Photo Post

Here is a group of random photos of your trip so far.....

Day 31 Wednesday 13th July

Day 31 Wednesday 13th July

Lyn, Steve, Rob and I were up early as we needed to have the vans packed and ready to be down at Geikie Gorge by 7.30am for our boat tour. Geikie Gorge was once a coral reef. It was a lovely, cool day and we thoroughly enjoyed the the wonderful colours of the cliffs and the beautiful wildlife of the area. The tour took about an hour and was well and truly worth the money. Heather and Paul were able to have a little sleep in and met us in Fitzroy Crossing. We headed out and continued driving, arriving at Broome in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, it is still school holidays here and there are also alot of us (grey nomads) staying in Broome until the weather warms up down south. It was very difficult to find a caravan park in Broome where we could get power. Heather, Paul, Rob and I managed to get into the Broome Caravan Park and Lyn and Steve got into the Broome Pistol Club which was an overflow park. We will all meet up tomorrow. 

Day 30 Tuesday 12th July

Day 30 Tuesday 12th July

We left our lovely free camp around 8.30am All was going well and we called into Halls Creek for a fuel stop. We have had beautiful weather so far but today it was quite wet and even a bit on the cool side.......although we can't complain as once again Adelaide was having another massive storm hit it today and we had photos of snow in the hills area. Twice in a couple of weeks is just amazing. After our fuel stop we stopped again for a leg stretch and then Steve noticed something was amiss under his bonnet. Something was really wrong with the battery, with toxic smoke coming from it. Luckily we had a spare battery so the boys took out the bad one and replaced it. Paul said he would take the old battery in his car. We continued on and then stopped for lunch. By this time the toxic smell from the battery had become quite dangerous for Heather and Paul. The boys then decided that the only thing they could do was to bury it. They dug a deep hole and placed the battery in the hole. They got a bit silly and even performed a grave-side service for the battery! We continued on to Fitzroy Crossing and got into a lovely park around mid-afternoon. The tavern and shop area of the park advertised a barrumudi and chips take-away special which we all decided to have for tea. We thoroughly enjoyed this with a few drinks accompanying our meal. 

Day 29 Monday 11th July

Day 29 Monday 11th July

Today Lyn, Steve, Rob and I were up early and organised ready to leave Kununurra with our vans heading for a day in the famous Bungle, Bungles. Heather and Paul had visited the area last year so they were going to follow us later in the day and set up camp where we left the vans. The road into the Bungle Bungles is 4 wheel drive only so we needed to leave our vans at a camp spot before heading in. Heather and Paul suggested an excellent free camp spot just a few kms past the road into the Bungle Bungles. We found this camp and left the vans and headed into the Bungles. The road is pretty rough but the boys enjoyed the driving challenge especially crossing the river beds. Our first stop was the beautiful Echidna Gorge. Lyn, Steve and Rob walked into the gorge but I stayed back and admired the view as my hip was not allowing me to do much......very disappointing. From here we drove on to the domes that the Bungle Bungles are famous for. Another short walk and lots of photos and then it was time for us to return to the main road and our camp where the vans were. The 4 wheel drive track in and out takes about an hour and a half each way and we needed to be back before sunset which is quite early here in the west. When we arrived back, Heather and Paul had set their van up close to ours and had nibbles and drinks waiting for us. We had a lovely dinner outside around the campfire and then watched a movie under the stars. 

Day 29 Monday 11th July

Day 29 Monday 11th July

Today Lyn, Steve, Rob and I were up early and organised ready to leave Kununurra with our vans heading for a day in the famous Bungle, Bungles. Heather and Paul had visited the area last year so they were going to follow us later in the day and set up camp where we left the vans. The road into the Bungle Bungles is 4 wheel drive only so we needed to leave our vans at a camp spot before heading in. Heather and Paul suggested an excellent free camp spot just a few kms past the road into the Bungle Bungles. We found this camp and left the vans and headed into the Bungles. The road is pretty rough but the boys enjoyed the driving challenge especially crossing the river beds. Our first stop was the beautiful Echidna Gorge. Lyn, Steve and Rob walked into the gorge but I stayed back and admired the view as my hip was not allowing me to do much......very disappointing. From here we drove on to the domes that the Bungle Bungles are famous for. Another short walk and lots of photos and then it was time for us to return to the main road and our camp where the vans were. The 4 wheel drive track in and out takes about an hour and a half each way and we needed to be back before sunset which is quite early here in the west. When we arrived back, Heather and Paul had set their van up close to ours and had nibbles and drinks waiting for us. We had a lovely dinner outside around the campfire and then watched a movie under the stars. 

Day 28 Sunday 10th July

Day 28 Sunday 10th July

A busy day today around the caravan park and Kununurra. Rob had Paul went off to clean the outside of the car at a car wash place that had ahigh pressure hose. I continued on with the washing and then helped with the cleaning of the inside of the car. I'm sure there must have been several tons of red dust and dirt inside it. Rob and I also went and visited the Information Centre to book a trip out to the Horizontal Falls. We were hoping to do this trip from Broome but none of dates we preferred were suitable due to the tides and all the trips soon after those dates were booked out. We decided to do the trip from Derby instead. After lunch Heather and I went to the Zebra Rock Gallery. Lyn and Steve had also visited this gallery too. We were a little disappointed as they didn't really have that much of the Zebra rock in the gallery. At least the boys were happy as we didn't spend any money. Back at the caravan park the boys had been busy packing ready for our early departure tomorrow. Lyn and Heather had also done some cooking so we all met up at Lyn and Steve’s van for a delicious afternoon tea including Lyn’s chocolate cake and Heather's banana cake.

Day 27 Saturday 9th July

Day 27 Saturday 9th July

We were up early, packed and ready to go by about 8.30am. We have to say we have been really pleased with our new tent and queen size blow-up mattress. The tent is so easy to put up and takes about 5 minutes and the mattress with it's own inbuilt pump is extremely comfortable and we've slept very well on it. We both said we'd be happy to camp again! From Home Valley Homestead, we continued along the Gibb River Road past the El Questro Resort to Emma Gorge. We were keen to do the walk into the gorge which followed the creek line. Parts of it were classed as difficult and we knew we would have to scramble over rocks in parts but we thought we'd give it a go. We managed to make it to the first smaller pool but Heather and I had had enough as the last part was very steep. Paul stayed with us and we had a wonderful swim in the very cool, crystal clear water of the pool. Rob continued on to the larger top pool and had a swim there before coming back to join us. Heading back proved a bit of a challenge for me. My sore hip had had enough so I struggled a bit but made it back slowly but surely. Heather who had a knee replacement only 7 months ago did very well. We stopped back at the bar/lunch and shop area and had some lunch out on the shaded lawn area. We continued on to Kununurra and arrived around 4pm. After getting our vans from the storage area we set them up in the park and caught up with Lyn and Steve’s news. They had been able to get a new tyre and were quite happy. I started the washing as everthing we'd warn was covered in dust. Rob went into town to do the shopping. The agricultural show is on across the road so it is quite busy but very entertaining. We spent the dinner listening to a band play and at 8pm were treated to a great fireworks display. Paul and Rob went over to the oval around 9pm as they liked the new group playing. Even though it was $20 to get in they were very lucky and the girl on the gate let them in for nothing. Lovely night had by all.

Day 26 Friday 8th July

Day 26 Friday 8th July

I meant to tell you about some of the interesting things our pilot told us yesterday but was a little too tired to write too much yesterday so I'll fill you in now. He was telling us about the Bradshaw Aboriginal artworks that have been discovered in this area of the Kimberleys. It is dated  between 40 and 50,000 years old and will be very significant according to the scientists in working out the migration patterns of early man from Africa. He also told us about how the wild donkeys of the area are culled. The hunters find a female donkey and put a special tracking collar on her. She returns to her herd and the hunters then shoot all the donkeys except her. The female donkey will then find another herd to join and once again the hunters track her and shoot the rest of the herd. The tracking collar is called the &Judas& collar. Anyway we woke early today, left Drysdale Station and headed back down the Gibb River Road, for Kununurra as Steve and Lyn needed to get a proper replacement tyre. We again enjoyed the corrugations and decided to call into the beautiful Ellenbrae Station for morning tea. This station offers accommodation and has lovely grassed areas, ferns and  lovely plants. It is also famous for scones, jam and cream so we all had some! While here I played a joke on Rob and Paul. I  had to go to our car and get my camera and Paul asked me to lock his car. While walking back I noticed that both keys were very similar so I swapped them on the keyrings. It was funny when Paul went to open his car and said to Rob.....&Look at this, Rob. My key is working your lock!& I had trouble keeping a straight face. The boys finally worked out what I had done. We continued on until we reached a high outlook area.....where we could get phone reception. Lyn and Steve called the caravan park and were able to get into Kununurra early. (today) They then called the tyre dealer to see if there was any chance their tyre could be fixed on Sat. They headed off to Kununurra and we decided to spend the night camping at Home Valley Station. Another lovely place with a pool too. We went swimming in the afternoon and will head off to the beer garden in a little while to hear a band play. They have great facilities here, including the pool there is   different styles of accommodation, horse riding, bars, restaurants etc. 

Day 25 Thursday 7th July

Day 25 Thursday 7th July

We woke today, hopeful  that Lyn and Steve’s tyre could be fixed and we would make our way to Mitchell Falls. Unfortunately, the news was not so good. They did not have a tyre that would properly replace the damaged tyre. We spoke to a couple of other people who had said that they had been unable to make it to the falls due to damage to their vehicles. We also saw 2 vehicles on one semi trailer that had come in from the Mitchell Falls road and another on a truck. These were good 4 wheel drives which had come to grief on the road. We decided to &chicken out& and not make the trip to the falls and instead take a flight over the falls. Steve opted to stay and do some work around the campsite. We had packed up our tents and  cars so we paid for another night and put our tents up  again etc. We all went for a beautiful swim at Miners Pool before lunch. Lyn and Steve had opted to walk to this spot which was alot further than they thought. We knew that it was too far for them when we got there but luckily they found another waterhole to swim in. We were all booked in to fly at 2pm. We are so glad we did this. We (apart from Steve) saw so much more from the plane than if we'd driven into Mitchell Falls. We were in the plane for over 2 hours and saw the Prince Regent River, King Cascades, Mt Trafalgar, St George Basin, coast, Cascade Falls and finally the magnificent Mitchell Falls. We all thought we had made a wonderful decision as we saw much more than we would have. 

Day 24 Wednesday 6th July

Day 24 Wednesday 6th July

What an exciting day! We left our vans in a storage area for the Ivanhoe Caravan Park. We will return to this caravan park when we return from our Gibb River Road excursion. The Gibb River road is very interesting. Parts of it are quite OK but most is very rough. Gravel, corrugations, dust etc etc. We were about 10kms in on the road when we saw our first couple who had a flat tyre, courtesy of a rock....We noticed many, shredded tyres on the side of the road and had our fingers crossed we wouldn't be next. We continued to pass other unlucky groups and then it happened to us! Unfortunately Steve and Lyn got a flat tyre and it was wrecked! We all stopped and Steve efficiently changed the tyre while we ate lunch. We continued on seeing more people with flat tryes but made it safely to Drysdale Homestead campground. There are probably about 30 groups camping here tonight. The good news is that Lyn and Steve can get a new tyre (admittedly) not the correct size but it will do. At 8am tomorrow hopefully  all will be fixed. We have about 190km into Mitchell Falls Plateau but have heard it could take 6 to 8 hours. Our tents are all erected and we are sitting out enjoying the sunset.

Day 23 Tuesday 5th July

Day 23 Tuesday 5th July

We had what we would describe as a quiet day around the caravan park, preparing for our trip up the Gibb River Road. We did some washing and packing and enjoyed a lovely swim in our resort's pool. We did feel a bit guilty because we had heard on the TV that it was only 13 degrees in Adelaide yesterday and that they had received the highest rainfall in one day since 1941. We were interested to see that it had snowed up at Mt Lofty too. Later in the afternoon, Heather and Paul went out on the lake in the kayaks and then Lyn and I went out and enjoyed watching the sunset. 

Day 22 Monday 4th July

Day 22 Monday 4th July

Today, Lyn, Steve, Rob and I were heading out on a trip on Lake Argyle and Heather was doing a trip on the Ord River to the dam wall and back to Kununurra. Paul was staying back at the vans to start packing and preparing for our Gibb River Road experience. We were picked up from the Caravan Park and a mini bus took us to Lake Argyle. The commentary given by our lovely young bus driver was very interesting. She told us all about the building of the dam wall in the early 1970s and the disappointments of the first crops of cotton and then rice. Both crops proved to be susceptible to the many bugs and diseases. Later, various fresh produce and melons were tried and this is what we saw growing in 2000 when we last visited. Unfortunately because this area is so far from the large markets, it is extremely expensive to transport the goods and they don't arrive &fresh&. The latest crop that is proving to be very successful is the Indian Sandalwood trees. As these are parasite trees they are planted out with companion trees around them. The sandalwood oil is a highly prized oil and is doing well here. It is the largest area of planted sandalwood in the world. Despite this, the amazing resource of all this water is very underutilized. We called into the Durack Homestead museum again for a short stop before boarding the beautiful Kimberly Cat. There were about 30 of us on the Cat, including the skipper and our lovely bus driver who did all the food and drinks preparation. It was a perfect day out on Lake Argyle. We had a beautiful lunch and 2 swims in the lake at different spots. At our last stop, the sun was just starting to set. We saw a couple of fresh water crocs and lots of bird life. Our skipper was saying that some people come up and ask &Where's the Marina?&.  He said  very few people use the lake and really it's great that way. Very pristine. No rubbish. We all agreed. It really is an amazing resource created by such a small dam wall and because it is so large it is classed as an inland sea. We wondered if  it had been proposed now, whether the dam wall would have been allowed to be built......... We arrived back at the park around 6.30pm. Heather had also had a wonderful trip on the Ord River cruise and Paul had been very busy getting lots of jobs completed.

Day 21 Sunday 3rd July

Day 21 Sunday 3rd July

We were all up early as the sun soon wakes you up here. Rob and Paul had checked out the local golf course and headed out around 6.45am for a round of golf. The rest of us did jobs around the van and relaxed. The boys were back before 9 and had enjoyed themselves. We all got together to start planning our trip on the Gibb River Road to the Mitchell Falls Plateau. We will leave the caravans here and will use our tents for the 5 days. After this Heather, Lyn and myself decided to visit the famous Sandalwood factory, about 14kms out of Kununurra. We had lots of fun there, trying all the different products and spending a little bit of money on gifts for friends, family and ourselves. After lunch we put the kayaks in the lake. It was about a 20mt walk from our van down to the lake. Lyn and I spent quite some time out on the lake observing the wildlife and some beautiful water lilies. The boys decided to do some more fishing out at the causeway but no luck. Paul, Heather, Rob and I went to the bistro located in the park for a schnitzel night for dinner. They were delicious. Such a beautiful setting, sitting outside over looking the pool and enjoying the meal. 

Day 20 Saturday 2nd July

Day 20 Saturday 2nd July

It was voting day today but luckily we had already done this in Alice Springs so we didn't need to worry. We left Lake Argyle quite early and drove the 70 kms to Kununurra hoping to get in to one of the 6 caravan parks. The first one I called said they were completely full and there was no way that they had room for 3 vans. The second park said if we went straight there, we may be lucky. We headed for this park and after waiting for awhile they managed to squeeze us in. Two of the sites had power and one without. Steve and Lyn were happy to not have power so it all worked out. Steve and Lyn's site and our site were next to each other and had magnificent views of the lake and water ways. We intend to stay here for 4 nights before tackling the Gibb River Road. We will leave our vans here as the roads are not suitable for vans and will use tents. We spent the afternoon shopping and driving to local scenic areas around Kununurra.

Day 19 Friday 1st July

Day 19 Friday 1st July

We were up early as the sun was up by 5.30am. We had a lovely breakfast and were then told that we would both be moving to a powered site. Around 9am the new sites were ready and we drove the few metres to them.  Our new sites were near the entrance and after we had set up we watched the many new campers arriving. We were happy (and surprised) to see that Lyn and Steve had made it to Lake Argyle. As we didn't have phone connection here, we had been leaving each other messages as to where we were and where we were heading, whenever we had phone connection. We were delighted that they had caught up to us and the good news was that they were given a powered site next to us. Once they'd set up and we all had a coffee, we headed down to the beautiful infinity pool that overlooks Lake Argyle. Later in the day we drove out to the lookouts and over the dam wall. The boys decided to have a go at fishing and the girls decided to visit the museum of the &Durack& family museum. The family homestead was originally built in 1893 in the Kimberleys and lasted until it was flooded by the building of the dam in the early 1970s. The historical importance of the homestead meant that it was removed stone by stone and rebuilt on higher ground. Unfortunately some of the out buildings and other things they intended to save didn't happen because heavy rains resulted in the waters rising much quicker than expected. We enjoyed the museum and learning more about the famous Durack family. Back at the caravan park we had another swim in the pool before afternoon drinks with the boys who returned from fishing with empty buckets.

Day 18 Thursday 30

Day 18 Thursday 30

We left the busy Sullivans Creek camp quite early heading for the WA border. We stopped at Timber Creek where we could get phone reception and phoned ahead to Lake Argyle to see if we would be able to book in. No chance. They only take bookings for a few sites and then it's first come, first serve. Rob asked when we should we get there by and they said &now!& We stopped for an early quick lunch, attempting to eat as much fruit and vegetables as possible because we knew we had to hand them all in at the border! I was ablemtomfind a family who were camping at thismspot and give them the few things we had left. At the border I only had to hand over an orange and 2 lemons. We reset our clocks back by an hour and a half and drove on towards Lake Argyle. We arrived around mid-day WA time and as far as getting in the Caravan Park....things looked doubtful.  Luckily we were squeezed into 2 non-powered sites for the night with the promise of a powered site for tomorrow. Rob and I were amazed as there was nothing like this 16 years ago. It was a big, very busy park/resort. Rob said he saw thousands of dollars being handed over for helicopter flights and boat tours while he was waiting in the office. We couldn’t get on a boat tour until Mon. so decided we would wait till we go to Kununurra to see what we could get onto there. Lake Argyle is a magnificent man-made lake, 23 times larger than Sydney Harbour,  formed by putting a small dam wall in a strategic place. Most amazing. We spent the afternoon in the &infinity& pool that overlooks part of the lake. Later a fellow came down with a guitar and speaker/microphone and played songs as the sun was setting. Truly paradise.

Day 18 Thursday 30

Day 18 Thursday 30

We left the busy Sullivans Creek camp quite early heading for the WA border. We stopped at Timber Creek where we could get phone reception and phoned ahead to Lake Argyle to see if we would be able to book in. No chance. They only take bookings for a few sites and then it's first come, first serve. Rob asked when we should we get there by and they said &now!& We stopped for an early quick lunch, attempting to eat as much fruit and vegetables as possible because we knew we had to hand them all in at the border! I was ablemtomfind a family who were camping at thismspot and give them the few things we had left. At the border I only had to hand over an orange and 2 lemons. We reset our clocks back by an hour and a half and drove on towards Lake Argyle. We arrived around mid-day WA time and as far as getting in the Caravan Park....things looked doubtful.  Luckily we were squeezed into 2 non-powered sites for the night with the promise of a powered site for tomorrow. Rob and I were amazed as there was nothing like this 16 years ago. It was a big, very busy park/resort. Rob said he saw thousands of dollars being handed over for helicopter flights and boat tours while he was waiting in the office. We couldn’t get on a boat tour until Mon. so decided we would wait till we go to Kununurra to see what we could get onto there. Lake Argyle is a magnificent man-made lake, 23 times larger than Sydney Harbour,  formed by putting a small dam wall in a strategic place. Most amazing. We spent the afternoon in the &infinity& pool that overlooks part of the lake. Later a fellow came down with a guitar and speaker/microphone and played songs as the sun was setting. Truly paradise.

Day 17 Wednesday 29th June

Day 17 Wednesday 29th June  

We left the Caravan Park at Batchelor in the morning heading down to Katherine. Lyn and Steve were also leaving Darwin and decided to spend a little more time looking around the &top end& before following us to the west. We will catch up with them later. We did a fuel and lunch stop at Katherine before heading west. We spent the night at a beautiful National Park camp close to the Victoria River. We went for a short walk down to a small billabong and saw some fish in the water but luckily no crocs! There had been warning signs around about crocs. This camping area was quite popular and by about 5pm was pretty well full up. We had a lovely dinner out under the stars and then watched a little TV as Rob had set the satellite dish up.