Karijini to Exmouth

We are at Exmouth, which is about the same distance from home either back the way we have come or on down around the south - that sounds like halfway, but with the diversions planned and still ahead of us there is probably a little more ahead in time and distance than what we have done. Anyway, here we are as far away from home as we can get on this continent.

 After leaving Port Hedland we headed south for Karijini National Park via the Northwest Highway. That was a bit hair-raising at times threading our way through convoys of wide loads and road trains of heavy mining gear. Thank goodness for the UHF radio to hear what's happening around you and occasionally talk to the wide load pilots who are always helpful. This part of the country is certainly booming.

We got out of that eventually and retreated into "Dale's Campground" in Karijini. That was remote and peaceful, no mobile phone service or internet and no radio or TV reception - no power either but we had everything we wanted and stayed for 6 days to explore the gorges, lookouts, tracks and wildflowers .. and red dust (it impregnated everything, and still does in lots of places), but we had a great spot, as you will see in some of the photos below.

After the 6 days we have travelled across through Tom Price and Paraburdoo to the main coastal highway again, bypassing  the Karratha and Dampier section and on up to Exmouth. We will have a couple of days here and then go around to the Cape Range National Park, Ningaloo Coral Reef, where we have a campsite booked.

Here are some photos.

Fern Pool - a beautiful spot for a swim

This is the sort of thing the mineworkers do for space - seen in a caravan park in Port Hedland

On to Exmouth - somewhere over that horizon!

Reflection from M -

The sheer volume of grey nomads and some far greyer than us has made me think how much freedom we have in this country and why have some have left it so late to travel this land.  This was said in a nutshell on the spare tyre cover of a 4WD in Karajini:

"I'm out here too!  But what is it that we are all looking for?" 

This can be answered on so many levels - but please pray for the ones that drive in late at night tired and have to drive out first thing in the morning - or an only stay 2 nights when they really need 4 or 5 to do it justice. 

Bella's Birthday Blog

Happy Birthday Bella.  Hope when you see this that you have had a very happy day. Hope we can skype on Tuesday - skyping family and friends.

For the rest of  our family and friends, we left Karijini National Park this morning (Mon 27th) and at are Tom Price (internet...) on our way to Exmouth. Hope to arrive there Tuesday afternoon (28th).  We shall do a bigger blog then telling you about wonderful Karijini National Park - M. (grandma).

Here is your birthday card Bella and hello Jez.

We are Back - At Port Hedland

After a long delay and so many happenings and places, we are back on the blog! Since the last posting at Kununurra 3 or 4 weeks ago we have travelled to Broome where we parked the van in the driveway of good friends Garry and Jean for a week and a half, then on to Barn Hill "Station Stay" for 4 nights, then to Eighty Mile Beach for 5 nights and today Monday 20 August to Port Hedland. Tomorrow we leave for Karijini National Park.

Looking back, with the delay at Kununurra for the truck mechanical repairs, we elected to bypass the planned camping excursion into The Bungles and go straight on to Broome. "Straight on" is certainly a misnomer, it's a big loop to start with and involved two "free camps" and about 1000 kms. We pushed hard for the first day, aiming for Mary Pool, about 450 km. It was Sunday and a necessary fuel stop at Halls Creek had us worried - if we couldn't get it we would have to wait there until Monday morning. As it turned out it was rodeo day and there was one servo open with a long queue. The result was arrival at the Mary Pool free camp just on dark. The main camping area was down across the Mary River, so we elected to stay just off the road at the top, with four other rigs in the same situation. We happily gathered with some of these, on our chairs plus "refreshments", well into the evening.

The next camp was intended to be at a recommended spot by a lake beyond Fitzroy Crossing. Unfortunately that had been closed (on private property and the arrangement went past the use-by date, we believe), so we pressed on to the next likely one in the "Camps" book, the "Boab Tree". That was okay - lots of others there and once you close your door and it's secure, it doesn't matter what's outside!

So it was on to Broome to arrive there on our target date, 31 July.

The photos from there on will bring us up to date and M will fill in some more details on Broome below.

We stayed in Broome for about 10 days.  Jean and Garry, friends from Coffs wined and dined us at all the special places, Cable Beach Resort, breakfast at Main Beach, Sunset drinkies x 3 or 4, Staircase to the Moon after dinner at the Markets, long walks along the beach catching up, Church - where we met more friends from Coff who are also travelling in our direction- camped with them at Barn Hill and 80 mile beach.J & G took us camping at Gnylmarung Camp, an off shoot of the Beagle Bay Aboriginal Community up on the Dampier Penninsula.  The road there was a bit of a challenge, but worth the corrugations to arrive at a pristine beach - our camp "Ocean view 2" - own track 10m to the beach.  Only about  8 other campers - big difference to being surrounded on all sides in caravan parks.  First campfire of the trip - cooked "Blue Bone Cod" caught by the boys - rocks too difficult to get over for Jean & I. Just an amazing place - rock fish trap used by Aboriginals before tinnies and outboards. Such a special place, hope it's still there when our children want to visit!!!!! The colour of the sea just takes your breath away - not to mention the red rocks, white sand and blue sky.

Despite its beauty, Broome is a divided community on several fronts - asylum seekers streaming in and the James Price Point gas pipeline, not to mention the grey nomads that clog up the shopping aisles.  The company that is putting in the gas pipeline is spending up big everywhere in town - from the TAFE to the local children's football. Its hard to speak against something when the company is lining your pockets.  The Sea Shepherd was in town and Bob Brown was also - The whales come up the coast and calve in that area so.........I could say a lot more on all the issues but won't. On Holidays. 

Barn Hill was also great - baked dinner for all the campers at a price with a band from the local Aboriginal community and we all danced - great fun.  Went fishing in the clear water looking out at the blue green sea. Just awesome and a blessing but no fish.  80 mile beach was very similar but much longer and still no fish.
Our neighbour caravan was Bob Magor, the Bush poet - we had been reading his poems in Broome - laughed so much ..... On the beach there are millions of shells - people hired quad bikes and you could see the grey nomads scooting up the beach, wife hanging on for dear life, living the dream and spending the inheritance.M.

R and M on the beach at Broome to watch the sunset

Around the campfire at Gnylmarung

M comfortable at Barn Hill while R sketches

Even the sandhills are red at Barn Hill beach

A preliminary sketch for a painting (finished later)

We fished in the morning ...

... and again in the afternoon (no fish landed, but beautiful conditions)

These beaches are too long to walk! M's friends from Coffs Harbour, Helen and Bob

In the annexe at Eighty Mile Beach, trying to catch up with the paintings

The beach at Eighty Mile - at low tide it took us 20 minutes to walk from the high water mark to the water, and we came back smartly as the tide was turning back in

M looking at the shells and tiny marine life

The shells on Eighty Mile Beach

Happy birthday Charlie, for tomorrow as I post this to the blog

... and Hello Max !

Kununurra and Wyndham

After a week in the Discovery Caravan Park in Kununurra waiting for some repairs to the truck, we have it back and will be on the road again tomorrow morning, Sunday 29 July (Happy Birthday, Susan for today the 28th). We expect to be in Broome in about 3 days.

Even though we have been "grounded", it has been a pleasant park to spend the week. We have had a site with a concrete pad so put the full annexe up, and I have finished another painting of Carnarvon Gorge (Qld) and blocked in another paint sketch of a view across the lake here.

To give the truck a run today without the van, we went across to Wyndham and visited that old port town, on the Cambridge Gulf, went up to the famous Five Rivers Lookout and out to Parrys Lagoons (Marlgu Lagoon) - a very pleasant day. Here are some more photos:

Mountains behind the Lake in Kunurra, morning light - this plus info from some other images is the subject for another painting

Parrys Lagoon near Wyndham - such a beautiful place and alive with birds

A couple of Brolgas - note the round nut or bulb one has in its beak. They were eating a few of these

Massed Water Lillies

Looking at the photo tonight,we wondered if the stirred up mud indicated a croc. We didn't notice it at the time but when I visited this place 17 years ago I actually saw a very big crocodile here.

The Kakadu Experience

We debated about going into Kakadu - negative stories abound. It was very hot and we intended to camp in one of the National Park campsites, without power, at a central point and travel around to some selected sites over a couple of days. M did some homework on the brochures and we decided to avoid the expensive boat tours and instead follow some of the Ranger's talks and presentations. That proved to be a good decision.

We visited Nourlangie Rock, walking and climbing and listening to the Ranger, and she was very good, then attended an evening outdoor talk and slideshow right next to us where we were camped. The initial presentation, before dark, was by a female aboriginal Ranger, helped by her two kids, about bush tucker and healing plants and other cultural practices - very well done and interesting. Darkness came in quickly and the talk and slideshow about crocodiles and buffalo shooters was presented by a Ranger named Andy - a rough diamond but great to listen to. We were camped about 100 metres from the East Alligator River, by the way, and one of the stories was about a croc that travelled through the camp one night on its way to the river from a dried up waterhole up behind. A visiting American saw it and asked this same Ranger was that normal.

The second day we had an early start to go right up to Ubirr, next to the border of Arnhem Land, for more climbing and a series of talks, similar to Nourlangie, about the rock art. We found these very interesting. The end of day 2 was taken up by a walk out along the boardwalk at Yellow Water Lagoon, led by a Ranger guide, the same girl from Nourlangie.

In the end, we really enjoyed the visit to Kakadu. We moved on from there back to Katherine for a night in a van park to recharge the electrics and stock up with food and water, then across through Victoria River and into Western Australia, where we are now, at Kununurra.

Here are some more pictures:

Nourlangie Rock, framed by a bloodwood

One of the dreamtime stories

Namarrgon the Lightning Man is the figure depicted on the top right, with the stones on his elbows and kneecaps, to make the thunder

The big overhanging rock above the gallery at Ubirr - very imposing

A depiction of a thylacene in this gallery at Ubirr, dated very old and indicative that these roamed this area a long time ago

A rock wallaby just near the gallery

The last bit of the climb to the lookout at Ubirr

The view from the lookout, looking North across the floodplains with the Arnhem Land escarpment in the background

This relates to the painting below

A lesson in good behaviour!

Some information at the Yellow Water Lagoon, for the kids

Barra Fishing in the Top End

What a great day - our last day in Darwin! We got a few barramundi, and I know our skill is legendary, but it was so easy ... had to throw the lures well and retrieve with great cunning, then fight them to the bank, with great leaps out of the water (the fish) and then hold them just right for the photo .. the only thing a bit different from what I expected was the long rectangular shapes of the billabongs ....

Here are a couple of photos for evidence-

74 cm - nearly 5kgs

Looks bigger, but that comes from long arms!

Top marks for a great day to our hosts Adam, Sarah and Jarod at their "FlickingFresh Barra" enterprise at Berry Springs. Have a look at their website www.reelbrainfood.com  -and the smoked barra fillets that we took back to the van were something else!

P.S. and no crocodiles anywhere to be seen

PPS. Mango smoothies at an adjacent farm to die for not to mention a swim in Berry Springs - not too hot and not too cold and not too many people either .. M.

Katherine and Darwin NT

We moved on from Elsey National Park (the sprinklers and the wild donkeys, plus a couple of swims in the hot springs), to Katherine. We had 3 nights in Shady Lane Caravan Park and the 3 gorges boat trip on Katherine Gorge. We had the truck windscreen replaced in Katherine - it had a stone chip in it before we left and I thought about replacing it, but pleased I didn't because the one I got in Queensland was bigger and started to crack in Katherine. Anyway, the new one is sure better to look through!

After Katherine we went on to the Howard Springs Caravan Park in Darwin. It has been great here, but so hot! We went to Mindil Markets on Thursday evening and a dinner cruise on Darwin Harbour last night (Friday}. We are going down to Berry Springs tomorrow for a night and for M to catch a barramundi (at a fish farm!) on Monday, and then to Kakadu for a day or two, before back to Katherine and west to Western Australia. We want to be in Broome by the end of July.

Here are some photos-

On the cruise boat in Katherine Gorge - M one row back. Note the aboriginal tour guide driving the boat in the back. He was really great!

Colours on the gorge wall. The floods in the wet can be really high here.

Poppie looking very dapper (at least I thought so!)

Reflections in the gorge.

From the cruise boat "Cape Adieu" in Darwin Harbour, afternoon light.

Sunset over the Arafura Sea.