Katherine to Alice.........

The next morning we packed up and said farewell to Katherine and we returned to Daly Waters where this time we booked into the caravan park and had dinner in the iconic Pub.  The Barra and Beef bar-b-que was very tasty and the live music and entertainment was fun.  A truly unique place to visit and we met another lovely couple here, Avril and Ian, from Tasmania.

Leaving the next morning we made our way to Elliott where we were going to spend two days at the Longreach Water Hole.  This waterhole is part of Newcastle Waters and is a haven for birds and campers.

We arrived before lunch and were soon set up.  As we were freecamping for the two days we didn't have any aircon and boy was it hot.  Another 36 deg day with some humidity saw us following the shade and looking for any breeze we could find.  The birds were loving the water and kept Bill busy with his camera.  The Jabiru was the first one we had seen close enough to photograph this whole trip.

We enjoyed the beautiful sunset and then saw lightning flashing across the waterhole.  This went on for the night and we enjoyed a wonderful light show until we went to bed.  It was far in the distance and we had no thunder or rain with it where we were.

The next morning we woke up to a very different day.  The wind was blowing a gale and the temperature had dropped significantly.  As the day wore on the wind stayed constant and most of the birds stayed out of the water.  We enjoyed the lower temperature but had to add layers during the afternoon.  What a change from yesterday.  That night we ate dinner inside and watched a movie.

The next morning we packed up and got away fairly early.  The wind was still blowing and it was much cooler.  As we drove south Bill kept up a running commentary as the temperature outside kept dropping.  It was 19 when we left Longreach Water Hole and by lunchtime at 3 Ways it was only 15 deg.  A real shock to our systems.

Along the way we stopped to look at Renner Springs, then again to have a look at The John Flynn Memorial at 3 Ways.  Got fuel as we passed through Tennant Creek which looks like it might warrant a longer visit next time. 

 We continued driving until we reached Devils Marbles Campground where we stopped and settled in for the night.  A very chilly night, just two nights after being too hot for anything other than a sheet, we were now back in winter pjs and the quilt.  Guess we've left the 'build up' behind!  

Well what can I say about Devils Marbles.  Words cannot describe this amazing place.  The campground is right beside this spectacular place and I only hope that giant marble stays put during the night.  As we walked to the registration station who did we meet again but our friends from Daly River.  Avril and Ian had been here for two nights and apparently the light show we saw had brought them thunder and rain.

The next morning we had a wander through and along the walk tracks and enjoyed seeing the many different rock formations.  Back at the campground we read the Dreamtime stories of the rocks and once again were blown away by this incredible sight.

Leaving here we drove the few km to Wauchope where Bill had a bit of fun with the old cars which feature at the front of the roadhouse.  

We stopped at Barrow Creek to have a look at the old stone Telegraph Station here.  The old building, built in 1872, was an important part of the Overland Telegraph Line.  There are also the graves of two of the Station Masters who were killed by aborigines in 18??.  The Forster Range adds a dramatic backdrop to the scene.

A little further down the road we stopped at the Stuart Memorial and learnt how John McDouall Stuart led his expedition (his third and final attempt) through the Centre, to the North Coast, navigating and mapping the country for white settlement.  

The Stuart Highway also honours his remarkable feats of exploration and leadership.  Just a short distance inland, and now hidden by trees, is Central Mount Stuart.  This is where Stuart calculated the absolute centre of Australia is using only a sextant and the stars.  While I soaked up the history here Bill had some fun with the dozens of Zebra Finches at the water tank.

Just down the road we followed a sign that said 'Mango Icecream' and made it to Ti Tree Farm and yes, the Icecream was delicious.  A little later we stopped for the night at Prowse Gap rest area.  Again following instructions from Wiki Camps we drove through the gap in the fence and found a quiet spot up the back beside a bright red road.  Peace perfect peace.

The next morning it was up and off with a stop along the way at The Tropic of Capricorn marker.  It seems like such a long time ago that we crossed this 'line' as we passed through Rockhampton.  We have certainly travelled a few km since then.

We drove on from here to the outskirts of Alice Springs before turning West again to spend a couple of days at Ormiston Gorge in The West Macdonnell Ranges.  More about that soon.

until next time.......

Time to start the journey home......

Leaving Parry Creek Farm and turning East again was the beginning of our return journey home.  The GPS told us that we had over 4000 km to home and I guess we had to start somewhere.

We drove on passing through the very messy border sign and stopped soon after at Zebra Rock Mine to camp for the night.  We enjoyed a quiet night here and found it to be a very quirky place to camp.

We continued on the next morning with a quick stop at Kununurra for the shops and then we were on our way in earnest stopping to make lunch at Saddle Creek rest area before continuing on to Timber Creek to camp for the night.

Back at Big Horse campground we found a spot, set up quickly and then headed out to see the sights.  We drove up to the Lookout and found a great view of The Victoria River.

It was here that we also found 'The Nackeroo Memorial' commemorating this special group of soldiers from World War 2 and their Aboriginal Trackers.  An amazing story and one neither Bill nor I had been aware of before today.  A group of men stationed here during the war were known as 'the eyes and ears of the North'.   

My research tells me that The North Australia Observation Unit (NAOU), nicknamed the “Nackeroos” was created in mid-March 1942, a week after Broome was strafed.  The unit was barely 550 strong, and with their headquarters in Katherine, in the Northern Territory, they were given the task of patrolling northern Australia to look for signs of enemy activity. They operated in small groups, and most of their patrols were on horseback. The men made use of the knowledge of local Aboriginals and maintained coastwatching outposts.  As the threat of invasion passed, the unit was reduced in strength and disbanded in March 1945.

Our next stop was Policemans Point Lookout and here we found a friendly Butcher Bird.  We returned home for the evening and tried to keep cool as the sun set.  The weather which had been very pleasant, around 32 degs and dry, had suddenly shot up to 36 and 37 and had become humid.  According to the newspaper the next day 'the build up' had begun early.  Now it really was time to leave.

Waking early the next morning we were hoping to be up and off when suddenly I discovered that we had visitors.  Little black ants had decided to invade during the night and were hell bent on getting into all the cupboards.  We got stuck into them with a can of spray and soon had more dead than alive.  A bit of a shock and the first time we have had any problems with the little creatures.  As luck would have it we seem to have gotten rid of them all and have had no further problems.  It did delay our departure a little bit though.

Back on the road we continued on just stopping at Limestone Creek for lunch before making our way into Katherine where we were going to stay in a caravan park for two nights.  Time to wash and shop again.  We chose The Riverview Park and enjoyed our stay here.

The next morning Bill got up early and went of in search of the Gouldian Finch again and with still no luck it looks like we will have to return to try again another time.  He returned and we had breakfast and then set off to have a look at the Katherine river.  We found some lovely places to get up close and enjoyed the morning.

Back at home we had lunch and stayed in the cool of the aircon for a while before changing into the bathers and walking down to the Katherine Hot springs.  These are a series of crystal clear pools winding through the trees on their way to the river.  The pools are a constant 32 deg and edged with paving and lawn on one side make it a lovely spot to while away a few hours.  We swam and enjoyed the water which was cooler than the temperature then.  Back at home we remained inside with the aircon still going as the heat seemed not to want to let up at all.

And so now as we prepare to leave in the morning we must map out our route home.

Until then.........

Wyndham - The Top Town in the West ........

PWe left Ivanhoe Village the next morning and made our way towards Wyndham.  We were going to spend a couple of nights at Parry Creek Farm which is very close to the famous wetlands of Parrys Lagoon.  Of course this far into the dry season most of the 'wetlands' are all dry but we were hoping there was enough water around for Bill to find the elusive Gouldian Finch.  Lovely honeyeaters but no finches tonight.

Booking in the lady told us that they had been seeing the finches every morning at the front gate.  So perhaps this was to be the place to finally find those pesky little birdies.  But first we settled in right beside a big Boab Tree.  These trees have fascinated me as they all look dead but we have found out that they actually shed their leaves for the Dry season so as to conserve water.

 We took a walk around the property and along the creek before jumping in the car and driving around to Parrys Lagoon.  There was still water here though apparently it was shrinking every day.  Arriving late afternoon we found quite a lot of water birds and raptors coming in to drink before the sun set.  

Looking along the banks here we found three reasonably large crocodiles just lazing along the waters edge.  The first ones we have seen in the wild since our Daintree River Cruise.  None of the birds seemed to be concerned about them but I was very grateful to be inside the bird hide and not on the banks of the lagoon.  As the sun set we drove back home to enjoy the nighttime sounds of the bush.

Bill got up bright and early the next morning and spent almost two hours at the gate but to no avail.  No finches of any type came to visit but the lovely little Diamond Doves kept him happy for this morning.

After breakfast we jumped back in the car and drove into Wyndham to see what the brochure calls 'The Top Town of the West'.  It is the most Northerly town in WA situated on the Cambridge Gulf and right now we couldn't be further away from home if we tried.

I must admit that I had been expecting something a little bigger and was surprised to see just a tiny town with very few amenities.  We had a look around the Port area and on the way back Bill found these rather stately Spinifex Pigeons so stopped and played for a while.

We looked at the site for Anthon's Landing which served as the towns only landing point from 1885 to 1919.  After it was destroyed by fire in 1944 it took nearly 70 years before a new award winning recreational fishing jetty was built in its place.  

We stopped in the centre of town and had a look at at the Warriu Dreamtime Statues.  These giant bronze figures depict an Aboriginal family and are a proud reminder of the heritage of this area.

We drove up to the Five Rivers Lookout and were blown away by the view from here.  It is the highest point of The Bastion Range (330m) and you get a birds eye view over the Cambridge Gulf and the five rivers.  These are the Durack, Pentecost, King, Forrest and Ord Rivers.  We ate our lunch here before driving back down and making our way out of town once more.  Of course I had to stop and take the picture of 'the big croc'.

Leaving Wyndham and the bitumen we made our way out to Moochalarbra Dam.  This is another 4WD road that leads to a picnic area at the dam wall.  Constructed in 1971 the dam supplies the Wyndham area with a permanent source of water.  

From here it was just another 4 km on to see the famous Prison Tree.  This great example of a Kimberley Boab is near the junction of the King River Rd and the Karunjie Track.  It was used by the early police patrols as an overnight lockup.  Now this grand old tree just stands waiting for any of us silly enough to drive out for a photo.  

Returning back to the bitumen we decided to get off the rough stony road and came back along a track on the Tidal Flats.  What a difference and the 'smooth' ride was over almost before it begun.  I'm sure there are some disasters along here when the 'road' is not quite dry!

We returned home from here after a great day seeing new places and settled in for an early night.  Bill was up again the next morning but once again was disappointed when not a finch of any sort came to play.

We packed up after breakfast and said goodbye to another lovely place to stay and made our way back to Kununurra to shop for the next few days.  And so it was back on the road again as we headed East to Timber Creek.

until next time........

Discovering Kununurra.........

Arriving at the caravan park Bill set us up for the next few days while I attended to the pile of washing.  Once all our chores were done we could get out and start exploring.  The biggest shock to my system was the time change, we had gained an hour and a half but the worst part about it was that the sun set before 5.30 each night and then we were in the dark.

We had a quick look around town, checked out the local tourist information centre and then set off to see what we could before the sun went down.  Our first stop was Kelly's Nob lookout.  From here you get a good overview of the town and the surrounding area.  With lots of small fires on the horizon it was very hazy and we were to see it like this each day.

Back at ground level we made our way around to Celebrity Tree Park to have a look at Lily Creek Lagoon.  Hoping to find lots of birds here we were a little disappointed but enjoyed the views and the cute wood swallows kept Bill busy for a while.  And yes, we drove home in the dark at 5.30pm.  

The next morning we drove out to Zebra Rock Gallery to see the unique Zebra Rock that is found in this area.  Some beautiful stonework here and from the gardens you can see Elephant Rock.  From here, the rock that looks like a sleeping Budha when viewed from Lily Creek Lagoon, now looks like the head of an Elephant.  It's all about perspective.

We drove a little further afield to see Molly Springs and after a long rough track in and a short walk we found a beautiful plunge pool and a trickle of a waterfall.  Looked tempting but with no bathers we just looked and left.

Back in Kununurra we stopped to eat our lunch at the Diversion Dam beside the Ord River.  The dam was the first stage in the construction of the Ord Irrigation Scheme.  It was finished in 1963 and has 20 radial gates that are raised or lowered to moderate the water level of Lake Kununurra.  This maintains water flow to the irrigation area and also manages wet season flood levels.  Lake Kununurra is now a huge water playground for the locals and visitors.  

Our last stop for the day was to have a look at Ivanhoe Crossing.  This concrete causeway was constructed as part of the original road from Wyndham to Katherine in the NT.  The crossing is now closed due to the high water levels and crocodiles making it unsafe to cross.  It must have been a very difficult route into Kununurra with horse and carts and old trucks and cars in the early days.

We had decided that the only way to see Lake Argyle while we where here was to do a cruise.  We were picked up in the morning and driven out to the dam to catch our vessel, The Kimberley Cat.

On the way we stopped at The Durack Homestead.  Now a museum, this original homestead was dismantled and rebuilt here as a memorial to the Durack Family and all the early settlers that took up land in this harsh area.  When the dam was flooded the homestead would have been somewhere around the middle of it.  

From here it was back on the bus and we were driven across the dam wall.  What a spectacular sight!

The tourist information tells us that Lake Argyle was created by damming The Ord River and forms a storage reservoir for The Ord Irrigation area.  It is the largest man made lake in the Southern Hemisphere, by volume, and now houses a hydro-electric plant that provides power to Kununurra, Wyndham and the Argyle Diamond Mine.  Said to be 21 times bigger than Sydney Harbour, Lake Argyle features many bays, inlets and islands.  

Returning over the wall we were driven down to the water to board our Catamaran and we enjoyed a fabulous six hours sailing on Lake Argyle.

Our Captain, Rod, stopped every so often and pointed out points of interest but otherwise it was a very laid back cruise.  Lunch on board was delicious, ham and salad wraps had never tasted so good, perhaps because I didn't have to prepare it all.

After lunch it was time to change into the bathers and we were able to swim off the back of the Cat.  Most of us swam and enjoyed another amazing experience here in the top end.  The few that didn't seemed to enjoy watching us.

We spent a lazy afternoon cruising around the Lake just enjoying the majestic views as we passed many of the islands and inlets and the surrounding ranges.

As the afternoon drew to a close we opened the bubbles and with a glass in hand enjoyed watching the beautiful sunset over Lake Argyle.  All too soon it was time to head back to shore and we were driven back to our various parks after a day we will remember for a very long time.

And so to bed, tomorrow we are off to check out Wyndham

until then.........

Beautiful Litchfield and more........

Our plan was to stay in the Wangi Falls campground but once we got there it was full to the brim so we drove the extra 4 kms and found a home in Litchfield Safari Park.  Once organised we changed into bathers and returned to Wangi Falls to swim.  Like Edith Falls we had been here before but this time we couldn't wait to get in the water.  A dream come true to be able to swim in these spectacular places.

The next morning we set off to find the 4WD camp site for Florence Falls.  Not to stay but to be able to walk into the falls from below instead of tackling the 135 steps down from the top.  We enjoyed the walk along the creek and found the pool very busy here.  We didn't stay to swim but walked back the way we had come. 

Our next stop was Buley Rockholes.  We walked into these lovely pools and enjoyed a paddle before heading back to the car.  Our final stop for the day was to have a look at Tolmer Falls, the only falls in Litchfield where you cannot enter or swim.  

We returned home for lunch and then it was back to Wangi to swim during the afternoon again.  We followed the same routine the next day as well first driving out to Tjaynera Falls (Sandy Creek).  This was a 4WD track, complete with water crossing, into the campsite and once there it was a 1.7km walk along a rocky goat track into the falls.  Absolutely spectacular and so worth the effort.  And only a few people there.  We had no bathers so paddled instead.

Back in the car we drove back detouring along another track with another water crossing to Blythe Homestead.  Cannot believe that somebody actually lived out here once but they did.  That night we had visitors at our camp site.  Darren, Shelly and Kyan were travelling for a few months from Victoria and dropped in to visit us for an hour or so.  It was great to see them all and hear all about their trip so far.  The next morning we returned to Darwin for another few days in the driveway.

In Darwin we enjoyed the nightly sunset ritual, Saturday Breakfast at the harbour, enjoyed a lovely dinner with Virginia, Greg, Toby and Beau coming to see us.  And then dinner at their place a couple of days later.  It was lovely to see them all and we enjoyed seeing the boys again.  How quickly they grow up.  

Bill and I went to Mindil Beach Markets on Sunday night and found the beach still full at sunset.  Caught up with an old work colleague of mine who has been up here for a year.  Rose and Ian met us for coffee and it was good to see them again.  Another afternoon we caught up with Taegan's Dad Jack and his partner Gina.  They live here at the moment in a lovely big fifth wheeler.  We enjoyed the afternoon catching up and hearing all about their recent visit to Perth.

Bill went out a few mornings to Buffalo Creek where he got some great bird shots.  The Rainbow Pitta is very colourful.

Together we got up early one morning and drove out to Fogg Dam for the morning.  We enjoyed the sunrise, the birds and the Monsoon Forest Walk.  This Arafura Fantail just loved the camera!

We enjoyed another morning at East Point in their Monsoon Forest Walk as well.  And all too soon it was time to pack up again and say goodbye to Josie and Nolan.  Thank you so much for letting us share your house and life for the time we were there.  As always we have loved it.  And now as we head out of Darwin in search of more fun in the sun where shall we go?

Until next time.........