Coober Pedy

What an interesting place Coober Pedy is! The town is built around opal mine fields and does not have a lot of structure to it. There's a bit here and a bit there.....and it appears that people do not take much pride in the appearance of their property looking from the outside. It seems okay to have junk in your front yard and mullock heaps that are just left as mounds across the landscape. We spent the day wandering around town looking at Opal shops and we visited the Old Timers Underground Mine to learn a little about opal mining. We wanted to buy a piece of aboriginal art to remember our holiday and we saw many, many paintings that we liked that also had a nice price tag on them. The first night we were in Coober Pedy we went to a gallery that also acted as an orphanage for kangaroos and we watched a man hand feeding a couple of kangaroos and a joey that he was taking care of. In the gallery was a lovely aboriginal man called " Tommy Crow " that was painting some of his designs. We watched him for a little while and got a nice feel from him. He played the didgeridoo like no one I have ever heard before and we left suitably impressed by him.So we decided to return the following day to purchase one of his original paintings and he was kind enough to pose for a photo with us. We particularly liked his design as we have seen so many beautiful sunsets on our trip that we thought it appropriate to purchase some of his work.

Halls Creek - Tanami Track - Alice Springs

We left our campsite some 107 km from Halls Creek at 6.15am with the intention of going to the bakery and getting breakfast at Halls Creek before we commenced our journey across the Tanami Desert. Unfortunately we forgot that it was a Saturday and nothing was open, so breaky in the car was what was on the menu. But that's the beauty of being on a holiday, half the time we really did not know what day it was and nor did we really care what time it was. So we started our journey across the Tanami Road and it was not a memorable one. You can not get much more remote than travelling on that road. Our aim was to make it to Rabbit Flat Roadhouse to camp for the night. We made a detour along the way and went to have a look at Wolf Creek Crater which was an awesome sight. We did many more kilometres before I drove to give Chris a break from the corrugations. I had been driving for about an hour before we pulled up at the NT border for a photo only to find that we could hear the tyre going down. So we proceeded to change the tyre by the roadside. The downside to this was that we now did not have a spare tyre and we had about 120km to get to Rabbit Flat. We made it to Rabbit Flat and could not believe the conditions that some people choose to live in. The owners were lovely, but we were in the no mans land. The lady who owned the property gave us the warning on Dingoes approaching the campsites and snakes being active until dark so we were really excited about staying there. Chris did some tyre repairs, we had dinner and hopped into bed once again for an early night before we headed off on our second day of travelling on that dreaded road. We came across small sections of the road that were bitumen and we were saying that was to tease us for a brief moment. Ohhhh the relief from the corrugations was immense.....but then we would see the red dirt appear again and so on we continued, shudder,shudder,bump, and rattle on down the road we continued. We made it to Tilmouth Well for a drink and fuel only to be told by the lady behind the counter that we would now have bitumen all the way to Alice Springs. Yeahhhh! We made it and endured two days of shuddering along the road for 1000km. In Alice we stayed in a cabin at a caravan park and the kids were so excited to be staying in a real bed, we had our very own shower and toilet that we did not have to share with anyone and nor did we have to walk a long distance to use those facilities. And Chris could have a shower to clean those FEET..We had some time to wander around Alice as we arrived at around 3.00pm, but firstly showers were in store as we had again been a few days without facilities. For dinner we went to Bojangles Saloon. I ordered the outback mixed grill and everyone (except for Mel she was not game enough) tried Crocodile, Emu, Kangaroo,Buffalo and Camel for dinner . To my surprise we all thought that it was not too bad.

Bungle Bungles

After an early start and a 53km 4wd track into Purnululu National Park, we started at the visitor centre and decided which walks we would attempt. We started at the northern end of the park and completed the 2k Echidna Chasm & 5k Mini Palm walks. We then drove the 40k's to the southern end and did the 1k Domes & 3k Cathedral Gorge walks. Back to the visitor centre for a cold drink and then the 53k drive out back to the smelly campsite. We quickly made tea and then packed up everything but the tent and beds, and then off to bed ready for a 5.30am start for our first day on the Tanami Road.

Fitzroy Crossing - Halls Creek

We left Fitzroy Crossing at a reasonable hour and we decided to visit Geike Gorge on the way to Halls Creek. A short walk of only 5k's but most of the walk was about 300m from the waters edge. Chris & Lachie snuck down across the sand to the waters edge to take some photos hoping they didn't run across a croc or two. We then stopped in at Halls Creek for fuel and some shopping and then drove the 107k's to our campsite which was an overnight camp on the Great Northern Highway near the entrance road to the Bungle Bungles. We set up camp and then realised we were pretty close to the drop dunny and every so often we coped a great waft. Nevertheless, we were early to bed and up at 6.00am to begin our big day at Purnululu National .

Cape Leveque - Fitzroy Crossing

We returned back down the Cape Leveque - Broome road and marvelled at how disfigured the roads become. Graders work on parts of it but it still appears to be a hollowed out dry river bed that you bounce along. Quickly into Broome to re-fuel, grab some rolls for lunch and for Chris to vote. Then back towards Derby before heading down the Northern Highway to Fitzroy Crossing. We stopped here for the night in order to visit Geikie Gorge first thing tomorrow. We decided to stay at Fitzroy River Lodge and splashed out on some high level accommodation in the form of a Safari Tent. We had our own shower (with hot water) and toilet and felt really posh. The kids were so excited to actually sleep in a real bed. Our blogs are now up to date. Further postings when we get internet access again which will be a few days. On the home stretch now with only about 8 days to go.

Cape Leveque

Today was our looking around Cape Leveque day. We started at the Kooljaman Resort where we had coffee and cake then a walk down to the beach and a look at their beach shelters. This is a pretty place and looks good to stay at, but the beach was not quite as friendly and also rough due to the wind. The beach shelters are quite unique and offer a good alternative to a normal campground experience. After Kooljaman we went onto Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm which produces Cyngeture Pearls and is the oldest working Australian pearl farm. We went on a tour and learnt some history of the farm and the area, and also how pearls are cultivated. We were then shown some of the pearls for sale and the various shapes and sizes. The girls tried on a $52,000 pearl string and we also saw a single 22mm pearl valued at $72,000. From Cygnet Bay we then went onto Bardi Aboriginal Community at One Arm Point. They have a fish hatchery where they breed various local species of marine life including barrimundi, green turtles, clownfish, mangrove jack and trochus shells. The man running the hatchery loved to get people to feed the barrimundi. He would tell them they would gently take the small bits of fish from their hand when in fact they would suck the fish in with a load "boof" noise scaring the bejesus out of everyone. We brought a locally produced polished trochus shell which are unique to this area.

Middle Lagoon

We left Broome this morning about

8.00am for Cape Leveque. We had decided to stay at a place called Middle Lagoon - Nature's Hideaway. Unusual drive firstly on bitumen for 40k's then dirt / rock / clay / sand for the next 90k's. Back on to bitumen temporarily and then a 30k's journey from the main road to our camp on a very sandy track. When we arrived late morning, we chose a campsite on the ridge overlooking one of the beaches and taking advantage of the fantastic view. The kids had a swim in front of our campsite and enjoyed a play for the rest of the afternoon. It was very relaxing and we also got to unwind and do some reading. We also managed to walk around the campground and checked out the actual lagoon beach which was a beautiful horseshoe. The sunset was spectacular with a very vivid orange sky. Curried sausages for dinner with rice. It was idyllic and seemed to good to be true - which it was. Around 3.00am the wind picked up and tried to blow us back to Victoria. It bent the heavy duty sand pegs and we had the tent tied off to the trailer to prevent it blowing away. By morning we couldn't believe how much sand had managed to get into the tent and our beds even though it was sealed up tight. The wind was still howling so we ate our breakfast cereal sitting in the car because we couldn't keep the bowls on the table. It was a good day to not be at our camp on the ridge.

Broome

Travelling between Derby and Broome we eagerly waited for mobile phone reception. About 10k's out we hit the phones looking for accommodation. We tried the biggest caravan park near Cable Beach and was told they had one or two small unpowered corner sites and the second park "didn't have a blade of grass available". We quickly went to Cable Beach Caravan Park and viewed the site with the intention of squeezing ourselves on it at any cost. They had offered us a site that someone had booked but not yet turned up for. As Fiona returned to the office to pay, the people who had booked the site turned up. They got the even smaller site of the two left. After cramming the tent and trailer onto the site, we treated ourselves to a McDonalds dinner. The next few days were spent swimming at Cable Beach, looking around Chinatown, visiting the Sunday market, eating ice creams, drinking proper coffee and watching sunsets. We were most impressed with Cable Beach and spent a couple of afternoons there. An enterprising local offered umbrella, sunlounge and boogie board hire by the 1/2 day at very reasonable rates. Re-charging the batteries was the aim before we headed north up to the Dampier Peninsula and Cape Leveque.

Windjana Gorge

Another early start (7.30am) with a 6km walk through Windjana Gorge. We had started the walk the day before but decided to come back the next day and do the whole walk. We saw lots of wildlife including crocs, birds and bats. The gorge is very picturesque but not as dramatic as some of the others. The towering rocks above are very imposing. The kids enjoyed the croc spotting until we decided to deviate from the path and return walk along the beach. We came across a rather large croc (freshwater) sunning himself on our side of the river bank. He was quite happy to pose for pictures with the kids and at that point we decided to return to the path some distance away. After the gorge walk we headed to Broome via Derby hungry for some greasy deep fried food. Unfortunately the $13 cheesburgers didn't quite hit the spot and it was quite obvious that the locals enjoy this high tourism time of the year as all of the prices had been rubbed off the menu at the takeaway shop. Highly unlikely we will ever visit Derby again. Looking forward to taking it easy at Broome and catching up with washing etc. We are also hoping we will be able to find accomodation as we haven't booked anything.

Mel's Blog To 3/4 JP

Hi 3/4 JP,

I've been having a great time up in WA. We've been to heaps of gorges, waterfalls and swimming holes. We've seen heaps of wildlife and nature including huge wetlands at Kakadu National Park. We have been to Katherine, Kakadu, Darwin and Broome and we are on our way to Cape Leveque. I've posted a picture of me hanging from a vines at Tunnel Creek which is a underground river that we walked along for 2km's each way. It wasn't tiring at all even though we had to walk through the river at times up to our waist and it was dark and at first scary but fun. We took headlamps to see where we were going. We been at Broome for 4 days and basically been to the beach every day. You can't see a single speck of seaweed and the water is as blue as the sky. We went to the cinema at Sun Pictures which is the world's oldest open air cinema and features in the movie "Bran Nue Dae". It was a good movie because it had lots of funny characters. We are going to be home in a couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to seeing you all.

Love Mel.

Lach's Blog To Prep MO

Hi Prep MO,

We are having fun up in Western Australia and do you like my photo standing near the crocodile? That was fun standing in front of the crocodile. That crocodile had very sharp claws. I've been jumping off rocks into rock pools and Dad, Bec and me dived off a waterfall. When I jumped off the waterfall I thought a crocodile might have been underneath me. The last few days I have been buying stuff like a hat and a crocodile t-shirt, and I have also been swimming at Cable Beach and surfing with a boogie board. I'll be back at school in a few weeks and I'll be able to tell you more.

Lachlan Hall

Bell Gorge To Tunnel Creek

At this stage we are tired, dirty and exhausted from the last 10 days or so travelling across the Gibb River Road. It has been a journey that has been well worth while and I would recommend it to anybody to do it. We are in desperate need of a shower and a washing machine as we have run out of clean clothes and we look like absolute grubs. We had a relaxed start to the day today and we left the campsite at 9.15am heading towards Windjana. Along the way we made a stop at Lennard Gorge. This gorge was most impressive. Looking down on it from the top was amazing. We arrived at Windjana early afternoon and started to do the walk to the gorge as we thought it was a short one. We really liked what we were seeing and got to the first stop off point and decided that we would do the whole 7km walk the next morning instead. So we then headed to Tunnel Creek pictured above. This was almost scary to start off with. Mel did not want to let go of my hand. It was pitch black in places and you could only see as far as your torch light would shine and you were wading through water waist deep in some sections. Apparently fresh water crocs inhabit the area but we did not see any and thought that the water would be too cold for them anyway. Part of the tunnel collapsed a few years ago and sunlight filters through into the water and Chris captured a nice shot of the reflection as seen above.

Manning Gorge - Bell Gorge Continued

On the Gibb River Road there are many signs warning of unfenced stock grazing by the roadside. It was not unusual to pass quite large herds beside the road and we had to take care when passing. They didn't seem concerned by us and we took some photos of one that was right alongside us.

After a quick visit to Iminitji Roadhouse, we arrived at Silent Grove campsite around 3.00pm and quickly set up the tent and beds. As we had a view hours up our sleeves we decided to drive the 20k's to Bell Gorge and do the 5km walk before dark. We were the only ones attempting the walk this late and passed many people on their way out. We pushed through the pain barrier and with plenty of time to climb down into the gorge for a swim (still quite cool) and to take plenty of photos. It was well worth it with a beautiful waterfall and stunning upper and lower pools. We drove back to the campground at dusk and cooked tea under lights again. Into bed early exhausted from our 4 gorge day and approximately 15km walking, to recharge the batteries for another big day tomorrow.

Bec's Blog For 5/6 AT

Hi Guys,

Right now we are in Broome. We have been swimming at Cable Beach daily (the beach behind me). We hire boogie boards and catch waves. Cable beach is a beautiful beach and if you are there at the right time you will see a beautiful sunset. The water is clear and because it is the dry season there are no stingers ( jellyfish).It has been in the 30's each day except for one when it was 15 degrees, COLD! Today we are planning on going on a camel ride!There are alot of tourists around.

Did you know none of the locals swim because it is to cold so only tourists are down at the beach!

I hear the weather hasn't been to good at home, hailing, stormy and raining. I hope you guys are having fun. From Bec.

Manning Gorge - Bell Gorge continued

After the early walk at Manning Gorge we packed up the tent and refuelled heading for Silent Grove by the end of the day. On this leg of the trip we passed and visited Adcocks Gorge & Galvans Gorge. These were smaller gorges than the others but we saw more wildlife such as trees full of cockatoos and a water monitor sunning itself on a rock. He was quite happy to have his photograph taken and unlike other monitors we had seen previously, didn't make any attempt to move when we got closer.

Manning Gorge - Bell Gorge

Up early today to walk a total of four gorges. First up Manning Gorge where we stayed the night before. Up at 6.00am and 7.15am depart the campground after having had breakfast and packed up everything but the tent. The walk started with a boat punt ride across the river and then on with another difficult walk across rocks and up and down hills. The kids enjoyed an early morning swim here. Lachie and Bec were jumping from the gorge rocks that were 5-6 metres above the waterlevel (check out photo). They were very brave and questioned a couple of time whether or not they should do it, back and forth peeking their heads over the edge of the rock to have a look at the jump they would have to make. We headed back to camp packed up the tent, refuelled at Mt Barnett Station ($2.15 /lt) and headed on to Galvans and Adcock Gorges.

King Edward River - Mt Barnett Station

We experienced our coldest day today for 2 weeks. The tempreature was 15 degrees and boy did we all feel the cold. Today we headed back along the very ordinary road to Drysdale Station. We had a brief stop for to re-fuel and again paid a hefty $1.95 per litre. We were thinking of by-passing here and refueling at Mt Barnett Station as we thought that perhaps the fuel may be a little cheaper there, but so glad we didn't as their pumps were broken and the car parks was chockas with cars waiting for the fuel pump to be repaired sometime today.There were signs on the bowsers asking people to refrain from abusing the lovely staff in the shop as they couldn't do anything about it. Before reaching Mt Barnett roadhouse we stopped at Barnett Gorge. We heard and saw hundreds of bats resting in the trees alongside the river. Not much else to look at so onto Mt Barnett roadhouse and set up camp at nearby Manning Gorge.

Mitchell Falls

Today was another day day mostly shake rattle and roll. We left camp at around 7.50am and headed toward Mitchell Falls. We knew that we were in for a bumpy ride for the 80km drive up to the falls carpark which takes around 2 hours each way. The road was quite narrow, rocky in spots and corrugated. It would quickly change from lush and tropical to dry and bushy. We then had an 4.3km walk in the dry heat to view the falls themselves. Once again it was a very pretty spot. Chris captured some great images whilst I watched the kids having a swim. We then completed the return walk back to the carpark and enjoyed a well earned cold drink and picnic lunch. None of us were looking forward to the bumpy 80km ride back to the campground, although the sighting of a couple of dingos along the roadside made it a little more interesting. Strangely the day became overcast and we even experienced some spits of rain. We thought this would be a problem as we had become used to leaving things out and not putting the fly on the tent. We expected to come back to a sodden camp but luckily the rain held off until after we returned. Around 9.00pm we decided we would put the fly on the tent just in case which turned out to be a good decision as we experencied some light rain for most of the night.

El Questro to King Edward River

Today was a very big day on the road. The Gibb River Road is a very rough and rugged area. There is such a stark contrast between the red, red road and the green trees alongside. We are experiencing the real outback and enjoying it. We left El Questro at 7.00am and arrived at King Edward River campground at around 4.00pm. Not far out of El Questro we crossed the Pentecost River which is a long (but quite shallow) river crossing with a mountain range in the background, photographed for many Kimberley brochures. We also made a couple of stops, the first being Home Valley Station which we were very impressed with. It's run by the local aboriginal community and used for job & skills training and is very clean and well presented. We only had the opportunity to enjoy a coffee but we would like to stay there sometime in the future. Next we pulled in to Ellenbrae Station as we had heard from Jodie & Tim about their lovely scones. We then continued on to Drydale station for fuel and a puncture repair (suffered only about 50k's from El Questro). Fuel $1.95 litre & puncture repair $75. The Kalumburu Road was pretty rough with corrugations which has shaken most of our filling loose. It was a big day in the car to get to our destination in one piece. We are hoping the Mitchell Falls are worth all the effort.

El Questro Day 2 - Continued

No one was going to accuse us of not filling our days with things to do. After El Questro Gorge we hired a tinne (on the advice of Tim & Jodie) and took a boat ride on the Chamberlain River to see the gorge. This was a relaxing way to spend the hot afternoon s we could cruise in the shadows of the gorge. All the kids had a turn of steering the boat, but of course Lachie showed the way and did most of the navigating. Once again exhausted we cooked tea and then fell into bed at around 7.30pm ready for our start the next day at around 5.45am.

El Questro Day 2 - Continued

We came across lots of people that hadn't made it to the end and turned back at various points when the going got tough. The 10th marker was called "half-way pool" and was one of the hardest obstacles but we were determind to reach the gorge at the 17th marker. Hundreds of boulders and several waterfall climbs later, we reached the gorge. The gorge was pretty but small. If you could have it all to yourself it would be a very peaceful place to stay for a few hours. Thankfully as it was so hard to get to, it wasn't too crowded. The water was crystal clear and divine to swim in. On the return journey, Bec was leading us along the path when out popped a yellow snake that hissed at her. She nearly died of fright and as the tears rolled uncontrollably down her face, she could barely get the words out to tell us what was wrong. Chris was going to have to tell the rangers that there was a snake in the El Questro Gorge walk that was in need of counselling as we couldn't work out who was more traumatised - the snake or Bec.

El Questro Day 2

We started the day today in a very civilised way and went out for breaky at the El Questro Wilderness Park restaurant. Bec & Fiona had a nice Ciabatta bacon & egg roll with carmelised onion and aioli. Delicious! Everyone else had eggs their favourite way. With full tummies we made our way to the El Questro Gorge walk which involves a drive along a 4wd track and river crossing before you even reach the start point.

This turned out to be one of the most challenging walks we had done so far. It involved wading through rock pools waist deep carrying your belongings above your head to keep dry and then climbing beside, up and over boulders 6 - 7 metres in diameter. Once again Lachie was our very own rock wallaby bounding from rock to rock with ease. He has an amazing amount of energy. Bec has also impressed us with her determination, but poor Mel has not done some of these as easily because she has been unwell with a cold and not herself. Normally she would be the leader of the pack and showing us the way.

El Questro Day 1 - Continued

Today's walk was to Emma Gorge and check out Emma Gorge Resort which are next to each other. Whilst the resort area was nice, it didn't impress us as being outstanding. The pool was ordinary but the gardens and buildings very nice and would be a nice place to relax after a hot day on the trails. Emma Gorge was another rock hopping walk and it took us a few hours to complete the 3.2k return walk incorporating a swim at the gorge.

El Questro Day 1

Once again we were visited by some of the local wildlife. This time a water monitor - not unusual as we were camped right beside the Pentecost River. Another day, another gorge walk. But firstly we walked to Zebedee Springs for a hot bath from the spring fed rock pools. These places would be so nice to enjoy on your own. There are so many travellers there that it was hard to find a place to relax in. We chatted to few people and caught up with what they were doing in their travels and then dried off to move on to our next challenge for the day.

Katherine To El Questro

Today we finally hit the Gibb River Road leaving Katherine, crosssing into WA, visiting Lake Argyle and stopping briefly in Kununurra. In order to save space we had packed an ebay purchased camera charger that worked off both 12v and 240v. Unfortunately it gave us exact value for money and got extremely hot on several occasions (nearly setting fire to our clothes at Darwin) and then ultimately stopped working. About 50k's out of Kununurra we tried connecting to the internet in the hope we could find a shop that sold both a new battery and a charger. Thankfully we were able to find both. Re-supply with food and fuel and we were on our way to El Questro.