openings, therefore it builds up and becomes a waterfall until slack tide. These are the openings that the small boats navigate with unsuspecting tourists (who also have to wear life jackets).

We then flew over Koolan and Cockatoo Islands, part of the Buccaneer Archipelago, both of these islands are iron ore mines. It seemed so strange to find to large mines in the middle of such a beautiful archipelago – the turquoise colour of the sea surrounding the thousand islands was just superb.

We were wearing headphones and were able to listen to all the air traffic as well as our pilot (amazing how many planes and helicopters were in the area). It was at this time that another plane radioed it was heading towards us at the same altitude, so our pilot, thankfully, descended to 1500 feet. Unfortunately, this also meant that our flight then did become a trifle bumpy until we reach King Sound. The run in to the airfield took us over the Derby jetty and the township – we were able to spot the caravan park without any trouble.

Cat was quite proud that the sick bag stayed in its envelope. I did rather wish that a lady on a previous flight had actually used her bag, rather than waiting until she landed and used the floor of the Ladies!

Derby

Saturday, 24 July

A much warmer morning, unfortunately the clear blue sky was covered by a high haze before lunch time. The road from Fitzroy to Derby was just as good as the previous day’s drive, with a wide road and long straights. Fuel consumption was even better today and we broke under the magic 15 lts/100km! Not much to see on the way, mainly cattle stations and savannah, although there are a number of different types of wattle in bloom at the moment. It is actually wildflower season in the Kimberleys, with various wattles, some gums and grevilleas, fluffy white flowers on silver scrub and little mauve flowers along the sides of the road. We did stop for a short break at a rest area containing a rather impressive example of a boab tree.

Derby is a rather old style tropical town of about 3,000 people and the largest tidal falls in the southern hemisphere. Today the fall is only about 9 metres, well below the king tides of 12 metres. We are in the Kimberley Edge Caravan Park, a large park quite close to the centre of town. We have a huge site which backs onto some open space before the tidal flats. There is a large barbed wire topped cyclone fence – not sure if it is to keep the crocodiles or locals out, or us in!

We have visited the Information Centre and discovered that all the seaplane flights to the Horizontal Waterfalls are fully booked until next Wednesday, so we will have to be content with a scenic flight only – no boat ride through the falls (thank goodness!!!).

As the tide was full, we had a drive around the Derby jetty (will return in the next day or two at low tide) – quite an amazing scene with cars and people lined up all the way around, fishing. There was an amazing assortment of gear being used, from hand lines to enormous surf rods (hopeful of a shark or crocodile perhaps?).

Much hotter again today, with the temperature around the 30 degree mark and the humidity has increased again. Curtin Air Base is just down the road, so we are being treated to plenty of high jet noise.

Mr Whippy has just arrived in the caravan park!

Geikie Gorge

Friday, 23 July

Halls Creek certainly didn’t live up to its reputation last night – not a sound to be heard. We also left the blue faced honeyeater behind in Kununurra, so weren’t awoken at 4.00 am either. There was a definite rush for the gates this morning, with all those travelling to Fitzroy Crossing trying to leave early. (Fitzroy Lodge Caravan Park does not make bookings, so first in get the powered sites.) We also had a rather brisk start to the morning, with the temperature hovering around the 15 degrees!

The road from Halls Creek to Fitzroy Crossing was very good – wide, good surface and long straights, except for the final 10 kms when it became narrow with one lane bridges. The country was very flat today, with only a couple of ranges close to the road – our fuel consumption was very, very good, which helped make up for the 10 litres we paid for yesterday and didn’t receive. Shell also have a Coles Express at Fitzroy Crossing, with accurate pumps!

The Fitzroy Lodge Caravan Park is very nice, part of a large resort. The resort accommodation is built on stilts and the amenities block is perched on top of a large mound – the Fitzroy River floods to a width of 18 kms evidently. The sites are grassy, very large and shady.

This afternoon we crossed the old Fitzroy crossing, which is a concrete causeway, on our way to the Geikie Gorge. We are starting to get “gorged out” a bit, but this one was well worth a visit. To see the gorge it is necessary to take a boat trip along the Fitzroy River, so while we were waiting, we went for a little walk through the limestone outcrops. The gorge is actually part of the Devonian Reef, laid down 350 million years ago and is limestone, not sandstone like all the other gorges. The boat was actually two seating barges pushed from the rear, the back barge was filled first and we were lucky to be told to sit in the very front row of the very front barge! The colours in the cliffs were incredible, ranging from white to red to blue/grey. The cliffs had been eroded over time and were full of holes and caves – truly stunning. Of course, the river was full of freshwater crocodiles!

Tomorrow we head for Derby (getting close to pearl country now!).

Halls Creek

Thursday, 22 July

Left Kununurra by 8.00 am for the drive to Halls Creek. We were very doubtful about staying at Halls Creek (the town has a “reputation”), but there is no where else apart from free camping.

The beautiful road gave way, after about 100 kms, to a much narrower and bumpier road, with no fog line and one lane bridges. The road wound between the ranges, with some spectacular scenery. Today we saw our first eagle since before Alice Springs, some brolgas, lots of wild horses, and upset a whistling kite in the middle of the road eating a snake for morning tea.

Halls Creek is an Aboriginal town with one caravan park which empties each morning and fills up each afternoon. None of the shops have windows, are just brick walls with a small doorway. We filled up with diesel at the Shell (Coles Express, would you believe!!!), $150.9 a litre and what we considered to be a rather dodgy pump. We found it hard to believe that we had used over 73 litres in 360 kms, especially when the Pajero gave our fuel average at 17.9 litres/100 km! The caravan park is perfectly acceptable, with gravel sites, power and water connections and the amenities are very clean and comparable to most caravan parks. There are a few locals in onsite caravans. Being Friday night, the town may become a little rowdy.

This afternoon we went for a drive down Duncan Road (which nearly had more traffic than the highway, with all the offroaders heading to and from Kununurra the back way), quickly became covered in red dust before we turned off towards China Wall. This is a quartz outcrop that looks like a mini Great Wall of China. We donned the 4WD shoes before heading down the track for a closer look, then one of us stood on some snake infested rocks surrounded by snake infested grass while the other one crossed the waterhole and climbed the stony hill to the China Wall.

Yea – the wireless broadband is working perfectly!

Wyndham

Wednesday, 21 July

This morning we decided to have a day trip to Wyndham, which is 100 kms from Kununurra, take in all the sights extolled in the tourism brochures, even treat ourselves to a takeaway lunch (big day!!!).

Shortly after passing the Gibb River Road turnoff (also the same one to El Questro), we came to a sign directing us to the Grotto. This turned out to be a small canyon (which would look spectacular in the wet season) with a deep pool at the bottom. Steps had been constructed into the side of the cliff to make it possible to climb down, and back. After one look at these narrow steps, with no rails, we promptly decided we had no pressing need to see a pool of water. Continued on through a lovely wide valley, complete with a boab forest.

We realised were had reached Wyndham after passing a few dilapidated dwellings and followed the very good direction signs to the Five Rivers Lookout. Not sure where the five rivers were, could only pick out the Durack and Ord Rivers entering the Cambridge Gulf. The view was great and we weren’t really sure if the tide was out, exposing the tidal flats, or if they were only covered in the wet. Wyndham does have an extreme tidal fall, so it is possible that the tide was out.

How to describe Wyndham? We had originally intended to have an overnight stay in this town, but golly gosh, are we glad we changed our minds! The Sobering Up Clinic was rather sobering, to say the least. The WA government are undertaking quite a bit of construction, replacing dwellings that have not been looked after. The Bicentennial Sculpture Park had a large sign saying the local council were not responsible for the area – the sign was quite understandable, actually. We decided to give lunch a miss and return to Kununurra.

I have been having trouble staying connected to the internet since we arrived in Kununurra and was becoming concerned that the problem may have been the wireless modem. Therefore, we took the computer with us to Wyndham and we spent 30 minutes locked in the car, overlooking the water, while I tested the modem away from Kununurra – no problems, so it must be all the tourists in town swamping an inadequate Next G wireless tower.

We were back in Kununurra by 12.30 pm and did a grocery stock up before we leave tomorrow for Halls Creek.

Bungle Bungles

Tuesday, 20 July

The alarm went off at 4.30 this morning, half an hour after the blue faced honeyeater wakes up! We stood out the front of the caravan park in the dark, waiting to be picked up for our flight over the Bungle Bungles – we had been assured that this was the least bumpy time of the day to fly. With only one spare seat in the 14 seater plane, we took off just as the sun rose over the horizon and headed south along Lake Kununurra and the Carboy Ranges to Lake Argyle. I’m glad we were on the least bumpy flight – the stomach wouldn’t handle an afternoon flight over the thermals! The scenery was stunning – this is such harsh country. The flight along Lake Argyle wasn’t any smoother but there was plenty to see and photograph. The two hour flight continued over a couple of largish cattle stations until we reached the Bungle Bungles. These beehive shaped rocks were glowing in the early morning sunshine – their stripes very apparent. We flew in a pattern over this area for 20 minutes – very rugged and seemingly impenetrable. The corrugations in the gravel road were clearly visible from the air. Flying did seem the best (and only, perhaps) way of really taking in the splendour of these rocks. The return journey took us over the Argyle Diamond Mine – the large airstrip has been constructed over a diamond field and will be the last piece of land to be mined. Before we landed, we were able to see the extent of the agriculture in this region.

Back in town, one of us decided to stay at the caravan and rest while the other decided to check out the diamond shop in the town centre. Wow!!! If only the credit card didn’t have a limit, I could have done some serious damage. One could buy a pink diamond half the size of a small pin head for $3000, unset of course. Sorry, no souvenirs for anyone, either!

This afternoon we decided to have a walk in the Hidden Valley National Park, which is very close to town. Then discovered we were expected to pay $5 into a machine for a ticket to park. Decided we didn’t need a walk and headed west to visit Valentine Springs. This was a lovely little waterhole, with a campervan parked under the “No Camping: sign, about 5 kms off the highway.

We have decided that March would be a good time to fly to Kununurra for a visit – with scenery would be absolutely remarkable in the wet season.

Ord River

Monday, 19 July

Another cloudless day with a temperature about 30 degrees and low humidity – the same as yesterday, and probably tomorrow as well.

With port of call this morning was the Post Office to collect some legal documents requiring my signature and that of a JP. The registered letter was waiting and the PO lady directed us to the Police Station, who directed us to the Court House, who directed us to the IGA store, who directed us to the local bakery. It was here that we did finally track down a JP who was very chatty and quite happy to witness the signatures. Documents were then duly mailed back to the lawyer in Launceston.

Our big adventure today was a tour to Lake Argyle and a cruise on the Ord River. Imagine our surprise when we were collected at the caravan park by a Tasmanian Scenic Tours bus, complete with owner/driver from Sorell. They travel from Sorell to Kununurra every winter to work. The tour took us first to the relocated Durack homestead (the remainder of the station is in the middle of Lake Argyle) before a short comfort stop at the Lake Argyle Village. Another quick photo opportunity at a lookout before heading to the base of the dam to board our boat.

A couple of freshwater crocodiles watched as we drifted in the middle of the Ord River below the dam while the guide/driver commenced his commentary – this went on virtually non-stop until we arrived back in Kununurra at 5.30 pm! He was very good, though. The specially built boat at times travelled at 50 km/h and most of the passengers very quickly had the same hairdo! Obviously, the remaining passengers didn’t have hair to worry about. The journey was fantastic, travelling through gorges and more open areas at times. Afternoon tea was provided at a bush camp on the bank (even had toilets), with a nice selection of pumpkin scones, carrot cakes and local fruits. We travelled along a couple of small creeks as well (a quick grab for the Bushmans was called for), learning about the different vegetation, birds and geology as we went. It is just amazing how much fresh water just flows into the ocean every year – very little of it is actually used for irrigation. We drifted in the middle of the river/Lake Kununurra to watch the sun set, before returning to the marina in Kununurra.

Once the sun sets here, it is dark!

I have been having trouble actually connecting to the internet in Kununurra – can connect to the Next G network without a problem but the actual internet can be very elusive.

Kununurra

Sunday, 18 July

A most important day – my birthday! We had a very early start to the day, being wide awake at 4.30 am suffering from jet lag. A time difference of 90 minutes in 200 kms takes a bit of adjustment! Telephone calls from the children and grandchildren was a wonderful beginning to the day, as well as text messages and some presents which had been stored in the caravan before we left Hobart.

This morning we toured the Ord River agricultural area – a huge floodplain irrigated from the Ord River. We saw sugar cane, sorghum, corn, pumpkins, other stuff we couldn’t identify, sunflowers and trees – so many trees! Sandalwood is a major crop in this area, with TFS having thousands of acres planted out with the first harvest due in three years. They have almost as much land again being prepared for plantations. We visited their tourist outlet, watched a promotional video, looked at the products for sale and learnt a lot. The sandalwood tree is actually a parasite and needs another tree planted beside it to feed off (three different trees during the growing stages) and the oil is used by all the best perfume manufacturers. With wild sandalwood nearly depleted, plantations are becoming very important for the sandalwood oil business. The seeds are the size of small peas (easily to colour sort …). There is also a rum distillery close by, but we did give that a miss, not being fond of rum. We definitely wouldn’t have allowed Cat anywhere near the place!

We drove to Ivanhoe Crossing, the beginning of the 4WD track to Wyndham. The crossing is over a weir spanning the crocodile infested Ord River and the track is marked by bollards which are 35 cms high. A few of these were actually under water. While we were there, two vehicles actually crossed the river and both created a nice bow wave. A couple of pelicans were waiting patiently for a fish to appear and a cormorant was actually diving in the strong current at the base of the weir – and managing to remain stationery.

This afternoon we listened to a great football game (the Swans won, in case you were wondering) before we listed to Shan’s concert on ABC Classic FM. A lovely way to fill in the afternoon. Tonight we are actually going to eat out.

Saturday, 17th July

With the caravan still hooked up, we were ready to roll nice and early this morning, then realised that Kununurra was in West Australia and an hour and a half behind in time. If we drove at normal speed, we would arrive half an hour after we left Timber Creek! The road west was very easy travelling – long straights, flat, good wide road and only bumpy over flood plains, and no traffic early in the day. We plodded along, struggling to keep the speed down to 80 km/h and had a couple of stops to change drivers. We decided that if we ever drove from Katherine to Kununurra again, we would do it in one hit, changing drivers every hour. Travelling west would be different, because of the time change. We were expecting the quarantine check at the border and had cleared out all our vegetables and fruit – we only had half a jar of leatherwood honey, which we asked if it was okay? No. The man was very nice and said he really appreciated Tasmanians as we were very quarantine conscious.

We still arrived at the Ivanhoe Caravan Park in Kununurra shortly after 10.00 am and were able to go straight onto our site. We were driven in a golf buggy to have a look first, and the man offered to help back us on if necessary. Professionals that we now are, we thanked him kindly and declined his offer. This is a really lovely park (wish we had booked for seven nights, not five), grass and a concrete slab, shade, palm trees (lovely feeling to look up through the shower hatch at a palm tree), good amenities, nice pool and spa, and within walking distance to the town centre.

Headed to the Visitors’ Centre first up, but discovered a market happening opposite, so did a quick veer to the left and bought our fresh fruit/vegetable supplies direct from the grower at half the shop price. David Bartlett should come and look at the food bowl in this area – it is massive! Back to the information centre for some advice on tours and eventually settled on a combined tour – an early morning flight to the Bungle Bungles (pick up 5.15 am on Tuesday) and a half day bus/cruise tour of the Ord River on Sunday. Realised when we got in the car that Shan’s concert is on Sunday afternoon, so instead of facing the information centre hordes again, decided to ring the tour company direct and change the cruise date. Big mistake! Cruise company happy to make the change but received a phone call during the afternoon from the information centre checking if the change was correct. No problems. Then the air company rang (no changes with them at all) and was very annoyed that I had changed the cruise and not told the air company.

This afternoon we checked out the local zebra rock company and learnt that this rock can only be recovered from the quarry about four weeks every year when the water level in Lake Argyle drops low enough. We watched some pieces being ground and then toured the gift shop – like all artistic gift shops, the articles were priced accordingly! Back into town for a walk through the celebrity tree park, where a large number of trees have been planted by celebrities (hence the name) including Princess Anne, Bud Tingwell (his tree died too), Ernie Dingo, John Farnham, numerous Governors General and state Governors, as well as many other artists and sportspeople. This park was right beside the Lily Lagoon, evidently home to hundreds of freshwater crocodiles (they were hiding this afternoon). Then we had a quick drive to Kelly’s Knob Lookout and a short walk to the top for a look over the leafy town and a view of the flat agricultural lands surrounding the town.

The sun goes down at 5.00 pm here and at 5.30 it is almost pitch black dark – the barbecue will be cooked under lights tonight.

Friday, 16 July

Before leaving Katherine this morning, we were able to discuss with our next door neighbour, the merits of the caravan parks at Timber Creek and Victoria River Crossing and decided to take his advice and stay at Timber Creek. (More on this later!)

A beautiful, clear day as we headed west through unburnt savannah, even spotting a couple of kangaroos hopping across the road. The road was pretty good, nice and wide with some bouncy sections. A sign advised that the road was due to undergo “Pavement Rehabilitation” – everyone else would say “Roadworks.” We played leapfrog most of the journey with a caravan carrying the number place “2OLDCROWS.” They were definitely the female equivalent of a Rick/Steve couple! Shortly before reaching Victoria River, the scenery changed to jump ups (mesas) and the start of the escarpment country. The deep red soil was also reflected in the intensity of the deep red colouring of the escarpment rocks. Unfortunately, this colour was a little washed out by the light in our photos.

Timber Creek – a small outpost about 200 kms east of Kununurra, supposedly with a population of 200 (haven’t found where they live yet). There is a police station, a couple of houses, a roadhouse with public bar (and attendant indigenous population) and TWO caravan parks. The RAC book only lists one and there is only signage for one – the WRONG one! We booked into the signed park at the roadhouse and discovered later that the advertised park is almost next door (they really should put up some signs). This park is adequate for us for the night, because we have our own shower and toilet, however, one of us would probably have insisted on moving if we had to use the park showers, which are REVOLTING!!! There is a lovely grassed tent area and some grassy sites, but the majority of sites are under shady trees – this means dirt, of course. Power poles are just planted in the ground with no thought as to how caravans can even get to them and everyone just parks higgledy piggledy. A large creek edges the back of the park (not far from our site) with a big sign advising crocodiles inhabit the creek and Bert is feed daily at 5.00 pm. A large colony of fruit bats has provided background noise.

I think it will be a rush for the gate tomorrow morning.

Thursday, 15th July

Yesterday evening we undertook the sunset cruise on Yellow Waters. In some respects, it was marred a little by the large amount of smoke in the air, but the smoke did give us a brilliant red sunset! Although we travelled over the same waterways, the afternoon cruise was very different – there were more crocodiles for a start. We couldn’t understand why the guide bypassed a couple until he showed us his “surprise.” This crocodile was nearly 6 metres long, almost completely out of the water, had a large cat fish near its open jaws and was surrounded by egrets! The guide was quite happy to let the boat drift to within about 3 metres, but I must admit to feeling a little happier when we drifted further away. Being late in the day, there were plenty of crocodiles swimming, just starting the night’s hunting. There was also much more bird activity, with large numbers coming into roost. We were fortunate to have a juvenile jabiru fly across in front of us, as well as seeing a further four or five on the wetlands. We were lucky enough to also see some of the wild horses that inhabit the park, but the local barramundi weren’t as active as they were in the morning. The sunset was absolutely fabulous – such an intense red. Lots of photo opportunities here!

We wont be sorry to leave the Kakadu midges behind, they even manage to infiltrate our insect screens.

We left the dust (and insects) of Kakadu behind and turned south this morning for the drive to Katherine. Most of this was through the typical savannah, much of it burnt out too. The weather bureau issued a fire weather warning yesterday with an index of 74, but that doesn’t stop the powers that be from lighting their unattended fires.

The road from Cooinda to the Stuart Highway was similar to the road from Darwin to Jabiru, only much hillier and far more windy with the bitumen too narrow to have a fog line painted. It is absolutely crazy that such a road should have a speed limit of 130 km/h! The locals complain about having to drive so slowly – and they also complain about the high road toll!!!

With the Katherine Show being held tomorrow, the town is extremely busy with locals as well as tourists (this is the height of the tourist season). The caravan parks are full, with only unpowered sites available for blow-ins. Thank goodness we booked over a week ago. With a temperature of 30 degrees and 27% humidy, the weather is quite pleasant today. We are just having an overnight stop at the Low Level Caravan Park (the same as previously) before we commence the long drive down west.