Alice Springs

Spent 3 days luxuriating in a cabin while we shook, wiped, and soaked a surprising amount of red dust from the surface of everything. Our life still has a red tinge but at least you no longer get covered in it constantly. Had car serviced all good but cruise control which is being temperamental but not worth waiting extra days for it to be fixed. Kids went to school of the air and all out for celebratory dinner for those departing, otherwise spent time on domestics and important thongs like backing up photos and starting to catch up on the blog

Tilmouth roadhouse onto bitumen

Managed to get all the wood on the fire last night which was a feat in itself. Summary of Tannamai -great to do but not nearly the challenge we expected. Cloud cover kept the night temperature up so found myself peeling of layers, drifting back off to sleep when I heard several muffled pops. Anxiously crept the zipper on the window open when much to my relief a sky rocket burst into a shower of colour. After ascertaining they were far enough away for us not to be set alight I settled back to a fireworks show while the ever vigilant men provided the "symphonic" accompaniment. The show over the unknowing entertainers slammed their way into their cars and sped off.
At night the vehicles sound like freight trains coming along and can be heard for miles in either direction. All potential for further entertainment or issue having departed I rolled half of the symphony onto it's side and drifted back to sleep.
Managed to stoke the fire again for Leon the fire toaster's last job on the track before packing up. Had our last intake of red dirt last night with baked spuds in Ned who is a gas cylinder BBQ pit. No matter what you do it gets in. Packing up their tent Julie found a gecko in the bedding, not sure how long it had been there but planned to release him after inspection when he set himself free. Thought it had crawled back in later when a second one was found. After a bit of scouting around worked out there was two and managed to set them off together. Not sure if we are starting a unique population of geckos on the Tannamai or not. It was our morning of little critters with Jack finding a true centipede with stinger and all when shoveling dirt on to the fire. Last nights attempt at critter spotting had only managed to flush out some giant ants which we left to their own devices.
Called in to Tilmouth roadhouse to pump the tyres up for the last 180 km into Alice. Tilmouth proved to be a little oasis selling local indigenous artwork, a fully grassed camping area and pool. Julie managed to find a piece of artwork she liked and we hit the bitumen for our CABIN in Alice. The last dirt 50 km of the Tannamai was very washed out after the rains with the grader shoving the dirt around just enough to get one lane open. Why grade it? It's going to be tarred in the next year or so.
Feeling a bit torn about leaving the Tannamai it is definitely a chilled way of life but it will be so nice to not be covered in dust 24/7. Alice also sees the departure of all our traveling companions.
With each kilometer towards Alice came gradual signs of civilization - sign posts lines down the road - (though one had obviously been painted after "bush" tea as it meandered all over the road in one direction) and fences. Final photos under the Road sign and back to the real world.

Yuendumu and beyond

Coldest night we have had, ended up sleeping in ski fleece and down jacket over my PJs. Slow pack up again and moved on to Yuendumu for fuel at only $1.90 ltr. This is another dry indigenous community and a more positive experience for all. Warlukurlangu people are the traditional dot painting artists and have several internationally renowned artists so we popped into the local gallery. Could have spent hours there perusing the thousand plus pieces of work but having only one more night on the track meant we needed to get some km under our tyres. Julie spied one piece she was keen to buy but left disappointed as it was already sold. Jack made the only purchase of a painted spear. Still following the corrugations but a more lush bush with visible waterholes and hills. Set up camp on the edge of an old cattle yard. Jack went in search of horns but only came back with a small rodent skull - still treasure enough and ceremoniously handed to Pampa to bring home safety. Heaps of paddy melons growing around so a game of interesting catch ensued jack having accidently lobbed his cricket ball in the fire which surprisingly rapidly consumed it, at the quarry.
We camped near the turn off to another community which advertised an art gallery so we left the boys with the snatch strap to collect firewood for the last hooray fire. Bounced our way 30 km up to the community but couldn't find any sign of the gallery. Enquiry at the general store advised the whole cultural centre had been burnt down a couple of months ago so bounced our way back. We did get to see a wild camel though. Back at camp the boys had heaved and hauled masses of wood and set up the fire to rival all others ready for the celebratory toast to the end of the Tannamai.

Renahans bore and beyond

Lazy morning packing up with Renahans bore " worth a look" on the way through. More corrugations and a blissful 10 km of bitumen even with line markings, not sure why it was there. This end of the Tannamai is a car wreckers lot, lost count of the number of wrecked vehicles some obviously stolen and dumped after stripping others obviously set up for traveling that had been stripped including quite new vehicles and their campers. Have come to the decision that you do the Tannamai to achieve it rather than the spectacular scenery, much more lush than we espected but basically flatlands with green / grey scrub with some bird life, literally nothing to remark on. Renhans bore proved to be nothing more than a dumping site and the promised water having not run for a long time so we moved on. Found a nice spot close to Chilla creek filling the afternoon with reading, wood collecting and lazing in preparation for another night star and fire gazing.

Rabbit flat and beyond

Packed up and bumped and shook our way to Rabbit Flat, which makes the claim of most remote petrol and food in Australia, with a brief stop for photo opportunity at the border and inspection of a dingo. To our delight rabbit flat was open so we fueled ourselves with coffee but filled up the car from the Gerry cans fuel being 2.30 a litre here. Bounced our way a bit further down the track to set up camp and try to get into the sync with NT time. We lost an hour and a half today. Set up camp on the rim of a road works quarry again having intermittent reception on one phone -if you are facing the right way with the wind at the right angle behind the right tree, courtesy of the local open cut mine. It set off 3 blasts every 20min round the clock but luckily it was far enough away not to be too disturbing.
Nothing we have with us in not embedded with dust no matter how you pack and how much you wash your toothbrush you still get crunchy bits when you clean your teeth. Had a really thorough wash using an immense amount of soap put on clean clothes and within 5 minutes you are coveted in dirt again. Morgie can no longer get a brush through her hair just plait the same 3 clumps of hair each day - she may end up with 3 dreddies.
Big fire again tonight much to the boys delight.

Billiunia and beyond

Gordon and the kids set off after breakfast to climb down into the crater all rugged up in beanies and jackets while Anne and I stayed behind to check tyres water etc - read enjoy another chapter of our books in peace. Did check the tyres though as with the dramatic drop in temperature the pressure was all over the place. Packed up and did the short trip to Billiunia for fuel. This is an indigenous community. Kids had been promised a treat so went into the shop but there was a community rule that no choccies or lollies were sold before lunch time. This was a dry community but there were people evidently drunk at 10 in the morning had to physically close the kids mouth and turn their heads - what they were seeing was beyond their comprehension. Dad was standing next to his car perusing the map when a guy started literally running his face along the windows presumably looking for alcohol. Didn't respond when spoken to or move on so only option to move the vehicle out slowly.
Expected to see clapped out cars which there were, many with deliberately muddied number plates - the only mud on the car but the most remarkable actually had different plates front and back one WA the other NT. Driving out of the community when a local car sped past, we passed them 10 k out of town with all occupants leaning against it swigging on a bottle of bourbon each. These incidents are most notable because of their extreme and were occurring within a community quietly going around their everyday life. Had planned to stay by Sturt creek being the last water we would see for 800 km but the place was littered with empty alcohol bottles so we moved on.
Stopped for lunch on top of Selby hills which again gave us full panoramic views of the flat lands. The biggest surprise was when Gordon's phone started beeping with incoming messages so made a couple of quick calls to report in and check all was well. Continued on collecting firewood and meandering all over the road in an attempt to minimize the impact of the ever worsening corrugations made even more difficult by the heat haze, making it impossible to prepare for water pools. Set up camp just off a side road in a clearing amongst the spinafex. Jack and Gordon dug a fire pit and got a fire going for our coals roasted veggies. Built up a fire which rivaled Saturn when it rose.

Wolf Creek Crater

Yes we went there.
Did the 2 hour trip out of bungles without issue, stopped in Halls Creek to stock up on fuel 130 ltr, water 85 litres, milk 10 ltr ,beer and wine 15 ltr, that extra 1/4 ton plays havoc with fuel consumption though thankfully road condition were overall good with us even making it into 4th gear for brief periods. Both Shibabee and Wun have been literally everywhere with Morgan and Jack including all gorges Chasms and lookouts needless to say they will need a bath in Alice Springs.
Today Morgan remembered she had brought her crochet so they have spent all traveling time making jewelry and clothing for the camels. Listening to Jacks foray into fashion design has been interesting though it does make for peaceful travel.
The turn off for the crater saw a deterioration in road condition but still a walk in the park compared to the Gibbs till we hit the "puddles" covering the road - anywhere else it would be called a dam. We erred on the side of caution and scooted along the sides which were slick and slippery enough. The rain has produced a patchwork with vibrant spinafex mounds studded with mini termite mounds abutting stumpy black wattle in golden bloom engulfed in shimmering pools of flowering Spinafex. Set up camp then climbed to the rim of wolf creek crater the only blip on the horizon for a full 360 degrees. Started a small fire but as night set in those that had ridiculed me for packing thermals and ski jackets were quickly weighing up the potential for pay back vs being warm.

Bungle Bungles

Information on the road varied from impossible won't get the van in to easy you will do it in a couple of hours so set off with several fallback plans in place. Quizzed some people going out and felt comfortable going in. It took two and a bit hours to do the 50 km the most challenging surface condition being some bull dust and washed out approaches to water crossings with rocky steps on the climb out. The path of the road proved more interesting with most of it being 1 - 1 1/2 lanes at best. Blind bends were the order of the day and when that got too boring they would put a jump up either side it so the commentary often went - where's the road go - oh shit can you see round the corner - no - where does the road go now? After 2 hours we were quite relieved to see the ranger station and some straight roads. The whole thing is so immense it is mind blowing. Spent the first hour going wow look at that over and over again. Quickly planned a couple of walks for the afternoon hoping to make the lookout before sunset. Explored Echidna chasm which is literally a space between two rock walls with occasional peeks through to the sky then opening to a large amphitheater. A quick scramble over some boulders would lead to another series of chasm openings each uniquely spectacular. Had lost track of time in the chasm so didn't make the lookout till after the sun had slipped behind the hills. We knew it was breathtaking as the kids didn't ask can we go yet once. Got back to camp for Jack to light the campfire and to plan the next days walks. Tried to beat the heat of the day by setting off early for Cathedral gorge but by the time we stood in awe, deviated and added a few more short walks to our morning it was early afternoon. Back at camp we hid in the shade keeping our eye on the time. We weren't going to miss the sunset twice. Brief walk up the hill with camera and enough supplies to toast the sunset we were pleased to find no bus tours so spent a quiet hour being blown out yet again. Many people have waxed lyrically about the Bungle Bungles so choose your favorite to insert here and let me assure you it is not an exaggeration. The kids are even planning their return trip to do the two day hike into Piccaninny gorge. Had a small meltdown coming out of Cathedral gorge. Had been just walking with the camera off turned it on to take a photo and noticed a big black splodge in the middle of the viewer. I was so pissed had been so careful traveling with it on my lap or sealed in it's bag. Quick clean of what I could, proved fruitless so snapped on with the plan to doctor the photos later if needed. Back at camp in an hermetically sealed environment - read van with all windows and doors closed and children outside worked out it was on the mirror so cleaned as best could and will fix in Alice. Thankfully not on the sensor.

Halls Creek

Quick hop over to Halls Creek to check on road conditions - to our delight Tannamai open to all traffic. Intensions of heading 100 km towards Purnalulu turnoff quickly reassessed when told about the incidents over generators and people trying to squeeze their van where it won't quite fit at the camping site. Booked into van park with swimming pool much to the delight of kids. We were in town for their big Friday night of Aussie rules match - an alcohol free event followed by the pub band where only low alcohol beer was sold no wine or spirits. Needless to say we stayed in the van park with our wine and full strength beers. A nothing night really just getting to Bungle Bungles.

Fitzroy Crossing

Almost back to derby before we turned east for Fitzroy crossing. Arrived just ahead of the mobilis geriontis (grey nomad) pack and staked out two spots. When paying $1.99.9 cents per ltr for fuel they toddle along at 80 - 90 km/h compared to Gordon's 120 plus which isn't a problem on the gun barrel bitumen, the termite mounds being the most prolific wildlife and they don't move too fast. The absence of wildlife since we left Katherine has been notable apparently because of the late rains they are all staying out around the Billabongs which if we get to do the Tannamai should prove spectacular. Just to keep you awake they throw in a single lane bridge on the main rivers (they just get washed away every couple of years so why build more than necessary) then they throw in a road train carrying a whole demountable or part of a gigantic mining truck. Passed one with part of a chassis on it and even with all our stuff on the roof we didn't make the central wheel hub. Up early AGAIN to go on a boat cruise up Geikie gorge which is the visible southern tip of the Devonian great barrier reef, Windjana gorge being the northern visible tip. Walked along it before sunset last night, pristine white limestone and quartz embedded with shell and ancient sea creature impressions for the lower 20 m topped with jagged peaks of Black and red stained rock. The white delineates the average wet season water level and is honeycombed in sections where small rocks get trapped in eddies and rub the limestone out. More crocs today though only freshies and mostly juvenile under one meter also spotted a wallaby pair living in a cave 15 -20 m up a sheer rock wall plus heaps of birds. Fitzroy crossing has proven the most prolific in animal life for a long time spying several pairs of Brolgas two groups of brumbies including a foal which Morgan was eager to chase down and brand as her own having been told that if you catch and brand them they are yours. Could not quite get across the degree of difficulty in this seemingly small task. Heaps of wallabies around too one of which hopped off with a rather large headache after reshaping our bash plate a little, thankfully we were only going about 30 at this stage being in a national park and all.

Broome

Can't believe number of people on the road luckily we had a booking got a great shady cemented site but was advised would need to move in the morning to a more long term site in the park this was fine, anyone without booking who arrived late - read after 930 am - ended up shoehorned into a site at the local gun club with portaloos only. Took off to explore Chinatown with high expectation but only thing open sat 2.00 was Coles and fish and chip shop so grabbed some Barramundi and headed off to cable beach to watch sun go down sipping wine. Kids went for explore along beach and found camel rides -preferable to the nudists who congregate in same part of beach. After strong negotiating they were booked on an 0800 ride. I reluctantly declined a ride to sleep in, with Gordon volunteering to watch from the beach with a coffee. Kids had a ball, connecting with a family who were also traveling. Their father was an emergency doctor, they had been traveling since Nov 09 with him working locum for a couple of weeks then they would spend 2-3 weeks making their way to his next posting. They usually live in a small town near Goulbourn, Jonah 10 lives for sax, soccer and scootering, Faith 12 loves to chat, torment her brother and read. Organized to catch up for dinner again at Cable beach. Filled in the rest of the day at the courthouse markets booking our flight to Cape Leveque checking out the local artists and the kids getting their first tattoo - just henna but they know they are cool. The enticer for the camel ride (competition is strong between the 3 camel groups) is a voucher to the camel store so bravely headed off for the con but to my surprise and the kids great delight Jack walked out with a floppy headed camel he named Shibabee and Morgan with a backpack which also carries a camel on it. She named her humpless camel Wun. Monday pampa and the kids headed off for a morning being tourists while we followed up on domestics buying me new boots replacing underwear which has just given up and generally getting sorted. Our next leg is possibly up for review as the Tanamai is closed due to rain, will continue to Bungle Bungles and make final decision Friday when new reports available. Have been surviving on cask wine as the glass tends to shatter but can't buy wine in more than 1 ltre volume, must have shirt and shoes on and drive through or catch taxi from bottle shop. Now have milk cartons of wine with there being 3 varieties - red, dry white, sweet white could be interesting. Gordon organized me my anniversary present early so I got to spend Tuesday with a professional photographer traveling around Broome area -read up to 100 Km away- with him giving direct instructions on how to take the shot from every perspective, camera settings, lighting, shooting angle, basically every detail. Not sure I will ever make his grade but definitely learnt heaps and saw some spectacular scenery.
One of the most interesting things was when each of the 8 of us on the day got to choose shots from his collection and he took us through settings, setup etc. Though several he admitted to being composition shots of up to 5 photos laid over each other - often taken at 3 am with flashes powered by car batteries or on film which costs. $80 a roll of 4 shots then a further $100 to have developed and digitized before he tweaks it. Bit of a let down but at least I'm not searching for the impossible to achieve shot. Gordon and kids spent the morning at the skate park waiting for the car to be fixed. The internal drivers door handle wasn't opening which was getting frustrating to say the least - a warranty issue this time happens often enough they keep spare parts in stock. In the afternoon they went on a paddle tour around the southern point of Cable Beach exploring caves avoiding sea snakes and learning to distinguish a rock popping out of the water from a turtle. All had a ball though Gordon is certain the only time the kids used their paddles was when they splashed someone. Wednesday our last day in Broome saw us up early again for our flight over Horizontal Falls and Cape Leveque. Followed the dusky green flat landscape north east out of Broome getting excited when we spotted a red slash of road through it or a blip in the horizon suggesting a hill, feeling rather ho hum when all of a sudden we were over an azure blue expanse falling from the coast. Beyond description all the colours you see and the enormity is for real. Didn't know what to photograph, did a few long slow passes over the waterfalls before meandering our way south west over pristine islands and beaches to Cape Leveque. The tide was rushing out so fast -40km/h that the still spot was of note rather than the rip Landed in Cape Leveque for swim and stroll round more breathtaking scenery which didn't stop till we landed in Broome that afternoon including a brief whale spotting. Back to the mundane in afternoon of sorting out and provisioning for our hop over to the Bungle Bungles.Out for a treat that night to the open air theatre where Bran Nue Day was showing. The kids getting very excited identifying the local locations checking out if their deck chair was one from the movies and looking out for the extras we had met. When you met people they didn't bother with a name just which scene they were in.

Windjana gorge

Limped our way over with the van after fueling up and having a hit of real coffee at Imintji road house. Booked accommodation in Derby for myself that night - they are asking premium prices as occupancy is 90 % or more just with housing the builders for the new Jail and staffing Curtin Detention centre. The road had improved even had some bitumen and a rock that looked like Queen Victoria in profile coming across the King Leopoldo and Napier ranges. Heaps of really high cloud cover that was pure white against the blue, very high and fluffy but looked like someone had gone along the bottom with a spatula and literally cut the bottom off. Set the van up and with the promise not to party hard I left them for our final limp along the road to Derby. Had planned to grab some boots here but only one store stocked sturdy boots and they only had steel caps so made my way to the camping fishing and ammo store for gas there is no competition in Derby, if one store sells it then the only other one who might stock the item is woolies. Booked into my $160 a night room expecting some level of luxury to find a single bed on wheels and bathroom - it did have air-conditioning. You could lay in bed grab your beer from the fridge on one side then lean to the other side to change TV station. Good shower though and my feet stayed clean after it. No Optus reception in town I could make but not receive telstra calls and my Internet didn't work. Went out to grab pizza and managed to piggy back onto the TAFE connection to do quick download but my intentions of updating blog went out the window. Back to the motel quick smart as they lock the 12 foot gates at 9pm. Spent night watching bad tv one station only before heading off to Derby 4x4 for some suspension. All went well here with the guys being as helpful as they could be even if I had to do their morning tea run. New suspension all sorted and fresh bread and milk I hate longife milk I headed back to Windjana making much better time. Got back in time to do dusk walk along the gorge crocodile spotting no swimming here. Had intended to do tunnel creek the next morning but rose to mid 30 degrees by 0700 with a sand laden wind ripping across the place. This along with reports of very bad road conditions down to the creek quickly helped with our decision to head on to Broome

Silent grove & Bell Gorge

Silent grove did not live up to it's name being jam packed with vans and tents though thankfully had a separate area for generators and no larger vans as there were two fairly serious water crossings to get in. This is a national park camping spot in the middle of king Leopoldo ranges which to our great delight had just had extensive work to install toilets warm showers and running water. The downside though was no swimming in the creek as that is where the water comes from. Bell gorge is just along the track has a spectacular waterfall with the final drop being about 40 m. We were all pretty shattered from the marathon morning walk so did not take on the slippery skirt across the top and down the side to the bottom of the gorge preferring to watch the setting sun change the colours of the gorge wall whilst we languished in the warmer upper pools before dinner.

Mt Barnett Manning Gorge

Packed the van strategically dumped what water we could put all the extra fuel we could in the cars and off loaded the esky to dad with the plan to nurse our way to manning gorge. All going well for the first 40 km other than us feeling like rag dolls on heavy duty wash cycle. The kids being very tolerant - this had taken 2 hours but becoming sugar loaded with the bribery when the car started to behave as if on a roller coaster - both front shockies gone. After some descriptive language and plan to ring Derby from Mt Barnett we limped on. To see a car crawling along is not out of the ordinary and people give you space till they can overtake that is except for the tour buses who scream past showering you in rocks and dust. I was sure we were going to get wiped out when faced with one taking the corner at 100 plus km/h and bouncing out of control onto our side with every degree of the corner he took. We had nowhere to go plus a vehicle that didn't respond too quickly. He managed to pull it around but was close enough to adjust our towing mirror for us. Limped on to the road house with nil further incident. Rang Derby 4x4 and chatted with my new friend Harry who advised would need to get the parts in and Friday would be the earliest and he would fit them that day - all would be Tickety boo - his expression not mine. Headed into Manning Gorge for the night where there was a nice big swimming hole with sand banks and rock islands plus a boat on a rope to take you to the other side. Kids had a ball playing around for hours plus there was a close approximation to a tepid shower. Up early to beat the heat for an hours walk into manning gorge itself. Very rocky but picturesque walk across several gullies before a final descent into the gorge itself. Once again an oasis, with a quick hop over some more rocks bringing us to a pool running into a wide cave on one side with a trickling waterfall across it's Mouth. Being a crocodile free zone the kids were in and exploring like a flash.
Hiked our way back out to pack up and repeat our slow crawl along the road with the camp-side talk promising improved conditions.

Drisdale station Miners pool

On to Drisdale station - road horrendous with severe corregations - 3/4 way along though had a flaf but all looked well so continued to station. Loading up to move out and checking airbags when noticed oil everywhere - very frustrating had blown a shocky. Very frustrating as had heavy duty shocks and springs put on before left. Sheared bolt on van shock, thankfully this a quick fix. Just chilling till see if parts can come in.

ellenbrae

Stopped off at Zebedee springs and had a soak in the thermal pools, then moved on to Ellenbrae - a homestead which has bush camping sites. Lucky to be there early enough to get a site near the old shearing quarters which had a wood fired hot water system called a Donkey – not sure why but we were given instructions on firing up the Donkey. This provided great showers and a bath and flushing toilets. The building had been made by laying massive slabs of rock on their edge. Quite unique in itself. Very pleasant night camping with our first large bush fire. Anne and I celebrating our luck at 2 unexpected nights with showers. Morgie found a girl to play with and was very happy to be invited for marshmallows as I had been an irresponsible parent and forgot to buy them. Jack declined to go when the mum came to invite him, preferring to stay with the boys and talk about mud adventures. One of the guys that wandered over was very dirty with El Questro, had come down from Wyndham but been turned back at the border of El Questro with was the last 50 km with them saying they had closed their part of the road only, very pleased we did not try it.

El Questro

Our first hop on dirt went without a hitch even a couple of water crossings. Dad not too keen to come in as it is very commercial but the argument of we won’t be back for a long time won out and he acquiesced to one more night of civilization. Set up camp and headed off to do some exploring up Saddle back ridge which was the kids first experience of pushing through sand and up a steep incline to hit the rise and not be able to tell where the road was going when on a single lane on the edge of a cliff. Had been nagging them about keeping windows up to limit the dust. They only nagged me back once when I put the window down so I could clearly see the edge of the cliff. The car managed it like a drive down Main Street. Nearly had to get recovery gear out when a guy in a new land cruiser couldn’t get up the last rise meaning no one could get down, but on 5th attempt made it. Gordon suggested I went down and offered to bring the car up for him but I didn’t feel like a mouth full of abuse today.
Spectacular views well worth the climb. Back down and randomly picked a track to Explosion gorge named because they used to fish by throwing a stick of dynamite into the water. Several great water crossings and some mud puddles which followed up the side of the gorge. Then a few rock steps down to the dry creek bed. I called halt here having watched the Landy scrape on the rocks getting out of the creek bed, we don’t have near their clearance. Squeezed the car off the road as well as we could and walked down to the water. I had put on my much loved hiking boots which have seen 2 overseas trips and thousands of KM on the motorbike. Scrambling over some reasonable sized boulders I slipped sideways and stripped the complete sole off my shoe down to the innersole. Hobbled to the water edge to find a sign warning that a large salty was residing in the area. Parked next to this was a small tinny much to our surprise. Being in the Gorge the sun sets early and quickly so we wasted no time getting through the water crossings with quite large rocks that needed to be dodged. To our amazement there were several vehicles with quite young children heading in. After our dinner one of the vehicles could be heard several Km away as he had taken out his exhaust on the rocks. So many Gung Ho Macho guys here.
Celebrated Gordon’s birthday in front of the fire at the bar – doing it hard.

Kununurra

Booked into van park nestled against mini Bungle Bungles and did a quick survey of flights over Purnululu getting ourselves on an afternoon flight with only us and each having a window seat. Quickly got ready before pick up - from the start it was amazing the acres surrounding the airport were orchards, each mango planting was the size of the estate and there were at least 100 plantings of mangos alone, now moving into sandalwood with literally thousands of acres planted to be harvested in 15 years, flight over Ord river and lake Argyle spectacular, it was hard to pick out the dam wall from up here, it looked just like a little inlet. Continuing the massive theme were the stations - drive for 2 days to get out or fly out that is assuming it hasn't been raining. Continued to fly over the diamond mine, a small town of itself but apparently with security to rival MI5, even emergency landings on the airstrip being hemmed in and held there till they can leave, then over some ridges to suddenly be on top of the Bungle Bungles. Far more expansive than expected, thought there were a group of 50 or so smallish rocks but this also follows the massive theme and you find yourself ontop of this giant's village of domes. Jack very aptly described it as a city from another planet. Buzzed around for a while not knowing where to look before heading back. If the flight has affirmed nothing else - we have to do the drive in, though current plan is under review and may go in from Halls Creek.

Next day the kids escaped to the local skate park whilst I tried to wrangle the washing AGAIN. Can't believe the excessive water use, have large sprinklers everywhere - the camp sites are lovely and lush, that they run morning and night, one pipe remained disconnected for the majority of a day leaving a large mudpuddle - up to the kids knees without anyone even blinking an eye.

Met up in the mall for lunch where Jack had spied a camping store with an extensive range of pocket knives - after much discussion he purchased one. It is not illegal up here for him to purchase or carry it even though he is only 10. Jack ceremoniously carried his knife around for the remainder of the day and was less than impressed he shouldn't bring it to dinner tonight.

Did a quick run around the local farms to get some fruit and veg supplies, called into the sandalwood factory which is currently importing the raw product to be processed here until they have their own to harvest. Generally don't mind sandalwood but believe me they can make some evil smelling potions when mixed with other things to give them "therapeutic" value. Also called into the oldest legal rum distilliery still operating in Australia, they too can do some pecular things to rum, none of which enticed me to part with my money even though some of it was 70 proof. Had planned to head north to Wyndham then come south again to meet up with the Gibb river road west of El Questro and go to the Bungle Bungles from Halls creek before the Tannamai but quick enquiries at the tourist information advised the southern end was very wet and many people were getting bogged on the water flats, so chose not to risk this and head for El Questro.

Out to dinner for Gordon's Birthday, which is tomorrow, to a place called the Pumphouse which literally is built around the pump house which supplies water to the lower farms. The massive lights quite low to the water attract heaps of bugs, many of which die and fall into the water, attracting thousands of catfish. There was also a massive Barramundi floating around - dead -over a metre in length - the restaurant denied all knowledge of it. I had been elected to be the taxi service - the paid ones aren't too reliable and will leave you stranded for ages, got back for the second run when the restaurant was closing and light were being turned off to see quite a large croc swimming in near the shore. The restaurant abutts the golf course, not sure if there is a special ruling for when your water goes into the water here or not.

Finished off the night with Sparkling Burgundy to celebrate the start of "The Adventure".

Litchfield to Timber Creek

Caught up with my dad and his partner Julie here. Expected to be the only people in the camp ground as it was literally in the middle of nowhere behind the pub, but it was packed people jammed in at all angles with the final van to cram in after dark just stopping in the middle of the road. The truck pulling it was triple axle and large enough to fit an esky which is larger than our fridge at home plus 2 quad bikes. The van was also triple axle – that’s 12 tyres, before you even start paying for fuel, goss was that it was the deluxe – own full bathroom, washing machine and dryer plus dishwasher and full oven. The whole rig required a long load notice.
This kept us entertained but the kids found more excitement in feeding the freshwater crocs off the bridge. This was amazing. You would have sworn that there weren’t any crocs there; they threw in some bread to attract the fish then threaded up some fencing wire with meat and dangled it over, then propelling half its body length out of the water a croc snatched it and immediately disappeared, no wonder people get taken. The kids had a ball feeding them.
Having a bit of time zone challenge and the kids are waking as early 5.30 and this morning I didn’t shush them back to sleep as the van next door had kept us awake with their really bad British Comedy with canned laughter up really loud, other than using facilities the only thing they did was watch TV – why do they leave home?
Bunked out early to check out the local lookout and Army Bridge. Size is just incredible, geography is on the grand scale and you can’t really capture it with the camera, but still managing to take heaps of photos. The army has acquired a lump of land across the river and built a bridge with walk way across it so you can go and watch for crocs but sadly the water was too murky.

Darwin to Litchfield

Picked up Anne from airport and settled in, out to a really great Indian meal, getting a fix before we head off. Planning menu for on the road, there will be some interesting meals in the end, especially if we go over time but at least we will eat. Out to dinner at Darwin Yacht club the next night, met up with friends of Anne’s who has a 10 year old boy and 8 year old girl. They are travelling around in a Maui and thought our little van was luxurious, their third bed is standard bed length but if you turn on your side you get stuck between the bed and the roof, really quick to pack up though. Jack and Vince hit it off immediately with Vince thinking whips and skating were the coolest things in the world, both having Monster Skate Park in Homebush in common. They spent the night making a whip for Vince then down to the beach to practice the art of cracking it, met up with another boy Jack who had a real whip which gave him immediate cred, so the boys were set for the night. The girls went for a walk searching for shells and found only dogs to pat but were happy none the less. We adults got to watch a spectacular sunset over the bay and sip chilled champagne whilst ordering very pleasant dinner.
Litchfield
The kids played with their new found friends again in the morning (worked out they knew their cousins who live in Thirroul so future visits have been planned). Jack and Vince were practicing cracking their whips in the camping area when a young woman came up with her own whip and gave them a few pointers, then let them borrow it for a while to practice. They were so stoked and both had sore arms from their practice.
That day saw a short hop to Litchfield quickly set up the van, getting quite good doing it in under 30 min now, even had extra securing to do as the park’s neighbour’s pig had gotten out and was living in the van park and apparently proving difficult to catch. The things you have to endure!!! Jack was not too sure about any of this as he was convinced we were saying Leechville and after his experience on a bushwalk at home could not see himself swimming and having the great time we were promising he would have. Spent the rest of the day relaxing in Buleys rock pools which other than the bus loads of (Australian) Tourists was spectacular. Jack actually met up with another Jack who he had played with at previous stops.
We had set up on a smallish rock shelf in the shade beside one of the rock pools as had all the other people there spreading out over a series of about 10 rock pools, everyone had a nice bit of space to relax and dry off, when 30 plus over 60s would ascend on you and almost stand on you whilst they got undressed then struggle into a rock pool jibber jabber quite loudly and generally make a major disturbance then struggle out, stand on you dripping to get changed again then finally leave, there was an audible sigh of relief when they left. 50 families with a mile of kids were less intrusive.
Could have spent the whole day here with some rock pools small enough to just slip into to cool off and others large enough for the kids to jump 2 – 3 m of the sides into and still not find the bottom.
Had to drag ourselves away before dark were doing all sorts of manipulating to try to organize an extra day there but could not come up with a reasonable workable plan.
Found one of the largest termite mounds on the way home, this is reported to be over 50 years old which apparently is rare.
The next morning Litchfield held still more surprises, Gordon was heading out for his jog when he saw a woman in the pool with a Joey. She was travelling with him holidaying from Broome and had been raising him since about 10 cm long; he stood about thigh height on the kids and came like a puppy when called. She cut tail holes in nappies and carried him around in a baby pouch throughout the day then he had a bag to sleep in of a night, Morgie thought it was just brilliant and now wants one of her own.
Had a bit of a panic attack in the shower early the next morning, turned on the cold tap and had something jump on my hand, no glasses and poor lighting didn’t enable easy identification, but after several deep breaths and not really being willing to run out without getting dressed, identified it as a small frog. Closer inspection found several friends for them in the shower. Managed to finish my shower as they were only thumbnail size, really quite cute and didn’t try to take over the shower.

Darwin R&R

In Darwin for a few days in a van park called Shady Glen, though more appropriately called freeway to airport, they even have jumbos landing and 0200, and then the semi's start about 0500 but the town is chockers so just have to put up with it, thank heavens for the pool and central location. It has been wonderfully warm but Jack has now outgrown 3 pair of pants and 2 T Shirts so quick trip to vinnies yesterday and $20 later both he and Morgie are quite happy with their new outfits. Have been having heaps of down time in Darwin, I had my birthday spa visit which my brother splashed out for me and the kids spent the morning in a wave pool similar to Jambaroo yesterday. Great asian noodle lunch then picked up some essential things - gerry can etc before retiring to the shade with our books. All in all too much excitement.

Jack got a little sunburnt on the face yesterday, reflection off the water so avoiding the sun today. This plus the fact that Gordon saw croc tracks on the beach whilst out for his morning jog has convinced us the van park pool is the place to be. Jack continues to hone his spear and after several attempts to make a stone tip has decided to sharpen the wooden end. He has asked the photos of his work in progress and tools be posted.

Went to Parap markets today, I want to move to Darwin just for them, The food was better than Sydney China town, traditional Asian very different to what we are used to at home - rice flour waffles with sugar bananas, tropical fruit freshly picked, and a myriad of Asian herbs, spices and fresh vegies, all very aromatic. Could have bought so much stuff, but no way of keeping it refrigerated, we are very tight for refrigeration space.

Got caught in tourist trap by a young girl who was wrapping braids in hair, she quoted a price per inch then cost of beads, we agreed on a length and max cost of beads but once it was beyond going back she said, it was extra for this, this and this, so the price blew out by another $10. It looks great and Morgie was very happy but left the girl with no misunderstanding that I was less than happy with her underhanded ways. She was next to a guy trying to sell tasmanian honey that had gone candied and was remelting in the heat so not much business coming his way. It would seem these were the casual stall holders.

This was in stark comparison with the other side of the markets which had great hand made crafts, this place would solve all my Xmas shopping problems but again space is the issue and much of it too fragile to post home. Morgie managed to pick up a hair clip with frangipani on it which she is very pleased with. Surprisngly little indigineous art other than a photographer trying to do Anne Geddies cutsie with indigineous children, maybe it appeals to the overseas market.

Picking our brave friend and brief travelling companion, Anne, up from the airport today and out to dinner with some local friends tonight. Tomorrow involves some serious menu planning and final prep stuff - fixing the stone chips and other minor rattles before we leave for Lichfield and then across to start Gibb river Rd. Happy that it has been all small and easily remedied stuff, my dad who set out at the same time as us has had to turn back once because of a road being closed and ended up cooling his heels in Mt Isa for a few days wating on a rear windscreen to come in. He is back on track now - though a much changed one and will meet up with us somewhere east of Kununurra. Have added in an extra day to stay at Lichfield but things a bit up in the air as may go in to bungle bungles after Broome to give us time to go up to Cape Leveck but will see once through Katherine.

Will continue to think of you poor souls down south whilst we run round in swimmers and have the washing dry in half an hour, though I fear you may have the last laugh with it only being 12 degrees of a day in Alice springs at the moment - we may have to dig the thermals out again yet.

Jabiru & how to make a comment

For all those who have been enquiring about how to make a comment
Just click on the "comments" section at the bottom of the page entry. IE it says "0 Comments" or "1 Comments". It will come up with a box that says "Post a Comment". Type what you want in it. Then leave comment as Google Account. This might require you to have a gmail account, I don't know.
Tennant creek show did not live up to expectations, the only bronco to be seen barked, had painted toe nails and wore a designer label jacket. No bull riding, no horse riding, no wood chopping as we had promised the kids but there was a dog show, so they got to pat a couple of dogs, but that was a trip into the bizarre, only one owner had any social skills and talked to us, others just looked right through you, though the fact that Gordon and I were obviously holding back hysterical laughter may have contributed. A full size poodle, very obviously male – would have challenged some of the bulls, but clipped to have several pompoms up his legs, bare bottom and then several more pompoms along his body, and the woman was most proud of it.
The excess on the show bags was so extreme that even the kids commented on it. The volume of showbag purchases seemed inversely proportional to the frequency of washing and deodorant use. There was so much trash on the ground that Jack repeatedly commented, describing it like walking through the garbage tip.
Had been a bit worried about the accommodation as all the comments on all the motels in Tennant creek were negative, the place was a bit old and basically bessa brick squares but clean and the guy could not have been more helpful even when he thought the kids were very crazy for wanting to go for a swim.
Packed up early the next morning and headed for Katherine. More gun barrel and at a potential 130 km hour ate up the kms very quickly other than trying to pass some of the massive rigs, the biggest yet has been a bus with a trailer set up behind it carrying a small 4x4 plus boat plus outboard, with the cross winds they get a bit of a sway up and are almost as difficult as the road trains.
Katherine was surprisingly large even had a Golden Arches, much to the children’s delight. Stocked up on some essentials after paying $5.00 for a packet of Salada, staying in a really nice van park, they have enough water to have the hose going all the time on the grass. Much to Jack’s delight got some washing done, he has grown since leaving home and some of his pants no longer fit, feeling a bit squashed in with some of his pants. Off to Katherine Gorge with the intention of a walk but managed to get from the car park to the visitors centre, then to the picnic area and decided that the water was the only place we were going it was over 30 degrees which came as a bit of a shock considering a couple of days before we had ski gear on – best of intentions, booked in for a boat trip up the Gorge the next day to make up for our slackness. The rangers assured us and about 20 others that there were no crocs near the swimming area that all the salties had been trapped and all the paddlers would have driven the freshwater crocs away, just to reassure ourselves we sent Jack in first, this was after spotting the croc trap which was bigger than our car across the river. All managed to swim without incident for about an hour before bunking out for a relaxing evening around the park pool and watching the line up of Saturn, Mars & Jupiter (I think). Kids so exhausted from the heat and swimming that they were asleep before their head hit the pillow and we weren’t far behind.
Provided light entertainment for some of the long term vanners packing up the next morning and got the updates on all points north (no-one is shy about telling you where you should go and what to see). Slight delay in getting away in searching for Jack’s football – (so exhausted he had washed it and set it out to dry but forgotten to take it to bed with him). There had been a bit of a party going on in one of the tents and it would seem one of the boys had spied it and given it a boot across the park, thankfully it wasn’t our van it landed on at 2 am.
Back out to the Gorge for the boat trip which was spectacular, so immense it is very hard to capture it. Managed to see 2 fresh water crocs much to Jack’s delight. Didn’t through Jack in again to see if we could tempt some more out, there were people mumbling things about irresponsible parents when we made the suggestion.
New day, new van park – Jabiru (have managed to maneuver into several sites without wiping out any mailboxes), again lush with own ensuite which is very nice. . Actually managed a couple of walks here. Mamukala, a hide in the wetlands where you can look out over a vast wet plain to view birdlife – not a lot there actually, but being evil parents we also dragged the kids around a circuit track along a peninsula near the hide (about an hour) that gave us a feel for the vastness of the floodplain when the wet is on. The other walkers almost got used to hearing I’m hot!, how long now?, do we have do this? On the way back went to the Visitor Centre (Bowali) which is again really well done & terrifically informative across a wide range of subject matter, Jack really got into it especially the stuffed crocodile hanging from the roof but the highlight for Morgie was the slushy from the coffee shop. Jack’s main focus after this was to make himself a spear, so did a midnight raid on the field in the back of the van park to find a suitable branch. Saw a very skinny dingo which Gordon flashed with the torch, and Morgan howled at – he decided it was all too much and took off smartly.
Made ourselves very familiar with the local pool – too cold for the locals to swim so surprising few people, the local bakery – brilliant bread and cakes to almost rival Crescent Head cake shop which we have voted the best in the world. Ate out at the competition van park for dinner, with us sipping beer by the pool side whilst the kids wore themselves out swimming. Jack managed to work up enough of an appetite to do damage to most of a family size pizza by himself.
Got up early for a walk at Ubirr the next morning – managed to drag the kids out with the promise of a late breakfast at the bakery. Morgie had some snacks but Jack knocked back even a lolly at the thought of having free choice at the bakery. Got there just before the gates opened, so checked out the local river while we waited. Saw someone standing on the weir fishing! in croc country. Temporary Australian I think. Went into the site to find a ranger talk at the place we were viewing. Stayed for the talk, which was great, interpretive of the place were standing on that gave us much better insights into what we were seeing. Went on a circuit walk of about 1k which took us to a variety of painting sites. Also went up onto a lookout which gave us a great view over the wetland, again giving us some sense of the vastness of the wetland below the escarpment. Kids swear they saw some rock wallabies that no-one else managed to spot. Cruised by the entrance to Ranger Mine just cause we could, almost drove on the Jabiru air strip in turning around! Easy to do no barriers or warnings just bitumen and a windsock.
Went on then to Nourlangie Rock, yet another walk, much to Morgie’s disgust with hills to boot. Somewhat confusing as well, as on arriving the signage calls everything contrary names to the road signs. From here we went on the Yellow River cruise. It was spectacular, heaps of bird life and crocs, Jack so excited, the first one we saw was over 5 m long Jack swung from being anxious to increadibly excited, the poor woman sitting next us took it all very well. Got to watch the sun set over the fields of water lilies before all the kids on board got to cruise the boat home. Off to Darwin tomorrow.